GRAVEROBBERS is a very cheesy low budget horror/thriller about a novice young bride who marries a man who turns out to be a necrophiliac. It soon turns out that pretty much the whole town are also involved in the sinister events. Don't go looking for originality here, as the whole story is copied from bits and pieces of previous horrors, including DEAD & BURIED and an older, sleazier film that I don't recall the title of; I just remember that the plot was very similar.Although the subject matter of this film is in extreme bad taste, the execution is so cheap and cheesy that it doesn't really have much of an impact. All credit to the actors, who put their all into various intense performances and do their best; I also have to say that despite the endless pitfalls, this is more professional and more engaging than a random Troma movie chosen from the era.

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")

Necrophilia can be the inspiration for some dark humor, a good example being the film "Mortuary Academy". Occasionally "Dead Mate" tries the black comedy route, but most everything about this movie falls flat. It's the old story, mortician meets waitress, proposes in less than three minutes, and they are married that night. Great! Then things climb the weird scale. A pretty girl is run off the road. The body is delivered to the mortuary by two perverted ambulance drivers. The newly wed "gut pumper" then throws a necrophilia party. After this somewhat promising beginning, the film grinds on the viewer, with the bride wandering around town meeting the weird residents, and everything pretty much is downhill from there, including a totally inappropriate slapstick ending. By the way, I have seen high school plays with far better acting. - MERK

All I can say about it is that it was a blast to be part of. Damn thing was the filming of the falling from the bell tower scene was actually shot high up in a land-marked historic church tower in Red Hook NY, over 100 years old or so, on a freezing day very early in the morning, my legs knee deep in pigeon poop, chasing Elizabeth (Nora) around the bell. I had to have my legs held by the Asst. Director so as I looked as if I was really pitching from the tower. I was only 2 feet from actually falling out. (Note the twisting leg of the "body" falling...they recycled that dummy a lot in this movie). Anyway, for what its worth, the movie is what it is. I had fun.