MORTUARY (1983)
Label: MVD Rewind Collection
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R
Duration: 93 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Howard Avedis
Cast: Mary Beth McDonough, David Wallace, Bill Paxton, Lynda Day George, Christopher George
Teenager Christie Parsons (Mary Beth McDonough, of TV's The Waltons) is convinced that her father's death by drowning in the family pool was no accident, even though her mother Eve (Lynda Day George, Pieces) insists as much. She suspects that her mother is hiding a secret and is perhaps attempting to drive her insane for some reason. She is also suspects that her mother is dating another man, only a month after her father's death.
Meanwhile Christie's boyfriend Greg (David Wallace, Humongous) and his pal sneak into the warehouse of a local mortuary looking to steal some tires, as revenge for his friend recently being fired from the mortuary. While there they spy the mortuary owner, Hank Andrews (Christopher George, Grizzly), down in warehouse basement performing some sort of occultish looking ceremony with a group of cloaked people, including Christie's mother! After Greg's buddy goes missing at the mortuary he teams up with his girlfriend for some Nancy Drew/Scooby-Doo styled sleuthing, to get to the bottom of her father's death and his friends disappearance. Also happening, a cloaked figure in ghoulish make-up is stalking Christie, which is compounded by her habit of sleepwalking around her property at night, including some late-night dips in the pool.
This is a weird one, I remember seeing it the first time some years ago and not being terribly impressed by it, it was very clunky. Subsequent viewing have improved, it has atmosphere and creepiness to spare, but it's often tonally at odds with itself, most of this coming by way of highschool weirdo Paul (Bill Paxton, Aliens), the offbeat son of mortuary owner Mr. Andrews. Paul works at the mortuary with his dad, and he's been a little bit off since his mother killed herself, and he's got a not-so-secret crush on Christie.
The movie does a truly terrible job of withholding who the cloaked culprit is, and I would dare say you will know who it is within the first twenty-minutes of the film. That definitely stunts the suspense of it all but the more I watch this one the more I have developed a soft spot for the wonky chiller. The white-faced killer in a cloak has a very Scream-esque Ghost Face vibe about it, and the killer's weapon of choice is quite interesting, using a trocar, an elongated steel needle used for embalming which the murderer repeatedly stabs victims with, which further clues you into the terribly hidden culprit.
The Malibu mansion overlooking the ocean where Christie and her mother live offers some pleasing late-night visuals with some moody late-night lighting, and the cloaked figure stalking Christie certainly looks creepy when assisted by some attractive cinematography from Gary Graver. It's a well-shot film and it's complimented by a terrific electronic and orchestral score from John Cacavas (The Satanic Rites of Dracula). The more offbeat stuff comes by way of Bill Paxton's creepy teenager Paul, whose encounters with his crush Christie are awkward to say the least, particularly a run-in at the cemetery, where he exits the scene by skipping goofily through the graveyard! It's always great to see real-life acting couple Linda Day George and Christopher George together in a flick, and this turned out to be Christopher Georges last film before he died in '83 from a heart-attack. Honestly, it's not much of a role, but he has a few fun lines like " I could run things smoother if people died between 9 to 5".
Shortcomings aside I dig the Scooby-Doo vibe and the clunky weirdness of this one, it has a made-for-TV vibe but is peppered with moments of mild bloody gore, and an unhinged dead-man's party finale that channels both Happy Birthday To Me and another flick that also starred the Georges, the Spanish slasher Pieces, with a weird potentially supernatural resurrection scene with a freeze-frame finish. Add to that the voyueristic joy of early 80's hair and fashions, and a scene at a roller-skating rink set to disco-music with plenty of short-shorts, disco balls and shiny sequins, and you have an offbeat slasher that might not be great, but it's quite entertaining.
Audio/Video: Mortuary (1983) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from the MVD Rewind Collection in 1080p HD and is framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. The flick was previously issued on Blu-ray by Scorpion Releasing in 2014, and this release looks to be the same remastered scan that was sourced from the internegative. The image has plenty of natural looking film grain with some nice texture to it with some pleasing color highlights by way of the red and greens that pop-up. Black levels are solid throughout, though grain can be a bit heavy, so we lose some definition inthe shadows, but overall this is a great looking presentation. The film was shot by cinematographer Gary Graver, who had a storied career, working with directors like Al Adamson, Roger Corman and even Orson Welles, as well as directing a bunch of porno flicks under the pseudonym Robert McCallum.
Audio comes by way of uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue comes through nicely and without issue, and the score from prolific TV composer John Cacavas (Horror Express) sounds terrific, a mix of eerie electronics and evocative string arrangements, adding quite a bit of atmosphere to the offbeat chiller. You can detect a bit of hiss on the track from time to time, but I thought it was quite minimal and non-intrusive. The Scorpion disc offered mono by way of DTS-HA MA, and I could not detect any notable differences between it and MVD's LPCM mono track, but I give MVD the upper-hand as they offer subtitles, where the Scorpion release did not.
No new extras, but we get an archival interview with composer John Cacavas conducted by Nathaniel Thompson of Mondo Digital. Unfortunately Cacavas doesn't seem to remember much about the specifics of composing for this or any of his other films, commenting that he was doing so many pictures they all sort of blended together. Interviewer Thompson does his level best to keep the interview on track though, prompting conversation about Horror Express and the scores her did for the Airport films, his relationships with Jerry Goldsmith and Henry Mancini, and how he's written books on music composition.
We also get a 3-minute trailer for the film, which sadly is not the weird trailer starring Michael Barryman (The Hills Have Eyes) that appeared on the Scorpion release, which actually has nothing to do with the actual film itself, advertising the movie as a zombie flick. There are also 10-minutes of trailers for other MVD titles, including Tobe Hooper's Mortuary, which has nothing to do with this film.
The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated movie poster, which is replicated on the limited edition slipcover which has a cool-looking faux VHS rental tape wear complete with damage marks, and a 'Be Kind Rewind' and "Movie Melt' warning stickers. The disc itself is standard-issue MVD white background with black lettering. Inside there's a limited edition to the first-pressing mini-poster of the illustrated artwork. Both the slip and the wrap features a numbered spine, this being #28 in the MVD Rewind Collection line-up.
While this is not an A/V upgrade by any means if you already own the 2014 Blu-ray from Scorpion, it still has plenty of shelf appeal by way of the limited edition slipcover and mini-poster, it is a very handsome release in that regard.
Special Features:
- Interview with Composer John Cacavas (15 min)
- Mortuary Trailer (3 min)
MVD Trailers: The House on Sorority Row (3 min), Dahmer (2 min), Mikey (2 min), One Dark Night (2 min), Mortuary (2 min)
- Collectible Mini-Poster (First Pressing Only)
- Limited Edition Retro Slip Cover (First Pressing Only)
Mortuary (1983) is more weird fun than it is a great slasher, but I dig it quite a bit and love that MVD are keeping it in circulation for fans that have not yet snagged it on Blu-ray. The offbeat vibe and atmospheric visuals make for an entertaining watch, and it's great to see the late Bill Paxton looking so young in a cheesy 80's slasher film, having also appeared in Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker and the made-for-TV slasher Deadly Lessons before launching into a huge Hollywood career, plus we get the Georges together onscreen one last time.
Screenshots from the MVD Blu-ray (Spoilers):
