[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up]
Out April 20 via VOD, digital HD, DVD, and Blu-ray.
Written and directed by Ryan Spindell, the new horror anthology The Mortuary Collection stars Clancy Brown and Caitlin Custer in a collection of four tales of ever-expanding terror, surrounded by a frame story which weaves in and out of the installments themselves.
“Set in the phantasmagorical town of Raven’s End, nothing is as it seems…. In The Mortuary Collection, a misguided young girl takes refuge in a decrepit old mortuary. There she meets Montgomery Dark, an eccentric undertaker with more than a few skeletons in his closet. Montgomery chronicles the strange history of the town through a series of twisted tales, each more terrifying than the last, but the young girl’s world is unhinged when she discovers that the final story…is her own.”
The trek to get The Mortuary Collection made took five years, beginning with the last installment, “The Babysitter Murders,” which was originally crafted as a standalone, proof-of-concept short film in 2015. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Spindell and his crew of creators, the ensuing anthology was shot in Astoria, Washington and initially released as part of Fantastic Fest’s 2019 lineup. After a series of other festivals appearances, the movie now makes its way to VOD, digital HD, DVD, and Blu-ray courtesy of Shudder and RLJE Films.
Maybe it’s a little on-the-nose to have Custer’s Sam comment on the first tale as being a little underwhelming and Brown’s Dark respond by explaining that he’s just getting warmed up, but The Mortuary Collection starts off by walking, if not strolling, to be sure. We’re introduced to our main characters in the wraparound, which manages to homage Angus Scrimm’s Tall Man from Phantasm both in Dark’s appearance and the funeral home setting in one fell swoop, before heading into the first, quite-brief tale of a woman at a party who comes to an abrupt end. It’s clever, it’s fine, and it doesn’t overstay its tentacle-y welcome.
However, as The Mortuary Collection winds its way through the next two tales, “Unprotected” and “Till Death,” one wonders is Spindell might have overreached. The pair of stories manage to be both too short to really pack a punch, while also somewhat overlong. Both of them of elements of superb production design and practical effects – each being delightfully splattery in their execution – but the pacing repeatedly lurches back-and-forth between moving overly fast to dwelling on certain images, and neither feels satisfying, although the sheer messy audacity of “Unprotected” lends it enough charm with which to coast by.
“The Babysitter Murders,” though, is another matter entirely. One can see why Spindell and crew chose to use this piece as the one to which they staked to production of The Mortuary Collection: it’s tight, it’s focused, it twists and turns in unexpected ways, and looks amazing. It’s the perfect anthology segment, in that it fits into the framing wraparound superbly, while also standing as a fantastic short in its own right.
As a low-budget anthology, however, The Mortuary Collection succeeds more than it fails. While the pacing might not work all the time, the film clips by briskly and the performances are all head and shoulders above the usual unevenness of most collections such as this. Also, given the fact that many horror anthologies these days choose to use multiple directors, having this be Spindell’s vision from start to finish allows for a level of cohesiveness that really hasn’t been seen since Mike Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat in 2007.
The Blu-ray release of The Mortuary Collection has an astounding number of behind-the-scenes and making of featurettes, all of which go into great detail on every aspect of the production, be it costumes, special effects, design, or what have you. It really lets the viewer see just what tricks were required to bring Spindell’s film to life, and the sheer cleverness on display in these bonus features will really bring a new level of respect to what takes place on screen. To be quite honest, The Mortuary Collection looks like a major studio release, not the independent production which it truly is, and it’s all the more impressive for it.
Worth noting, though, is the fact that there’s no “play all” possibility for watching these bonus features, so be prepared to spend quite a while selecting each one and pressing play on them individually. It’s a minor annoyance, but still vaguely irritating as an oversight. That said, the deleted scenes provided some interesting context for the film’s original focus – replete with two characters who were removed entirely from the wraparound – and Spindell’s stories and commentary regarding the film make for an impressively robust glimpse at creating an independent, original, horror anthology.
The Mortuary Collection is available onVOD, digital HD, DVD, and Blu-ray courtesy of Shudder and RLJE Films beginning Tuesday, April 20.
Nick is a self-described “rock star journalist,” which is strange, considering he’s married with two kids and three cats. This is just further proof that you can’t trust anyone online. In addition to his work for Scene-Stealers, Nick can be found bitching about music elsewhere on the Internet at his blog, Rock Star Journalist, and as Music Editor for The Pitch.
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