The Autopsy of Jane Doe

"The Autopsy of Jane Doe" (2016, André Øvredal, 42, IM Global, Impostor Pictures, IFC Midnight) is an intriguing horror about a father and son coroner team, who are tasked with identifying the cause of death of an unknown woman.

Tommy Tilden (Brian Cox) and his son, Austin (Emile Hirsch) are a small-town coroner and medical assistant. They are clocking off, Austin planning on going to the cinema with his girlfriend, Emma (Ophelia Lovibond), when the local sheriff (Michael McElhatten) comes bursting in with an urgent case: a mysterious Jane Doe (Olwen Kelly) found at the scene of an unusual homicide. Abandoning their plans for the evening, Tommy and Austin knuckle down to determine the cause of death.

As they begin to investigate the corpse they become more and more convinced that things are not as they seem....

A creepy, engaging and inventive film which has the right balance of slow eerie build up and action to keep things moving. The viewer discovers the secrets of Jane along with the characters, keeping a good plot flow. The setting and effects are very effective and the film achieves a gruesomeness without actually being too gory.

The film is very dark, both in subject matter and in lighting style, and really filled the 99 minute run time without becoming dull. It's not without its cheesiness, but this adds to the experience.

All in all, a very entertaining film.

[Image: IM Global et al]

Hani 

Mindscape

"Mindscape" (2013, Jorge Dorado, Ombra Films, Warner Bros., Studio Canal, Antena 3 Films) aka "ANNA" is a fun and intriquing futuristic psychological thriller.

John (Mark Strong) is a detective with the ability to see into people's minds and memories. He's coming back from forced retirement after a traumatic incident in his own life.

John is given the case of 16 year old Anna to work on. Anna (Taiisa Farmiga, who you may recognise from American Horror Story) is a clever, odd and maniulative teen. It is John's job to enter her memories and decipher whether she is the victim of terrible sexual abuses or a scheming and dangerous sociopath.

A slow burner with a wonderful score and some really artistic but fun to watch 'memory' sequences. The plot keeps moving and growing, keeping the audience's interests piqued as we try to guess the next turn in the tale.

Excellent acting and a quiet but strong script makes this film stand out from other futuristic, mind bending thrillers out there.

[Image: Ombra Films]

Hani

Twixt

"Twixt" (2012, Francis Ford Coppola, American Zoetrope, Pathé) is a horror mystery film.

Hall Baltimore (Val Kilmer) is a has-been horror writer doing the rounds of small town America in every bookshop that will take him. Upon visiting a strange little town with an odd 7-faced clock tower, he happens upon a local tragedy; the murder of 12 orphaned children at a hotel, previously famed for having Edgar Allen Poe (Ben Chaplin) stay for a night.

Hall becomes intrigued further when he learns of the recent murder of a young girl and then has a strange dream in which he passes into the land of the dead, where he encounters a female ghost who calls herself V (Elle Fanning). He decides to stay in the town longer to write a book based on its tragic history, telling the local sheriff, and budding mystery author, Bobby LaGrange (Bruce Dern, who I know best as Rumsfield from "The 'Burbs"), that he can share in the novel's credit if he helps him solve the mystery.

An unusually styled film with some creative cinematography. The dream sequences, although strange, are nicely designed and I enjoyed the use of colour. I found the scripting very strange and often hollow, though, but Kilmer seems to really enjoy the role and is good fun to watch.

I really enjoyed the premise of the film and, although it's oddly put together with split scene sequences and a very random low budget 'Lost Boys'-esque 'vampire gang' in the mix, it's watchable. It seems more like Mr Coppola was entertaining himself in the making of this film, and it doesn't fit too well together. More like a made-for-TV film with a hint of Arthouse about it, I wouldn't call it a work of art, but it's certainly not the worst I've seen and it's very visually pretty.

Image: Pathé

 

Hani

The Bat

"The Bat" (1959, Crane Wilbur, Allied Artists) is a film adaptation of a stage play by the same name. This was not the first film version of the script, but it's the only one I've seen. Mainly because it stars Vincent Price.

Cornelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) is a leading female crime novelist whose mansion house is in a town currently being stalked by a masked killer with blade-tipped fingers known as The Bat, who is on the hunt for a large sum of money which is hidden somewhere nearby.

Her housemaid (or possible lesbian lover, I've not decided), Lizzy (Lenita Lane), is bitten by a real bat one night, and so they call out Dr. Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price).

But when The Bat is seen snooping around the house, the mystery novelist is having to unravel a real mystery for a change as she and the police try to decipher who is behind the murders and why, before it is too late!

The Bat himself is actually quite creepy with his faceless mask and his Freddy Krueger-esque gloves. Of course, he's not scary in comparison to some of the more modern villains, but his sneaky antics are fun to watch.

Old fashioned, creaky and fun (with some very tame humour) I enjoy this mystery movie for what it is. It remains one of my favourite Price films as his delivery is great and he remains suspicious and suave but not hokey throughout. Although, I hasten to add, he does not feature as much as the poster would have you believe!

 

 

[Image: Allied Artists]

 

Hani

Hellraiser

"Hellraiser" (1987, Clive Barker, New World Pictures) is based on the book "The Hellbound Heart" (also by Clive Barker) which I've never read, so I can't comment on.

I only own the first three Hellraiser films because quite frankly, they start off weird and then just move into the trippy. Put it this way, I own all of the 'Nightmare on Elm Streets' and they get odd after the second movie, but for some reason Hellraiser just seems worse to me!

"Hellraiser" is gross, disturbing and hilariously 80s. So, naturally, I like it! The plot is pretty simple; magic wooden puzzle box, if you solve it the Cenobites; a bunch of sado-masochistic humanoids sent from hell to collect and torture people who solve the puzzle; come and torture you. See? Simple!

A man called Frank (Sean Chapman) solves the puzzle, why, I do not know. Pin-Head, the adopted name for the lead Cenobite (Doug Bradley), comes and rips him apart, and then puts the puzzle box back into its original state for someone else to solve.

Soon Frank's brother Larry (Andrew Robinson) and cheating second wife, Julia (Claire Higgins), move in with their teenage daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence), some blood is spilled in the attic and for some reason this brings the mutilated Frank back to life (hell knows why...).

Frank's gorey escape angers the Cenobites who have clearly failed in their mission, and soon there's carnage everywhere while people solve the puzzle, Frank wreaks havok and other general torture takes place.

There's a lot of flayed corpses, skin-stealing and general gore. The cenobites are all very interestingly mutilated, clearly the costume designer had some fun.

All in all, it's not scary, just bloody. It's more of a mystery movie with some gore in there. But it's an 80s classic, and a horror marathon favourite. Plus, the special effects are impressive.

[Picture: New World Pictures]

Hani