Jay Hunter's Journal of Horror Films

IFI Horrorthon 2016: The Autopsy of Jane Doe

Cast/Crew: Directed by André Øvredal (Norwegian; Troll Hunter), Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch as Austin and Tommy Tilden.

Plot: A coroner and son perform an autopsy on a strange corpse.

Thoughts on the film:
• This is called a "two-hander", where the film is basically two people for the entire time. I can't count the cadaver as a cast member! Other people show up very rarely.
• If you're wondering what's the difference between corpse and cadaver, a corpse is the general term for dead body, and cadaver is medical jargon for a corpse that'll be used for a medical/scientific purpose, like an autopsy.
• It's late in the evening, and an uncharacteristically aloof sheriff wheels in a dead body, needing a cause of death by the morning (so he has something to tell the press).
• The film is a full-on autopsy (what it says on the tin!) where they uncover odd things, like her ankles & wrists being shattered despite her corpse being perfect on the outside. When they cut into her, she starts bleeding a little (something that only happens with living people or very freshly deceased). They find her organs marked with an odd, intricate symbol.
• A small point, but they never cover up the body, and don't make a huge effort to shoot from more 'respectable' angles, so there are many shots of nudity in the film.
• Since the film takes place in the basement of the coroner's house (where his clinic is) and there's terrible weather outside, they're basically sealed off from the world. They need the lift to get off the basement floor (something contingent on electricity, you can guess what happens). This makes it intensely claustrophobic, there's only a few rooms available.
• It starts out as excusable bumps in the night, maybe you're imagining things to unmistakably, this is unnatural! Great stuff.
• There's some fantastic atmosphere and anticipation for scares. As a traditionalist, Austin puts a bell around the ankle of a cadaver, as back in the day, if a body wasn't dead, you'd hear the ring if it moved. This is used to absolutely fantastic effect, as you can guess what happens. It's fantastic, I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about the scene.
• Also it's quite terrifying to be in a room with something that may or may not be dead. There's a scene where the lights blow out and you hear something heavy flump on the ground. Terrifying!
• The way the film is set up (locked in a basement with access to only a few rooms, with cadavers around), it made the movie cheap to produce without feeling that way.
• Any negatives? A small point but the body looks like a typical 20-something-year old girl, it would've fit the plot more if she had more distinguishing (non-beautiful-model-like) features.

Overall: Oh man, what a great film. This is what horror's all about, the creeping dread. Really enjoyed it - go see it!

TILL DEATH (2021)
Till is grammatically correct, as is 'til and just til to denote "until".

The gimmick of the film is like Gerald's game: couple with marriage on the rocks, go to a cabin the woods, have sexy time, she's chained up, husband dies, she's stuck and hungry wolves come a knockin'.
Till death is "couple with marriage on the rocks, go to a cabin by the lake, have sexy time, she's chained up, husband dies, she's stuck and hungry robbers come a knockin'"!

Directed by S.K. Dale who did The Coatmaker, if you've seen it lemme know how it is.

Good for Megan fox, being the lead in this. Haven't heard from her recently (she did TMNT 2016 and 2 seasons of New Girl in 2016-2017)

She has a lot of makeup on and the lighting makes her look greasy. It's unflattering. She's only 35!

First impressions and associations are real. It's hard to shake her "brainless eye candy" gimmick in the Transformers franchise. There's not much to her character here beyond the was unhappy in her marriage (sulked a lot) and is resourceful. There's barely a script as it's mostly just sneaking around.

Explaining what happens in the film strips of it any watch value, as it's a "what's happening now" in the moment type film. The tension is from seeing her sneak around and wondering when she'll be caught and the movie reaches a milestone.

The snippy husband is obsessively controlling - its very odd that he'd kill himself and then let her try escape; rather than killing her so nobody else can have her, ya know?

Side note, Although yer man's a domineering c**t, it is hard to see what SHE brings to the relationship. She appears to be just putting up with him until she can elope. He's just the guy showering her with presents and fancy dinners and expensive clothing and jewellery. I wish theyd show her being more personable so we'd get behind her more. What's stopping her from leaving, in general? Instead she's cheating on him, the coward. (She does break it off with her lover at the start of the film).

The tension of her being found out is almost like a videogame, and it's fun! Multiple near misses and such. She's just a smidge inventive with her traps (eg decoy hiding spot) but it's nothing on the scale of home alone or screwball where they're actively constructing traps.

Anyway it's a svelte 88 minutes (which is really ~1h20 if u cut out the end credits and the long opening shot of LA, I'm assuming.

The main antagonist is a bank robber/man who assaulted Megan years ago, who is just out on parole, and is looking for both personal revenge and financial reparations. He's played by Callan Mulvey aka Anatoli in Batman v Superman, the "Drop it. I said drop it! I'll kill her! Believe me, I'll do it!
Batman: I believe you." guy with black hair and shades.

Why Would You Watch It?
Very easy-going in-the-moment horror that zips by. Good to see Megan Fox outside of her established wheelhouse.


Anything else?
There's a bit of "confront the demons of your past; work through your victimhood" but I thought it was too light to be notable. Perhaps the film itself is an allegory for her breaking free of her past associations/being hounded by Michael Bay/men/Hollywood but it in general is too light a touch, it feels like I'm doing it a favour suggesting it!

Overall: Anyway, it's a quick ~80 mins disposable; I'd much rather you watch Gerald's Game! Which I've reviewed btw go watch that