''Mortuary Academy'' is a 1988 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Christopher Atkins Christopher Atkins Bomann (born February 21, 1961) is an American actor and businessman, perhaps best known for his debut in the 1980 film '' The Blue Lagoon'' and playing Peter Richards in ''Dallas'' (1983–1984). Early life Christopher Atki ...

and

Perry Lang Perry Lang (born December 24, 1959, Palo Alto, California) is an American director, writer and actor. Acting Lang has appeared in several films and television shows, such as '' Teen Lust'', and directed himself in ''Men of War'' (1994). He had ...

. The film was released on DVD in full screen with no extras in 2005.

Plot summary

Sam (

) and Max Grimm (

) inherit the Grimm Mortuary and Academy from their uncle, but in order to obtain it, they must graduate from the mortician's course. The current owner is Dr. Paul Truscott (

Paul Bartel Paul Bartel (August 6, 1938 – May 13, 2000) was an American actor, writer and director. He was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy '' Eating Raoul'', which he wrote, starred in and directed. Bartel appeared in over 90 movies and ...

), who tells the Grimm brothers that if they fail to graduate, the ownership of the business will stay with him. Truscott and his assistant Mary (

Mary Woronov Mary Woronov (born December 8, 1943) is an American actress, published author and figurative painter. She is primarily known as a " cult star" because of her work with Andy Warhol and her roles in Roger Corman's cult films. Woronov has appeared ...

), who is the only professor at the academy, conspire to make sure the brothers do not succeed. Both Paul and Mary have necrophilia, messing with dead bodies and doing poor mortuary jobs for customers. The other students try to graduate as well, including a student that impales dead bodies and another student that brings a puppy "back from the dead" with robotic engineering.

Reception

A review in the book ''VideoHound's Complete Guide to Cult Flicks and Trash Pics'' says, "An attempt to recapture the successful black humor of the earlier Bartel/Woronov teaming ''

Eating Raoul ''Eating Raoul'' is a 1982 American black comedy film written, directed by and starring Paul Bartel with Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Ed Begley Jr., Buck Henry, and Susan Saiger. It is about a prudish married couple (Bartel and Woronov) who r ...

'', this one's dead on arrival except for an uproarious title sequence". Glenn Erickson of DVD Talk wrote, "As can be guessed, Mortuary Academy is basically a one-joke idea drawn out to infinity. It lacks a satiric edge and only Bartel and Woronov are intermittently amusing." Ian Arbuckle, writing for CHUD.com, said, "Its edgy humor has been somewhat dulled by time (the film was released in ’88), but it’s still as good as most gross-out comedies these days, and at least it’s internally coherent." It was reviewed by ''Variety''.

References

External links

* * American parody films 1980s English-language films 1988 films American black comedy films 1988 comedy films Films directed by Michael Schroeder 1980s American films {{comedy-film-stub