After resurrecting his career with the supreme remake of THE TOOLBOX MURDERS (2004) director Tobe Hooper took a misstep, yet again, with this insipid film MORTUARY. It's hard to figure out where everything went wrong. Both films were directed by the same person and both were written by screenplay partners Jace Anderson and Adam Gierasch (this being their third film with Hooper following CROCODILE), so how could everything be so wrong with this film?

A look at the screenwriters previous films may prove enlightening CROCODILE I and II, SPIDERS, AIR PANIC, KILLER RATS, and the Jean-Claude Van Damme film DERAILED (2002), none of which are memorable, so the real question is whether or not THE TOOLBOX MURDERS was just a fluke and dredge like this film is the norm for them.

Besides making very little sense the film also focuses on the younger crowd, which THE TOOLBOX MURDERS did not. There's a lot to be sad for having an older and more experienced cast and even though this film had Denise Crosby in the lead role (no stranger to horror having done PET SEMETARY) she has very little to do through most of the film.

Hooper makes the most of what he's given as he always does which is why his output of films is spotty at best. He saving grace is that he has an eye for directing even if he doesn't have one for picking a good script.

Learn more about this author, Kevin Powers.
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