The Decedent (2025) horror movie review - Come for the Mortuary Cams, Stay for the Splatter-Fest

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Let’s be honest, we all spend hours scrolling through Tubi hoping to find an actual hidden gem, not just another dodgy mockbuster. Well, today I did the hard scrolling for you and dug up a brand new found footage horror movie called The Decedent (2025).

I believe this movie was produced as part of the Kickstarter and Tubi collaboration which is pretty neat. It’s great to see Tubi supporting the filmmakers that actually bring eyes to its platform. That’s far more than a lot of other streaming sites are doing.

Don’t get confused

Now, don’t get confused with the recent Descendant the way Google does whenever you search for this movie. This is far more of a supernatural film than an alien abduction/confronting childhood trauma movie.

The story follows a mortician named Bella (Zoe Graham) who is tasked with dolling up the corpse of a recently deceased man before his funeral. After finding a note in the pocket of the man’s suit, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary decedent. It’s actually a former serial killer who may not be done with taking lives.

The setup here is going to be very familiar to anyone who has watched lots of found footage horror. Yobs have been stealing embalming fluid from the funeral home. In an effort to protect stock, the owner has decided to install security cameras throughout the property.

These security cameras are going to act as our window into the mortuary. Coupled with that, our mortician, Bella, is using a camera to film her procedure to provide instructional videos for future morticians.

The mortuary tapes

With the above in mind, the action takes place from a mixture of perspectives. We have CCTV footage, first person stuff, and occasional moments in front of a static camera. Again, like many films from this genre, it’s making the most of what little equipment you have and trying to make it feel organic in the process.

For the most part, it works fine. Sure, it’s not going to please people who hate this method of producing movies. Fans of this approach, however, will feel perfectly at home. The static cameras limit the aesthetics somewhat but also minimise the dreaded shaky cam that has come to be so maligned over the years.

The movie’s writer and director, Andrew Bowser, actually features pretty heavily in the story as the handy man installing all of this equipment. He, however, generally plays second fiddle to the movie’s protagonist Bella, played brilliantly by Zoe Graham.

Bella’s been feeling unwell but is determined to finish the job; even if it means chugging handyman Duncan’s moonshine and working into the early hours. Duncan hangs around to keep Bella company and the two are clearly very fond of each other.

Graham and Bowser have a great rapport, here. I actually ended up wishing the movie would have played out like The Innkeepers with the pair getting deep into their investigation together. Their interactions were a lot of fun.

More preamble than post-mortem

The obvious comparison for The Decedent is probably The Autopsy of Jane Doe . To be perfectly honest, that’s just me clutching at straws. The atypical funeral home setting and supernatural vibes definitely share a lot in common with that film but that’s where the similarities end.

There’s no autopsy taking place, no bodies are cut open, no organs are weighed out, and there isn’t a copious amount of nudity. There is a mystery at the heart of the story, however. But we’ll be digging deeper into that in a completely different manner than you might expect.

This is far more of a standard, procedural horror movie that does most things fine but nothing all that spectacular. Spectacular is a trait that isn’t typically reserved for low budget found footage. The first half is almost entirely build up. There’s little in the way of spooky shenanigans and much in the way of preamble. We need to get to know our characters, after all.

We learn of Bella’s relationship with her father, her friendship with Duncan, her general feeling of malaise, and her devotion to the job. It isn’t until Bella receives the decedent’s burial clothes that things turn up a notch.

We get to know a bit more about our previously anonymous corpse thanks to some exposition. Duncan just so happens to be a true crime aficionado. He aids the viewer by piecing together the puzzle so we don’t have to. It turns out this isn’t quite as cut and dry a case as it seems and there may actually be a significantly sinister history behind this creepy cadaver.

Blood, guts, and mortuary tools

Around the halfway point, the supernatural stuff starts and the movie turns into a bit of a splatter-fest. I’m not going to spoil the direction that it comes from. Suffice to say, a number of characters are introduced just to be brutally murdered one by one.

Again, it’s formulaic stuff but there’s enough blood and guts to please genre fans. It’s decently intense, in parts, as well given the context of what Bella is going through. I found Zoe Graham’s performance to be pretty excellent. She really seems to have a great time when the carnage starts. It’s all brutal stabbings and mortuary tools being used in ways they were designed for but on still living bodies.

The Decedent is clearly an ultra low-budget DIY horror effort so you really have to temper your expectations. I did enjoy this movie, though. I have to imagine some might find the early stages a bit too slow. This won’t be the horror title that changes the minds of people who hate found footage, either. I should point out some of the continuity issues, as well. The constantly changing clock was noteworthy, as were a few bloopers here and there. Nothing major, though.

With that being said, I appreciate what Bowser (amazing name btw!) was going for here. He sets the scenes up well given the limitations of the medium. Despite events playing out predictably, it’s still satisfying enough to please us found footage fans. I’ve got to praise him for opting for a short runtime, too. 80 minutes is perfect for a low budget found footage horror.

Should you watch The Decedent?

I think found footage horror fans will find plenty to like with The Decedent. This is one of those movies that reminds you that there’s a lot of talent around working with minimal funds and still managing to create enjoyable films. It’s familiar and doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it features a satisfying story and some great kills. Zoe Graham is excellent and Bowser has a decent grasp of how to make the most of a limited budget and how to setup a decent scare. Nice work!

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