The Mortuary Collection

"The Mortuary Collection" (2019, Ryan Spindell, Trapdoor Pictures, AMP International, Shudder) is a horror anthology film.

We are welcomed to The Raven's End Mortuary by creepy mortician and keeper of many stories, Montgomery Dark (Clancy Brown), who recounts a few of his tales to us and his new prospective apprentice, Sam (Caitlin Custer). 

A very fun collection of tales which fit nicely into the wraparound story and provide the right level of humour, familiarity and freshness to make this anthology a must-see. 

Each short links well to the wraparound, and the wraparound itself if an intriguing tale of its own.

Brown delivers Montgomery Dark with a relish that is utterly captivating and Custer provides not only some wit and cynicism but also a few surprises of her own.

The effects are on the whole excellent and enjoy an 80s style appeal without trying too hard to be too nostalgia driven. 

I don't want to go into too many details about the shorts because they are great fun and deserve to be seen, but this film has a few humorous and gory gems to share as well as some emotional moments that are really effective.

Definitely worth checking out and currently streaming on Shudder and available to buy on physical media.

[Image: Trapdoor Pictures, et al]

Hani

Vampires vs. The Bronx

"Vampires vs. The Bronx" (2020, Osmany Rodriguez, Broadway Video, Caviar, Netflix) is a coming of age vampire comedy set in The Bronx neighbourhood of New York City.

Miguel (Jaden Michael), Bobby (Gerald W. Jones III) and Luis (Gregory Diaz IV) are three friends living in The Bronx. Aside from the usual troubles of girls, overbearing mothers and bullies, the kids are trying to arrange a block party to raise funds to save their local shop and favourite hangout from being shut down and gentrified by a vampiric real estate agency called Murnau Enterprises (a nod to F. W. Murnau; director of the 1922 classic "Nosferatu") who it turns out, are more vampiric than the kids know.... being run by actual vampires...

After Miguel witnesses someone being eaten, the race begins to put a stop to the Murnau company's evil plans, while trying to avoid being eaten themselves! 

A charming film with a 12 rating, so you know going in to expect minimal actual scares. The actors give a great performance as our three protagonists; funny, sweet and characters you want to root for. They are supported by a fun and energetic cast of other characters and the film does a good job of setting up the community feeling of the neighbourhood and its inhabitants. The vampires are cartoonishly ghoulish and possibly rely a little too heavily on the ol' Max Schreck hand gimmick, but fit in with the fun tone of the film.

Definitely a bit of fun just in time for Halloween, and hopefully a film that will attract young potential horror fans with its humour, charm and vampires!

 [Image: Netflix et al]

Hani