Funeral Home (1980 film)
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''Funeral Home'' (originally released as ''Cries in the Night'') is a 1980 Canadian
slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...
directed by
William Fruet William Fruet (born January 1, 1933) is a Canadian film and television director, playwright and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with the drama ''Wedding in White'' (1972), based on a play he had also written. The film won Best Picture ...
and starring
Lesleh Donaldson Lesleh Donaldson (born April 7, 1964) is a Canadian actress who has worked in stage and film. After making her film debut in the drama ''Running'' (1979), she would appear in several horror films in the early 1980s, which earned her the title of ...
,
Kay Hawtrey Katharine Mary Craven Clark ( Hawtrey, November 8, 1926 – June 11, 2021) was a Canadian actress. Hawtrey was born on November 8, 1926 and educated at Toronto's Trinity College. She began her career at Hart House Theatre and then went to Engla ...
, Jack Van Evera,
Alf Humphreys Alfred E. Humphreys (August 9, 1953 – January 31, 2018) was a Canadian actor. Early life Humphreys was born in Haileybury, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of Leslie and Gabrielle Humphreys. Career Humphreys was a dramatic actor who first acte ...
, and
Harvey Atkin Elliot Harvey Atkin (18 December 1942 – 18 July 2017) was a Canadian actor best known for his roles as Morty Melnick in ''Meatballs'', Sergeant Ronald Coleman in ''Cagney & Lacey'', and for voicing King Koopa in ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Sh ...
. The plot follows a teenager spending the summer at her grandmother's inn—formerly a
funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...
—where guests begin to disappear. Originally released in Canada in 1980 under the title ''Cries in the Night'', the film was re-titled for its 1982 U.S. theatrical and home video releases as ''Funeral Home''.


Plot

At the beginning of the summer, Heather arrives in a small unnamed town to stay with her grandmother, Maude Chalmers, whose house—a former
funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...
—has recently been converted into an
inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
. Maude's husband, James, an undertaker, has been missing for several years, and she has been forced to make a living selling
artificial Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity. Connotations Artificiality ...
flower arrangement Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant materials and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floristry is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Professionally ...
s in town; she hopes to supplant her income by opening the home to traveling guests. Billy Hibbs, a mentally-challenged man, lives with Maude as the property handyman. Nearby, a farmer named Sam reports an abandoned vehicle discovered on his property, which is traced to a missing real estate developer who had been surveying the area. At the inn on the evening of Heather's arrival, guests Harry Browning and his mistress Florie check in. When Maude realizes the couple are unmarried, she asks them to leave, but they refuse. That evening after having drinks, they drive to a local
quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...
recommended by Heather; while there, Maude's truck arrives, smashing the back of their car and pushing them into the water below, where they both drown. The same night, Heather goes on a date with Rick, a local teenager, and returns home to hear her Maude speaking to an unseen man in the basement. When she inquires, Maude denies it. The next day, while Maude is in town, Rick stops by the house. He tells Heather that her grandfather, James, was a known
alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...
, and recounts a story from his childhood in which Mr. Chalmers had locked he and a friend in the funeral home's basement to scare them. The two explore the property while Maude is gone; in the garage, they discover Mr. Chalmer's
Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
hearse A hearse is a large vehicle, originally a horse carriage but later with the introduction of motor vehicles, a car, used to carry the body of a deceased person in a coffin at a funeral, wake, or memorial service. They range from deliberately ano ...
, and Heather finds a necklace with the initials "H.D." engraved on it. That evening, Heather again hears Maude speaking to someone in the basement, this time arguing with a male voice about a woman named "Helena Davis." Heather discovers Helena has been missing for some time, and was rumored to have
eloped Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...
with her grandfather. Mr. Davis, Helena's husband, arrives at the house to ask Maude about the alleged affair, which she denies ever occurred. Later that evening, Mr. Davis is murdered with a
pickaxe A pickaxe, pick-axe, or pick is a generally T-shaped hand tool used for Leverage (mechanics), prying. Its head is typically metal, attached perpendicularly to a longer handle, traditionally made of wood, occasionally metal, and increasingly ...
. The following day while Heather and Rick are swimming in the quarry, Florie and Harry's bodies are discovered. Heather confides in Rick that she believes her grandmother is hiding someone in the basement. That evening, they return to the house. Upon finding that Maude is not home, the two decide to explore the basement. There they discover Billy's corpse, and are attacked by Maude, who, imitating her husband's voice, scolds Heather for coming into the basement. Maude attempts to kill Heather with an
axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
and she flees through the basement, discovering a hidden room where James's corpse rests in a bed of Maude's artificial flowers. Just as Maude is about to strike Heather with the axe, she lapses out of her dissociative identity. The police arrive at the scene in the basement, and Joe, a local police officer, asks Maude if they can talk about what has occurred. She agrees, so long as she can prepare a cup of tea. Later, Joe explains to a news reporter that Maude had murdered James and Helena, his mistress, after discovering their affair. After, she preserved James's corpse, and buried both Helena and Mr. Davis in the local graveyard.


Cast

*
Kay Hawtrey Katharine Mary Craven Clark ( Hawtrey, November 8, 1926 – June 11, 2021) was a Canadian actress. Hawtrey was born on November 8, 1926 and educated at Toronto's Trinity College. She began her career at Hart House Theatre and then went to Engla ...
as Maude Chalmers *
Lesleh Donaldson Lesleh Donaldson (born April 7, 1964) is a Canadian actress who has worked in stage and film. After making her film debut in the drama ''Running'' (1979), she would appear in several horror films in the early 1980s, which earned her the title of ...
as Heather *
Barry Morse Herbert Morse (10 June 19182 February 2008), known professionally as Barry Morse, was a British-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio, best known for his roles in the ABC television series '' The Fugitive'' and the British sci-fi drama '' ...
as Mr. Davis *Dean Garbett as Rick Yates *Stephen E. Miller as Billy Hibbs *
Alf Humphreys Alfred E. Humphreys (August 9, 1953 – January 31, 2018) was a Canadian actor. Early life Humphreys was born in Haileybury, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of Leslie and Gabrielle Humphreys. Career Humphreys was a dramatic actor who first acte ...
as Joe Yates *Peggy Mahon as Florie *
Harvey Atkin Elliot Harvey Atkin (18 December 1942 – 18 July 2017) was a Canadian actor best known for his roles as Morty Melnick in ''Meatballs'', Sergeant Ronald Coleman in ''Cagney & Lacey'', and for voicing King Koopa in ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Sh ...
as Harry Browning *Robert Warner as Sheriff *Jack Van Evera as James Chalmers *Les Rubie as Sam *
Doris Petrie Doris Petrie (24 July 1918 – 21 August 2000) was a Canadian film and television actress, best known for her roles in the William Fruet films ''Wedding in White'' (1972) and ''Funeral Home'' (1980); and also the television series '' High Hopes'', ...
as Ruby *
Bill Lake Bill Lake ( W.F. Lake) is a Canadian actor whose career began in Vancouver and who has appeared in many movies, television movies and series, stage plays and commercials. He has over 175 credits in a variety of productions since the 1970s. Caree ...
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

The budget for the film was roughly
CAD$ The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can ...
1,431,780 and the production was filmed from July 23, 1979 to September 12, 1979. It as shot on location in several cities in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, including Elora,
Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
,
Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...
, and
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. The building that stood in for the Chalmers Funeral Home was in actuality not a funeral home; it was a spacious mansion with gables located on Reesor Road in Markham, Ontario, and this house was later used again in an episode of the 1990s Canadian-American horror anthology series ''
Goosebumps ''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror fiction novels by American author R. L. Stine, published by Scholastic Publishing. The protagonists in these stories are tweens or young teens who find themselves in scary circumstances usually i ...
'' (as the O'Dell House in the 2-part episode "Night of the Living Dummy III"), which
William Fruet William Fruet (born January 1, 1933) is a Canadian film and television director, playwright and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with the drama ''Wedding in White'' (1972), based on a play he had also written. The film won Best Picture ...
co-produced. The scenes at the quarry were filmed at the Elora Quarry in Elora, Ontario; this quarry has been a conservation park and public beach since the 1970s, and unlike the Reesor mansion, can be visited by tourists. Both locations were sought out and booked for filming in advance by Fruet. According to actress
Lesleh Donaldson Lesleh Donaldson (born April 7, 1964) is a Canadian actress who has worked in stage and film. After making her film debut in the drama ''Running'' (1979), she would appear in several horror films in the early 1980s, which earned her the title of ...
, actress
Kay Hawtrey Katharine Mary Craven Clark ( Hawtrey, November 8, 1926 – June 11, 2021) was a Canadian actress. Hawtrey was born on November 8, 1926 and educated at Toronto's Trinity College. She began her career at Hart House Theatre and then went to Engla ...
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 Fruet, Donaldson stated that she "knew that he would do things off-the-cuff at the last minute, like changing a scene. 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."


Release

The film was released in Canada in 1980 by Frontier Amusements under its original title, ''Cries in the Night''. Two years later, it received a theatrical release in the United States through Motion Picture Marketing (MPM) under the alternate title ''Funeral Home''.


Reception

The film has received mixed to positive reception in recent years, with
AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
, 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." In a retrospective analysis, critic and film historian
John Kenneth Muir John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres. Biography Bo ...
said the film is "slow as molasses and lacking in both surprises and punch," and negatively compared it to imitating
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's '' Psycho'' (1960). Thomas Ellison of ''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."


Home media

The film 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 low-quality VHS transfer.


Soundtrack

A soundtrack to the film was released on October 25, 2011 by
Intrada Records Intrada is an American record company based in Oakland, California, owned and managed by Douglass Fake. The company specializes in movie and television soundtracks, notably those by the late Jerry Goldsmith. Intrada was founded in 1985 by owner ...
as part of their Intrada Special Collection Series. All tracks were composed by
Jerry Fielding Jerry Fielding (born Joshua Itzhak Feldman; June 17, 1922 – February 17, 1980)Redman, Nick"Fielding, Jerry" Jackson, Kenneth T.; Markoe, Karen E.; Markoe, Arnold (1995). ''Dictionary of American Biography; Supplement 10: 1976–1980''. New ...
. The film was his second-to last score.


Awards and nominations

''Funeral Home'' was nominated for three
Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...
: *Best Actress: Lesleh Donaldson *Best Editing: Ralph Brunjes *Best Sound Editing: Andy Herman, Dave Appleby, Joe Grimaldi, Gary Bourgeois, Austin Grimaldi, and Ian Hendry


See also

* Hotel Infierno - A 2015 Argentine film with a similar plot


References


Sources

* * * *


External links

* *
Cries in the Night
' (''Funeral Home'') at
AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
{{William Fruet 1980 horror films 1980 films 1980s psychological thriller films 1980s slasher films Canadian independent films Canadian slasher films Films about dissociative identity disorder English-language Canadian films Films directed by William Fruet Films set in hotels Films shot in Toronto Funeral homes in fiction 1980s psychological horror films Religious horror films Films scored by Jerry Fielding 1980s English-language films 1980s Canadian films