Running Time: 91 Minutes
Starring: Willa Holland, Paul Sparks, Mark Steger, Shelly Gibson, Keena Ferguson, John Adams, Emily Bennett
For his latest feature, director Jeremiah Kipp opens with a sight one would expect from the title - a body being embalmed. This is the final step for Rebecca Owens (Willa Holland) to complete her internship, who manages to pass this last supervised procedure. This is not her only celebration on this day, as she also makes it to one year of sobriety. But, while this may be a double celebration for others, this is just the beginning of a long night in The Mortuary Assistant.
Now a certified mortician, Rebecca begins working at River Fields Mortuary during a night shift. The job initially appears straightforward, but in-between embalming bodies and keeping things tidy, disturbing events soon escalate as Rebecca becomes at risk of demonic possession. With the help of her enigmatic mentor, Raymond Delver (Paul Sparks), the new graduate must confront her own buried trauma before it is too late.
Screenwriters Tracee Beebe and Brian Clarke adapt the 2022 video game published by DreadXP, which saw players engaging in the job's mundane aspects while avoiding demonic possession. The pair anchor their adaptation with a human tale of guilt stemming from trauma, while director Jeremiah Kipp crafts a creepy tale surrounding it with a grinning figure scuttling around in the dark.
At the centre of this tale, Rebecca is struggling to move forward due to past regrets related to her dad's tragic passing. Even as she makes promising steps toward a brighter future, the threat looms that she may move backwards soon after, leaving Rebecca's sponsor worrying about the protagonist slipping. With such inner struggles unfolding within the character, it is no wonder that a demon becomes bound to her, and feeds on her vulnerabilities. It is a hell of a day for the character, and Holland terrifically captures the deep-seated regret which attracts a demonic entity, and causes her to fall down a rabbit hole of supernatural torment.
As the night moves along, what unfolds is meant to be a distressing assault on the protagonist's senses intending to weaken her mental state. It is an interesting idea for a night of terror, although the unfolding situation rarely feels like that. Genuinely creepy moments do appear throughout, yet one wishes that the dread could have been sustained for longer periods, particularly when adapting what PC Gamer called "a walking simulator with haunted scenery." Credit is deserved for the practical effects, which effectively realise the gore.
Much like Kipp's previous film, Slapface, the strongest moments are in the character's emotionality. At it's core, this is a tale about how grief does not go away. It becomes something that we must learn to live with, to manage so that we can move forward, and live in spite of it. All Rebecca can do is take things one step at a time, and if she stumbles, then there is no shame in starting again. At that level, The Mortuary Assistant is a slab of success.
The Mortuary Assistant is available in cinemas now, and will stream on Shudder from March 27th
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