How Clancy Brown Ended Up Curating The Mortuary Collection

Today saw the DVD and Blu-ray release of The Mortuary Collection, a horror anthology from filmmaker Ryan Spindell and starring fan-favorite actor Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption, The Flash). The film centers on an ancient, creepy mortician (Brown) whose mortuary is visited by a young woman traumatized by a the recent death of a child. Brown’s character spends the film recounting tales of terror to his guest, ranging from the darkly comic to the chilling and repellent. All the while, though, she has a secret of her own that explains why she came to see him. The movie has been circulating for over a year on the festival circuit, but recently became available to the consumer audience for the first time and today gets a physical release with over two hours of bonus content.

Among the shorts included in the anthology is “The Babysitter Murders,” a short film directed by Spindell which he was able to use as a kind of proof of concept when courting producers and cast members, including Brown. Brown, who serves as an executive producer on the film, said he loved the script, but was especially sold when he saw the short film.

“I got sent it, and I read it, and loved it,” Brown told ComicBook. “And the only segment that wasn’t written was ‘The Babysitter Murders.’ Just had a little thing in there that said ‘Babysitter Murders.’”

“So I finished the script, and then had to fill in the rest of the script by watching The Babysitter Murders, which was perfect, because I got introduced to the script, and it’s well-written, and you think it’s great, and then you don’t know if somebody, as a writer, if he can direct,” Brown added. “And then you watch The Babysitter Murders and you see, not only can he direct, he’s got a distinctive voice, and real expertise about storytelling. And then having seen that after reading the script and understanding the tone, then I had to meet Ryan, to make sure that he liked me and I liked him. And he told me this story, of the journey of the film, and how all the powers that be and the expert gatekeepers told him that it could never be made. So that’s all I needed to hear. It’s like, to hear the Oracle say this is something that can be done.”

Horror aficionados will know that “The Babysitter Murders” was the original title for the Halloween screenplay, and there’s more than a passing nod to the John Carpenter classic in The Mortuary Collection.

The Mortuary Collection is available on VOD, Digital, DVD and Blu-ray April 20.