There has been a rash of rather gruesome suicides in Rome. This is of professional interest to young American pathologist Simona Sanna (Mimsy Farmer) whose particular field of study is suicide. Or more specifically, the ways to distinguish real suicides from fake suicides.
She has a slight personal interest in the subject when a young woman with whom she had a very brief acquaintance becomes the latest suicide victim.
The woman’s brother, a priest, thinks she was murdered but he has zero evidence.
It’s important to note that until very late in the film the viewer has also seen no evidence to suggest that any of the suicides are anything other than straightforward suicides.
Simona’s father keeps an apartment upstairs from Simona. She believes he uses it to entertain his young lady friends. He has a lot of young lady friends.
There are more suicides. Maybe it really is sun spots. Yes, that’s a theory that Simona has.
The priest, Father Paul Lenox, is hoping that Simona will help him to find evidence about his sister’s death.
There are half a dozen main characters all of whom are damaged or troubled or odd or unstable in some way. Any one of whom could be a potential murder suspect. If in fact there have been any murders. But in all cases their behaviour could have innocent explanations.
Simona’s father is hiding something but it might just be his womanising.
His creepy caretaker might just be a bit creepy.
Her father’s mistress Danielle (Angela Goodwin) might just be a scheming bitch.
Paul Lenox had been a racing car driver until an accident in which his car left the track and killed a dozen spectators. Paul spent some time in a mental hospital and then became a priest. He is still troubled by guilt, but that’s understandable, and now he also fees guilty that he was unable to save his sister.
Simona’s boyfriend Riccardo (Ray Lovelock) is a successful photographer and does not appear to be crazy at all. He’s simply anxious to get Simona into bed.
Simona has been having disturbing hallucinations in which corpses in the morgue come to life. It could be stress, or she could be crazy.
And of course it could be those sun spots!
The plot is convoluted but that’s one of the joys of Italian genre cinema. The important thing is that there are revelations about all the major characters and they’re psychologically plausible.
I like Mimsy Farmer. She had a touch of oddness that works for her here. She makes us uneasy and that’s a good thing.
One of the extras is an interview with the son of director Armando Crispino. His quotes from notes made by his father at the time make it clear that he was trying to avoid making a conventional giallo. It’s also clear that he was interested in the idea of sudden inexplicable epidemics of suicide and other extreme violent behaviours and was hoping to explore that that theme in the movies. And yes, there was a theory floating around at the time that sun spots might influence human behaviour. So those sun spots are not entirely an oddball gimmick thrown in to add a touch of spookiness.
Autopsy is a fascinating offbeat giallo-esque film. Highly recommended.
This movie is included in Vinegar Syndrome’s Forgotten Gialli Volume Three Blu-Ray boxed set. It gets a very satisfactory transfer.
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