Graverobbers

Here's another obscure and long-forgotten 80's horror flick (it never ceases to amaze me that I keep on discovering unknown gems from that decade) that certainly might appeal to fans of the genre with an interest in unorthodox and slightly deviant concepts. It looks like another dull and discouraging day for roadside diner waitress Norma Mae. She just declined the advances of a sleazy condom salesman guy when a tall dark stranger by the name of John Henry walks in and promptly asks her to marry him. Completely bedazzled but flattered, Norma Mae accepts the proposal and accompanies him to his hometown of Newville, 100 miles up the expressway. She quickly discovers that nothing is kosher in the little town where her husband works as a funeral director. The entire population shares a sick fetish for dead persons and the elite town members gather in Henry's funeral home for a series of sick and perverted rituals whenever there's a fresh cadaver. When Norma Mae witnesses a twisted ceremony on the corpse of an unfortunate cheerleader who died in a peculiar car accident, she righteously wonders herself why Henry so desperately wanted a new spouse on such a short notice. "Dead Mate" is a low-budgeted and often clumsily handled B-movie, but it nevertheless benefices from a rather macabre ambiance and the controversy around the necrophilia theme. The town members are very well cast and there are numerous delightfully demented dialogs, like "this is the only true form of safe sex. You can't get aids from dead people". The other reviewers are correct in their comparisons of this movie with the modest early 80's classic "Dead & Buried". The film has the same morbid vibes, albeit minus the suspense and shocking aftertaste. "Dead Mate" is by no means a hidden treasure or a must-see, but certainly worth a peek if you like bizarre stuff.

My review was written in January 1990 after watching the movie on Prism video cassette.

A horror film about necrophilia, "Dead Mate" tries too hard in its quest for bad taste. It's for the lowest end of the home video spectrum.

Director Straw Weisman's script lets on early its goal of black humor, but it simply isn't funny. Plot line is likewise weak, as dine waitress Elizabeth Mannino improbably accepts a proposal from weird-looking customer David Gregory and is immediately off to marry the weirdo and live with him in the small town of Newbury.

He's a mortician and she's the latest in a string of young wives he's been killing and having sex with, joined by the sickos of the town. A subplot has him using electricity to reanimate the corpses, but this supernatural element is confusingly presented by Weisman.

Pic turns sleazy in an early scene where a voluptuous beauty (Kathleen Margo, who deserves better roles) dies in a car accident and is tghen gang-raped by the amublance attendants. As if this weren't enough, when the townsfolk fondle Margo's corpse atg Gregory's mortuary, one announces "it's safe sex now 'cause we can't get AIDS from dead people". Perhaps the filmmakers are looking to stir up trouble to generate free publicity with such unfunny barbs.

Acting is weak, particularly by lead Mannino who hasn't a clue how to react to noxious plot twists (including an utterly irrelevant revelation late in the film that she's an ex-prostitute). Final plot gimmicks involving incest and "It's only a dream" are pitifully bad.

Main point of interest for genre fans is the extreme gore content provided by special effects man Arnold Gargiulo II.

A seedy low grade little gem kinda like twin peaks crossed with necromantic,,also a film really of its time as its got an aids subplot where a coroner who believes the only safe sex is dead sex.

Without wanting to give too much away the basic plot is a woman who's set to get married to a man moves too his small town,,only to find a secret about his family undertakers.

"they do something with the bodies but it ain't embalming" highly recommended to guys who love this kind of cheesy sleaze,also some gore too for gore fans,,a great must see b-movie (I give 6 - a sure fire cult item)

The lonely waitress of a diner Nora Mae Edwards (Elizabeth Mannino) has dreadful nightmares and difficulties to sleep. One night, her new client John Henry Cox (David Gregory), who is an undertaker, proposes to marry her immediately after knowing her and Nora accepts. Henry's driver Morley (Kelvin Keraga) drives Nora and Henry to his town, Newbury, and they get married in Henry's funeral home that belongs to his family by Rev. Collins (Kevin Scullin). Henry introduces his friends to Nora, among them the Sheriff Porter (Lawrence Bockius) and Emmaline Strickland (Judith Mayes). When the young and beautiful Cicely Matthews (Kathleen Margo) dies in a car accident, Nora snoops in the mortuary and sees that he husband and friends a necrophiliacs but she is not sure that it was not a daydream. But when Cicely's brother Evan Matthews (Adam Wahl) meets her, he discloses the dreadful secret of Newbury to Nora.

"Dead Mate" is a low-budget horror movie with a story with great potential but a screenplay that is a complete mess. Nora was a prostitute, but accepting to get married with a stranger is moronic. The society is formed by necrophiliacs, but is there a Dr. Frankenstein to bring life to the dead? Otherwise, who is Morley? Nora finds the truth about the dwellers of Newbury and is driving a car, but she heads to Henry's funeral home instead of leaving town. There are many other inconsistencies along the plot that ruin this movie. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Grave Robbers – Ladrões de Sepultura" ("Grave Robbers")

This is a true candidate for the absolute worst movie ever made - worse even than Manos The Hands of Fate. Everything about this movie is terrible. Absolutely everything. From the dialog including lines like "Stop! In the name of love, Stop!", to the original song "I don't sleep with strangers", sung as if performed by a muppet, to the end credits which roll so painfully slow that one could use them for eye charts (also allowing time for further musical injustices to be performed), there is not a single frame of cinematic value here.

I recommend viewing by true horror and movie buffs, simply as a showcase for how bad bad can get. This truly sets a new standard against which all bad movies may be judged.