The Autopsy of Jane Doe - B

​Quick Hit: A freak storm and unexplained deaths lead this sufficiently scary film. 

André Øvredal. If you don’t know his name, particularly among the horror community, I’d learn it. He’s the director of a little watched but terrific film (one of my favorite monster movies) Trollhunter, and also of this little known film called The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Featuring a father (Brian Cox) and son (Emile Hirsch) morgue team, it sufficiently blends horror tropes with new scenes in a talented blend of tension and humor.
​
There’s something inherently scary about morgues, and the process of autopsies in general, particularly when they’re connected to a crime. The gruesome ways that many people have their lives taken from them is something that plays well on screen, and Øvredal does a good job presenting these deaths and allowing Mr. Cox to take the realms of the movie right away as he goes through each of the bodies in the morgue. He and Hirsch have good chemistry as the father and son team, and each dive into their respective roles. Cox’s gruff and logical father is by far the winner of the acting tag team, but in some moments Hirsch nearly holds his own. 

Øvredal brings the same talent for slow tension building that he did to Trollhunter here. The film is filled with shadows and light, and there is a hallway scene that is clearly indicative of Lights Out. But there is also some clear shout outs to other horror films, like the great Re-Animator. It’s nice that these are shout-outs and not clear copies – Øvredal builds on them with his own surroundings. I also really liked the tension that a simple bell can bring out. Jane Doe brings you to the brink of terror and back down quite a few times, even if there are a few ludicrous moments.

It’s these that keep the movie from being totally effective for me. Things appear slowly at times and then eye-blinkingly quick in others, leading to an inability to understand the rules of the game, so to speak. There’s also the fact that things will linger for the sole fact that both characters haven’t seen them yet. It’s only a bit distracting, but there’s also a large detour with Jane Doe herself – we rarely get a true understanding… hold on – SPOILERS!
*****************************************SPOILERS**********************************************************

​So, Janey is a witch, who inflicts the damage done to her during the Salem Witch trials to people… for no reason I guess besides to be mean? I don’t understand that motivation – probably should have been people that are somehow related to those who participated, even if it’s a less than unique twist. I actually had the thought while researching for this review that it would be an excellent unofficial sequel to The VVitch – someone explore that would you?

**********************************************End Spoilers**********************************************

In the end, I had fun with this movie. It was solidly scary but it does have its holes. I’m going to give it a “B”.

For more on this film, check out IMDB.