Grave Misdemeanous is an enjoyable b-movie. The film is actually better for the first two thirds, before the zombie element comes into it. In this section it is funny (with some pretty good lines and visual gags that had me giggling, much to my surprise), entertaining and well shot with some great lighting.It's still OK after the zombie's come into it but the quality does dip a fair bit, mainly because some daft bits start to happen and the zombie's aren't very zombie-like but act like normal people in make up. This is especially evidenced when the zombie's start using high kicks and all manner of fighting techniques to beat up some cops in one scene. Those kids didn't even do that when they were still alive! Where did that come from? It wasn't even done in a comical manner, they just turned into weird karate zombies.

"Archie Melville" (Scott Grimes) is a high school student who works at the local mortuary during the night for his uncle "Verlin Flanders" (John Astin). Unfortunately, this severely impacts his social life and the girl of his dreams "Joanie Snowland" (Lisa Fuller) wants nothing to do with him. Not only that but two jocks at the high school have made it their mission to harass him endlessly as well. To make matters even worse the only friend he has named "Chary Dorn" (Cheryl Pollak) tells him she is leaving town permanently. But things change quickly after a fatal car accident involving a toxic spill sends his two tormentors along with Joanie and her friend "Roberta Woods" (Darcy DeMoss) to the funeral home where he works--and then lightning strikes! Now rather than reveal any more of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a peculiar zombie film which had its ups and downs. For starters, there were some parts which I thought were extremely slow and I didn't think the humor was all that keen either. But the gore factor was quite high and having 3 attractive actresses like the aforementioned Lisa Fuller, Cheryl Pollak and Darcy DeMoss certainly didn't hurt. In short, while I didn't think this was a great zombie movie by any means it was okay for the time spent and I rate it as about average.

Poor Archie. He just can't seem to catch a break. He has to put up with his cantankerous Uncle to work at a funeral parlor, he is bullied by the school jock, has no love life, no money, seemingly no prospects. Things get worse when Archie is fired after an incident at the funeral parlor. Charlie gets a chance to redeem himself from his Uncle the next day, but Charlie gets much more than he bargained for when the bullies that torment him die in a car wreck and come back from the dead.Going by the 15 reviews on this site and the lack of votes, I'm guessing this went unseen when it came out. It is a bit of a shame because for what it is, it is fairly enjoyable. I'm a big fan of cheesy films from the 80's, especially horror films from the 80's. Something from that time period was magical and can't be duplicated. The film's lack of budget prevents the zombies from looking all that impressive, but the flow of the film is so entertaining that it doesn't really matter. The mortuary makes for an ideal setting for this sort of thing and I thought they capitalized on it well. A big budget isn't always a necessity to make a fun movie. This is a horror/comedy and it works extremely well, giving us some good comedy, as well as decent suspense at times. There is some great slapstick involving corpses at the mortuary. My favorite suspenseful scene is the battle with a zombie on fire and Archie inside a grave. That was incredibly well done. There is a decent amount of gore. We get a severed hand in a bucket, somebody drills his eye out, bloody autopsy scenes. My personal favorite is when a guy swallows embalming fluid. I am not gonna spoil it for you. Let me just say it's memorable. Scott Grimes makes for a perfect lead as Archie, strong-willed, yet vulnerable and sensitive. He's a guy I'd have love to hang around with, minus his job at the mortuary. John Astin is excellent as the indignant uncle. You'll hate him. Cheryl Pollak is gorgeous as Archie's love interest. She's spunky and a lot of fun to watch. Overall, if you can find this one, I suggest you pick it up. It won't blow you away, but it is a fun zombie film 6.6/10

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.