I’m a sucker for horror movies. Rarely, though, do horror films tend to stick in my mind long after viewing with a lingering, haunting effect that will cause me to sweat or choose not to walk down a dark hallway. I’m happy to say, then, that The Autopsy of Jane Doe will terrify me for the coming weeks. Directed by André Øvredal (Trollhunter), and starring Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox, this horror masterpiece goes down some dark alleys while a father and son try to reconnect after a death in the family.
Set inside a family-owned morgue, father and son Tony and Austin Tilden (Cox and Hirsch respectively) tend to the recently deceased in their seemingly small town. When local police bring the body of a young woman down to the morgue late one the night, Tony and Austin stay after hours to find out the cause of death and soon find there are no marks on her body or evidence that she is actually dead.
After cutting her open and inspecting her insides further, a sinister presence enters the picture in some truly terrifying clues as to just what’s setting off the strange things that happen to Austin and Tony. Underlying the horror of it all is the relationship between father and son, as they both try to cope with moving on from a close one’s death.
André Øvredal has perfectly crafted his camera to pick up every nuance of horror around every corner here, whether it be a being lurking around the corner, footsteps behind a door, or some fleshy gore – it all looks phenomenal and scary-as-hell.
Hirsch and Cox turn in excellent performances too, allowing you to bond instantly with this charming father and son. There is a genuine love between the two throughout the movie, which makes it more difficult to see them go through the events of this movie. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one horror film that will have lasting impact and scare the hell out of you.
The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats
The Autopsy of Jane Doe comes with a 50GB Blu-ray Disc and DVD copy of the film from Scream Factory that is Region A Locked. There is no insert of digital download code here. The disc is housed in a hard, blue plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. There are a few trailers that play before the main menu.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe comes with am excellent 1080p HD transfer and is presented in 2.40:1 aspect ratio. I didn't expect this horror film to look as good as it does visually, but it certainly exceeded my expectations. The detail here is exquisite. The body of Jane Doe shows every imperfection, pore, and hair on her skin and head perfectly. The inside organs, bone, and blood show every intricate detail as well, sometimes coming across as almost too realistic. Makeup blemishes, some visual effects and fire all look excellent and well detailed in all lighting conditions.
The color is out of this world too, which was a nice surprise since this is a rather dark horror film. Colors simply pop off screen in every scene. The varying shades of blue on the latex gloves and uniforms look amazing. The green and yellow walls pop in a dirty sort of way and the reds are striking. Yellow and oranges in fire are deep and rich throughout. Black levels are deep and inky with zero crush and the skin tones are always natural. There are no compression issues or video problems with this video release, leaving this one with top marks.
This release comes with a lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix and sounds excellent with all of the right haunting effects and scares. There is some great depth to this track with a good amount of bass that packs a good punch with every shut door, creak, and loud bang. Sound effects of flesh being sliced and bones being cut are robust and full in every instance that it will make you squirm. Bangs, explosions, and objects falling all sound fantastic.
Ambient noises of people screaming, fire embers burning, and glass shattering all sound fantastic, giving a wide and full soundscape in every scene. The score is always dynamic and haunting that gives every moment an eerie feeling, which might cause the hairs on your neck to stand on end. Dialogue is always crystal clear and easy to follow, and free of any pops, cracks, hiss, and shrills, leaving this audio presentation with great marks.
Trailers (HD, 6 Mins.) - A trailer and teasers for the film.
Make no mistake. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one of the better horror films to come out in years. It's terrifying from start to finish. The characters, performances, and script are all excellent and leave you wanting more when the credits roll. The video and audio presentations are both fantastic as well. There are no extras though here, which is strange for a Scream Factory release. Again, this is a WAL-MART exclusive June 27th when the film will be released everywhere, including AMAZON. I'm not sure if there will be more extras on that release, but this one is barebones, which is a shame, because there is ample opportunity to have some excellent bonus features here. Since this looks like to be the only release for a while, you're not going to want to miss this horror film, especially one this scary and one that looks this good visually, despite the lack of extras. Highly Recommended!
Portions of this review also appear in our coverage of Dunkirk on Blu-ray. This post features unique Vital Disc Stats, Video, and Final Thoughts sections.
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