Displaying items by tag: Andre Ovredal

THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE

UK, 2016, 86 minutes, Colour.

Brian Cox, Emile Hirsch, Ophelia Lovibond, Michael McElhatton, Olwen Catherine Kelly.

Directed by Andre Ovredal.

A brief horror film, but very different. This is a British production, American setting, but filmed on location in England. And the director is Norwegian, Andre Ovredal, noted for Troll Hunter and the Dracula variation, Last Voyage of the Demeter.

In this film, the body of a beautiful but an unidentified woman is discovered and taken to the morgue for an autopsy. The autopsies are managed by a father and son who work closely together, played by Brian Cox (some years before Succession) and Emile Hirsch.

The action takes place overnight, and the action is confined within the house, but especially the laboratory for the autopsy. The screenplay begins as something of a murder mystery, a detective investigating, the commission for those doing the autopsy to provide information quickly.

Some of the autopsy procedure is quite graphic, the cutting, the intestines, close-ups… But, soon there are mysterious aspects to be found in the body of the young woman. And it is a stormy night. And the electricity goes out, requiring the generator. Strange noises throughout the house…

The film is well-written and well acted, some credibility that the situation could arise – but, then the mystery expanding, suggestions of witchcraft, mysterious presences, deaths.

The film had positive critical response – and a commendation for finding a new venue for horror (although one does think back to Burke and Hare and the Body Snatchers).

1. British production, American settings, British location photography, Norwegian directors?
2. Audience response, a different perspective for horror films?
3. The location, the American town, the surroundings, the location for the discovery of the body? The exterior of the house? The interior, the morgue, autopsies, the dark corridors?
4. The father and son working together, the background history, their working well together, mutual respect, talent? Tommy, the film illustrating his skills with autopsies, Austin, his skills? The details of the autopsy throughout the film, the close-ups of the corpse, beauty and touched, then the cutting, the opening, the focus on the body parts, the mysteries, the insect from the nose and the blood, the parchment and its signs, the missing tooth, the flower…?
5. The film as a mystery, the local police, bringing the body, later returning, the assistant? And the mystery continuing?
6. Austin, Emma, her visit, wanting to see the bodies, his being unwilling, his father urging her to have a look, the effect? The plan for the outing? Her later returning, the horror, her death? Austin and his grief?
7. The process of the autopsy, writing on the board, the microscope an examination, the efficiency of the work, and in detail?
8. The mystery, the consultation of books, identification of the flower, the thread, keeping the blood?
9. The indication of witchcraft, the mystery? The oncoming storm, thunder and lightning, the radio broadcast? The outing of the lights? Austin and his searching the ceiling, the dead cat? And the rats in the background?
10. Increasing mystery, the violence, the sense of presence in the building, Emma and her death, appearances, doors being locked?
11. The increasing suspense, the effect on Tommy, being possessed, wanting to die, Austin and the death, Austin and his death?
12. The aftermath, the police arrival, the carrying out of the bodies? That Jane Doe unharmed – and the process possibly starting again?