The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) #510

One the most haunting, slow burning horror movies I've seen in years, "The Autopsy of Jane Doe" is the perfect film to watch alone on a dark and spooky night. There is an overwhelming feeling of seclusion and solitude present, although that's the natural of environment of a small-town coroner. The movie is a masterclass on how to reveal each new clue to the audience for the maximum effect. Staring the brilliant Brian Cox ("The Ring" and "Trick-R-Treat"), giving a grounded performance the provides the gravitas needed for this film. "Autopsy" is a film that shouldn't be broken down scene by scene, so I'll provide a brief overview. 

The unidentified corpse of a young woman is found at the sight of a bizarre multiple homicide. The body is brought to the town's coroner, Tommy, who gets to work on the autopsy. Seeing that it's an unusual circumstance, Tommy's son and assistant, Austin, skips his date with his girlfriend and stays behind to help. Together, the two begin to discover one anomaly after another, where logic ceases to make sense. The corpse is a complete enigma, and their findings suggest something darker than they were expecting. Soon the line between reality and the supernatural begin to blur, but why? Who is the Jane Doe and what does she want?

The chemistry between Timmy and Austin feels real and genuine, as the deal with the different stages in their lives. Timmy is dealing with growing old alone now that his wife has passed away, and Austin is starting a new romance. When things begin to become chaotic, Timmy steps up to protect his son as best as he can.

 

The Ring (2002)

“The Ring” is one of my favorite remakes of an already effective Japanese horror film called “Ringu”. The American version stars Naomi Watts as a reporter for a Seattle newspaper that has seven days to figure out the mystery of why people are dying after watching a bizarre video tape. It’s a creepy ghost story that has an excellent set of pacing, spooky clues, and a seemingly original ghost concept. I say seemingly because the original Japanese version of this ghost is a part of their culture and history and is a reoccurring theme in their own ghost stories. It’s also interesting when a movie takes place at a location that you are familiar with and notice what details the film makers get right and what they get horribly wrong.

Rachel Keller is a journalist who begins investigating an urban legend after her teenage niece suddenly dies. The legend concerns an unmarked VHS tape and anyone who watches the tape will die after seven days. Rachel learns that her niece and her group of friends that had watched the tape all died the same night at the same time. Rachel finds a copy of the tape and watches it and after it finished, she received a phone call where a girl’s voice simply says “Seven days”.  With the help of her son’s father Noah, Rachel discovers the truth behind the tape and mystery of the young girl named Samara. 

Trick r' Treat (2007)

Happy Halloween! What better film to review on such a holiday other than “Trick r’ Treat”!? This film is perhaps the best anthology ever made, rivaling even the original “Creepshow”. This movie blends the various story arcs in and out of each other with ample ease and grace, and it takes several viewings of this movie to catch all of the subtle details. Each story arc is solid and entertaining, a rare thing to find in an anthology; this might be because the writer and director are the same person, Michael Dougherty, instead of having a writer and possible director for each story. A sequel was recently announced!

One storyline is about a couple returning from various Halloween festivities. They are seen all around town throughout the other stories. Emma hates the holiday and is ready to be done with it while Henry loves it. While Henry is getting ready for bed and sexy-time, Emma is outside taking down decorations. While doing so, she is attacked and killed and when she doesn’t come back in, Henry goes out and finds her mutilated corpse hanging from a scarecrow.

The next story is about a Principal Wilkins who teaches a troubling making child to follow the rules of Halloween. This story has a brief introduction of Principal Wilkins neighbor, Mr. Kreeg.

The third storyline is about a group of teens who gather carved jack-o-lanterns and bring them to an old rock quarry. Here, local legend has it that a bus driver was bribed to drive eight troubled special-needs children off the cliff, but no one knows for sure whatever happened to the bus driver. While there, a prank gets goes terribly wrong and the teens must pay the price.

The fourth storyline is about Laurie, a 22 year old virgin who is being pressured by her older sister and her friends to find someone for the night. While the other girls are having fun at a party, Laurie meets a killer dressed as a vampire, but little does he know….

The final story arc is about Principal Wilkins neighbor, the hermit-like Mr. Kreeg. He hates everything, including Halloween, so when the spirit of the holiday arrives in the embodiment of Sam, the two go head to head. If only Mr. Kreeg knew the rules of the holiday as well as his neighbor!