Funeral Home (1980 film)
| Funeral Home | |
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Theatrical poster with original title
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| Directed by | William Fruet |
| Produced by | Barry Allen William Fruet |
| Written by | Ida Nelson |
| Starring |
Lesleh Donaldson Kay Hawtrey Alf Humphreys Harvey Atkin Jack Van Evera Barry Morse |
| Music by | Jerry Fielding |
| Cinematography | Mark Irwin |
| Edited by | Ralph Brunjes |
| Distributed by | Frontier Amusements Motion Picture Marketing |
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Release date
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Running time
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93 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Funeral Home (originally released as Cries in the Night) is a 1980 Canadian horror film directed by William Fruet and starring Lesleh Donaldson, Kay Hawtrey, Jack Van Evera, Alf Humphreys, and Harvey Atkin. The plot follows a teenager spending the summer at her grandmother's inn—formerly a funeral home—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.
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—has recently been converted into a inn. Maude's husband, James, an undertaker, has been missing for several years, and she has been forced to make a living selling artificial flower arrangements 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 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, 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 hearse, 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 be have eloped 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.
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