ReviewOnce again my apology for lack of reviews recently. Sickness had me visiting Doctors, taking medication, and being unable to get out of bed for days on end. Time for catch up kids.Autopsy is one of those movies that you expect to be pretty much “B” grade fodder that grows on you and that has the hint of cult status dripping from it. While I'm not saying it's a good movie, there's all sorts of problems with the Acting for starters, it's a movie that you will enjoy and have some fun with. Assuming you define fun as involving blood splattering the screen and over the top gore. Director Adam Gierasch, here presenting his debut feature, is perhaps best known for applying his writing talents to Tobe Hooper's The Toolbox Murders and Dario Argento's Mother of Tears, neither of those movies were universally accepted within the horror community. So we clearly are not talking a Master of the dark arts here. Two couples are out having some fun in New Orleans, we later learn one of the couples have broken up, with the opening gambit of the movie presented in almost “found footage” style. They team up with a Russian and drive on out to the boon docks all drunked up. In another example of drink driving not being cool the driver, Emily, manages to smash into a tree. Unfort Em also managed to run down some poor bastard as well. As luck would have it a passing ambulance pulls over and takes our five young people to the local Mercy Hospital. Clearly having never seen a horror flick before, no one notes the Ambos are complete nutters and the nurse on duty has a few Roos bounding around the top paddock. Thought the actual lack of staff and patients might be a dead, no pun intended, give away myself. As each of our five horror hating victims is lead away to their individual examination rooms they find out they are in a hell of a lot worse situation than they thought they were in. Gierasch kicks his movie off in typical slasher fashion, setting up the victims, nodding toward the final girl, and having his Psycho truly deranged. I did think the opening in New Orleans could have been edited out however. But just when you think you are in for a typical slasher, characters always taking the wrong option, Gierasch gets off the “bus load of idiots” and heads in non-expected directions. It's enticing stuff and raises Autopsy above the mire of teen slasher fare to somewhere more nasty. While the movie could of gone Eli Roth nasty Gierasch keeps things light hearted with the gore being so over the top that you could almost think you are watching the Monty Python team doing one of their regular send ups of Sam Peckinpah. Added bonus is the hinted at discovery toward the end of the movie of the reason behind the mayhem, one of the best gore scenes I have ever seen (you will be trying not to lose your half digested popcorn while also smirking), and the gradual revealing of our full cast of nutters. Just when you think Gierasch can't spring another surprise on you he whips out a disturbing gore laden scene or introduces another Hospital worker from hell. With only five victims to sustain the movie, Gierasch goes over the top in his medical death scenes and really rolls the tension as we move from the disposable characters to the final girl. It's well paced and certain scenes actually had me squirming in my seat and hoping for the heroine to survive. Head surgery always a nasty in my not wanted opinion. There were a couple of ideas left hanging that Director Gierasch and team could of done a better job with. What was with the people appearing through out the movie that were never explained, besides maybe being early patients of our mad Doctor? And the three way tension between a group of characters got hinted at and then dropped with no embelishment or plot developments forth coming from it. While the acting is over the top and had more ham than a Christmas feast a few people did stand out for me. Jenette Goldstein (Nurse Marian) was excellent, her constant hand cleaning particular well thought out, and an early hint that something wasn't right at Mercy. Robert Patrick as the deranged Medic from your worse nightmare presented as more Freddy Krueger than Jason Voorhees. Patrick got to deliver some of the worse puns imaginable, hence I loved the Doctor. And Arcady Golubovich was all over the Russian out for a good time. I had a really good time with this movie, sure it hit the horror tropes once too often, but it kept me entertained and waiting for the next surprise twist. Sort of reminded me of Jack Shoder's Alone In The Dark (1982) for some reason. Autopsy for mine was a return to when horror was fun and not simply a vehicle to hit people around the head with loud music and poorly thought out developments. The movie didn't take itself seriously and delivered just what I needed, a damn fine horror flick not afraid to go over the top. The fate of one of the characters in this one is simply brutal and shocking, let the blood flow, I freaking loved it.
ScaryMinds Rates this movie as ... Doctor Doctor Give Me The News!
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