PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Dealing with dead bodies has always been a staple for unrest and tension in the horror genre. Whether it’s in the form of zombies, spirits, or metaphors, corpses and scares go hand-in-hand. Such is the case in The Mortuary Assistant, one of the newest undertakings that’s coming to Shudder. This film is based on the 2022 video game of the same name.
The Mortuary Assistant was written by Tracee Beebe (Date From Hell 2019) and Brian Clarke (in his screenwriting debut) and directed by Jeremiah Kipp (Slapface 2021, read our review here). It stars Willa Holland (Arrow TV Series 2012) as Rebecca Owens, a recovering addict who battles the demons of her haunted past while completing her training to become a mortician. As she starts to dig up the secrets of this particular funeral home, her personal struggles start to collide with her work life, leading to a fever dream with deadly consequences.
Holland does a lot of the heavy lifting here, carrying Rebecca with a balance of strength and fragility that makes the audience invest in her. The location in The Mortuary Assistant is pitch perfect, as this cavernous funeral home has enough layers in its layout to give the actors a lot to play with. The best moments of tension come when the sound design is silent, much like in The Autopsy Of Jane Doe. This leads to some chilling jump scares as the audience tries to unravel the story.
The special effects really revel in their practically. Kipp and the cinematographers not only dive into the embalming process and the decaying of dead bodies, they linger on them in extreme close-ups. This will give gore hounds a lot to feast on. The direction from room to room and the transitions of each, are masterfully done.
The story of The Mortuary Assistant has some very strong points, and also leaves a few coffins left unturned. Rebecca’s past gives her a lot of relatability, and we get some important metaphors to go with our scares. The script never fully leans into the quiet terror but also doesn’t go full-on Evil Dead either. There are some really fun, taunting moments that could’ve gone further than they did, but the balance between stoicism and animation builds a lot of tension.
While we never understand the full set of rules for the demons in The Mortuary Assistant, we do get a wonderful journey for our main character. The film is best consumed with the lights off, the sound up, and friends nearby to get immersed in this cold and creepy set. The Mortuary Assistant just closed out its theater run, and it debuts on Shudder on March 27th.
