THE MORTUARY COLLECTION (2019) Reviews and new behind-the-scenes video

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The Mortuary Collection was released on Blu-ray via Shudder/RLJ Entertainment on April 20th 2021. The disc features over two hours of special features.

‘Every corpse has a story’

The Mortuary Collection is a 2019 American horror anthology film about a mortician that presents four stories about death. Written and directed by Ryan Spindell, the movie stars Clancy Brown, Caitlin Custer, Christine Kilmer, Jacob Elordi and Ema Horvath.

Plot:

When a young woman attends a funeral in an old mortuary, she stumbles upon a secret room full of curiosities where she meets the towering, ominous mortician. He guides her through his collection, sharing four stories of wild, unique, and memorable deaths.

Each of the four stories brings us into a fully realized, impeccably designed period piece, moving chronologically from the 1950s through the 1980s.

A ‘50s housewife struggles with a mysterious presence in her bathroom; a ‘60s college boy gets a taste of his own fraternizing medicine, and a ‘70s husband makes some tough decisions about his wife — all culminating in the ‘80s-set The Babysitter Murders.

Reviews:

“It’s probably the best portmanteau horror I’ve seen. It’s beautifully shot, for starters. Each segment has its own unique personality, whilst steadily building up to the finale. The verbal swordplay between Custer and Brown is much more than just a sideshow as well. The Mortuary Collection is great fun.” Backseat Mafia

“At its core, The Mortuary Collection is a fun and entertaining anthology. While some narrative beats are too familiar, Spindell’s clever direction, the compelling art and production design and the lead performances by Brown and Fisher make this an easy sell.” Bloody Disgusting

” …The Mortuary Collection is a must-see for fans of horror, dark humor, and most importantly anthologies. It’s been a while since we’ve gotten an anthology film that truly understands the importance of storytelling, on both the small scale and the large, but this film corrects that. It’s simultaneously a fairy tale and a deep dark horror.” But Why Tho?

“Beautiful, twisted, and dark, The Mortuary Collection is a masterpiece of horror fiction and one that will infect the hearts and minds of any fear seekers ready to give it a watch. Ryan Spindell has built a horrific world that is as mesmerizing and it is shocking. For anyone that loves a bloody journey that never takes itself too seriously, add The Mortuary Collection to your must-watch list, you won’t be disappointed.” CGM Backlot

The Mortuary Collection is frightening, but it’s also damn funny! A key component of softening the horror impact is by approaching every strange and twisted tale with a great sense of humor. It’s silly… and smart. Horror has always been inherently political, especially when it comes to social and gender commentary. The Mortuary Collection does not dwell on this aspect of horror, but it certainly understands it.” Daily Dead

The Mortuary Collection only slows because someone couldn’t be convinced to edit out everything unnecessary. Yet the 80% or so that is essential stays hot with frights, fun, and flair, marking The Mortuary Collection as an overall outstanding horror anthology, especially when put up against contemporary indie peers.” Culture Crypt

“Spindell flexes so many various horror muscles, branching into different sub-genres, and yet all of the tales feel cohesive to one another. The benefit of a singular creative ensures that no story feels at odds with the world Spindell crafts and flawlessly avoids feeling like a filler segment. Though to claim the film only succeeds due to a single voice would dismiss the rarity that is Spindell’s irreplicable talent.” Cultured Vultures

“The film itself isn’t a period piece, but Spindell turns it into a timeless act of old school horror filmmaking. He’s a nostalgia artist who deigns to look beyond the neon-soaked ‘80s paradigm (or the faux-gritty ‘70s aesthetic before it.) Everything about the film drips of a Golden Age design […] It makes for a luxurious looking act of  kitschy horror joy.” Daily Grindhouse

“There are some unexpected, ironic, and clever moments in The Mortuary Collection that reveal Spindell’s creativity, but there are also some cringe-worthy low points. Aside from the predictable and unoriginal dialogue between Sam and Monty, which remains the largest problem in the film, The Mortuary Collection is successful in creating something bizarre, nostalgic, and fun.” Elements of Madness

“Some stories play simply as footnotes from Montgomery Dark jumping straight into the action, whereas others are given the time they need to properly breathe. There’s an odd complementary structure to them as well, with each story fitting into the usual beats of a linear narrative.” The Hollywood News

The Mortuary Collection is a fun movie to vedge out to. It’s got everything a good horror movie should have, action, an interesting story, lots of gore, and the movie looks good while accomplishing it. I highly recommend that you check it out for yourself.” Horror Fuel

” …the stories don’t vary in quality, as is the case which some modern anthology films. I believe this is because one writer and director is in charge of the stories, and those stories share a common thread that weaves them together. When a story needs to go for a scare, it goes for a scare. When a laugh is needed we get it.” Horror News

“Sometimes horror doesn’t have to be completely serious for it to be good. The Mortuary Collection is aware that its premise is cheesy and overdone, and it makes fun of itself at times. You will not like this movie if you take it 100% seriously, but I think that’s true of all things in life. Kick back, get a drink, and learn to take things less seriously.” Horror Obsessive

“As Montgomery Dark states in the film, it’s not the length of the tale, it’s the quality of the content. If you by any means enjoy horror anthologies — hell, even if you don’t — The Mortuary Collection should find its way onto your watchlist. It’s bloody, it’s beautiful, and it’s got charming character coming out of every creepy crevice.” iHorror

The Mortuary Collection has a warmth and heart to go along effective scares and some stomach-twisting gore. It doesn’t do anything wholly shocking or open up any new territory, but that’s not the goal, and it does exactly what it intends. It’s a rollicking good time and a love letter to its inspirations, all while delivering spine-tingling chills and buckets of blood.” The Last Thing I See

“From a battle between a thief and a medicine cabinet to pointed commentary on birth control and marriage itself, The Mortuary Collection fires on all cylinders as it scorches through its nearly two-hour runtime. The stories themselves often rely on humor or irony to make the ultimately savage punchlines a bit more palatable for wider audiences.” Modern Horrors

The Mortuary Collection is everything you could want out of a horror anthology film. It has plenty of terrifying tricks up its sleeve, oozes eerie-ness for days, and delivers consistently creepy segments all wrapped in a spooky, cobwebby haunted house I’m already eager to re-visit.” Nightmare on Film Street

The Mortuary Collection is self-reflexive in the playful spirit of Wes Craven, its stabs at genre resurrection finding new ways to twist the knife that both heighten Spindell’s scream-weaving approach and modernize it–critically, without making the mistake of assuming the latter will ensure the former.” Rue Morgue

The Mortuary Collection is gorgeous from start to finish, and Clancy Brown is by himself already worth the price of admission […] writer-director Ryan Spindell makes the mortuary inbetweens one of the best segments in the anthology and cleverly has his protagonists point out each tale’s weaknesses.” Screen Anarchy

“It’s more than likely that fans of the genre will come away from Spindell’s film with a big goofy grin on their face, happy to recount their favorite gross-out moments to their friends. Perhaps that’s enough. As haphazard and messy as The Mortuary Collection is, its bloody, ripped-out heart is in the right place.” /Film

“Some of the shorts are stronger than others (as Sam likes to point out to Mr. Dark), but the performances are all very solid, and Spindell peppers every story with fun bits of dialog […] There isn’t a weak short in the bunch, and though certainly some of the twists are not surprising, the execution is slick, the shorts are gorgeous and moody, and Clancy Brown is an absolute treat.” UK Film Review

“It doesn’t exactly stick its landing, but there’s a gloss and glide that makes the two-hour experience an amusingly breezy good time, and there’s no shortage of creepy, atmospheric entertainment here.” Viddy Well

“Brown is excellent as the aptly named Mr Dark. He has a sinister charm about him and could almost pass for Phantasm’s Tall Man after he stopped caring about his weight. Custer’s Sam makes a great foil for him and the back and forth between them during the interludes between the stories is much better than most wraparound stories. The Mortuary Collection has plenty of gore and creatures on display here too.” Voices from the Balcony

The Mortuary Collection is what it should be – a lot of fun. It feels retro and it looks it, and it offers entertaining tales around a successful central plot device. If this film’s legacy is to make the point that the anthology film is not dead, then that would be a great outcome for a modern film with such a classic feel.” Warped Perspective

“There’s great performances all round, with a small cast meaning some actors appear in multiple roles but it doesn’t prove a problem at all.  Clancy Brown as the mortician and Caitlin Custer as the teenager looking for a job, verbally bounce off of each other nicely and their scenes together are great, leading up to the final reveal which is unexpected and very cool.” Wight Blood

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Cast and characters:

Clancy Brown … Montgomery Dark
Caitlin Custer … Sam
Christine Kilmer … Emma
Jacob Elordi … Jake
Ema Horvath … Sandra
Jennifer Irwin … Margaret
James Bachman … Ralph Wilkes
Barak Hardley … Wendell Owens
Sarah Hay … Carol
Ben Hethcoat … The Killer
Mike C. Nelson … Doctor Harold Kubler
Brennan Murray … Connor
Michael Bow … Todd
Tom Woodruff Jr. … Burke
Hannah R. Loyd … Jen
Tristan Byon … Bill

Filming locations:

Flavel House Museum – 441 8th Street, Astoria, Oregon

Technical details:

108 minutes
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Trailer:

Behind-the-scenes:

YouTube reviews:

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