Rating: 2/5
Lindsay sits in the back of a wake. She waits for everyone to clear out before cheerfully sauntering to the open casket. There, she pulls back her veil, nuzzling and kissing the corpse.
The mortician, Fred, sees her but doesn’t intervene.
Later, she throws a big party at her house. She slips upstairs to be alone in her room, but Wade followers her and tries to make a move. When that fails, he SAs her, only stopping when she scratches him. When Wade leaves, Lindsay picks up a stuffed bear, holding it to her as she reminisces about her father.
Lindsay scans the obituaries for someone who died at the right age. She travels to the mortuary and starts the same routine. As she touches the face, the facial reconstruction collapses under hand, so she runs. But before she leaves, she runs into Alex, brother to the deceased, who bears a striking resemblance to her father.
Fred cruises for a boy, Bobby, taking him back to the mortuary where he works under the guise that he’s married so they can’t go to his place. They strip down and Fred has Bobby lay down on the slab. Fred straps Bobby down against his will and embalms Bobby while he’s still alive.
Fred sees Lindsay at another wake and believes he sees a kindred spirit. He approaches her while she goes in to kiss the body. He tells her about a group he is in that participates in group necrophilia.
The movie is a cross between Toys Are Not for Children and Kissed, with some other exploitation influences mixed in. Unlike the two mentioned movies, this film doesn’t explore the psychology behind Lindsay’s hangups.
But as an exploitive thriller, it has some decently uncomfortable images. The tones between these and the rest of the movie don’t gel that well, but it’s not too bad.
The movie uses extended montage to get through some of the plot points, further distancing the audience from any emotional connection to the characters. I read that the director did that to hide some poorly-written dialogue.
Still, I appreciated the direction the story took, especially with how it ended. I just wish the journey there was more cohesive.