Strong and Moving!

good back-story, and good acting

Brilliant and touching

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Last year, I was looking for some obscure horror films, when I caught a glimpse of 'Mortuary'. The cast was good, but I decided to download it only because it had Christopher and Lynda Day George in it. I never grew up beyond the early 80s and have watched tons of those famous and forgotten gems that were released between 1980 and 1990. I usually watch them because they give me a kick and throw me back to my childhood days, when the censor boards used to be so raw and wild. As far as 'Mortuary' is concerned, it has very little gore and few intense murders, but it's nothing compared to Lucio Fulci's classics like 'The Beyond', 'Zombie 2,' 'The New York Ripper' and 'A Lizard in Woman's Skin'. 'Mortuary' begins with a huge mansion with a swimming pool overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Yes guys! It's the Gulls Way Estate located in Malibu, California. The scene is picturesque, but what actually makes this scene outlandish is the marvelous synthesizer tune by John Cacavas. I really want to credit him for bringing a special flavor to 'Mortuary' as without his music, 'Mortuary' couldn't have become a mini-cult classic. Back to the story, so it begins with a young lass Christie Parsons (Mary Beth McDonough), who has just been back from somewhere around and probably witnesses her father Dr. Parsons (Danny Rogers) being smashed by a baseball bat by an unknown assailant. Dr. Parsons falls into the pool and drowns. A month later, everybody believes that Dr. Parsons, a renowned psychiatrist, fell prey to an accident but Christie still believes that it was a cold- blooded murder. Tensed and depressed, she develops a strange habit of sleepwalking. Christie's mother Eve (Lynda Day) also thinks that her husband died a natural death and often tells Christie not to over imagine. She thinks that Christie is a victim of trauma and whatever she says is just her imagination. A few days later, Christie feels that someone is stalking her. She is not very sure about who he is, but believes that he must be the person who killed her father. Christie often opens her heart before her handsome boyfriend Greg Stevens (David Wallace) and thoroughly believes on him. One day Greg and his friend Josh (Dennis Mandel) happen to sneak inside Hank Andrew's (Christopher George) warehouse. Mr. Andrews is a respectable citizen and a popular man in the community. Trolling around, the friends discover that Mr. Andrews is conducting a séance with few women. Greg finds that one of the women is Eve, Christie's step mother. Josh tells Greg that he has come to Mr. Andrews's warehouse to snuck a pair of tires because he was previously an employee at Mr. Andrews's mortuary but got kicked out for his 'peeping' habits. Josh believes that Mr. Andrews owes him some money and stealing tires would even their accounts out. Leaving Greg behind, Josh goes to the adjacent room to collect tires. Suddenly, the door behind him closes separating him from Greg. A hooded figure with a huge embalming trocar springs out of nowhere and stabs Josh to death. The door opens and Greg finds that Josh is nowhere around. He also gets a glimpse of his van rushing out of the Mortuary premises and thinks that Josh left without him. With the help of Christie, Greg manages to get out and then discusses the incident with her.Paul (Bill Paxton) is Mr. Andrews' son. He holds a silent but overwhelming obsession about Christie. He is not so bold to say this on her very face and is always uncomfortable to see Greg around her. Christie sympathizes with him because as a child Paul's family was a dysfunctional one and he was often punished by his parents. On silly mistakes his parents would lock him up with the dead bodies the horror of which gradually made Paul a psycho. Since nobody likes Paul due to his daft attitude, he usually finds solace in Christie who likes him the way he is. After Paul's mother (whom he loved dearly) committed suicide, Paul lost his mind and Dr. Parsons had suggested Mr. Andrews to put him in a mental asylum. Mr. Andrews, however, rejected his offer by telling him and the other community members that he alone can take care of Paul. Now a hooded figure with a white mask and a huge trocar is stalking Christie everywhere. Greg and Christie team up together to unfold the mystery behind those dramatic and illusionary episodes of stalking, which Eve strongly believes are the part and parcel of Christie's sleepwalking sessions. Their investigation leads them to Mr. Andrews' Mortuary where they may get all the answers they ever wanted.I fell in love with 'Mortuary' at once and it has now become a guilty pleasure of mine. I can't put my finger specifically on what I like most about this flick, but I guess it has been filmed in brilliant locations and the Gulls Way Estate is surely something I wouldn't like to visit in the dark! Moreover, the roller disco scene and the absolutely soothing track 'Be My Lover' that plays alongside gives it a nice nostalgic touch. Actors have acted well but David Wallace needed more space here to show his talents. The storyline doesn't have much scope for David's character and leaves many questions unanswered. Howard Avedis begins it nicely and also introduces some sub plots (séance and the witchcraft scenes) that ultimately wash out somewhere and are never harnessed. Bill Paxton is great as usual and the way he maintains his plain face is worth a look. Overall, 'Mortuary' is a good return on investment and one of the decent ways to get drowned in nostalgia of those years we call early 80s. Wonderful!!

"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.

Our care and dignity is important to someone.Christy's(Mary McDonough) father is smacked over the noggin with a baseball bat and she hasn't recovered from the death occurred by the blows. She sleepwalks and has nightmares about her father. Meanwhile Christy's mom, Eve Parsons(Lynda Day George) is performing a séance with the town's mortician, Hank Andrews(Christopher George) in the hopes of communicating with her dead husband. Meanwhile, Christy's boyfriend, Greg(David Wallace), seeks answers regarding his missing friend Josh(..who we saw murdered near the beginning while Greg was absent)and worries that it is somehow tied to a séance he was watching from within a secret room of the mortician's warehouse. Hank's son, Paul(Bill Paxton)works with him attending to the bodies prior to the funeral and is a little "off" because of the loss of his mother who attempted to commit suicide. We soon come to understand that the murdered Parson man was in fact linked to Paul and his mom, a psychiatric doctor who wanted to commit her so she couldn't harm herself further.Heavy breathing. Heart beats on the soundtrack. Lunatic, in need of psychiatric help, responsible for the film's limited body count, whose goal is to keep his obsession forever looking the same, through embalming. Plenty of 80's characteristics on display here, lacking enough gratuitous elements to really classify as a winner, I figure, in the hearts of slasher faithful..not a lot of nudity and the violent sequences really fail to deliver the goods. The killer's chief instrument of choice is a trocar used for embalming, with his costume a black cape and white mask. The psycho's identity is rather easy to discover(..the film goes out of it's way to tell us). The best thing about Mortuary is the fantastic poster art. Attractive mainly for the casting of Bill Paxton as unstable and goofy mortician's son in love with Christy, with support from Christopher George and wife Lynda Day George in minor roles as parents concerned for their kids(CG as the mortician, Lynda Day as Christy's mom). You do get an amusing "performance" for a new "family", set to Mozart as a wedding ceremony is being prepared, as those dead at the hands of the killer are gathered together to be "participants" of his supposed betrothal..it's all so morbid. We come to realize that someone considered "unhealthy" rises to seek revenge for the murder of her boy..it's a closing frame that punctuates the idea of a passage of psychosis from mother to son, and is only fitting that our couple not just walk away unscathed.RIP, CG.

Before your funeral...Before you are buried...Before you are covered with the last shovelful of dirt...Be sure you are really dead! Ha ha, wise words there by the marketing men behind MORTUARY. All joking aside, it's a very good bit of advice; I certainly would like to be absolutely certain I'M dead before I'm buried anywhere. MORTUARY is not a bad little '80's number. Pretty watchable; Mr George is as good as ever in what turned out to be, sadly, his final film, or cinematic epitaph. I liked the use of Mozart in this film; it helped soothe my jangling nerves during some of the more nastier moments. The only thing that really disturbed me about my MORTUARY viewing experience was how I woke up naked by the end credits; I have no idea how this happened as I was fully clothed when I fell asleep.