Funeral Home (1980)

A young woman arrives at her grandmother's house, which used to be a funeral home, to help her turn the place into a bed-and-breakfast inn. After they open, however, guests begin disappearing or turning up dead.

Director:

William Fruet

Writer:

Ida Nelson (screenplay)

Stars:

Kay Hawtrey, Lesleh Donaldson, Barry Morse

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kay Hawtrey	...	Maude Chalmers (as Kay Hawtry)
Lesleh Donaldson	...	Heather
Barry Morse	...	Mr. Davis
Dean Garbett	...	Rick Yates
Stephen E. Miller	...	Billy Hibbs (as Stephen Miller)
Alf Humphreys	...	Joe Yates (as Alfred Humphreys)
Peggy Mahon	...	Florie
Harvey Atkin	...	Harry Browning
Robert Warner	...	Sheriff (as Bob Warner)
Jack Van Evera	...	James Chalmers
Les Rubie	...	Sam
Doris Petrie	...	Ruby
Bill Lake	...	Frank
Brett Matthew Davidson	...	Young Rick (as Brett Davidson)
Christopher Crabb	...	Teddy (as Chris Crabb)

Storyline

An old funeral parlor now converted into a tourist home during certain periods such as the summer, develops a problem, when a escaped mental patient with a split personality moves in and proceeds to do away with those specific/certain guests or staff, he/she feels are nosy or immoral.

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Plot Keywords:

small town | black cat | undertaker | slasher | car falling off a cliff | 

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Taglines:

They were warned... they were all warned... don't go down to the cellar.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lesleh Donaldson also starred in Curtains (1983) another horror movie filmed in Canada with Sandra Warren a.k.a. Sandee Currie who played Jamie Lee Curtis' best friend in Terror Train (1980).

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Goofs

The film is set in the U.S., but there is a Canadian flag displayed prominently in front of a public building.

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Quotes

Heather: Rick, what would you say if I said I thought I'd heard voices coming from the basement?

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Connections

Referenced in The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees (2002)

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Soundtracks

Onward, Christian Soldiers
(uncredited)
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by Sabine Baring-Gould

User Reviews

Where was this one when I was a kid watching cable TV?

I just watched Funeral Home and keep wondering why I've never seen it before now. It's a 1980 horror flick that's a little above average for its budget. What I mean to say is that it fits right in there with the horror films during the time, the ones that had fairly decent acting and good enough scripts. Why didn't I ever see this on cable TV back in the day? I recognized actress Lesleh Donaldson playing Heather, remembered her from the films Happy Birthday to Me and Curtains. Now those two movies played on cable all the time back then. Also, recognized the one cop played by Alf Humphreys from My Bloody Valentine. Funeral Home is a decent horror movie, especially having been made in 1980. It does mirror Hitchcock's Psycho in certain plot aspects and in its build up, but it's still distinct enough, I think. There's not a lot of action, blood spraying everywhere, but it has a creepy atmosphere in which the setting is believable. Holds the attention. I really thought the ending was clever with the credits rolling and the movie still playing. Liked the dialogue at the end between the cop and the old woman. Funeral Home should be in every horror collector's arsenal.

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 August 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Funeral Home

Filming Locations:

Elora Quarry Conservation Area, Elora, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD1,400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), The Incident at North Hampton Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1