The Mortuary Assistant (2026) (Blu-ray Review)
DIRECTED BY: Jeremiah Kipp
STARRING: Willa Holland, Paul Sparks
RATED: 18/Region: O/2:36/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 1
AVAILABLE FROM Acorn Media International
There are probably easier ways to start a new job than spending your first night shift alone in a morgue surrounded by dead bodies. Apparently, Rebecca Owens didn’t get the memo, because The Mortuary Assistant looks at the world’s creepiest workplace and says, “Congratulations! You’re hired.”
Based on the popular horror video game, The Mortuary Assistant puts Willa Holland in the lead as Rebecca, a newly certified mortician who takes a night job at River Fields Mortuary and quickly discovers that the corpses aren’t the only things she needs to worry about. The movie debuted on Shudder after a limited theatrical run, and it has now made the jump to Blu-ray, because thankfully the physical-media train continues to chug along despite the best efforts of every streaming service on the planet.
And honestly, the best reason to climb aboard this particular train is Willa Holland.
She gives a really good performance here and might actually be the highlight of the movie. She manages to make Rebecca feel like an actual person rather than the usual horror protagonist whose entire personality consists of “I should probably investigate that terrifying noise.” Holland carries a lot of the movie’s emotional weight, and she does a good job selling the increasingly bizarre things happening around her.
Thankfully, the movie gives her plenty to deal with.
You’ve got creepy corpses, demonic forces, hallucinations, questionable workplace practices, and a boss who probably wouldn’t survive an OSHA inspection on a good day. It all adds up to what is essentially the world’s worst overnight shift. Forget asking for a raise—Rebecca should be demanding hazard pay.
The atmosphere is probably the movie’s strongest asset. The mortuary is cold, clinical, and appropriately miserable, making an excellent setting for supernatural horror. There’s something inherently creepy about working alone around dead bodies, and the movie wisely takes advantage of that without needing to constantly throw something at the screen.
The practical effects also deserve some credit. When The Mortuary Assistant gets nasty, it gets properly nasty, and the gore and body horror give the movie some memorable moments. It’s not exactly the kind of film that’s going to make embalming look like an appealing career choice.
Where things get a little shakier is the story. The movie occasionally feels like it’s trying to cram a lot of supernatural mythology and character trauma into the same morgue, and not everything connects as smoothly as it should. There are stretches where you’re following along just fine and others where you’re basically thinking, “Okay… so are we hallucinating, possessed, haunted, or all three?”
Probably all three. It’s a morgue. Why not?
Still, there’s enough creepy atmosphere, gruesome imagery, and solid performance work to keep the whole thing moving. It may not completely nail everything, but it has a good foundation and clearly understands what makes the setting and premise so effective.
And now that it’s available on Blu-ray, I’m happy to see another Shudder movie making the leap to physical media. Streaming is convenient, sure, but there’s something satisfying about actually putting the damn movie on a shelf instead of hoping your subscription service doesn’t decide to disappear it next Tuesday. The Blu-ray release from Acorn Media also includes a behind-the-scenes featurette, so at least the disc isn’t just showing up at your house empty-handed.
The Mortuary Assistant isn’t perfect, but it’s a creepy, gory little supernatural horror movie with a strong central performance from Willa Holland and a setting that practically does half the work for it.
And if nothing else, it has convinced me that working the night shift at a morgue is probably just like working retail…
…except the customers are dead, occasionally possessed, and somehow still more likely to give you a hard time.
Extras
- Behind the Scenes
