The canon of anthological horror cinema is engorged with myriad entries of all shapes and sizes, each with their own macabre and often darkly humorous tales to tell. With notable examples such as Dead Of Night (1945), Trilogy Of Terror (1975), Creepshow (1982), Body Bags (1993), Tales From The Hood (1995), Trick ’r Treat (2007), The ABCs Of Death (2012), and Tales Of Halloween (2015), the method seemingly preserves itself and stays from wearing out its welcome. 2019 (or 2021, for those of us who waited for the physical copy release), then saw the arrival of an addition which feels both fresh and comfortable whilst being fiendishly fun and ceaselessly charming: The Mortuary Collection.
This particular anthology film, written and directed by Ryan Spindell, takes an immediate unique approach in making the wrap-around narrative the driving force of the feature, rather than just leaving it be the typical cohesive element. It’s in this primary plot that we follow the mortician of Raven’s End, Montgomery Dark, played with equal parts spook and sympathy by the ever-fantastic Clancy Brown, who gives his young new applicant, Sam, played by Caitlin Custer, a tour of the mortuary all the while telling her the tales which make up the rest of the film, though are carefully interwoven akin to the structure of Trick ’r Treat.
“So these are all stories about how people died?” – Sam
“Not just how, my dear…Why.” – Montgomery Dark
Not only are these segments full of the usual fun, frights, twists, and turns, but Spindell and co. manage to add refreshing depth to every story and character with clever details and incredible performances, making it effortless to feel invested paired with never-ending cinematic eye candy. Characters like Wendell, Sandra, and Dr. Kubler (incidentally, the only character to appear in every part of the film) are infectious and intriguing. And be it the sardonic satire and body horror of “Unprotected” or the bittersweet and gory gut-punch of a love story that is, “Til Death Do Us Part”, the vignettes all offer something compelling where the spectacle of how the deaths come to be is as enjoyable as the well-thought-out purpose of why.
As we return to Sam and Montgomery each time, the two perform little verbal autopsies on the story we’ve just seen wherein the film manages to commentate on storytelling and the nature of anthologies without the awkward social commentary and mean-spiritedness of something like Scare Me (2020), rather keeping it tongue-in-cheek and never too serious. Not to say The Mortuary Collection is the Scream of horror anthologies, but it’s the kind of film that knows what it is, yet keeps its meta notes effectively focused on the plot and character interactions.
“The form may be familiar, but the message is timeless.” – Montgomery Dark
Meanwhile, the film wears its influences on its sleeve, creatively and technically, referencing other works such as Evil Dead II, Phantasm, The Shining, and Halloween, yet it owns these homages and seamlessly stitches them into itself. The look and feel of the film harkens back to classic films, utilizing beautiful matte paintings and transitional cinematography/editing taken from the school of Hitchcock’s Rope. Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis’ Amalgamated Dynamics handle the plethora of practical effects, including Clancy Brown’s Angus Scrimm-doppelganger appearance, some crispy demon children, and a tentacle monster which might look familiar to Tremors fans. The score by the Mondo Boys traverses and unifies the various decades in which the film takes place and boasts everything from haunting, classical orchestral arrangements to Californian surf rock, whilst managing to remain authentic, a la Fallout. All of the aforementioned components work intravenously, injecting personality, style, and genuine fun into a tried-and-true form which gives us the rigor mortis romp that is, The Mortuary Collection.
“That’s pretty cool.” – Sam
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?”– Montgomery Dark
I not only recommend one viewing of this delightful anthology, but several as it has incredible replay value atop being a generally entertaining watch. Much like its Trick ’r Treat counterpart, there are countless new, witty, and surprising details to pick up on with subsequent viewings. For example: Every phone number, license plate, and other featured sequence of digits will always add up to 13. Certain characters appear in more than one story (aside from Dr. Kubler). And if you can read Latin, you’re in for a little treat.
And lastly, I know (at the time of writing this) that this film is available on various streaming services, including Shudder, but if you can, I implore you to purchase the physical copy as it comes with several extras you can’t experience with streaming, including a fantastic and sincere commentary from the writer/director as well as fourteen behind the scenes featurettes and a deleted scenes featurette, all equating to roughly two hours of bonus material, which is invaluable to both fans and filmmakers alike. And quite frankly, they’re just very fun, in-depth looks into all the love, work, and fun that went into the making of the film.
Final Girl Friday 