The Mortuary Assistant Review
“The Mortuary Assistant” is an uneven horror yarn.
Based on the 2022 horror video game designed by Brian Clarke, “The Mortuary Assistant” is a feature film adaptation penned by Brian Clarke and Tracee Beebe. The story follows Rebecca Owens who is working as an intern mortician under mortuary owner Raymond Delver at the beginning of the film. After embalming a corpse on her own, she is promoted to work day shifts. What should be a celebratory moment in her life soon turns into an utter nightmare. Raymond calls Rebecca in for a last minute overnight shift only to learn that a nasty demon is attempting to possess her. She begins to experience all manner of strange phenomena including sounds, illusions, phone calls, and so forth. The demon attempts to use her pains and weaknesses against her in order to fully take over. To say Rebecca is dealing with a lot of past trauma is an understatement as she is trying to stay clean (she had a past drug addiction) and still deeply mourns the loss of her father. Luckily, there is hope. Through Raymond’s series of instructions, Rebecca just might be able to ward off the demon, but Raymond has many dark secrets of his own.
Directed by Jeremiah Kipp, “The Mortuary Assistant” is certainly better than most video game adaptations out there. It’s eerie and atmospheric, the make-up FX by Norman Cabrera Monsters is first rate (their work is NOT for the squeamish), and the story gives an unsettling take on the tried and true possession subgenre. The many mysteries within the plot help stretch out what could have been a very thin story. You want to see what happens next and if Rebecca can survive this horrifying predicament.
Where ‘Mortuary’ stumbles a bit is with a strong sense of familiarity and the overabundance of horror cliches. In addition to bearing a strong resemblance to the superior “The Autopsy Of Jane Doe,” there’s a lot of standard elements here that knock it down a couple notches. Do we really need another psychological horror story about trauma in which the protagonist fights her own demons and an actual demon and sees things that may or may not be real? Probably not.
Cast wise, it’s great to see Willa Holland of “Arrow” fame in the lead role as Rebecca. She was a scene stealer on the DC CW series and does a fine job here. Not only is she often acting solo (or with corpses), but she is quite convincing in her struggle with literal and mental demons. Paul Sparks, on the other hand, is not a great fit for Raymond Dolver. He is so stilted to the point where it sounds like he is a robot uttering lines. It’s especially strange knowing the actor has turned in stellar work in series such as “The Lowdown” and “Boardwalk Empire.”
Whether you’re a fan of the game or know nothing about it, “The Mortuary Assistant” is at least worth a watch, but don’t go in expecting a new horror classic.
“The Mortuary Assistant” hits theaters Feb. 13 and releases on Shudder March 27th.
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