Funeral Home
This 1980 slasher starts off as Lesleh Donaldsen's character, Heather, is just getting off the bus to be picked up by her grandmother, Maude Chalmers (Kay Hawtrey). She's going to help with her grandmother's new tourist home, which was formerly a funeral home. Unfortunately, her grandmother hasn't shown up yet due to car problems, so Heather starts to walk down the road. Suddenly, a black cat starts to follow Heather. For some strange reason, possibly being superstitious, Heather is very frightened of the cat and tries to shoo it away. Finally, a hometown boy by the name of Rick Yates (Dean Garbett) gives her a lift to her grandmother's house.
Arriving to her destination, Heather is greeted by her cheerful grandmother. The funeral home had to be changed to a tourist home due to Heather's grandfather's mysterious disappearance, as well as financial problems surrounding the place. Although, Heather promises that they will make millions with the new hotel. A man and woman stay with them, but aren't very polite or kind towards the owners. Ma Kettle then insists that they leave soon because of their sinful relationship.
Heather starts to date Rick and discovers things she never knew about her grandfather. She also starts to hear two voices down in the cellar at night. One of the voices is her grandmother's, but the other is unknown to Heather. Heather questions the voices and the cellar, but Ma warns her never to go down into the cellar. Heather becomes very suspicious and thinks her grandmother might be hiding something. With the aid of Rick, they try to make something of what's going on.
Along with the recent disappearance of a real estate agent, the hotel guests start to disappear, as well. It's actually the cause of a lumbering, homicidal maniac. It's in the cellar that Heather and Rick discover the horrifying secret.
I had very high hopes for this Canadian William Fruet-directed horror movie. Unfortunately, I was a little bit disappointed, and enjoyed Fruet's 1986 Killer Party more than this. The one thing I really liked about this one was the lead role played by beautiful Canadian scream queen Lesleh Donaldsen, who was also in two of my favorite horror films, Happy Birthday to Me and Curtains, both also Canadian. I thought Donaldsen's character's fear of the cat was pretty funny, since it's just a cat!
There's a very uncreative and miniscule body count, as well as the predictable plot twist. Along with this, I found some similarities to Psycho and Tourist Trap, which mostly contribute to the film's conclusion. The pace is a bit slow, except for the end chase scene that has a thrilling beginning, but weak conclusion. Worth a look for someone who really enjoys scary movies and just has to see every one of them, exactly like me! Also known as Cries in the Night and 2 Cries in the Night.
