MORTUARY

When Leslie Fowler and her son Jonathan and daughter Jaimie move to a small town in California, they plan on starting a new life. Perhaps a strange choice, seeing as this new life entails running the long-abandoned Fowler Brothers Funeral Home. The place is disgusting, with septic tanks oozing sludge into the yard and into the house. Nothing works and there are cracks and mildew everywhere. The locals fear the place, and there are whispers around town that the land that the home lies on is haunted. The Fowler Family will soon discover that something lurks beneath Arkham; something that raises the corpses from long-forgotten graves and feeds on death itself. Tobe Hooper’s (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Toolbox Murders, Masters of Horror : Dance of the Dead) newest treat is a slime-soaked roller coaster ride of spook thrills and family comedy. Screenwriters Jace Anderson and Adam Gierash, the team behind Toolbox Murders, have written an efficient horror story with many wacky and memorable characters and plenty of zombie mayhem. Denise Crosby (Star Trek : The Next Generation, Pet Cemetery, Deep Impact) is excellent as the batty mom and fresh-out-of-school mortician who doesn’t really know what she’s doing. Dan Byrd (28 Days, The Hills Have Eyes) and Stephanie Patton (Baby Geniuses, Deep Impact) are Jonathan and Jaimie Fowler.