The Mortuary Collection: Movie Review

"The Mortuary Collection" surprises with its quality of work. From first minute to last, we found ourselves, amused, enthralled, terrified, and most importantly entertained. The film, like the tales within it, are full of frights, thrills, and surprises. This is one horror film that deserves more attention and definitely your time. 

When a young drifter, Sam (Caitlin Custer), applies for a job at the local mortuary and meets its creepy and eccentric mortician Montgomery Dark (Clancy Brown), she not only receives a heavy introduction into the mortuary arts but also gets to hear four morbid tales of terror and fright chronicling the strange history of the town and its inhabitants. The tales span decades, from the 50s to the 80s, with each one becoming more elaborate and more twisted than the last. 

It's been quite awhile since we last saw a horror anthology but we must admit, the format had its limitations. And it seems that the time we spent away from watching similar films like "Tales from the Crypt" made "The Mortuary Collection" really stand out. But beyond the time aspect, the film surprised us with its quality more than anything else. Director Ryan Spindell was able to create a world that looked real, professional and high-budget. Nothing in this film felt like it was his first-time to direct a film or that it had a limited budget to work with with its excellent settings and effects. As for the narrative, this was also a very strong point for the film. The four twisted tales varied with their length and quality and some could find it familiar. But the film had this self-awareness, reflecting and even joking at its imperfections, that perfectly swayed that negative aspect into a positive one. As for the main narrative of Sam and Montgomery Dark, it was great. There are very few stories that truly surprise us and this was one of those. In the acting department, we couldn't find anything wrong again. Clancy Brown delivered the perfect performance as the eccentric mortician while the others in the film delivered outstandingly. We're hard-pressed to find anything wrong with "The Mortuary Collection". It's one film that truly had us impressed and never let down once the film started.  

Rating: 4 and a half reels

Why you should watch it:

- the acting was great

- this felt like a high-budget film

- the overall narrative and tales worked well together

Why you shouldn't watch it:

- some of the tales were simple and familiar