Cérémonie Mortelle

I think perhaps you know your film is in trouble when you have to disguise it as something it is not. The cover on the video cassette when we rented this movie read, " Before your funeral, before that last shovel of earth is put over you...make sure you are really dead." That sounds intriguing. This makes me think I am going to watch a film about some sick b**tard who is going to attack (whoever) and then attempt to bury them alive. That sounds interesting to me, more than that, it sounds like a great premise for a horror film. But as I watched the film, I kept waiting for something, anything to happen. But it never does. And that is unfortunate because there are some great elements to the film that could lend it the credibility it needs to reach cult status. Bill Paxton has one of his first starring roles, you have the husband and wife team of Lynda and Christopher George and you have a good premise. What this film does not have is execution.

The film begins on a promising note. A man is murdered in his backyard in broad daylight. Next, two friends enter a warehouse to collect some tires that one says his former boss owes him. They begin to hear voices and decide to check them out. They end up seeing what looks to be a black magic ritual and leading this ritual is one of the kid's former boss. His name is Hank Andrews and played by Christopher George, he is ripe with suspicion from the outset. Is he the killer? He could be since he is performing the mumbo-jumbo with a bunch of ladies dressed in black cloaks.

Soon the boys separate and then one of them dies, without the other knowing. This sets up the rest of the film where everyone is trying to figure out what the hell is going on. We are introduced to Bill Paxton as the mortician's son and then there are the usual players in the hero and the heroine.

The problem with this film is that it is not scary enough for horror purists, not nearly enough gore for a film about embalmment and another major problem with the film is it tells you who the killer is about an hour into the film and then for the last half hour all you have is the hero trying to stop him. I don't mean to be cynical but even an episode of Scooby Doo doesn't reveal the villain until the final two minutes of the show. I think this ruins the film because up until that point I wasn't thrilled with the film but I wasn't bored either. But the last half hour of the film is just the killer playing Mozart and talking to his victims he is about to kill while they are in a catatonic state. I don't see how the director could possibly see this as interesting, freaky, scary or entertaining. There are just too many plots cavities to make this a real cheesy classic like some of the other horror quickies that were offered to us in the early 80's.

There are some good elements to the film, one of them being the music and the other being Bill Paxton's performance as a mortician's son who just happens to be a couple cans short of a six pack. First, the music reminded me of Friday the 13th overtures and it worked quite effectively here. The few times that there was a little tension in the film the music contributes nicely to it. I cannot say it is on par with some of the greats like Halloween, but it certainly isn't a nuisance. Secondly, Bill Paxton is just about the finest thing in this mess of a film. I know there are many people out there that happen to think that Bill Paxton is one of the most under-appreciated actors working today (I am one of them). Here he gets to ham it up for the camera. He has a few memorable scenes which some of the other reviewers have commented on. There is a scene that has him running through a cemetery with flowers in his hand that had me cracking up. Also his final few scenes where is talking to himself, you can see he is doing is absolute best to pull off what the screenwriters have doomed him to say, and he almost does it without looking like a complete idiot. Bill Paxton is a credit to the film and without him it may not even be as good as it is.

All in all Mortuary is a waste of time. Many films tried to cash in on the horror craze of the 80's and this was one of them. There is really nothing to remember about this film as it created more levity surrounding it than sheer terror. And although that is not it's only problem, it is a major one. There are some very good cheeseball horror films that have entered my V.C.R. Some of those include The Prey, The Burning, The Forest and The Beast Within just to name a few. These are the types of films that aren't going to win any Oscar's but they will grace the pages of Fangoria. And although you may find Mortuary in one of the back issues, even they would have to admit that this is an unfortunate misfire.

5.5 out of 10--It receives a passing grade because of the eerie music and Bill Paxton.

A movie with a mortuary, a cult group and Bill Paxon is always worth watching. In this early work Paxon 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 dances and chantings. His mother committed suicide when Paul (Bill Paxon) 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.

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 condiments for a good horror movie.

After her father's mysterious death Christy suffers from sleepwalking and night terrors.Making things worse,no one beliefs her claims of a ghoul faced killer lurking in the shadows.When she learns her mother is in a coven of witches,Christy begins to distrust everyone in her life.It's up to Christy's boyfriend to save her from the hands of crazed embalmer played by Bill Paxton,who looks like black metal musician.Fairly decent slasher flick with several jolts of suspense and gruesome deaths.Not a lot of blood and gore,but plenty of breasts both living and cadaver to enjoy.The ending is kind of quick after all the build up,but it is also pretty surprising.Fans of early 80's slasher flicks should give this one a try.

Mortuary (aka Embalmed) is one of a number of American horror movies made around this time that feature places involved in the funeral business, Phantasm, One Dark Night and Mausoleum being a few other examples. It was made during the Golden Age of the Slasher Movie but sadly the only thing golden on offer here is Bill Paxton's enjoyable performance, he plays the son of a funeral director and he likes listening to Mozart, skipping through graveyards and has an unhealthy obsession with a girl called Christie. She is played by Mary Beth McDonough and I found her performance fairly wooden. The movie also stars Christopher George (in his final film role) and his real life wife, the very attractive Lynda Day George. Although primarily a slasher movie the plot does throw in a cult led by C George which appears to be a mix of black magic and seances, pretty pointless but fun to watch, especially the wobbly, moving table! We get the usual, cliche thunderstorms at night and the identity of the killer is so obvious though he does look very creepy, there was not a great deal of gore on show (could be that the Hokushin VHS release that I watched was possibly cut) but we do get some nudity. I liked the creepy musical score, and having some Mozart for the end credits was cool. As a slasher fan I found it to be reasonably enjoyable but it is only a rather minor entry.

ARC, Artists Releasing Corporation, stands behind yet another film from the early '80's as a distribution company. These were the same guys responsible for releasing 1981's Incubus followed up by another Slasher in 1982 entitled Pieces (aka Mil gritos tiene la noche). This title falls in line with the familiar Slasher recipe, one of which you've seen quite often.

The story opens with two friends, Greg and Josh, that travel to the local mortuary; a point of employment before Josh was unexpectedly fired. While breaking and entering, the two men notice a strange ritual taking place in the lower levels of the establishment. The two are eventually separated long enough for Josh to be brutally murdered by the hands of a black-hooded fiend who dons white facial powder and black makeup. Greg quickly escapes and notices his van, which is parked outside, drive off; causing him to believe that Josh left without him. He manages to escape with the help of his girlfriend, Christie Parson, who is still mourning the supposed accidental death of her father. The young couple attempt to fit the pieces of the puzzle together by inspecting overlooked details. Periodically they are met by the mortuary owner's son, Paul Andrews (a 28-year-old Bill Paxton). Paul has an obvious crush on Christie but due to his awkward disposition and banal persona he is denied outright. With various clues to throw you off the beaten path you are left to decide the identity of the killer along with his modus operandi.

In my opinion, there are two different types of Slasher films. The first and most common would be the "whodunit" film where the murderer plays a role in the group that's methodically killed during the course of the story. Usually the audience is led down false channels to divert their attention of who the killer really is. The motive is usually jealousy or rejection but almost always caused by psychotic tendencies. The second type of Slasher film involves more of a rudimentary approach; a crazed, anonymous individual is on the loose, savagely butchering the "fish in the barrel" as it were, until finally a plot detail is uncovered and some connection can be drawn. Of all the Slasher films I've seen (I've seen over 25 from the 1980's alone), these formulas, sometimes even a combination of the two, are almost always represented in some way or another. Mortuary adheres to the first equation I mentioned: a group of actors are introduced, certain characters show up at convenient times, and the true villain is revealed.

One of the biggest problems with Mortuary is that it starts off well enough by building a dash of suspense and intrigue; a well done approach and clever contrivance that'll serve as a platform for merriment rather than sensory detainment. Okay...so why is this a problem? Well, it's not long before the film starts loosing momentum and the competent devices aforementioned start abandoning ship faster than the crew of a sinking vessel. This occurs instantly when Mortuary decides to take it upon itself to reveal the killer halfway through the story, ruining the shocking outcome you were hoping for.

As the sub-title of my review indicates, Mortuary attempts to seduce you with its impressive-looking box art but unfortunately the story doesn't play up to what you'd expect. In fact, you'd be doing yourself a great service if you choose not to even acknowledge the artwork and that's a sad state of affairs coming from me. Unfortunately, you're here on IMDb and undoubtedly examined it anyway, thus rendering my warning useless and all for naught. The presentation and graphical layout of a film's box art is essential to all movie-goers; the experience is not exclusive to fans of the horror genre. I believe that since this genre can be credited with visual expressiveness more than 50% of the time the accurate depiction of the film via artwork is a crucial step in forming our first impression. Shame on you Mortuary! Your adept use of artistry on the front cover holds dominion over our judgement! How dare you!

In closing, I thought it'd be decent of me to rate Mortuary fairly. Although I chose not to discuss in explicit detail the musical score, it's wonderful and a joy to listen to. It's a prime example of what a suspenseful chiller should employ to elevate or enhance the apprehensive sequences that follow. The acting just simply "gets the job done" along with an above-average lighting approach that heavily compliments a rich set construction. If the portions discussed precendently chose to pan out differently I may have loved this film - sadly, it's quite content on subsisting in the mid-ranged array of films that comprise my vault of horror.