Mortuary (1983)

ARC, Artists Releasing Corporation, stands behind yet another film from the early '80's as a distribution company. These were the same guys responsible for releasing 1981's Incubus followed up by another Slasher in 1982 entitled Pieces (aka Mil gritos tiene la noche). This title falls in line with the familiar Slasher recipe, one of which you've seen quite often.The story opens with two friends, Greg and Josh, that travel to the local mortuary; a point of employment before Josh was unexpectedly fired. While breaking and entering, the two men notice a strange ritual taking place in the lower levels of the establishment. The two are eventually separated long enough for Josh to be brutally murdered by the hands of a black-hooded fiend who dons white facial powder and black makeup. Greg quickly escapes and notices his van, which is parked outside, drive off; causing him to believe that Josh left without him. He manages to escape with the help of his girlfriend, Christie Parson, who is still mourning the supposed accidental death of her father. The young couple attempt to fit the pieces of the puzzle together by inspecting overlooked details. Periodically they are met by the mortuary owner's son, Paul Andrews (a 28-year-old Bill Paxton). Paul has an obvious crush on Christie but due to his awkward disposition and banal persona he is denied outright. With various clues to throw you off the beaten path you are left to decide the identity of the killer along with his modus operandi.In my opinion, there are two different types of Slasher films. The first and most common would be the "whodunit" film where the murderer plays a role in the group that's methodically killed during the course of the story. Usually the audience is led down false channels to divert their attention of who the killer really is. The motive is usually jealousy or rejection but almost always caused by psychotic tendencies. The second type of Slasher film involves more of a rudimentary approach; a crazed, anonymous individual is on the loose, savagely butchering the "fish in the barrel" as it were, until finally a plot detail is uncovered and some connection can be drawn. Of all the Slasher films I've seen (I've seen over 25 from the 1980's alone), these formulas, sometimes even a combination of the two, are almost always represented in some way or another. Mortuary adheres to the first equation I mentioned: a group of actors are introduced, certain characters show up at convenient times, and the true villain is revealed.One of the biggest problems with Mortuary is that it starts off well enough by building a dash of suspense and intrigue; a well done approach and clever contrivance that'll serve as a platform for merriment rather than sensory detainment. Okay...so why is this a problem? Well, it's not long before the film starts loosing momentum and the competent devices aforementioned start abandoning ship faster than the crew of a sinking vessel. This occurs instantly when Mortuary decides to take it upon itself to reveal the killer halfway through the story, ruining the shocking outcome you were hoping for. As the sub-title of my review indicates, Mortuary attempts to seduce you with its impressive-looking box art but unfortunately the story doesn't play up to what you'd expect. In fact, you'd be doing yourself a great service if you choose not to even acknowledge the artwork and that's a sad state of affairs coming from me. Unfortunately, you're here on IMDb and undoubtedly examined it anyway, thus rendering my warning useless and all for naught. The presentation and graphical layout of a film's box art is essential to all movie-goers; the experience is not exclusive to fans of the horror genre. I believe that since this genre can be credited with visual expressiveness more than 50% of the time the accurate depiction of the film via artwork is a crucial step in forming our first impression. Shame on you Mortuary! Your adept use of artistry on the front cover holds dominion over our judgement! How dare you!In closing, I thought it'd be decent of me to rate Mortuary fairly. Although I chose not to discuss in explicit detail the musical score, it's wonderful and a joy to listen to. It's a prime example of what a suspenseful chiller should employ to elevate or enhance the apprehensive sequences that follow. The acting just simply "gets the job done" along with an above-average lighting approach that heavily compliments a rich set construction. If the portions discussed precendently chose to pan out differently I may have loved this film - sadly, it's quite content on subsisting in the mid-ranged array of films that comprise my vault of horror.

While MORTUARY is no doubt likable fodder for 80's horror fans, it might better be avoided by more demanding horror viewers, due to the rather thin mystery (it holds up pretty well in the first half hour, but the red herring with the black masses/séances ends up going nowhere) and all too predictable plot development.Still, although rightfully forgotten by now, it does remain a (lesser known) fun and typical 80's horror effort. It is worth your time when this is the type of stuff you're looking for (obviously). Though rooted in the slasher sub-genre, it does venture into other territory by adding some layers and mystery to the plot (or at least, that's what the script tries to do).MORTUARY plays it with a fairly straight face, though gets a little unintentionally funny some times (watch out for a young Bill Paxton whom I have never seen acting like a fagg...ehrr, gay person this hard before - just look at him joyfully run across that cemetery... Hilarious scene!). And a little bit of hideously cheesy '80's music at times is inevitable too, of course.The few killings are enjoyable (and mostly involve mortician's tools) and the villain (or at least his disguise) vaguely resembles the illustrious Captain Howdy character from... THE EXORCIST (really, I kid you not). There's even one stalk & slash scene - ultimately leading to the death of mommy dearest - that's fairly suspenseful. And... after the killer is exposed (boy, that was easy to guess), and the climax has ended, we are treated to a wonderful Shock Ending, ending the movie with a marvelous frozen frame! To me, that alone was satisfying enough.

After her father's mysterious death, Christy (Mary McDonough) suffers from sleepwalking and night terrors. Making things worse, no one beliefs her claims of a ghoul faced killer lurking in the shadows. When she learns her mother is in a coven of witches, Christy begins to distrust everyone in her life. Is her mother trying to drive her crazy or is there a more sinister figure at work? It's up to Christy's boyfriend to save her before she ends up on the slab.Oddly enough the victims in this are not the main heroine's friends nor they hardly have any screen time and plus the killer's weapon of choice, a giant embalming needle, is a change of pace from garden tools and kitchen utensils. This movie does manage a few surprises and jolts but they give the killer's identity away half way through the film. Still, they have one wicked twist at the end. They give their slasher motivations other than simple revenge. The witches subplot is unnecessary and never really develops into anything of importance.Like some other 80's slashers this one has another pre famous star and that is Bill Paxton who Paul the nerd, a goofy loser one almost feels sorry for as he skips across a graveyard with a handful of roses. Christopher and Susan Day George don't much apart from become victims of the killer. David Wallace as Christy's boyfriend is gorgeous and is a bit wimpy but in all he did an OK job and Mary McDonough shaking of her wholesome girl next door image she had in The Waltons brings a wholesome, vulnerable quality to her character, but her sleepwalking scenes are a little embarrassing and rather pointless.Mortuary has some clichés, but also has a few twists and surprises. There is little blood or gore, but there is one really intense murder. The cover of the video is totally wrong as it makes you think that this is some kind of Zombie flick and it isn't which is very misleading but all in all this ain't a bad film, not brilliant though but worth watching.

"Mortuary" is a cheesy is slightly unspectacular slasher.**SPOILERS**Following a friends' disappearance, Greg Stevens, (David Wallace) and his girlfriend Christie Parson, (Mary Beth McDonough) decide to investigate. When they find that local mortuary owner Hank Andrews, (Christopher George) and his son Paul, (Bill Paxton) are involved, though no one buys it as she has a history of being mentally unstable. Dismissing the claims as ludicrous, she is soon haunted by a series of weird dreams and visions of a maniac clad in black tormenting her, which her mother Eve, (Lynda Day George) uses as claims that she really is going crazy. When friends and family suddenly start turning up missing, she finally believes that she isn't crazy and sets out to prove who's behind the disappearances, discovering a psychotic killer with plans for her.The Good News: This one here isn't that bad. The fact that this one has a really nice and creepy story is something to commend. The drama with the dreams and visions is used nicely alongside the mystery about the killer to create something that is really memorable and creative. Those nightmares and visions are pretty nice, since they use the rarely-used sleep-walking technique to good use, and with the mention of the killer chasing her in them, there's some suspenseful moments to be had. The first scene outside in the pool, where the progress from going for a swim at night in a see-through nightgown to the killer popping up to chase them is then mixed in with the aftermath, where it's laughed off as a dream. Several later scenes are also quite nice and play with this rather nicely. Aside from the semi-decent plot, there wasn't a lot about this film, although a couple of scenes are nicely sleazy and provide good moments. One was watching the heroine in her see-through nightgown have a dream about her father dying then cut back to her in bed all hot and sweaty moaning out loud while throwing covers and clothing off of herself. The second scene was watching a woman being stabbed in the stomach over and over as her killer moaned and got off with great pleasure, which feels pretty unique. The fact that there's a lot more nudity involved, especially in the embalming scenes, including the heroine as well as a surprising scene where a couple sleep with each other, are nicely used along with the other scenes to give it a really nice feel. The last bit involves the cheese, which is used in the film fairly often and makes for some fun viewing. The best is the scene in the graveyard during the day-time, where several of them bump into the town's psycho who's holding a bunch of flowers for his Mother's grave. After chatting, he turns and skips off, weaving through the gravestones like a through a field of tulips. It's fun, wacky and makes for a really unique scene, as does a later one where the killer assembles the victims around and performs a piece of classical music for them, which just feels really cheesy and laughable. These are spread throughout the film, and combined give the film it's watchable moments.The Bad News: This one here feels like a lower-tier slasher with good reason, as there's some really noticeable flaws to it. The cheese could be something to get over, especially the graveyard dance which is highly uncharacteristic and slightly puzzling why something like that would be included. There's other moments, but that is the one that will test the most out there. The incredibly low body-count is also something for slasher fans to get over, since this one doesn't even provide half-a-dozen kills, which really should've been quite easy to accomplish. The slashing also doesn't start until towards the end, as that has something to do with the low count. The focus on the centralized people really makes this one responsible for that low-count, since it never really has a chance to target others, and with the insistence on doing the tormenting routine early on, it takes away a lot of prime slashing time. That also exposes another flaw, namely the repeated statements about the mental state. It's really hammered home throughout, yet without reason it's admitted as a lie and the truth comes out, which really should've come a lot sooner. Also there is some truly weird ritualistic dance in a warehouse for some reason that has nothing to do with the story that is just thrown into the mix. This is never capitalized on, exists only to get the characters involved which really could've been done with other methods rather than throwing in some subplot that is never mentioned after it's initial introduction and really could've been used to help the film develop an atmosphere, making this an all-around missed opportunity. Mixed together with all these elements, it really lowers the film somewhat.The Final Verdict: While this one has it's moments of cheese and good slasher moments, this one just really fails to impress and feels like a lower tier entry in the genre. Hardcore slasher fans or those who enjoy these kinds of cheesy films will find some worthwhile here, while purveyors of the best genre films will want to either skip it or seek caution with it.Rated R: Violence, Language, Full Nudity and a sex scene