There are never going to be enough zombie movies in the world. In the eighties it was at it's height, with everything from multi layered franchises to plenty of stand alone gory greetings that pack a punch and keep mutilating even after all these years. Scott Grimes leads the charge in a geeky way as he plays a dweeb in high school whose making ends meet by helping his uncle "Flanders" played by the unflappable John Astin, take care of a funeral home in small town middle of nowhere. His school is ruled by jocks with good genetics who have pounced on 99% of the prime real estate (chicks) in the entire school. One greasy haired diva Cheryl Pollak (pump up the volume) runs a tune-up gas station at the edge of town, she specializes in putting Scott Grimes heart on the lift. Things go wrong for the popular kids in this movie as their mangled in a horrible car wreck. But a little Frankenstein inspired lighting brings'm right back, and the outcome is AWESOME! Now from the point of the accident on, the audience is brought on a hell ride as the recently dead go on a killing spree! The special effects consist of guys wearing flame retardant gear and lots of split open dummy heads, and blood, poured on in the gallons! Lisa Fuller whose career consisted of posing in her bra and panties in plenty of eighties B movies makes an appearance, as do many other noteworthy lost in the fray artists. This one is not on DVD, it's probably online somewhere but i had to buy mine on VHS and it did cost me. Costly but worth checking out.

High school loser and funeral parlour assistant Archie Melville (Scott Grimes) is unable to escape persecution from a pair of preppy bullies and their beautiful girlfriends, even after all four die in a horrific car crash: a combination of toxic gas and lightning brings the malicious teens back from the dead so that they can continue to make life hell for the poor misfit.Despite adequate performances from all involved, one or two stylish touches from director David Acomba (the dream-like, mist-shrouded crash aftermath scene being particularly effective), some fun cheesy gore from FX man Craig Reardon (including a split head, an eye being drilled, and Gomez Adams getting pumped full of oil), and the unforgettable sight of gorgeous blonde Lisa Fuller on all fours in her underwear, '80s teen zombie horror/comedy Night Life (AKA Grave Misdemeanours) must still be considered something of a disappointment: the film offers very little in the way of originality for fans of '80s horror, its outcast main character, his pretty tomboy sidekick, and the obnoxious preppy jocks all being clichéd mainstays of the genre; the pacing is terrible, with Acomba devoting far too much time depicting Archie's pathetic life both at school and at home, rather than getting on with the horror; and the laughs are rare, with lame attempts at Porky's style teen humour and woeful stabs at black comedy. Furthermore (and contrary to other comments here on IMDb), I found Archie to be an irritating character who brings much of his woes upon himself by being a smart-ass who just doesn't know when to shut up.Unsurprisingly, the film has disappeared into relative obscurity, along with much of its cast.

17.1 NIGHT LIFE (horror/comedy, 1989) Archie (Scott Grimes) works with his domineering uncle Flanders at the local mortuary. Though he hates the job, he needs the money to go to college. At school Archie is constantly bullied by the local 'jocks'. In one of their many pranks they get him fired. If that wasn't enough his only love interest is leaving town. But Flanders offers him a second chance when he asks his help with some new corpses. Archies' assignment is made all the more difficult when they unexpectedly come to life.Critique: Horror comedy mixes youth exploitation plot with good dozes of zombie fun. In fact, the whole film seems geared at a 'Revenge of the Nerds'-type audience; as Archie gets repeatedly bullied, has failed romantic exploits and so on. The difference being that our hero turns out to be more resilient, tougher and smarter than your usual self-pitying film geek. Film has good special effects, spooky atmosphere, action and humor. Above all it's a fairly surprising showcase from an otherwise unknown, capable cast. Particularly appealing is Scott Grimes' Archie. A cross between Michael J. Foxs' 'Marty McFly' from the 'Back to the Future' trilogy, and Macauley Caulkins' 'Home Alone' kid. He is funny, charismatic and exhumes a surprising leading man-type appeal. A fun but otherwise gory film.

I thought that Night Life was very promising for the first half hour. The characters were likeable, and the story was interesting. But the horror aspects don't really enter the picture until the last half hour - and when they do, they are disappointing. The zombies are not like traditional zombies at all. They drive cars, operate machinery, and seem to retain much of their human personalities. What's worse, there are only four of them and they seem to be indestructible (like Jason from Friday the 13th pt 2 -?). In my opinion, the threat of zombies should be sheer numbers. As individuals, they are not very strong, fast, or coordinated. It should not have been so difficult for the heroes of this movie to deal with a paltry four walking corpses.