When Dr. George Parson (Danny Rogers) died, his teenage daughter, Christie (Mary Beth McDonough) found his body floating in the pool. She took it hard. His death was ruled an accident, but Christie believes he was murdered. Her mother, Eve (Lynda Day George) believes the accident story. Christie’s boyfriend is Greg Stevens (David Wysocki). He tries to support her. Christie begins having nightmares and has started sleepwalking. One night she walks into the pool and wakes herself up. As she is returning to the house she sees someone dressed in a black robe wearing a mask. The cloaked person tries to attack her, but she manages to get away and run back into the house. Her mother thinks it was all part of her dream.
Greg and his friend, Josh (Denis Mandel), are at a warehouse owned by Hank Andrews (Christopher George). Hank owns the local mortuary and has fired Josh. Believing he is due some money, Josh decides to take a couple tires from the warehouse. While there, the pair sees Hank, Eve and several other people dressed in black robes and having what appears to be a séance. Josh walks away to get his tires. While in another part of the warehouse he is attacked and killed by someone in a black robe and wearing a mask. When Greg goes looking for Josh, he is nowhere to be found. Greg looks out the window and sees his van pull out of the parking lot. Believing that Josh took the van, Greg calls Christie to help him look for Josh. Eventually they find the van, but no Josh.
Paul Andrews (Bill Paxton) goes to school with Greg, Josh and Christie. Paul’s father owns the mortuary, and Paul works for his father, which creeps out most girls. Paul is nerdy and has a crush on Christie. Christie is polite to Paul and feels a little sorry for the guy. Paul tells Greg that Sheriff Duncan (Bill Conklin) was at the mortuary asking questions about Josh. Later Greg and Christie see Eve and Hank talking. They follow them to the mortuary where they see another séance taking place. During the séance Christie learns that they are trying to contact her father in the afterlife.
With strange things going on at the mortuary, Greg starts to believe that something weird is going on. He begins to believe that Christie’s life is in danger. He has no idea how much danger she is in or what horrors lie ahead for all of them.
“Mortuary” was released I 1983 and was directed by Howard Avedis. It is an American slasher style horror film.
This movie showcases that, even when he was young, Bill Paxton showed a lot of talent as a manic scene stealer. He’s probably the best part of the movie. Other than that, it proves to be an average slasher film with some plot holes, some barely there subplots, and a predictable flow. Still, the movie has some nice horror scenes and there’s more of a point to it than the usual slasher film. It’s not great but it’s not all that bad either. It doesn’t have a big body count, but it does have some rather bloody scenes and a little nudity to keep your interest.
This was one of the last films done by Christopher George. He died soon after the film was released. Technically, he had three films released in 1982, but “Mortuary” was the last film he did. Christopher George and Lynda Day George were married in real life.