The Autopsy of Jane Doe

I had no idea how much fun you can have watching two dissectors sinking themselves, sometimes up to their elbows, into the slippery entrails of the motionless Jane Doe. Up to a certain point in the story, the filmmakers managed to build up a very strong atmosphere full of suspense and fear of the unknown. Had they managed to keep it up until the end, it would have been a clear five stars. But despite my disappointment in the last third, I did have fun. I was thrilled, and I believe that many viewers will switch on the lights in all the rooms on their way to the toilet at night while anxiously looking over their shoulder. (2017-11-14)

I'm having an early Christmas today. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one of the highlights of this year and I didn't expect it to be the unbeatable number one this year, and I've seen the trailer at least 20 times!! Only an absolute cretin and a spineless motherf*cker can have any complaints here. The film skillfully mixes several horror elements, so everyone from a glutton for guts to a person craving for scares or atmosphere will find a taste for it and that's how it should look like! The whole horror is heavily mysterious and I personally can't think of a more interesting idea than an unidentified corpse that is full of surprises, puzzles and mystery. Strongly engaging from the start, the atmosphere downright steals your breath in places, the music gets under your skin and the captivating visuals push your eyeballs out. I found the dissection itself more entertaining than any other gore orgy. The main characters are professionals in their field and you believe and agree with all their claims. The final denouement warmed my heart and it is definitely not a nice film but a very bleak and cold one. Confident, purposeful and very skilled filmmaking of a kind that is very rare in horror. The quality of the film could be compared to a 30 year old Rum. The only thing that pisses me off here is that the film is too good. I'm sending a 100 euro donation to the director so I can have a sequel for next Christmas. Story 8/10, Atmosphere 10/10, Gore 8/10, Visuals 9/10, Action6/10, Suspense 9/10, Humour 0/10. Entertainment 9/10, Scares 7/10. 100%. (2016-12-20)

The first "forensic" half in the style of "conversations at the autopsy table" is very fresh and exciting, the second begins to use on more familiar genre tropes and uses shabby jump scares. Exchanges of views between father and son are sometimes engulfed by rigor mortis, and the final revelation is not exactly from the "what you don't hear about every Halloween" category, but the rather skillful directing and good atmosphere push it through the kiln door with triumph. André Øvredal did not disappoint, just another crunchy story, this time sprinkled with formaldehyde and conducted in a sharp sagittal spirit. By the way, it's a movie that awakens the necrophile in someone. A little bit. (2016-12-27)

I hope André Øvredal will start working at a faster pace, because I don’t want to wait another six years for his next genre piece. Both of his films so far, Troll Hunter and now The Autopsy of Jane Doe, are great examples of how to bring something original to the horror genre. They aren’t revolutionary game-changers, rather, they slightly alter and playfully appropriate templates, which is more than enough. On top of that, this film is directed with a firm hand, the camera navigates the interiors of the morgue with grace, and some sequences are text-book examples of how to create tension and horror scenes. The characters are likeable and don’t behave too stupidly, and the core mystery manages to reliably arouse and maintain the curiosity. I won’t pretend the film doesn’t have any weak elements (for me, it was the reveal, when the characters suddenly unravel the mystery and everything is explained to the viewer – IMHO, it would have been better to just tap on the details and let the viewers figure things out for themselves), but overall I’m very satisfied. (2016-12-21)

For a long time when watching a horror movie, it didn’t happen to me that I would be so terrible shocked by its atmosphere, which kept me at the edge of my seat, from the very beginning of the movie. This tension stayed with me for almost an hour. Not only was the atmosphere bombastic, but the disgusting premise of the film was also set in motion – an autopsy which didn’t really add to the impression of a nice and friendly horror movie. But maybe it was the fear of the unknown that made me scared out of my wits. Exactly an hour later, the point of all the events began to be explained and the whole atmosphere went to hell. There was just so much bullshit happening in the movie that I felt like going to the bathroom to think about what the creator meant by it. Quality actors, interesting premise, perfect adaptation, those were all positive. And in the end, the positives won despite the joke that was the last half hour. (2017-06-28)