''Mortuary Academy'' is a 1988 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

starring Christopher Atkins and Perry Lang. The film was released on DVD in full screen with no extras in 2005.

Plot summary

Sam ( Christopher Atkins) and Max Grimm ( Perry Lang) 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 co-wrote, starred in and directed. Bartel appeared in over 90 movies an ...

), 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), who is the only professor at the academy, conspire to make sure the brothers do not succeed. Both Paul and Mary have

necrophilia Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction or acts involving corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its ''International ...

, 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.

Cast

* Richard Kennedy as George Miller Esq. (credited as R. D. Kennedy) * Christopher Atkins as Max Grimm * Perry Lang as Sam Grimm * Bruce Wagner as Schuyler * Megan Blake as Tammy * Nedra Volz as Helen *

as Paul Truscott * Mary Woronov as Mary Purcell * Anthony James as Abbott Smith *

Bill Kerr William Henry Kerr (10 June 1922 – 28 August 2014) was a British and Australian actor, comedian and vaudevillian. Born in South Africa, he started his career as a child actor in Australia, before emigrating to Britain after the Second World W ...

as Brody *

Tracey Walter Tracey Walter (born November 25, 1947) is an American retired character actor. He has appeared in more than 170 films and television series. Life and career Walter was born and grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of a truck driver. He h ...

as Don Dickson * Mark Hammond as Larry Hirsch * Lynn Danielson-Rosenthal as Valerie Levitt (credited as Lynn Danielson) * Stoney Jackson as James Dandridge * Cheryl Starbuck as Linda Hollyhead * Brian Cole as Randy * Vance Colvig Jr. as Uncle Willard (credited as Vance Colvig) * Barbara Sands as Mrs. Feuer * Gregory R. Wolf as Tony (credited as Gregory Wolf) * Jeff Thiel as Sean O'Rourke (credited as Jeffrey Thiel) * James Thiel as Mick O'Rourke * Tamayo Otsuki as Nancy Nissan (credited as Tamayo) * Karen Lorre as Christie Doll (credited as Karen Whitter) *

Wolfman Jack Robert Weston Smith (January 21, 1938July 1, 1995), known as Wolfman Jack, was an American disc jockey active for over three decades. He was famous for his gravelly voice, and credited it with his success, saying, "It's kept meat and potatoes on ...

as Bernie Berkowitz * Charles Gherardi as Mr. Harding (credited as Charles Gherard) * Chris Hebert as Ben Biallystock * Michael Jason Rosen as Ben's Brother (credited as Michael Rosen) * Bob Tzudiker as Mr. Biallystock * James Daughton as Yuppie At Car Lot * Dona Speir as Nurse * Kymberly Paige as Nurse * Rebekka Armstrong as Nurse * Laurie Ann Carr as Nurse * Kimberly Ann Evans as Skating Waitress * Vickie Benson as Salesgirl * Bobbi Pavis as Sexy Dancer * Leisa Washington as Lady Caterer

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'', 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 Films about necrophilia {{1980s-US-film-stub