Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Undertaker Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 7, 2017

Joe Spinell is a character actor with, as they say in the business, a “face for radio.” During his career, he’s managed to play all kinds of tough guys, mob guys, and cops (appearing in classics like “Rocky” and “The Godfather: Part II”), but he’s best remembered for his work portraying psychopaths, vividly conjuring screen insanity in pictures like “Maniac” and “The Last Horror Film.” He’s a passionate performer despite some thespian limitations, always trying to make an impression with roles of any size. He passed away in 1989, leaving 1988’s “The Undertaker” his final lead role, tasked with embodying a seemingly mild-mannered mortician who happens to embrace the romance of necrophilia, collecting victims to create a basement family for himself. It’s not exactly a stretch for Spinell and his impressive creep factor, but he’s the best thing about “The Undertaker,” which is clumsy and periodically goofy, but always makes time for Spinell to shape his interpretation of insanity, which is incredibly entertaining to watch.

Nicky (Patrick Askin) is a student troubled by what he’s witnessed at his family’s mortuary. He’s caught a glimpse of Uncle Roscoe’s (Joe Spinell) late-night activities with collected bodies, treating them like friends and lovers, and Nicky doesn’t know who to turn to for help. To the rescue is Pam (Rebeca Yaron), Nicky’s anthropology teacher and a woman intrigued by her pupil’s insistence that something strange is going on with Roscoe. While the cops struggle with grisly discoveries around town and a lack of evidence, Roscoe continues to collect victims, preying on vulnerable females to complete his basement harem. For Pam, curiosity keeps her interested in the killings, trying to pinpoint the identity of the murderer as Nicky goes missing, inspiring her and roommate Mandy (Susan Bachli) to pick up Roscoe’s scent, putting together clues and suspicions.

Scripted by William James Kennedy, “The Undertaker” enjoys creating sick business for Roscoe, who’s a menace from frame one, doing away with any ambiguity to portray the mortician as a disturbed individual lost in a polluted fog of insanity, collecting victims to populate his basement kingdom while keeping a respectable presence upstairs, dealing compassionately with the bereaved and professionally with the cops. Roscoe has a particular fetish for panicked women, and “The Undertaker” is mostly comprised of stalking sequences, watching the madman’s gloved hand go after exposed ladies, including a babysitter fresh off the night shift, a motorist dealing with a flat tire, and the mayor’s secretary. The victims are sliced and diced, and then repaired for display, with Roscoe orchestrating a sort of prom in his workspace, using the bodies to act out a social life he’s never experienced with living, breathing individuals.

Nicky catches a glimpse of the ghoulishness and, inspired by Pam’s lectures on necrophilia, tries to talk his teacher into paying the mysterious mortuary a visit. It’s an act she’s interprets as flirting, providing one of several unintentional laughs in “The Madman” as limited performers try to make Kennedy’s awkward, ridiculous scripting come off naturally. Once Nicky disappears, the picture slips into investigation mode, a mission shared between cops dealing with persistent heat issues and Pam, who can’t shake the info her student has provided her, hoping to find a way to expose Roscoe’s illness to law enforcement officials. “The Undertaker” has stretches of dullness, with far too much concentration on characters searching spooky rooms, but the production tries to liven up the proceedings, delivering major gore shots as the mortician cuts through the innocents, while one poor woman is subjected to a bubbly face burn as Roscoe arranges a meeting between her head and a stove. For added amusement, there’s a movie theater security officer on the killer’s case, putting together Roscoe’s love of a special satanic sacrifice horror film with serial killer appetites reported in the local paper. He goes from protecting Sno-Caps to becoming an armed hunter. It’s the highlight of the feature.

The Undertaker Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The arrival of "The Undertaker" on Blu-ray is a bit complicated. While Vinegar Syndrome has been able to deliver an AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation with 35mm elements, the film itself is incomplete, requiring scenes sourced from a VHS workprint to help expand the picture to its original intent. These scenes aren't clean (the last two screencaps showcase what we're dealing with) and mostly regulated to the finale. However, this is the closest "The Undertaker" has come to a complete cut, making the effort impressively tenacious, gifting cult fans a minor miracle with a wildly obscure movie. The rest of the viewing experience is clear and highly detailed, supplying rich textures on various grotesqueries and sweaty characters, while costuming retains fibrous qualities. Colors are bold and direct, handling vivid greenery and set interiors with care, while skintones are natural throughout. Delineation handles ideally, preserving frame information. Grain is fine and filmic. Beyond VHS interruptions, source is in solid shape, with only mild speckling.

The Undertaker Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 1.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix does what it can with obvious production limitations. VHS workprint scenes sound rough but not impossible, while the rest of the listening experience offers a clear assessment of dialogue exchanges, keeping terrible performances open for inspection. Scoring retains a heavy synth creep, but never overwhelms the action. Atmospherics are blunt, while sound effects are adequate, preserving all the heavy breathing a viewer could want. Damage is minimal.

The Undertaker Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Booklet (six pages) contains an essay by Michael Gingold.

• Intro (:15, HD) is a brief welcome to the Blu-ray experience by screenwriter William James Kennedy.

• "Making 'The Undertaker'" (20:45, HD) returns to Kennedy, who calmly describes the production experience, beginning with a quest to hire actor Richard Lynch to portray Uncle Roscoe, responding to his unique brand of villainy. Also of interest is Spinell's ongoing drinking problem, which contributed to his "100 Proof" performance, according to Kennedy. As the only person willing to discuss "The Undertaker," Kennedy offers satisfying insight, helping to grasp what the feature was originally intended to be.

• Rough Cut Outtakes (9:54, SD) provide more pieces of the workprint puzzle, extending a few murder and stalking sequences, while an additional glimpse of the satanic horror movie that inspires Roscoe to murder is provided.

• Still Gallery offers 17 BTS pictures, showcasing production concentration and cast and crew sense of humor between shots.

• And an Archival Promo Video (5:07, SD) is included.

The Undertaker Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Undertaker" is a fine showcase for Spinell's screen personality, and he makes different choices when playing Roscoe, giving him a fey presence instead of gunning straight for movie monster mode. It's not the most professional work, as Spinell is prone to looking directly into the camera, but it's often the only thing to embrace as the feature struggles with technical challenges and botched performances from the supporting cast. He makes a convincing ghoul, and his general greasy look is an easy match for Roscoe's thinly veiled instability. The writing isn't interested in maintaining secrets, allowing Spinell to dominate a strange slasher endeavor, but one that's mindful of nudity requirements and surges of violence. After all, even the clumsiest productions are aware of genre standards, and "The Undertaker," while sloppy (with a baffling conclusion), is always mindful of what the target audience expects from exploitation cinema.