A young woman named Heather (Lesleh Donaldson) comes to her grandmother's (Kay Hawtrey) home for the summer to help with the start of her tourist home. Up to the disappearance of Heather's grandfather a few years ago, the family home also served as a funeral home. Now Mrs. Chalmers has to take on annoying guests to make ends meet.
It doesn't take long for the viewer, and only a little longer for Heather, to learn that this part of small town Canada is plagued by a strangely high rate of disappearances (or shall I call it murder?). Is it possible that this has something to do with the strange shuffling, whispering person (or creature) Grandma Chalmers keeps behind a locked door in the cellar? Or with the mentally handicapped handyman of the house who is seldom seen without his axe? And why exactly does summer guest Mr. Davis (Barry Morse) sneak around so suspiciously? And isn't Mrs. Chalmers moral code a little strict?
Well, new deputy Joe Yates (Alf Humphreys), the only person on the police force who treats the town's little problem seriously will certainly answer all questions.
Funeral Home is a pleasant little movie. It succeeds well in mixing modernized elements of the old dark house movies (without gorillas) with a mild bit of the slashers while paying homage to a quite famous movie about a killer and an old dark house I will not name here to keep the review away from spoiler territory.
Although the plot twists and final solution of the murder mystery shouldn't be all that surprising for the average viewer. Still, the film stays enjoyable even if you know where all this is going to end, mainly thanks to solid direction and pacing courtesy of William Fruet, as well as some effective acting. Kay Hawtrey is especially good, but there is no-one on screen who doesn't do at least decent work.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
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