Funeral Home (1980 film)
| Funeral Home | |
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| Directed by | William Fruet |
| Produced by | Barry Allen William Fruet |
| Written by | Ida Nelson |
| Starring | Lesleh Donaldson Kay Hawtrey Alf Humphreys Harvey Atkin Jack Van Evera Barry Morse Dean Garbett Stepehn E. Miller |
| Music by | Jerry Fielding |
| Cinematography | Mark Irwin |
| Edited by | Ralph Brunjes |
| Distributed by | Frontier Amusements MPM Vouge Video Paragon Video Mill Creek Entertainment |
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Release dates
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Running time
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93 min |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
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. Both Donaldson and Humphreys would later become cult favorites of the horror genre for the film,[citation needed] and also Donaldson's roles in Happy Birthday to Me (1981) and Curtains (1983), and Humphreys in Death Weekend (1976) and My Bloody Valentine (1981).[vague] Fruet would later direct the 1986 slasher film Killer Party.
Contents
Plot
A young woman arrives at her grandmother's house, which used to be a funeral home, to help her grandmother turn the place into a bed-and-breakfast inn. But soon after they open, guests begin to either disappear and/or turn up dead.
Cast
- Kay Hawtrey as Maude Chalmers
- Lesleh Donaldson as Heather
- Barry Morse as Mr. Davis
- Dean Garbett as Rick Yates
- Stephen E. Miller as Billy Hibbs
- Alf Humphreys as Joe Yates
- Peggy Mahon as Florie
- Harvey Atkin as Harry Browning
- Robert Warner as Sheriff
- Jack Van Evera as James Chalmers
- Les Rubie as Sam
- Doris Petrie as Ruby
- Bill Lake as Frank
- Brett Matthew Davidson as Young Rick
- Christopher Crabb as Teddy
- Robert Craig as Barry Oaks
- Linda Dalby as Linda
- Gerard Jordan as Pete
- Eleanor Beecroft as Shirley
Production
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The budget for the film was roughly $1,431,780.00 and was filmed from July 23, 1979 to September 12, 1979.
According to actress Lesleh Donaldson, actress Kay Hawtrey and director William Fruet did not get along well, stating that "She couldn’t stand him. She hated him. Just hated him." She also recalled Hawtrey "...being a nervous wreck nearly every morning. And then she claimed Bill was making her do stuff at the end that was too much for her. In the scene where she's down in the cellar, there were a lot of crew guys doubling for her, with the axe and swinging stuff around. It wasn’t her doing that."
On director William Fruet, Donaldson stated that she "knew that he would do things off-the-cuff at the last minute, like changing a scene. [I] might not have been called in that day and suddenly I’d get a call telling me "Get to the set now!", and I’d have to do a scene I hadn’t memorized yet. It was tense that way."[this quote needs a citation]
Soundtrack
A soundtrack to the film was released on October 25, 2011 by Intrada Records as part of their Intrada Special Collection Series.
All tracks were composed by Jerry Fielding. This was his final score.
- Main Title [2:50]
- The Cat [0:54]
- Heather's Arrival [1:05]
- Home Sweet Home [1:10]
- Whispering Corridors [2:20]
- You Like the Way I Look [3:34]
- Going, Going, Gone [2:15]
- Mysteries of the Dark [0:37]
- Animal Magnetism [2:33]
- Garage Discovery [0:42]
- The Lure [1:21]
- Home, Not So Sweet Home [2:24]
- Voices in the Basement [4:52]
- Vicious Gossip [1:57]
- Davis Whacked [3:44]
- Water Rescue [1:00]
- Billy's Demise [4:46]
- Coffin Ready [2:04]
- Grandma Unhinged [2:20]
- Meet Mr. Chalmers [1:01]
- Finish [2:46]
- Not Quite Country [3:30]
- Just the Old Car Radio [2:05]
- Brass Ensemble [1:10]
- Rock of Ages/Brass [2:11]
- Rock of Ages/Organ [2:00]
- Wild Pump Organ [1:28]
- Rock of Ages/Pump Organ [1:18]
Release
The film was released in Canada in 1980 by Frontier Amusements and in America in 1982 by MPM.
It was released on VHS by Vouge Video in Canada in 1982 and Paragon Video in 1983 and again in 1986 as a big box reissue.
It was officially released on DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment in 2005, however this release was sourced from a VHS transfer, resulting in a murky video.
Reception
The film has received mixed to positive reception in recent years, with AllMovie, in their summary of the film, stating that "...Funeral Home serves up a generous supply of shudders even for non-fans of the horror genre."
Retro Slashers.net gave the film a positive review, stating that "Funeral Home is the type of slasher that relies on story and actor performances...Fruet takes a much more atmospheric route." However that the ending "...borrows too heavily from another slasher film..."
However, Bleeding Skull.com gave the film a generally negative review, stating that "While Funeral Home offers several instances of subtle creeps and makes excellent use of its rickety, small town scenery, the steamroller of dull events, bated acting, and careless plot holes cannot be stopped." and "As a result, we have a PG-rated mystery-slasher that's nice to look at, but lacks any type of personality."
Awards
Funeral Home was nominated for three Genie Awards:
- Best Actress- Lesleh Donaldson
- Best Editing- Ralph Brunjes
- Best Sound Editing- Andy Herman, Dave Appleby, Joe Grimaldi, Gary Bourgeois, Austin Grimaldi, and Ian Hendry
External links
- Funeral Home at IMDb
- Funeral Home at AllMovie
- Funeral Home Soundtrack at The Movie Music Store
- Interview with Lesleh Donaldson at The Terror Trap
- Funeral Home Review at Retro Slashers.net
- Funeral Home Review at Bleeding Skull.com
