Autopsy | DVD Review

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: Autopsy is not a very good film, at least in terms of plot and character development. In its defense, though, it doesn’t seem like ‘a good film’ is what writer/director Adam Gierasch actually intended to make…more like ‘a gross film’.

Yes, it’s a horror movie, and that isn’t usually a genre that people associate with tight plots and depth of character, but a little effort usually goes a long way in the eyes of horror fans. First-time director Gierasch, who has actually written some pretty good horror scripts with writing partner Jace Anderson prior to this, including Dario Argento’s Mother of Tears and Tobe Hooper’s Toolbox Murders, instead introduces the whole story during the opening credits using an admittedly crafty way to get us up to speed as to what we are going to experience over the next 85 minutes or so. Basically, a group of five young people driving home after a night of partying in New Orleans have a car accident and even though none of them seem the worse for wear they are whisked away to Mercy Hospital by a couple of shady EMTs which actually ended up being the two best roles in the film, played with a good mix of menace and humor by Michael Bowen (2009’s The Last House on the Left) and Robert LaSardo (Death Race). Keep in mind that this is the first 5 minutes, here. After that, our friends must try and escape from the hospital as they realize that the good Dr. Benway (Robert Patrick, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) isn’t so good and actually is out to…er…use them to somehow keep his ailing wife alive through some sort of machinery that apparently needs floating human organs to accomplish its goal.

Wow! You’re still reading this? Let’s put it this way: here’s a conversation that may very well have happened between Gierasch and Anderson as they sat down to write Autopsy: Gierasch: “Hey, Jace. Have you seen Hostel?” Anderson: “Dude, I loved that movie!!” Gierasch: “Yeah, me too. Let’s write something like that but leave out the brilliant plot and fill in the empty spots with even more blood and gore.” And this, my friends, is where Autopsy kind of redeems itself…if you’re a fan of the new wave of ultra-violent and gory horror films. There are plenty of scenes for lovers of the grue, and Gierasch does show a deft hand at these scenes, especially the one involving our heroine Emily (Jessica Lowndes, “90210“) almost being lobotomized with an old school eggbeater drill and then escaping and exacting a very bloody revenge on one of the EMTs. The actors, for the most part, do a pretty good job with what they had to work with, especially Jenette Goldstein (Private Vasquez from Aliens!!) as the neat freak Nurse Marian.

For what it’s worth, the film looks really good on DVD. All the bloody set pieces and dimly lit hallways are beautifully rendered in a nice widescreen transfer, and the sounds of organs being removed from gaping orifices is exactly what you’d imagine them to be. As for speecial features…
Alternate Ending: Autopsy could have ended in any number of ways, and it’s nice to see that they filmed at least two possibilities. This alternate ending is a little darker, perhaps, but the one they left in the film seems to fit a little better.
Behind the Scenes: In the Operating Room is a twenty-minute making-of consisting mostly of talking-head interviews with Gierasch and producer Jessica Horowitz, as well as with most of the actors. It’s amazing how many of them could keep a straight face as they mentioned how much of a “tightly written” script Autopsy is.
Commentary with Adam Gierasch, Evan Katz, Jace Anderson, Ross McCall and Jessica Horowitz: You’d think this would be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, but this crew seemed to genuinely have fun discussing their experiences making Autopsy, especially when they get to the more violent scenes and discuss what went into creating them and how they managed to pull off certain shots.

Autopsy, one of the After Dark Horrorfest’s “8 Films to Die For”, should probably be considered worthy viewing for fans of gory horror films, but for anyone else, this is a proceed-with-caution type of film. Not much of a plot, but it’s nice to look at and actually has some decent comedic performances from the cast of bad guys. One question though: why name your film Autopsy when there isn’t a single autopsy performed in the film?

Movie rating – 2

Disc Rating – 2.5