Review of "The Autopsy of Jane Doe," DVD version

 Review of

The Autopsy of Jane Doe, DVD version

Five out of five stars

Great direction with minimal gore

 The outstanding feature of this horror film is the direction. In all cases there is the appropriate pause of a second or two that allows the tension to build in the mind of the viewer. A secondary positive feature is that there is a minimum of gore. In so many modern horror movies, the director seems to believe that adding excess blood and gore is the way to create tension.

 The premise is also an interesting one. A family is found brutally murdered and there is the body of a young, naked female partially buried in the basement. Since her body appears uninjured, the sheriff has it transported to the local medical examiner. It is a several generations family run business that is also a small-town funeral home. The sheriff gives the owner a request that he expedite the autopsy, even to the point of working all night.

 The owner and his son begin work and it quickly leaves the track of being routine. They discover that her wrists and ankles are broken, and her tongue was cut out. They also find soot in her lungs and peat under her fingernails. At this point, the supernatural steps in.

 Fighting to regain control of the situation and to understand what is happening to them and their environment, the father and son remain rational. However, that is impossible given the forces arrayed against them and they soon drift in and out of what are induced periods of psychoses. However, in many cases the viewer is uncertain as to whether the action is real or only imagined.

 This is a great horror film it keeps you on the edge of your seat and has a conclusion that is equally as chilling. There is great power for evil in that naked body and not all of it is expressed.