A young woman arrives at her grandmother's house, which used to be a
funeral home, to help her turn the place into a bed-and-breakfast inn.
After they open, however, guests begin disappearing or turning up dead.
Funeral Home (also known as Cries in the Night) is a 1980 Canadian horror/thriller directed by William Fruet starring Lesleh Donaldson, Kay Hawtrey, Jack Van Evera, Alf Humphreys, and Harvey Atkin.
"Funeral Home" is a surprisingly entertaining and traditionally morbid early 80's
horror movie. I expected nothing when I plopped down to watch this. Turns out that it wasn't all that shitty. It's more of thriller than a slasher movie. The mystery
about who the killer is does manage to get some good moments. The fact
that there's at least four different possible killers is a great idea,
making each red herring a real target is a great skill that comes
across wonderfully.
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| She was warned! |
There are a couple of negatives with the movie. The very slow pacing is a big issue, and really holds
up the film. Also the lack of kills is disappointing. However we also have some positives. A creepy atmosphere. Spooky location. Performances are fine all
around. A decent score and some sound effects that should give you the
chills. The filmmakers at least attempt to make this film suspenseful.
Pace really picks up in the second half.
If you've seen Psycho you know what's
happening here. No doubt Hawtrey (Grandma) took lessons in hotel management from
Norman Bates and his mother. This film will not be for everyone. Current youngsters
who have been brought up on the "Hostel's" and "Saw's" and think of
those as stellar slasher flicks will
probably not be able to sit through this because the of the slow plot.
Though not a 10-star film and not very high on the
"shock-meter," it was surprisingly good for a B-Movie.
Not an unsung classic just a small tight little
horror movie.
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| Good riddance to bad rubbish |
Trivia:
Frontier Amusements released this in Canada in the fall of 1980 as CRIES
IN THE NIGHT and then re-released the movie in September of 1982 as
FUNERAL HOME.
According to star Lesleh Donaldson this film is quite a popular cult classic in Mexico.
In an interview with star Lesleh Donaldson she said that she always thought of this film as something of a cross between the Little Red Riding Hood fable and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960).
The film's French title is 'Le Cri des Ténèbres', meaning 'The Cry of Darkness'.
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| There is something wrong in that house. Something evil! |
