MORTUARY

The Doyle Family moves to a small town in California, specifically to the dilapidated house of the deceased Fowler. Mrs. Doyle decides to reopen the funeral agency of the previous owners and Jonathan, the eldest son, quickly finds a job at a fast food place, where he meets Liz, the young niece of the owner. The girl tells Jonathan about the ominous reputation the Fowler had earned and the place where they lived: according to local beliefs, Bobby, the deformed son of the Fowler, is still alive and hides in the cemetery adjacent to the house. Initially skeptical, the boy begins to change his mind when his little sister says she saw someone in her room and when some local boys disappear near the cemetery. A strange sensation is felt while watching Tobe Hooper's latest film, "The Custodian" ("Mortuary" in the original); at first, one finds themselves in well-trodden territories, it seems like a leap back in time of at least twenty years, thanks to an old-style atmosphere and production that brings to mind the naive but genuine horror films of the '80s. Then suddenly, when one delves more specifically into the horror field, one ends up in an implausible mess, rushed and at times unintentionally ridiculous. Therefore, another bitter disappointment from an now irrecoverable Hooper, a director who, after his dazzling debut with "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and a few other sporadic examples of excellent horror cinema ("The Funhouse", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2", "Poltergeist"), has not managed to hit the mark again. Here and there, the Hooperian touch can be perceived also in "The Custodian": the lair of the deformed Bobby is sufficiently suggestive and reminds the refuge of Leatherface's family in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" and the terrifying story of the eccentric Fowler family cannot but bring to mind the family of psychopaths from the already mentioned "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Some successful moments can indeed be found, but they are limited to the first part of preparation and the affectionate '80s atmosphere that is breathed throughout the duration of the film; then the ridiculous takes over, some zombies appear with grotesque guttural noises and vomit a black liquid, a disappointing villain (will he be the Custodian of the title?) poorly characterized both in character and physically, and a tentacled monster made with poor CGI unleashes. Let's add a too rushed screenplay that in the end leaves too many questions unanswered and a conclusion that is surely irritating. Hooper's direction is dry and professional to the right point, although there are no visual and technical characteristics that make it particularly memorable; the scenery is surely impactful, particularly suitable for a horror film, thanks to a decadent and dirty mansion and an unsettling cemetery that accompanies it, places capable of creating a terrifying morbid and necrophilic atmosphere. Gore reduced to the bone, including a shattered chest and abundant use of bodily fluids and black mold; the makeup of the creatures, then, leaves much to be desired. Among the actors, no familiar faces are seen, but a group of young television faces including the protagonist Dan Byrd (whom we will soon see in the remake of "The Hills Have Eyes"), Rocky Marquette (the bloody boy of "Shallow Ground") and Alexandra Adi in the role of Liz; while among the more experienced actors stands out Denise Crosby ("The Dead Next Door"), in the role of Mrs. Doyle and Greg Travis ("Lost Highway" and "Starship Troopers"), in the role of the odious Eliot Cook. In short, Tobe Hooper's talent does not seem to want to resurface and "The Custodian" appears as an innocuous little film that is very mediocre and greatly disappoints, a film that with great probability we will one day see filling the late-night schedules of Italia1 during the usual summer horror reviews. Many reasons make it more suitable for direct home video distribution than for the cinema.