The Boneyard

Plot

The film plunges into the nightmarish experiences of a portly, depressed psychic (Deborah Rose), whose involvement in a grisly child-murder case leads her and her detective partner (Ed Nelson) to an imposing, fortress-like mortuary. Chen (Robert Yun Ju Ahn), the owner of the funeral home and prime suspect in the case, claims the three mummified corpses in question are not children but ancient demons known as "kyoshi". It seems the little monsters have been around for centuries as a result of an age-old curse and can only be placated with offerings of human flesh — with which the mortician has been supplying them his entire life. When Chen is jailed on murder charges, the under-fed ghouls awaken in search of dinner, trapping the staff inside the mortuary walls and devouring them. The survivors, including Rose and Nelson, use every means at their disposal to combat the demons, which have possessed the bodies of morgue attendant Mrs. Poopinplatz (Phyllis Diller) and her poodle, mutating them into hideous monsters.

Production

Shooting took place in Statesville, North Carolina, in 1989. In December 1989, a botched special effect caused a fire.

Reception

Patrick Naugle of DVD Verdict called it "good, goofy fun." Steve Simels of Entertainment Weekly rated the film B− and described it as a film destined to be a cult classic. In a negative review, Lawrence Cohn of Variety stated that, instead of being funny, the film "comes off as merely silly". Adam Tyner of DVD Talk rated it 2.5/5 stars and said that the film wastes too much time on setup rather than the campy monsters that have brought it a cult following. Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, academic Peter Dendle called it an "energetic but directionless fiend-fest". Dendle praised the acting and serious nature of the first hour but said later scenes cause the tone to "just get silly".