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FUNERAL HOME (1980)
3 stars
88 Films. Blu Ray. 5th August
Also known as Cries in the Night, which is actually the onscreen title on the master used here, this is part of 88 Films Slasher Classics Collection – though this may be stretching the term slasher to breaking point…
Young Heather (Lesley Donaldson) is heading to her grandma Maude Chalmer’s (Kay Hawtrey) house to help out, as she turns it from a former funeral home to a hostelry for guests to stay the night. Dropped outside town, she is luckily picked up by local hunk Rick Yates (Dean Garbett), when her ride doesn’t arrive to pick her up. Of course she is soon smitten by him!
Heather is put up in her Mum’s old room and she is curious about her grandfather – who just disappeared one day, which is why the home has had to be turned into a guest house, to make ends meet. She also meets the “not very bright” Billy (Stephen Miller), who helps around the place and tends to the cemetery.
Local cop Joe (Alf Humphreys) is baffled when a car, belonging to a real estate developer who has been missing for some weeks, turns up buried under some hay.
A couple turn up to check in – “Mr and Mrs Browning” are actually Henry Browning (Harvey Atkin) and his mistress Florie (Peggy Mahon) – much to the disapproval of Mrs Chalmers. When they go out for a night out they don’t return…
Then there’s Mr Davis (Barry Morse). His wife Helena has been missing for some time and may have had an affair with Mr Chalmers before he went AWOL. Add to this the noises and voices Heather hears emanating from the casket filled basement and you have a film that is not so much a slasher, than a spooky mystery chiller that could easily have been made many years before it’s 1980 debut. Somewhat curiously, the film ends with an info dump of what has happened under the closing titles.
With hints of PSYCHO about it, this a slow moving Canadian horror, ably directed by William Fruet, who made several forays into the genre – DEATH WEEKEND (1972), SPASMS (1983) and KILLER PARTY (1986) plus TV work on Goosebumps and Poltergeist: the Legacy. The slightly old fashioned script was penned by his wife Ida Nelson.
Lesleh Donaldson is fine in her role and made a bit of a career of horror titles in the 80s – HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1981), CURTAINS (1983) and DEADLY EYES (1982). The film is well shot by Mark Irwin – even if it is a little over-lit on occasion.
EXTRAS
4 stars – best not to watch some of the extras before viewing the film… spoilers!
2 audio commentaries – ones with The Hysteria Continues and a new one with film historians Jason Pichonsky and Paul Corupe
Isolated score selections & audio interview with music historian Douglass Fake (plays over the film as an alternate audio track)
Audio interviews with actor Lesleh Donaldson, first assistant director Ray Sager, and production assistant Shelley Allen (plays over the film as an alternate audio track)
House of Death – Lesleh Donaldson on Funeral Home (16 mins): talks about her early career as a model which leads to commercials and eventually auditioning for movies. Early roles in RUNNING (1979) and then working on FUNERAL HOME. About her character in the film – which she describes as “Little Red Riding Hood meets Psycho”. Also reveals she was a horror fan from an early age.
Photographing Horror Films – Mark Irwin on Funeral Home (16 mins) Talks about director Fruet and shooting the film.
The Art of Misdirection – Stephen E Miller on Funeral Home (22 mins): the actor, who played Billy Hibbs, talks about his career – both acting and writing. A horror movie fan. Talks about working on the film.
Cries in the Night – Lesleh Donaldson in Conversation with Ray Sager (19 mins): First assistant director Sager does most of the talking about working on the film.
Dead & Breakfast – Interview with art director Susan Longmire and set assistant Elinor Galbraith (13 mins). From a previous release of the film from 2023.
Family Owned & Operated – Interview with Brian Allen, president of Premiere Operating, LTD. and son of producer Barry Allen. (12 mins) From a previous release of the film from 2023. Talks about the exhibition business – owning cinemas and his father wanting to move into movie production using tax shelters. Releasing it in Canada as Cries in the Night then having to sue the US distributors when they released it as Funeral Home. From a previous release of the film from 2023.
Secrets & Shadows – Interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin (15 mins). From a previous release of the film from 2023.
Filming Locations – Featurette narrated by Michael Felsher. (6 mins): Footage of the original house and how it has changed. From a previous release of the film from 2023.
Plus Image Gallery, Radio Spots, “Cries in the Night” TV Spots, Video Trailer, Theatrical Trailer
Steve Kirkham
