The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

Running Time: 1hr 39min

Release Date: December 21, 2016

Written by: Ian B. Goldberg, Richard Naing

Directed by: André Øvredal

Review by: Stacey

This was the last horror movie of '16 that I was anticipating the release of, and boy, did it deliver.  Not to mention the fact that the director of Trollhunter helmed this one, so naturally I was all in.  Throw Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox in the lead roles and you have yourself a solid flick for me.

Father and son coroners get in the unidentified body of a woman (Olwen Kelly) with no apparent cause of death.  Once they proceed with the autopsy, they begin to uncover that there's far more to this corpse than meets the eye.

That's basically as much plot as I can give without revealing much, but also I'm sure y'all have seen the trailer and know it's a supernatural movie, so...spooky stuff.

Straight up, I couldn't add this one to my Top 10 of 2016 list fast enough (don't worry, that list will be posted soon)!  There were so many things I liked about this movie, it's hard to pick what I liked most, but first I have to mention the casting of Hirsch and Cox.  I have always thoroughly enjoyed the two separately but then you put them together in a horror film?  Perfect.  They played off of each very well and their father/son bond didn't feel forced or fake at all.  Olwen Kelly as the corpse killed it (no pun intended) because she probably had the hardest role of them all- lay there and not breathe!

They don't skimp around the gore and blood when it comes to the autopsy, which I loooove.  If you're a bit squeamish, those scenes might be hard to watch.  Those autopsy scenes, though, didn't come across as shock value (hello, the word "autopsy" is in the title) as you're taken on this ride with father and son to figure out what the hell killed this woman.

I think what I loved the most was the constant sense of dread I felt throughout the first two acts.  You felt isolated in the morgue with the two leads as well as the feeling that anything can happen and you don't know what just yet.  Admittedly there were a few jump scares, but nothing too cheap that I couldn't get over.

Just so you guys won't think I'm hyping the flick up TOO much, I have to say that once we hit the third act, it veered into familiar territory and came off a little predictable.  You sensed where the final scenes were going to go, so that was a bit of a bummer.  However, it really wasn't bad enough to make me write off the previous scenes in the movie, which should come as a relief to you readers who haven't seen it yet.

That said, I totally loved The Autopsy of Jane Doe and found little reason to not add it to my Top 10 list and I hope you guys enjoy it just as much as I did!

4/5

Out now on VOD!

Check out the trailer below: