The Mortuary Collection resurrects old school anthology

From Creepshow to V/H/S, anthologies have been a well-used storytelling structure in the horror genre. They provide a diverse group of uniquely terrifying segments, usually with an underlying plot. If the film is done well, the stories remain consistent. That is the case for The Mortuary Collection, a 2019 anthology written and directed by Ryan Spindell.

The Mortuary Collection premiered at the 2019 Fantastic Fest before coming to the streaming service Shudder in October 2020. The film stars veteran actor Clancy Brown (Pet Sematary 2, The Shawshank Redemption) as Montgomery Dark, the imposing mortician who runs the Raven’s End Mortuary in the 1980s. A young woman named Sam arrives at the mortuary, inquiring about a job posting. As Dark interviews her, he gives her a tour of the building, sharing the stories of the deceased who ended up at Raven’s End throughout the years. The stories serve as the segments.

The film’s Shudder release was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a tumultuous period that would inspire new horror projects. At a time when the real world seemed scarier than normal, we tuned into Shudder to watch fictional terrors befall fictional characters—embracing the fright from a different world to distract from our own.

While mostly overlooked, the film was well received at Fantastic Fest. It is Spindell’s first feature film. A lifelong fan of The Twilight Zone, he desired to showcase shorter length horror stories to a wider audience. His belief when it comes to horror is that sometimes less is more.

*This article contains minor spoilers about The Mortuary Collection

The first segment takes place at a house party in the 1950s. A pickpocket named Emma hides in the bathroom from a nervously interested partygoer to inventory her stolen goods. Before she can leave, she encounters something slimy and otherworldly behind a bathroom mirror.

The second segment, “Unprotected,” takes place in the next decade. Jake, played by a then up-and-coming Jacob Elordi (Euphoria, Saltburn), is a fraternity brother handing out condoms to the female students on a university campus. He routinely uses the pretense of the era-specific sexual revolution as a means to get laid. After a tryst with a student named Sandra, during which he secretly takes off the condom she had him put on, Jake soon finds himself suffering grotesque consequences.

The third segment, “Till Death,” centers on Wendell Owens in the 1970s. His wife Carol is catatonic and Wendell takes care of her 24/7. He is depressed and in financial strain, reacting cynically when her doctor informs him after a checkup that she is “doing well,” and has a year or more left to live. After Wendell vents that he can’t bear it anymore, the doctor gives him painkillers for Carol, telling him what a fatal dose would be, and how it couldn’t be detected. The fun kicks off from there. 

The fourth segment, “The Babysitter Murders,” features Sam herself. After Dark shows her the coffin of a child about to be cremated, she recounts a recent night at the house of a boy named Logan Kubler.

While cooking and listening to the radio in the Kublers’ kitchen, Sam misses a breaking news report about a riot at a nearby asylum. As the power flickers, she finds a perplexed man with a bleeding head wound who says he’s not in his house. The phone rings, and he grabs her before she can answer it. The call goes to voicemail, with Mrs. Kubler frantically saying that the psychopath responsible for “all those kids that were mutilated” has escaped from the asylum, and to stay close with Logan. Sam and the wounded man look at Logan’s crayon drawing on the fridge, then at each other, before starting a vicious and ruthless battle with an equally ruthless outcome.

It’s difficult to talk about the ending of this film, which appropriately takes place at the mortuary with Sam and Dark, without giving any spoilers. But it comes with a great resolution that’s miles from the pseudo-mystery ending that many anthologies are doomed with. 

Spindell gives us a fun visual feast with beautifully macabre shots and some Eldritch charm. The soundtrack–composed primarily by Mondo Boys–is full of original throwbacks to 1960’s jukebox classics and obscure surfer hits. 

Something I particularly appreciate is how Spindell uses past decades as a setting to explicate modern topics and fears. Mortuary Collection explores the importance of consent and puts a spin on the narrative surrounding the potential outcomes of sex by applying them to a man rather than a woman. The movie also touches on the hardships that come with caring for a catatonic loved one, and the reflection of their quality of life. However, it also explores the consequence of a broken vow. All in all, many of the characters receive a certain “punishment” for their wrongdoings. This takes me back to the joys of the original Creepshow film, and how many of the characters, for the most part, deserved their fate.

As we turn the final pages of October, we shouldn’t skip over this underappreciated gem from an underappreciated filmmaker whose next feature hopefully comes soon. In the meantime we should open Shudder, get the movie ready, and maybe start a tasty meal on the stove while it plays. But as the Mondo Boys say; you better make it fast, sweet, fine to eat.

The Mortuary Collection is available to stream on Shudder.