The Undertaker is a dark and compelling period British crime thriller shot through with some amazing performances and stark visuals. Paul McGann plays the titular undertaker in a small northern town sometime in the 1960s. But Arthur's haunted by his past, a lost love of his life killed in the war, and the more recent death of his brother at the hands of local hoodlum Finlay, played by a compelling Roger Barclay who injects the small town bully with both menace and pathos. Also in the mix is a jaded and philosophical nightclub singer played by Tara Fitzgerald, watchable as ever, plus an an array of sinister sidekicks pilling the pressure on an increasingly nervous Arthur. When Finlay makes him an offer he can't refuse and a gig to bury a few bodies under the shadow of night, Arthur has to agree. But as the dead pile up Arthur flips and decides to take matters into his own hands, with a finale that recalls the visual chaos of early Kurosawa movies. A delight also to see the legendary Murray Melvin in his final on screen role. More morality play than gangster action flick, this film creates and maintains an amazing bleak atmosphere with some great visuals and great sound design. See it in a cinema if you can. .
Review of The Undertaker
