Editorial-- The Autopsy of Jane Doe was an underrated movie

 

2016 was a great year for horror films.

Horror fans were treated to extraordinary stories like Lights Out, The Conjuring 2, The Limehouse Golem, and Ouija: Origin of Evil.

Among these was the less talked about but unconventional, THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe has a title that conjures up images of gore and other unsettling themes.

There is a separate sub-genre in horror that does build upon these themes and when a movie has the word autopsy in it, you would mistake The Autopsy of Jane Doe to be yet another gore fest.

The movie is anything but that.

In fact, it will probably be the most terrifying movie you will come across.

The movie is about an unidentified body found at a crime scene. Sheriff Burke discovers that the victims may be trying to escape and there are no signs of anyone breaking in.

Mystified, Sheriff Burke visits Tommy, a coroner, with the body. Tommy and his son Austin are both coroners and set about to perform an autopsy on the Jane Doe.

But as the father-son work the whole night, they encounter strange events and find that the body of the woman may have something to do with it.

Jane Doe even appears to have unexplained injuries on her and writings under her skin. Her blackened lungs indicates that she may be burned but there are no external signs of that.

Shortly, Jane Doe begins to bleed from her nose and that her brain cells are still active.

Austin's girlfriend ends up getting killed when he hallucinates corpses in the building.

Meanwhile, Tommy has already determined that the woman appears to be from the 1600s, around the time of the Salem Witch Trials.

He suspects that the woman before him may have been wrongfully accused of being a witch and subjected to torture in the form of paralysis and immortality.

Tommy also realizes that the pain the woman is experiencing has made her vengeful. He offers himself as a sacrifice and ends up with the same injuries as her.

Jane Doe's wounds begin to heal just as Tommy takes it all on himself, hoping his sacrifice will make her spare Austin.

Unfortunately Austin also doesn't make it. Just as Tommy perishes, Austin falls down a flight of stairs.

The next morning, the police arrive and cannot make sense of what happened that night. They find Jane Doe's body intact and decide to transfer her to another coroner.

On the way, Jane Doe's toe twitches indicating the more people die, the faster she will be able to bring herself back to life.

The movie ends.

The night of immense horror is finally over.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe manages to create tension and likeable characters. You do feel bad for Tommy who was only trying to do his job and for Austin, who wouldn't even have been there than night. He had planned to go with his girlfriend but stayed back only to help his father.

Then there is Jane herself who has been tortured. Her tongue had been cut out, she had been poisoned and paralysed by being forcefully fed herbs. Whoever Jane was in her past life, she is now only a body that is being torn up and studied.

In her anguished state, she may have misunderstood the autopsy as another form of torture which is why she inflicts pain on Tommy and Austin.

The pain she has felt has led her to lash out with whatever powers she has within her.

Since she has been in this state for centuries, Jane may have not always looked the way she does now. She may have killed other people before which is why her external injuries have healed.

Since the ending scene provides us with a glimpse of a little twitch, we can only assume that Jane will still have to go through several victims before she finally comes alive.

In the era of remakes and sequels, The Autopsy of Jane Doe could sustain another installment.

It would be interesting to see where the filmmakers could take the story ahead. Perhaps Jane Doe even finally comes alive?

Regardless of whether they will ever be another part or nor, The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a must-watch movie for all horror fans.

The movie consists of a unique way of telling the story without relying on unnecessary flashbacks or effects.

It's the constant feeling of dread you will sense while watching this movie that will make you want to return to the experience over and over again.