Why So Blu?

The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (Blu-ray Review)

Troll Hunter made some noise and buzz back in 2010, the second feature from director Andre Ovredal.  It wouldn’t be for another six years before his next feature would be in front of us. The Autopsy of Jane Doe garnered acclaim when it showed at Fantastic Fest and continued to garner buzz from the horror world with subsequent screenings and the like. Its now making its way to Blu-ray courtesy of the modern horror pair up that has been thriving for years; Scream Factory and IFC Midnight.  Like a “We’ll air ’em and you stock em in stores” kind of relationship they have.  The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one of their latest distribution ventures and you’ll be able to have it to own when it drops on a Blu-ray and DVD combo pack May 2nd.

Film 

It’s just another night at the morgue for a father and son team of coroners, until an unidentified, highly unusual corpse arrives. Discovered buried in the basement of the home of a brutally murdered family, the young Jane Doe — eerily well-preserved and with no visible signs of trauma — is shrouded in mystery. As they work into the night to piece together the cause of her death, the two men begin to uncover the disturbing secrets of her life. Soon, a series of terrifying events make it clear: this Jane Doe may not be dead.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a wonderfully thrilling, well performed, dramatic and spooky little horror-thrill all bottled up in a single location.  Director Andre Ovredal really makes best use of minimal spacing while always never feeling small, boring.  The film is always on its toes, fresh and keeps the viewer sitting in anticipation of some new clue or piece of terror to be unveiled. It culminates in what could hopefully be a new underground classic for horror fans.

One thing Ovredal really makes abundant is his use of color. This film looks absolutely gorgeous with its strong blues, greens, teals, reds and ultraviolet looking colors. As scary as the movie is, its almost hauntingly friendly with its strong lighting, clarity and colors. This may be one of the most beautiful looking morgues ever captured in a movie that I have seen. From the apparel on the characters to the hanging decor and furniture, heck, even the wall with all the slab doors on it looks lovely.

Helping matters along is a great trio of performances that really weigh the film in and keep it working and give it the emotional drive ready to be effective. Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch really pull in some great chemistry, delivering a really bankable and investing father and son duo. Ophelia Lovibond is the person that really impressed me though. She doesn’t have many scenes in the film, but she makes such an impact that her fate later on in the movie moves and works to a higher degree. And I think that’s thanks in part to her performance.

The film also features some good jumps, suspense sequences and some good refined gore. Its mystery is one that feels pretty nifty and original. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one of those newer horror films with not only a good vision, but it actually delivers in the scares, plot and story to go along with other elements. I’ve not dug into much of what goes on in the film or some of the twists because I’d rather you check them for yourself. It helps being performed and carried by two very talented actors. Definitely seek this one out!

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 

Layers: BD-25

Clarity/Detail:  Scream Factory delivers quite possibly its most impressive looking IFC Midnight title yet. It sharp, crisp, polished looking and features plenty of gorgeous and gruesome detail. But, the highlight of it all is how wowing and beautiful the color is in this image. It really needs to be seen. This isn’t even 4K and it pops as if it could have some HDR boost. It doesn’t, but that’s how nifty it appears.

Depth:  Some solid work with dimensional appearances here, with some good 3D appeal coming in good camera sweeps. Characters move naturally and smoothly. No real blurring or jitter problems noticed during the review for this Blu-ray.

Black Levels:  Blacks are rich and well development in this image. Minimal detail is lost in dark shadows and darker clothing and surfaces. No crushing seen during the viewing for this review.

Color Reproduction:  Wow, this is where Jane Doe excels. As gushed about in the review, this movie is rich with its coloring. And the Blu-ray transfer on it loving puts it together. Blues, reds, teals, greens, yellows…you name it, burst right up off the screen. While having a vivid appearance, its never bleeding or distracting, just a sort of look of wonder at how pretty it can be.

Flesh Tones:  Skin tones are natural and consistent throughout the film’s runtime. Facial features like pores, scars, wrinkles, make-up and lip texture all come through very well in close up and medium shots.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English 2.0 DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Dynamics:  Jane Doe may be lifeless, but this 5.1 track is anything but. It really ends up nailing the quieter moments with good ambiance and crisp vocals alongside the bigger, more intense horror moments with heightened scoring and loud crashings and the like.  Overall this will put on a good spook show for you in your living room or movie viewing area at home.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension:  The subwoofer really pounds pretty good in terms of jump scare stings, crashing, motors on cutting instruments and slamming of doors.

Surround Sound Presentation:  This 5 channel surround makes good on having rear speakers, with good ambiance combined with some nifty individual haunts and stings coming from them. Up front you get a good sound travel and placement of character and volume.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals comes with a good clarity and crispness.

Extras 

The Autopsy of Jane Doe comes with the DVD edition of the film.

TV Spots (HD, 1:04)

Teasers (HD, 2:20)

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:12)

Summary 

The Autopsy of Jane Doe is the perfect horror for late night, home alone viewing. Its got a wonderful vision and effectively scares and intrigues. This Blu-ray features very fine video and audio quality, bursting with color and haunting through 5 channels of speakers. The lack of extras is insanely disappointing but the movie is good enough to not have them and be worth it. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one of the very best original films coming from Scream Factory and IFC Midnight.