Mortuary (1983)

Best movie of this year hands down!

best movie i've ever seen.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I like cheese. I buy cheese. I eat cheese. I watch cheese. But when the cheese gets moldy I throw it out and start fresh. To me, this film is nothing more than old moldy cheese to throw out with the rest of the trash. It's grindhouse trash - that's all this film is to me. I was hoping this was going to be an okay Gothic styled film from the title and the film's poster but it isn't. If you are a fan of grindhouse then you might like this film, if not then I will suggest to you to stay far away from this one.I like some of the cheap cheesy horror films - but this one is far away from my style or should I say type of cheese.1/10

"Mortuary" is a basically adequate slasher, with strong echoes of "Happy Birthday to Me" at times, that gets by thanks to some of its acting. Mary Beth McDonough of 'The Waltons' stars as Christie, a college age young woman who lost her father to an "accident" in the family pool. Other characters occasionally bite the dust as Christie gets terrorized by a cloaked and white faced figure who follows her around. Eventually, all is made clear at the mortuary run by a Mr. Andrews (the late, always solid Christopher George in what was sadly his final film role). Now, it's far from hard to figure out whodunit, especially after a red herring has been dealt with, but making this work as a murder mystery may never have been paramount for director Howard Avedis, who wrote and produced the film with his actress wife Marlene Schmidt (who plays the mother of male lead David Wallace, whom you might remember from the Canadian horror favourite "Humongous"). Avedis, a veteran in exploitation, had also been behind such films as "The Teacher" and "The Fifth Floor", and spices up his film with a bit of sex and nudity (although almost certainly not enough to satisfy some tastes); use of graphic violence is very minimal. McDonough is definitely appealing in the central role and her character is the sort for whom you *do* want to root. George's lovely wife Lynda Day George has one of the other major roles as Christie's mother, whom we have our doubts about. And, as often in some of these low budget offerings, there is one breakout star, and that's the always extravagant Bill Paxton, who's a total hoot as the pathetic Paul, a classical music lover who also loves Christie. One extended sequence stands out as poor Christie, who's a sleepwalker, gets stalked and spooked. One element that is also quite effective is the music score by John Cacavas, as it's very sinister throughout. There isn't too much, overall, that's especially noteworthy about the film, other than some of its principal actors, but it's not bad at all, either, and may fit the bill for die hard genre lovers. The U.S. trailer features a sequence with actor Michael Berryman that, needless to say, didn't make the final cut of the film. Six out of 10.

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.

I saw this when I was a kid and it scared the bejesus out of me. I saw black hooded figures for months after wards.Fast forward some twenty odd years, no matter how hard I try, I still cannot watch this film in the dark.Mirrors and glass are used to great effect, the California locations make a decidedly original change from the backwoods of nowhere, as was so popular at the time, but are so brilliantly used (where oh where is that magnificent house?), one particularly brutal killing, sleepwalking and the stunning Lynda Day George.This isn't your paint by numbers slasher, which has probably led to its low IMDb rating and you really must watch it alone as the sight of Bill Paxton in his early career may force your viewing companion to make comment about it and lose all perspective, but this vastly underrated little chiller is well worth it.