The Mortuary Assistant brings hit game to the big screen (spoiler-free review)

The Mortuary Assistant is the most recent video game to movie adaptation, with Five Nights at Freddy's and Iron Lung being recent successes and Silent Hill getting another cinematic outing earlier this year. It's clear that the horror video game adaptation genre is in a bit of a box office renaissance. The question is, will The Mortuary Assistant follow suit?

The Mortuary Assistant is based on the independent horror game of the same name from game developer Brian Clarke, and while I've admittedly never played it, the premise seems straightforward enough. A young woman starts her job as the titular assistant to a mortician when she becomes plagued with supernatural occurrences. The screen adaptation is directed by Jeremiah Kipp, who previously directed the horror film Slapface, with a screenplay penned by Tracee Beebe, who's previous works include the short films Date from Hell and Dog Years. The film was also produced by Dread, who previously produced the indie horror hit Terrifier. The film also stars Willa Holland (Green Arrow), Paul Sparks (Boardwalk Empire, House of Cards), and John Adams, of Adams Family fame (Mother of Flies, Hellbender, Where the Devil Roams).

Courtesy of DREAD

The Mortuary Assistant immediately enthralls the viewer in an undeniably creepy and palpable atmosphere. The set design for the mortuary and the lighting and camera techniques used to present it do an admirable job showing off the film's central location. The scenes outside of the mortuary also feel off putting and sinister in their own right, due to the film's lighting and the main character's personal turmoil.

Another one of The Mortuary Assistant's strengths is the film's performances. Willa Holland is the heart of the film and carries that weight excellently, while Paul Sparks chews the scenery as a more than slightly off-putting mortician. John Adams' character, while used sparingly, brings a sinister edge and plays well off of Holland's performance. The film also utilizes some impressive misdirection, especially with a sharp left turn the film makes around the 30-minute mark. The film utilizes the classic unreliable narrator trope the best it can, making for some suspenseful and engaging scenes.

The film certainly feels like a video game turned into a movie. Instead of a fluid narrative, the film delivers a laundry list of tasks to push the thin plot along. The film also falls into a habit from time to time of pulling from a bag of tired cliches, resulting in scares that ultimately fall flat, with the exception of a few jump scares. Alongside this, the film also drops a confusing revelation between the main character and the film's monster in the third act. The screenplay feels like it could have used some fine tuning at points.

The film's monster, credited as "The Mimic," was another impressive part of the production. While I feel like the design leaves a lot to be desired, I was impressed with the choice to do a practical costume for the monster as opposed to CGI. The Mimic isn't the only thing that's practical, though. A good portion of the film involves intimate close ups on the day to day (or in this case night to night) tasks of cutting, draining, embalming and burning bodies. Most, if not all, of the effects in this process are practical, giving viewers an up close and personal POV of mortuary work.

Overall, The Mortuary Assistant is an impressive independent production that unfortunately falls into a loop of monotonous tasks that fails to bring enough scares to justify it. The film's biggest struggle comes from a script that barely breaches the confines of a video game format and hardly engages with the audience as a film. It simply isn't fitted for the medium. The film's solid performances and practical effects make the case for an impressive indie production, but the film ultimately fails to capture the slow burn dread that similar films like The Autopsy of Jane Doe brought to audiences. The film ultimately has more against it than going for it when you take a step back and look at the big picture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtY6JoPX5MU

The Mortuary Assistant is currently playing in theaters and will be streaming on Shudder on March 27th.

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