after a brief prologue show ann leatherbee ( 1940 girl leighann belair ) and her mother and abigail ( old lady douglas gibson ) and nonchalantly sit or stand over a dead body and we move 40 year into the future and when seven feisty young adult arrive at the same house to fix it up . mark ( also play by gibson ) have purchase the home at a steal because of it disturb past and which he isn not aware of . of course and this be the stereotypical haunt house film set up . dead dude in the house combine it supernatural haunt house horror with a slasher plot and entity that be a cross between zombie and ghost . the story progress a you would expect give those element . yes and it derivative and but anyone who know me well know i do not subtract point for that . the cult of originality which value the unprecedented over all else and and which really only come to the fore in the late 1800s be a mistake in my opinion . still and when astute reader notice that my rating for a film like this be high than or the same a my rating for film like constantine ( 2005 ) and mulholland drive ( 2001 ) and predator ( 1987 ) and ichi the killer ( koroshiya 1 and 2001 ) and donnie darko ( 2001 ) and they ( maybe rightly ) wonder and what be go on . how can you say that dead dude in the house be as good or good than ( fill in your favorite film that you think i underrate here ) . it important to remember that my rating ( as well a many other critic and i suspect ) be not mean a comparative to other film and a if theyre all on an even play field and try out for shortstop on the same team . my rating be comparative and but to a number of other factor . first i consider how well the film manage to do what it set out to do and make concession only for unavoidable limitation ( these include budget constraint and historical or technological limitation ) while i see the film itself a define what it want to do . secondly and i consider the value i get from the film include entertainment value and other aesthetic value and so on . the last factor be importance in a historical or cultural milieu . this be give far less weight and partially because it not so directly relate to what on the screen and and partially because this be impossible to measure for most new film while this last factor also only tend to help rating while i do not really subtract any point for cultural or historical _unimportance_ . it also helpful to remember that i begin all film at a 9 ( an a ) and and then score up or down accordingly . understand this and i believe that dead dude in the house do a very good job accomplish what it want to accomplish and although there be a couple small blunder enough to subtract a point . i also get a lot of value out of it . it entertain and often funny ( sometimes unintentionally ) and there be some surprisingly good cinematography and the premise be handle ( mean direct and write and and so on ) extremely competently and the death scene be well do and creative and and the performance range from bizarrely good ( in this context ) to entertainingly bad ( often from the same actor ) . writer or director or producer or coffee maker jam riffel and who unfortunately only recently manage to complete another film and 2004 black eye susan and know exactly what he shoot for and easily get it . the goal be to create a slightly tongue in cheek 1980s style ( the film be actually make in the late 80 the copyright date on the end credit be 1988 and and the title of the film be give a the dead come home ) gore comedy slasher and achieve the necessary isolation by lock the ten little indian in the haunt house and gain ghoul to enable variety by let dispatched character become zombie like menace . partially because of this set up and the dialogue tend to be ridiculous and well write and unintentionally hilarious and scathingly satirical and often all at the same time . most of the major character fit that set of adjective a well and especially bob ( victor verhaeghe ) and the carpenter and and abigail leatherbee and the old lady . bob be usually give the best line and and verhaeghe turn in one of the most entertaining performance . the extended scene when the kid first arrive at the house and try to start fix it be a gem . the funny aspect and perhaps and be that bob be not that far remove from a couple carpenter and construction worker i have know in the past . but the gore be also very well do . in a movie like this and that be extremely important . the only other important aspect that riffel miss be gratuitous nudity and but there isn not a huge female cast and and it not always easy to acquire gratuitous nudity for low budget film make like this ( i would suspect this be more akin to a guerilla film ) . a for cinematography and riffel actually anticipate a number of more recent genre stylistic tendency and such a monochromaticism and chiaroscuro night scene . there also an extremely important and attractive shot that break the monochromaticism in the dénouement and right before the obligatory and welcome doom laden tag . this be use cinematography a symbolism in a way akin to such well respected film a equilibrium ( 2002 ) something less broad mind folk act surprise to encounter in a clichéd little shocker like dead dude in the house . by the way and dead dude in the house be recently release on dvd through troma toxie triple terror series . it interest to note how many film in that series feature transvestite character . be it time we ask just what kind of undergarment lloyd kaufman be wear . do he have something in common with lumberjack .