Customer Reviews

Mortuary (1983) (1991 VHS)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A movie with a mortuary, a cult group and Bill Paxton is always worth watching. In this early work Paxton plays a geek that works as an embalmer at the local morgue, he enjoys Mozart and enjoys Christie (his childhood crush) even more. If his morbid job wasn't enough, his father owns the mortuary and in his free time does cult meetings with chanting and dances. His mother committed suicide when Paul (Bill Paxton ) was still a young boy and consequently he started seeing a shrink (Christie's father). That's when he first met Christie and as time goes by he becomes more and more detached of reality, wanting to marry her at any cost. Greg Stevens, Christie's boyfriend will have something to say about that.

Okay so this isn't the greatest film in the world. It's not even the greatest horror film, but fans of Bill Paxton have got to check out this movie. Paxton puts his all into making everyone of his characters entertaining and this film is no different. Bill really goes overboard with this character and it's a good thing because otherwise the movie would be pretty boring. I had to rewind one scene several times I was laughing so hard at Paxton's antics.

I found the movie good, nothing extraordinary nor original, it's not extremely graphic but it has enough blood spilling. The acting is good, so is the score. It has some genuine scary moments and a reasonable plot. The horror fans are likely to enjoy it, as I said initially, this has all the ingredients for a good horror movie.

Favorite Movie Quote: "He's got a little weird since his Mother committed suicide!"

I know this is telling my age but I am actually old enough to remember seeing this one at the local mall in 1983 with my mom. I was almost nine years old back then & I'm quite sure my mom was anything but thrilled with this film. Actually, I think she thought it was an ok film but simply believed that I was much too young to see it. Needless to say, I remembered the film fondly & even rented the VHS tape many moons ago. Mortuary was exactly the way I remembered it.

Fans of Bill Paxton SHOULD take note: This is perhaps one of his earliest roles & people who are familiar with his resume already know that Bill owns every role he accepts. This time, he really goes overboard with his character making this one of his most entertaining roles in my opinion. Paxton plays a geek who works for his father as an embabler in the local morgue, listens to Mozart, & fantasizes about the day he will marry his childhood crush Christy (Mary McDonough).

On the other hand, his father (played brilliantly by the late Christopher George) holds cult meetings where the members of his group chant & dance. Interesting family, eh? Ironically, Christy's mother also partakes in these bizarre meetings which could also suggest that she may also have some foul part in the recent murder.

Christy, however, has become obsessed with the recent tragic death of her father. As a result of this traumatic experience, she suffers from nightmares & sleepwalks. Convinced without a doubt that her father's death wasn't a mere accident, Christy is determined with the help of her boyfriend (David Wallace) to solve this mystery & to finally comes to terms with the truth. Naturally, no one buys her claims of a ghoulish paint-faced killer lurking in the shadows either & Christy begins to distrust everyone after discovering her mother belongs to a coven of witches.

Mortuary may not be the greatest slasher film of all-time but there some pretty incredible moments & decent performances from familiar faces both young or old. Trust me, there are quite a few creepy moments & even some rather cool death scenes which include embalming equipment. Fans of early 80's slasher flicks should give this one a try.

Sadly, this one is not yet available on DVD to the best of my knowledge but I'm hoping this will come to pass. In the meantime, you can probably rent it from the old-fashioned VHS rental stores or look for used VHS tapes on Ebay. I am shocked that Code Red, Anchor Bay, or Blue Underground have not already released this little gem as a North American DVD release is long overdue.

"Mortuary" is a rare horror movie to find. I rented this movie once from the local "Blockbuster" video store and I liked the scary scenes in the movie. If you as you are watching this movie you'll see some familiar faces in the movie. There is a young Bill Paxton in this movie, along with few others. If you are looking for a rare horror film to watch late at night with the lights off, this one is for you.