Though not exactly a good movie, there is nevertheless a distinct style and general sensibility toTroll Hunters,Andre Øvredal’s bizarre, enjoyable fantasy-horror tale. The production design, creature designers, and effects crews should get most of the credit, but Øvredal pulls it together and makes an often tedious script into an intermittently wondrous picture.
One can feel a similar visual thoughtfulness behind the imagery inThe Autopsy of Jane Doe, Øvredal’s follow-up toTroll Hunters. The film starsEmile HirschandBrian Coxas coroners who take in an anonymous cadaver one night, only to find out that there seems to be some sort of maniacal, powerful force attached to the corpse. As a low-budget B-movie, it looks immensely promising, if almost certainly slight. Nevertheless, get me in a movie theater with Cox on the screen for a solid hour or so, I’ll almost certainly be happy when I exit that theater.
Here’s the trailer forThe Autopsy of Jane Doe:
Here’s the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s synopsis of the film:
In André Øvredal’s follow-up to his acclaimed 2010 found-footage monster mockumentaryTrollhunter,he moves from the wide expanses of the Norwegian woods to the enclosed space of a small-town morgue. It’s a slow night for father-son coroner team Tommy and Austin Tilden (Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch) when a hauntingly pristine female is brought in. And, as their regular forensics routine gradually reveals, this Jane Doe, who was discovered in the basement of a massacred family’s house, is not your usual corpse—and her presence turns their evening into a terrifying fight for survival. A fresh, unusually character-driven tale beautifully and jarringly told, Øvredal’s English-language debut keeps you squirming in your seat, in large part because Tommy and Austin’s relationship is so endearing that you can’t bear for anything bad to happen to them. An IFC Midnight release.
