Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another review out of this year's Fantastic Fest! This time I'm taking a look at The Autopsy of Jane Doe, the new film from TROLLHUNTER director Andre Ovredal.
This film is not at all like Trollhunter, by the way. That was a crazy shaky-cam found footage type deal and The Autopsy of Jane Doe is impeccably cinematic. Long dolly shots, beautifully lit cinematography, confined single location, focused performances from seasoned actors, etc.
Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox play a son/father coroner duo that works out of the basement of their small town establishment. Day in and day out they work together to determine COD (cause of death). Hirsch's Austin Tilden isn't quite satisfied with that. He wants to work out the mystery behind every cadaver that comes in whereas his dad, Tony, views his job as to figure out the what, not the why; find out the cause of death, let the police figure out the rest.
One night a body is brought in that hides a mystery. It's a beautiful girl who was found half-buried in the basement of a house filled with murdered people. There's no apparent trauma, but it's a piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit, so the cops need all the info on the condition of the body that they can get before they go to the press, so the father/son duo pulls a late night trying to solve this particular mystery that only gets more and more bizarre and awful the more they examine the body.
I was very impressed with the writing of the film, considering that it's pretty much just two people and a body for 90% of the runtime. There's a lot of house-building going on that doesn't feel like straight exposition thanks mostly to the charisma of Cox and Hirsch and precise writing by Richard Naing and Ian Goldberg.
The first act contains a ton of set up that is paid off when the supernatural shit really starts going down. The more these two cut into the body, the more creepy stuff starts to happen. Sounds in the vents, static on the radio, morgue freezer doors unlatching themselves, etc.
At first it's easily explained creepy stuff, but before long you get walking corpses, crazy visions and Lovecraftian psychological horror. All of it is tied to this body. With each snip of flesh and snap of bone, the mystery of the corpse grows.
The fact that this film can be compelling while it's just two dudes talking out a mystery is a testament to the strength of the creative team here. The scares are perfectly built and the sense of dread grows to the point of claustrophobia, so that means we get a movie that will make you jump out of your chair while also getting under your skin.
The only criticism I have about the film is that the solving of the mystery isn't as compelling as the mystery itself. What's actually going on is a little obvious and uncomplicated, but it's satisfying nonetheless.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe won't change the course of horror cinema. I don't think it's going to be a new Halloween time yearly-watch or anything, but it's a tense, scary, good looking original story with some primo myth-making going on. I'm a big fan of what they achieved here.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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