The Mortuary Collection

I have watched SO many absolutely awful horror movies on Amazon Prime and Netflix that I was anticipating "The Mortuary Collection" to be another cheesy stinker with enough plot holes to drive a Polaris submarine through. I have rarely been so delighted to be wrong.

I've always liked Clancy Brown, and he plays the mortician character, Montgomery Dsrk, with an affable, quirky aplomb. Caitlin Custer absolutely nails it with her performance as a young woman who has supposedly come to apply for a job opening for mortuary assistant.

If you enjoyed the old HBO "Tales from the Crypt" series... which I did... you will very likely enjoy "The Mortuary Collection". It isn't perfect, but it is well worth a watch.

Ok in an effort to keep this short as possible I had a longer review pointing out that this film has pretty much been done before. I mean c'mon how many set-ups can you use for an anthology horror movie before you need to rehash older themes. How many times has the funeral director/ crypt-keeper/ grave-digger/ pathologist/ mad-scientist ect. telling horror stories thing been done? Countless, right?

But, one thing those others didn't necessarily have was.... Clancy Brown, if the name doesn't ring a bell think of the hardest screw in Shawshank. Yeah, that Clancy Brown. And he is fantastic as a very low-key yet perfectly gnarly old funeral director.

So, does having one of the arguably finest character actors of our time (maybe even all time) save this movie from the horror movie scrap-heap? No it does not. In fact, it didn't need saving, yeah Clancy Brown is as always great in this but, he's just the cherry on top of this pretty damn good little collection of horror stories. Admittedly there's nothing particularly new here but.... So flipping what!! Its a fun horror movie. There's some twists, jumps, laughs and more than enough blood and gore to satisfy even the more jaded horror fans out there.

Looking for new blood to add to this years creepy crawly movie binge? The Mortuary Collection is one of the better new offerings for Halloween 2020

Horror anthology that is decent in its presentation but pulls more for a black humor element. Nothing too frightening, but it does have its moments of moderate bloody moments. Somewhat standard setting to tell the tales. Enjoyable but nothing new or spectacular.

A creepy ol mortician manages a very strange mortuary all alone until a young woman shows interest in working in the mortuary for the mortician. The mortician tells the young apprentice a series of stories about those that have died in the town.

The first seg is set in the 50s n the location is the restroom with enuff suspense, tension n mayhem.

The second seg is set in the 60s n showcases the horrors of not wearing a condom. It is funny, gross n has a big wtf end.

The third seg is set in the 70s n is about a depressed and devoted husbad taking care of his comatose wife. It is surrealistic, gory n has two very lol scenes, elevator hand scene n the doc cutting off the phone.

The fourth seg is about a psycho on the loose targeting babysitters n kids. It is a bit heavy cos of child at peril stuff, very violent n has a good twist.

The wrap-around story is predictable though.

I wasn't expecting too much from this movie as I normally find short stories a bit disappointing. Sometimes you just don't get enough from a short story, but in this case I have to admit they were all well made and interesting to follow. The acting was good and that from all the actors in the different stories. The special effects and the make-up for the creeps and monsters, it was all done very professionally and they deserve credits for that. The Mortuary Collection is perfect for amateurs of Tales From The Crypt but it will also please people that just like a good horror tale with decent special effects.