PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Due to be released on December 21st, The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a British horror film directed by Troll Hunter’s Andre Øvredal, his first English language film. The film stars Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild 2007) and Brian Cox (The Bourne Identity 2002) as father-and-son coroners who experience supernatural phenomena while examining the body of an unidentified woman (Olwen Kelly) with no apparent cause of death. Unfortunately for them, as they perform the autopsy, they discover increasingly bizarre clues that hold the key to her terrifying secrets.
There are already two trailers for The Autopsy of Jane Doe and they’re both very different, although they look the same at the outset. Watch them both for two completely different takes on the movie.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2016 to mostly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes rates the film at 86% fresh, although Metacritic only gives this supernatural thrill ride a 4/10. Joe Lipsett of Bloody Disgusting gave it 5 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Øvredal masterfully balances the requisite gore with some well-earned jump scares and a foreboding sense of doom,” while Dennis Harvey of Variety called it a “taut, yet often slyly funny scarefest,” with a climax that was unfulfilling.
Apparently The Autopsy of Jane Doe must be seen to be judged. I, for one, and excited about seeing this film. I’m intrigued by the premise and I’m dying to see if Jane Doe is of the paranormal or alien persuasion. It also made me realize that coroners have pretty intense jobs. They get this puzzle dumped onto their tables and have nothing but eyewitness testimonies, tox screens and medical reports to clue them in on what happened to the person in front of them. They’re always in the unique situation of not being able to ask their patients any direct questions and have to rely on their own abilities and knowledge to get an answer.
Unidentified bodies – John or Jane Does – are even more of an enigma, because they come with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Who knows what happened to them, where they came from or where they were going. They have no history, so solving their mysteries can bring about answers they might not have ever wanted to know.
Be sure to check out The Autopsy of Jane Doe when it releases just before Christmas. I know I will.
