The Funeral Home is a 2020 Argentinian horror film about a family forced to fight a demonic presence in the funeral home where they live.
Written and directed by Mauro Iván Ojeda – making his feature debut – the movie stars Luis Machín, Celeste Gerez and Camila Vaccarini.
Plot:
Bernardo (Luis Machín) is an undertaker. He runs his mortuary business in the same house where he resides. In the front, he has his clients. And in the back, his dysfunctional family lives among coffins, wreaths and mischievous supernatural entities that visit on a daily basis. They attribute the paranormal manifestations to the dead bodies from their mortuary work. Finding the real source of all this madness will be their quest, but they might find a terrifying truth…
Our view:
Early on, the constant family bickering on screen tends to grate somewhat. However, The Funeral Home builds nicely to a gripping and touching conclusion; it oozes creepiness, which is accentuated by Jeremias Smith’s score and the fantastic sound design, and there’s some welcome wry dark humour too.
Other reviews:
“Once you get over the hump of an initially awkward layout, you can engage in the atmosphere’s enchantment. Appreciators of smoldering suspense, competent indie aesthetics, and touches of foreign flair to flavor the familiarity will be pleasantly surprised at how much polish The Funeral Home puts on a traditional haunted house yarn.” Culture Crypt
“While there’s a lot to like here with the series of ghost hauntings and general buildup of what’s happening here, the slow-burn pace and lack of interest during this time might be off-putting for some that don’t enjoy those elements. Instead, this is really for those that prefer the more slow-burn aspects on display…” Don’s World of Horror and Exploitation
“The Funeral Home is an incredibly effective supernatural horror that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s proper edge-of-the-seat horror, leaving you waiting for the next shock and scare, and it never disappoints. The concept may be familiar to hardened horror fans but for me it was original enough to hook me in until the very end.” Entertainment Focus
“Set mainly at night, director Mauro Iván Ojeda injects maximum tension and suspense into the film. The camera regularly repeats its opening roam around the house, putting the viewer constantly on edge and waiting for something to pop out and startle them. Having a night time setting also allows everything to be dark and Ojeda uses only minimal lighting, letting creepy shadows cast and fall, sending the imagination into overdrive.” The Hollywood News
“The trappings of the undertaking business are employed ominously, though there’s a dark humour in the use of coffins as planters for shrubs in the garden, and as much terror is experienced in the portaloo as among the caskets. When the demon possesses one of the key cast, the look of the killer is startling – instead of the oily eyes that have become a cliché recently, this demon gives its hosts oily skin and a feral snarl.” The Kim Newman Web Site
“The Undertaker’s Home is a chilling horror film that is suitable to watch at night, if you can manage it. Perfect cinematography and settings allow the film to deliver a dark atmosphere that will terrify you to the core. However, do not expect it to have too much blood, as the film mostly concentrates on a ghost’s story, its brightest and darkest sides.” Let the Movie Move Us
“Admittedly, the first half of the film is a relatively slow pace, though the film does build up to a relatively effective climax, which includes not one but two setpieces taking place inside a porta-potty. The Undertaker’s Home also has a very unique closing scene that a bittersweet cherry to this haunted house film.” Sean Kelly on Movies
“The excellent score by Jeremias Smith does a lot of the heavy lifting, and you might never want to enter a Port-a-Potty again after watching this. It’s a lot of good parts that don’t entirely come together for a cohesive whole, but, given more time to develop what are some genuinely fascinating concepts, Ojeda could have a considerable future in horror.” The Spool
Ojeda relies on lots of tracking shots through the dark building to provide scares and build tension. Coupled with an effective score and glimpses of things almost out of sight they frequently do just that. Whether by budget or by choice, The Funeral Home relies on sound and suggestion more than effects to depict its horrors. That’s made easier by some incredible set design.” Voices from the Balcony
“Ojeda has fashioned a unique take on classic haunted house cinema, and he invests his film with a macabre atmosphere and a heavy sense of unrelenting dread, aided by a super score, unnerving sound design, and eerie set design that includes empty coffins scattered around the home and chickens running around a port-a-potty that houses a true white-knuckler of a scene.” When It Was Cool
“You may have thought you’d seen it all when it comes to haunted house or possession movies but The Undertaker’s Home shows some original tricks. It’s harsh and heartbreaking but manages to be genuinely creepy too. The Undertaker’s Home deserves to sit alongside this year’s best horror movies.” Wight Blood
Release:
Uncork’d Entertainment released The Funeral Home on February 2nd 2021 in both the USA and Canada.
Technical details:
86 minutes
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original title: La Funeraria and also known as The Undertaker’s Home
Trailer:
