Autopsy

"Autopsy" is a really strange movie that takes pretty obvious elements from other movies but still manages to have some identify. The movie starts with some bad clichés, like a car full of kids having a crash and standing around the scene like in "I know what you did last summer", but then the movie turns and they get taken to a creepy hospital with some strange docs and nurses where they get counted down in a "Crazy doc needs living patients in sick experiments to keep is beloved wife alive" plot. The movie is carried from the strange suspense of an abandoned hospital with crazy lit endless floors (the visuals are pretty different from your average horror/slasher movie) and the crazy hospital staff that mixes utter weirdness with black humor and some rather disturbing elements. Its often hard to tell if "Autopsy" takes itself serious because it stumbles from comedic strangeness to extreme violence and grossness in a second. Scenes like the head bashing remind of Irreversible in their rawness and there was really times I wonder "WTF was that supposed to mean" up to the strange ending. To keep it short... "Autopsy" has many things going for it in the shock and visual department as well in strange characters. Problem is that these elements appear very disjointed in the plot and are pretty much leading nowhere. The movie is often described as a comedy which made me expect something like "Brain Dead" but where "Braindead" clearly doesn't take itself serious "Autopsy" comes across dead serious more often than it makes you smile (and you won't smile if your humor is not pitch-black, believe me), so don't expect a comedy here.

This isn't a masterpiece of horror of course, but for what it was, still very entertaining. Of course, when it comes to trash the only trash in genre that I can see is horror films, just because there's always something to be enjoyed. But as it is the film wasn't as trashy as I expected, and was actually damn effective. The gory scenes are pretty well-done and some of them truly horrifying. There are some effective jump scares as well, mostly due to the editing and music. There is a scene in the end that is truly a sight to behold, one involving the lead and her boyfriend that made it all even more worth it. As a huge horror fan, I do recommend this.

For some reason I was really looking forward to this movie - the description, the poster, something just made it good. And I may be a bit harsh because I felt let down. It had some good parts, and gore if you like that.

The plot, pretty basic, reminded me of Night of the Dead: Leben Tod for the most part. It is pretty straight-forward and predictable, and I think about 3 good jump scenes. I was worried at first with the Mardi Gras footage that it was going to be another "handheld" style, but that was just for the credits thankfully.

A couple of rewrites could have made this work a lot better. The main problem is you really don't care. You don't care about the kids, you don't care why the bad guys are doing anything - there is just nothing. Robert Patrick's Doctor could have had some real depth to him if they tried. The nurse is so stereotypical it's not worth it. The lead actress did deliver a good scene, but that was an exception to the script.

All in all, it had some memorable moments for those into the Saw/Hostel style gore, but mostly it was forgettable.

All that I knew about "Autopsy" when I sat down to watch it was that it was a horror movie and that it involved a hospital setting, and that was it. So it was my love for the horror genre that called me to the movie.

"Autopsy" is by no means a milestone in the horror genre in any possible way. In fact, it is a very mediocre and monotone movie. It is entertaining enough for what it turned out to be, just don't expect anything breathtaking or spectacular.

The storyline is also a fairly generic one, revolving around the horrible and macabre events in an old hospital. Yep, it is one of those types of movies. So don't expect an innovating storyline. It should be said that the storyline is adequately paced, although it is very linear and generic, and thus also quite predictable.

Now, the acting in the movie is adequate, taking into consideration what kind of movie it is, its budget and the genre. However, there were some casting choices which does raise some questions as to why they opted for those individuals. A matter of personal preference, of course.

As for the horror factor of the movie, well it is a diminutive one at best. There are no shocks, no thrills, no scares and such throughout the course of the movie. Which left me with a very mediocre feeling once the movie had run its course and came to an end.

If you enjoy horror movies that take place in a hospital setting, then there are some more impressive movies available, and so much more entertaining movies for sure. I managed to sit through "Autopsy" to the very end, but I can with all honesty say that this is not a movie that I will be watching a second time.

Autopsy exists primarily to provide gory scenes. From the opening several people manage to crash into some random guy. An ambulance shows up despite not being called but everyone is in shock. Unsurprisingly, nobody notices. They're in shock. Gory films don't usually interest me but at least this one achieved some shock value.

Therefore everyone arrives at the hospital where insane paramedics, doctors and such try to experiment on their newfound victims or murder victims.

Naturally the story doesn't matter because it's only setup for gory stuff that comes later. The kids are only there to be victims.

However, although I consider "Event Horizon" and "Hostel" unmemorable, and "Hostel 2" groan-inducingly stupid, Autopsy actually managed to shock me during at least once.