Beautiful Forever
While most folks know the late Bill Paxton for his work in hit films like Twister (1996), Tombstone (1993), and Aliens (1986), not many remember him as Paul Andrews in 1983’s Mortuary. It was one of his earliest film roles and it’s pretty twisted!
Paul is the shy and somewhat innocent son of Hank Andrews, owner of the local funeral home and mortuary. He assists his father in embalming the recently deceased. Paul’s father is also a member of a local cult that has seances in the mortuary. That’s nothing compared to Paul’s favorite pastime……murder.
Paul has developed a crush on Christie (Mary Beth McDonough of The Waltons) and will stop at nothing to make sure that she becomes his eternally beautiful bride. In order for that to happen, though, a few people have to die. Paul’s favorite weapon of choice is a trocar, the tool used to drain bodily fluids during an embalming. He also likes to paint his face with white paint and black paint around his eyes.
Paul’s goofy charm throws off everyone and by the time that Christie realizes who he is, it’s too late. Paul goes absolutely bonkers and tries to murder Christie so that he can embalm her and love her forever. Watch Mortuary to find out if he’s successful!
Paxton did a brilliant job in this role. While he would definitely go on to bigger and better things, this is one of my favorite performances by him. While there have been numerous films released over the years with the same title, none of them are related to the 1983 film in any way. There has been no sequel nor a remake. Aside from the occasional t-shirt, I have yet to find any merchandise, either. Hopefully we’ll get some more Paul Andrews merch in the near future.
Thanks for reading my post. Tomorrow’s slasher is considered one of the earliest (and bests) slashers in film history!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 