Shudder has announced more news straight from San Diego Comic-Con, and it involves another acquisition. At The Bold Voice of Contemporary Horror panel, the horror streaming platform stated that it has acquired The Mortuary Assistant, which is an adaptation of the popular horror video game of the same title.
In The Mortuary Assistant, newly certified mortician Rebecca goes to work at the River Field Mortuary, where she is required to embalm bodies while working solo on the night shift. Rebecca discovers that there is something sinister going on, and that she herself is at risk of being possessed by a demonic entity.
Shudder showed an exclusive clip from the film at the panel discussion, along with a first-look image showing actress Willa Holland (Legion) as Rebecca. In the clip, Holland is shown beginning the embalming procedures on a body when the lights start to flicker (not a situation I would want to be in).
Now, I haven’t played the video game, but many people were impressed with the attention shown to the details of the game.
The film’s director Jermiah Kipp (Slapface) is a fan of the game, and heartily approved of showing that particular clip at San Diego Comic-Con. He said, “The sequence captured everything I loved about Brian Clarke's game: the middle of the night strangeness, its elegant minimalism, the ratcheting sense of anticipatory violence, the terror lurking around the corners - and most of all the resourcefulness and vulnerability of Rebecca Owens, played so thoughtfully by Willa Holland.”
Kipp previously directed Shudder film SlapFace, and spent two years working on The Mortuary Assistant. By all accounts, his hard paid off, and fans of the video game should hopefully be pleased with the final result.
AMC Networks Director of Acquisitions and Productions Adam Koehler praised the film’s dedication to replicating the game, pointing out that “the film expands on the game’s terrifying world in a way that feels both faithful and deeply cinematic.” Koehler said AMCN is thrilled to bring The Mortuary Assistant to Shudder.
The video game was released in 2022, and almost immediately attained cult favorite status. As a result, it expanded from PC to Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. The film is produced by Epic Pictures, via horror outfit Dread, and the video game division DreadXP.
The Mortuary Assistant is expected to make its debut on Shudder sometime in 2026.
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