Performing routine embalming tasks to stave off menacing demons, all while said demons eagerly await a misstep, creates a terrifying pressure cooker experience that catapulted creator Brian Clarke‘s video game The Mortuary Assistant to viral status. It’s so effective at delivering visceral scares that the slight story is almost irrelevant, creating an almost blank canvas when it comes to adapting for film.
That’s the primary expectation of The Mortuary Assistant: translating the scares to screen. Instead, lore takes tedious precedence in an adaptation unable to generate fear.
Introductions to the eponymous character, Rebecca Owens (Willa Holland), and her sullen mentor Raymond Delver (Paul Sparks) get things off to a strong start with an embalming scene showcasing strong practical effects work while establishing some key intel about Rebecca’s new gig. Rebecca’s too preoccupied with her work to notice the cadaver she’s preparing moved, or that Raymond’s peculiar behavior and explicit, creepy warnings to steer clear of the basement indicate something’s seriously amiss with the place. It’s heavy foreshadowing, of course, as Rebecca will eventually find herself alone on the nightshift, ill-prepared for the onslaught of demonic activity.
Once the setup and introductions are out of the way, though, director Jeremiah Kipp, working from a script by Clarke and Tracee Beebe, pulls the curtain back far too wide and too soon. It quickly becomes a scattershot telling of Rebecca’s backstory, her history with addiction and loss, and her lonely present, punctuated by demonic activity in the mortuary to drive home the addiction as possession horror metaphor shaping this adaptation. Holland handles the emotional demands of her role well enough, but quickly becomes lost in the clumsy storytelling that traps Rebecca in a bland cycle of trauma and demonic terror.
Production Designer Chelsea Turner successfully recreates set pieces lifted straight out of the game, and Norman Cabrera Monsters FX house painstakingly brings some of the game’s most haunting entities to screen. If only Kipp employed these valuable assets with any sense of tension or urgency. The scene-stealing Mimic looks great and is wisely used sparingly, but struggles to evoke any semblance of terror in this sleepwalking feature. And Mimic fares stronger than the rest of the lurking entities; most fail to register at all, thanks to the choppy editing and focus on Rebecca’s fractured mental state.
An early line of dialogue points out the open layout of the mortuary, meant to highlight how vulnerable and exposed Rebecca will become as she’s left alone at night, or so she thinks. It’s a callback to the game, of course, but it’s an element the film has no desire to engage with. Despite Turner’s great work, Kipp never pauses long enough to build atmosphere or tension from his creepy setting, offer a clear sense of geography, or let its denizens have their intended impact. There’s a flatness to the scares and a noticeable lack of suspense throughout, as a result.
The game’s lore does factor heavily into the film’s final act, so much so that it robs the film of an actual climax. The heavy-handed addiction metaphor also rears its ugly head as Rebecca’s plight abruptly gives way to lengthy exposition. It’s a sluggish finish to a familiar possession story, even if adhering faithfully to the game.
All might be forgiven if The Mortuary Assistant delivered on what made the game such a success: scaring you silly. The imagery is there, but woefully misutilized. Kipp never lingers long enough on any of it to register; scare tactics get repetitive, and atmosphere is nonexistent. This nightshift nightmare is far more likely to put you to sleep.
The Mortuary Assistant releases in theaters on February 13 before streaming on Shudder beginning March 27.
