Bons baisers de l'au-delà

This movie was definitely cheesy. I saw this movie a long, long, long time ago on cable television. I enjoyed the movie because I was a child watching a rated R movie. It was a typical B-rated movie with blood and gore and sex and drugs and violence. You know, the essence of the 80's.

I had the chance to get to sit down to watch the 1988 movie "Twice Dead" for the very first time here in 2021, just 33 years after the movie was released. I hadn't heard about it prior to watching it, so I didn't know what I was in for here, aside from it being a late 1980s horror movie.

And boy was it a late 1980s horror movie in every meaning of that phrase. This movie was so stereotypical for a horror movie from the end of the 1980s in every way. But hey, if you enjoy the movies back then, then you should feel right at home when you sit down to watch "Twice Dead" from writers Bert L. Dragin and Robert McDonnell.

The storyline told in "Twice Dead" was pretty straight forward, sort of thing "Return of the Living Dead", except you exchange the zombies with a vengeful ghost, and replace the cemetery and factory with an old, run-down mansion. Then you have a delinquent band of miscreants hellbent on wrecking havoc upon the new youngsters that just moved into town.

Visually then the movie was definitely a late 1980s product, and the passing of time has not been overly kind to the effects in the movie. I am sure that back in 1988s then the effects here were adequate, but today, well, not so much.

The acting in "Twice Dead" was adequate.

My rating of this stereotypical late 1980s horror movie settles on a mediocre five out of ten stars, as the movie doesn't really bring anything to the horror genre that hadn't been done already back in the day, and more often than not, done better even.

As I'm writing this, in 2025, there's still a huge 80s horror-revival going on. Since several years already, in fact, and it looks as if it's becoming a subgenre on its own. Either the movies and TV-series supposedly take place in this great decade, OR the style and themes pay tribute to the wild & glorious horror flicks of the era. Many of these movies are great, or fun at least, but when I then see a genuine effort of the 1980s - like "Twice Dead" - I realize that nothing beats the real thing!

Some typically 80s guff can never be equaled, like an allegedly "tough" LA street gang of which the leader has a Flock of Seagulls haircut. Another member is a complete weirdo, and yet another one is a fat and clearly overaged guy who never steps off his bike. And, of course, there's the ravishing babe who gratuitously takes her top off for casual sex. Only authentic 80s movies can provide real 80s entertainment; - and that is that.

Okay, enough whiny nostalgia and misplaced romanticism, because "Twice Dead" obviously isn't a big masterpiece. It's a forgettable but more than fun enough combo between slasher, supernatural horror, and street gang action. A financially struggling family is relieved to move into an old and dilapidated mansion in Beverly Hills, which they inherited from an uncle. The house has a dark and more sinister family background, though, as we witnessed in the intro. Stage actor Tyler Walker committed suicide here in 1935, because the love of his life chose to be with another man, and his tormented - and excessively theatrical - ghost still haunts the place. But hey, since a violent gang of street thugs claimed the house as their own and terrorize the new owners, the bloody help of a vengeful ghost might even be useful!

There's zero tension, atmosphere-building, or plausibility. However, this gets widely compensated via a few brutal deaths, the presence of the cherubic Jill Whitlow (in love with her since "Night of the Creeps"), the perfect breasts of Charlie Spradling, and - once again - the authentic 80s vibes.

I recently watched Twice Dead (1989) on Tubi. The storyline follows a family that moves into a haunted house once owned by a deceased actor-or is he really gone? Meanwhile, a local gang takes a disliking to the kids in the family. When the parents leave the kids home alone, the gang breaks into the house to harass them, possibly with worse intentions. However, the gang doesn't realize they've intruded into a haunted house with a ghoul that might be deadlier than they are.

This film is directed by Bert L. Dragin (Summer Camp Nightmare) and stars Tom Bresnahan (The Kingdom), Jill Whitlow (Weird Science), Jonathan Chapin (Sixteen Candles), and Christopher Burgard (Border).

Twice Dead saves all the "good parts" for the end. It features classic 80s horror characters, attire, dialogue, and circumstances. The gang's outfits are hilariously fun. The acting is just okay, but the film makes good use of lighting, shadows, and colors to create intensity. For most of the film, kills and gore are limited, often showing someone about to die, then cutting to a corpse with blood. The motorcycle scene is hilarious and fun, and there's a memorable sex sequence kill. The film includes classic 80s horror nudity, and the absolute final scene is the best part of the movie.

In conclusion, Twice Dead is a fairly cliché and straightforward 80s horror film that doesn't stand out in the genre but is a must-see for fans of horror from this era. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend it only with appropriate expectations.

Scott (Bresnahan) is an FX genius (as opposed to an actor) who needs to call upon all his skills and more upon when he and his sister find themselves in their home at the mercy of a group of scumbags who have obviously watched STRAW DOGS once too often!

Further help comes courtesy of a resident ghost in this low rent piece of garbage that barely saw a theatrical release. A few fleeting laughs at the occasional fx employed but the highlight of the flick remains the electrocution scene. Warning folks: don't try this at home, it may be dangerous!

Mega bomb!