Mortuary (I) (1983)

Convinced that her father's death was not accidental, a beautiful girl decides to investigate to find out the truth, aided by her boyfriend. Her sleuthing draws her to a local mortuary, where many secrets will be revealed.

Director:

Howard Avedis

Writers:

Howard Avedis, Marlene Schmidt

Stars:

Mary Beth McDonough, David Wallace, Bill Paxton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as Beth Schaffel)
Marlene Schmidt	...	Lois Stevens

Storyline

Christie Parson has constant nightmares of her father's death whom died in a swimming pool. Christie's mother thinks it was an accident, but Christie believes in was murder. Christie then sees a sinister hooded figure following her and harassing her. But still nobody believes her, except her boyfriend. Who is this hooded person actually?

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Plot Keywords:

rampage | nightmare | mortuary | satanic cult | investigation | 

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Taglines:

Where nobody rests in peace

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 September 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cementerio, el último paso

Filming Locations:

Gulls Way Estate - 26800 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hickmar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christopher George's final film.

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Quotes

Eve Parson: Christie, you've been... highly imaginative since your Father's death!
Christie Parson: [barking back] There was somebody out there... I saw him!... Somebody in a black cape trying to stab me!

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Connections

Referenced in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)

User Reviews

Well made horror film

Howard Avedis, better known for directing sleazy erotic thrillers, tries his hand at horror and does a rather decent job. He gets plenty help from a capable cast (with a few notable exceptions) and screenwriter Marlene Schmidt, who appeared in a few of his earlier films. MORTUARY follows the life of tortured college girl Mary McDonough whose father was killed in an unfortunate accident. Mary seems to be the only person who thinks her old man was murdered and when her jockish bore of a boyfriend spots her mother at a seance, he feels Mary's mommy (Lynda Day George) may be a bit of a Satanist.

The film's title comes from the place where much of the shady doings and bumps in the night occur--the local mortuary. Lynda Day George attends seances there because the head of her cult is Christopher George, the mortuary manager. He is grooming his son, Bill Paxton, who has more than a schoolboy crush on Mary, to take over the family business. The boy seems too preoccupied with chasing Mary around and embalming hot blonds than taking his job seriously. Thngs begin to stir up when a cloaked figure begins chasing Mary around. Mary thinks her father's killer is coming to finish off the family.

STORY: $$$ (Marlene Schmidt pens a slightly better than average script here. There are some plot turns and some nifty devices but nothing too influential. One of the main questions the script puts forth is what Lynda is doing at these bizarre cloaked rituals. Is she trying to communicate with the dead or is she Satan's slave? Marlene's script could have played with Lynda's cult a little more to add to the suspense, but the suspense really wasn't lacking. This was a rather good screenplay--B-Rate horror standards).

ACTING: $$$ (The acting is pretty good all the way around, with the notable exception of the blond jock that played Mary McDonough's boyfriend. The guy wasn't convincing and seemed clueless as to what to do on screen when he didn't have any lines. It's no shock that I haven't seen that guy in anything else. Mary McDonough is fine in the lead building a sympathetic character and Chritopher George and his real life wife Lynda Day are fine as always in their supporting roles. Lynda gets to play a more sassy role; quite in contrast to her more delicate female roles in flicks like ANTS. But the movie belongs to Bill Paxton who slam dunks his role of a socially awkward mortuary attendant. It was quite clear that Mr. Paxton was well on his way to bigger and better things).

NUDITY: $$$ (Since this was helmed by Howard "Let's See Some Boobs" Avedis, there is a sprinkling on nudity throughout the film. Paxton embalms a pretty blond early in the film and Mary McDonough has a romp with her boyfriend before her extended nude scene in which Paxton plans to embalm her. The buxom Lynda Day George keeps herself under wraps but does offer some titillation with a lowcut nightgown that displays the type of cleavage all men wish their wives had).