Mortuary (1983/I)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Howard Avedis

Writer:

Howard Avedis (writer)

Release Date:

2 September 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Before your funeral...Before you are buried...Before you are covered with the last shovelful of dirt...Be sure you are really dead!

Plot:

A mortician's son who is in love with his shrink's daughter, goes on a killing rampage to the the sounds of Mozart.

Plot Keywords:

Satanic Cult | Nightmare | Mortuary | Rampage | Violence

Cast

Mary Beth McDonough	...	Christie Parson (as Mary McDonough)
David Wallace	...	Greg Stevens
Bill Paxton	...	Paul Andrews
Lynda Day George	...	Eve Parson
Christopher George	...	Hank Andrews
Curt Ayers	...	Jim
Bill Conklin	...	Sheriff Duncan
Donna Garrett	...	Mrs. Andrews
Greg Kaye	...	Mark
Denis Mandel	...	Josh
Violet Manes	...	Mortuary Customer
Alvy Moore	...	Bob Stevens
Danny Rogers	...	Dr. Parson
Beth Scheffell	...	Bonnie
Marlene Schmidt	...	Lois Stevens

Also Known As:

Embalmed (UK)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Iceland:16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Artists Releasing Corporation (ARC)

Trivia:

Christopher George's final film.

Quotes:

Christie Parson: Hey Boogeyman- let's boogie!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: Mortuary" (2001)

Even before playing the lovable Chet in "Weird Science"....

(**1/2 out of *****) In spite of some mediocre acting and a somewhat rambling storyline, this tasteless sickie has enough suspenseful and shocking scenes here and there to at least make it interesting. Christopher George (who was in several of these kinds of movies around this time) runs the title establishment, where he holds seances with community mothers and yells at his son (Bill Paxton!) for taking too long to embalm the cadavers. Mary Beth McDonough (from "The Waltons") plays a sleepwalking teenager who witnesses her father's murder (although no one believes her), and George's real-life wife, Lynda Day (who was in the awful "Pieces" with her hubby in the same year), plays her mother. Oh, and there's a creepy, pale-faced killer in a hood and cape running around stabbing and draining people with a large embalming needle. There are gratuitously prolonged shots of needles piercing stomachs, but there are also some genuine scares and a pretty good climax. Plus, you get Bill Paxton (who deserves the credit for this movie's two and a half stars) in an early, over-the-top performance, before he toned down for big-budget blockbusters (and yawn fests) like "Twister" and "Titanic." David Wallace plays McDonough's blonde-haired, beef-cake boyfriend, and, supposedly, Michael Berryman (from "The Hills Have Eyes") is in this thing, but I'll be damned if I spotted him.

HIGHLIGHT: Paxton, with full manic glee, conducts an imaginary Mozart symphony with an audience of dead bodies slumped in chairs behind him (the climaxes of both "Happy Birthday To Me" and "Madhouse" -- also ‘81 slasher films -- are curiously similar. I guess homicidal maniacs love an audience, dead or alive.)