Mortuary (2005/I)

Director:

Tobe Hooper

Writers (WGA):

Jace Anderson (written by) &
Adam Gierasch (written by)

Release Date:

2005 (Australia)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

When the dead break free all hell breaks loose

Plot:

A family moves to a small town in California where they plan on starting a new life while running a long-abandoned funeral home. The locals fear the place, which is suspected to be on haunted ground.

Plot Keywords:

Funeral Home | Small Town | Haunted | Mortuary | Death

Cast

Dan Byrd	...	Jonathan Doyle
Denise Crosby	...	Leslie Doyle
Rocky Marquette	...	Grady
Stephanie Patton	...	Jamie Doyle
Alexandra Adi	...	Liz
Courtney Peldon	...	Tina
Bug Hall	...	Cal
Tarah Paige	...	Sara
Michael Shamus Wiles	...	Sheriff Howell
Adam Gierasch	...	Mr. Barstow
Price Carson	...	Bobby Fowler
Lee Garlington	...	Rita
Greg Travis	...	Eliot Cook
Christy Johnson	...	Dottie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joe Langer	...	Coroner
Paul G. Pagnini	...	Coroner's Assistant

Also Known As:

Six Feet Under (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, brief sexuality, nudity and language.

Runtime:

94 min | Philippines:90 min (cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Malaysia:18SG | Philippines:R-13 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Echo Bridge Entertainment

Trivia:

The quote carved on the vault's door, "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even death may die", is from H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Nameless City". It is supposedly a couplet by Abdul Alhazarred, fictional author of the Necronomicon.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jonathan, Liz, Tina and Grady are in the hallway after leaving the tunnel, Tina's hair is wavy, then frizzy, and then when they run in to the kitchen, her hair is wavy again

Quotes:

Sheriff Howell: Together we can stop the making of graveyard babies.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Inside the Graveyard (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Hashdealer

Despite the fungal content, it doesn't really grow on you.

Many horror fans may dislike Tobe Hooper's move away from outright nastiness a la "Texas Chainsaw" to more playful movies such as Poltergeist and, more recently, Toolbox Murders and now this light zombie effort. I actually enjoy his sense of fun and his way of toying with the audience. Unfortunately, some material needs more than that.

A mother and her two children move into a mortuary, where the mom hopes to make a decent living from the dead and the kids just want to avoid the overflowing septic tank and avoid seeing any movement between the graves at the rear of the house. The timing couldn't be worse though, thanks to a black fungus that somehow helps to resurrect the dead for no reason we are ever made aware of.

That's all there is to it. The cast is made up of just a few familiar faces and then the usual disposable teens, the tone is never dark or scary enough to please the fans seeking any genuine horror and the film often resorts to either numerous clichés or well signposted beats as the narrative moves forward.

The movie is nothing special but has some fun and is far from complete crap. I am surprised by the REALLY negative reviews here but many of the criticisms are valid. I, however, simply found this to be a passable slice of hokum that only really started falling out of my favour when some bad CGI appeared and the nonsense carried on just a little bit too long in the final act.

See this if you like: Masters Of Horror, Webs, Raiders Of The Damned.