"Autopsy", as it's known here in North America, is pretty good of its type, with a solid, intriguing story, one that doesn't get bogged down with twists. It's got some gore going for it, but in truth is never as violent as that American title would indicate. The story is of course fairly sordid, but the level of sleaze is never too high, with doses of female flesh here and there.

Lovely Mimsy Farmer is a pathology student in Rome puzzling over a succession of suicides, partly because she's doing a thesis on natural vs. faked suicides. Could these people really be killing themselves, or is a murderer at work? Simona (Farmer) works with a young race car driver turned priest, Paul Lenox (the under-rated veteran character actor Barry Primus) to determine the truth. One of these deaths was that of Lenox's sister, and he's convinced she had to have been killed by someone else.

This is never too hard to follow, and it's got at least one appreciably unique gimmick going for it: sunspots, it's theorized, could be inducing some sort of mass psychosis in the minds of the victims. The story is populated with entertaining characters, including Simona's father (Carlo Cattaneo),his romantic partner (Angela Goodwin),and Simona's friend Edgar, played by the handsome Ray Lovelock whom fans of foreign horror will recognize from "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" and "Last House on the Beach".

Enriched by an Ennio Morricone music score that's equal parts beautiful and spooky, "Autopsy" is more straightforward than some Giallo fans may expect, although it still finds the time to feature some truly hideous, hallucinatory imagery. Use of locations is a plus, as are the performances. Mimsy is appealing and believably vulnerable, Primus is appropriately intense, and Lovelock is amusing to watch every time he's on screen. Credit is due to co-writer and director Armando Crispino, who reels us in immediately with a grabber of an opening.

All in all, this is good stuff; it might not be trashy enough for some lovers of the Giallo genre, but it entertains solidly and stays on track up to its grim finish.

Seven out of 10.

Armando Crispino's "Macchie Solari" aka. "Autopsy" of 1975 is an underrated and quite unusual Giallo that lovers of Italian horror can not afford to miss. Great suspense, bizarre elements and very interesting, often troubled characters come along with a menacing atmosphere and a great, very eerie score by none other than Ennio Morricone. The film already starts out excellently, with several nasty suicides. Rome has been struck by a heat wave, which leads to increased suicidal tendencies among the population. Being constantly surrounded by disfigured corpses is becoming too much for young pathologist Simona (Mimsy Farmer),who is writing a thesis about suicide and murder. Simona, whose job is giving her nightmares and terrible visions, doesn't believe that all of these violent deaths were suicides...

"Autopsy" features many frightening and often bizarre sequences, a quite complex plot and elaborate characters. The storyline is sometimes quite complex to follow, especially since the scene changes often seem quite abrupt, but this only makes the film less predictable, and everything makes perfect sense as a whole. The performances are entirely very good. Mimsy Farmer is excellent in the lead, and portrays her character's fears and nightmares in a very believable manner. Another great performance is delivered by Barry Primus, who plays a quite unusual catholic priest. The cast furthermore includes Ray Lovelock, a regular to Italian genre cinema, and Ernesto Colli, who should be known to Italian Horror buffs for his role in Sergio Martino's 1973 giallo masterpiece "Torso" (aka. "I Corpi presentano tracce di violenzia carnale"). It should be said that "Autopsy" is not the gore-fest the DVD cover might make you think. Even though there are some very violent sequences and many repulsive images, the violence is quite tame compared to many other Gialli of the mid 70s. The movie's main intention is suspense and it definitely succeeds in being suspenseful. "Autopsy" is a stylish, atmospheric and very suspenseful Giallo, that no lover of Italian Horror should allow himself to miss. Highly Recommended!

A series of apparent suicides occur during a period of solar flares. Pathologist Simona Sanna (Mimsy Farmer) believes that the latest victim, a woman with a gunshot to the face, didn't kill herself, and with the help of a priest, Father Paul Lenox (Barry Primus),investigates the deaths.

This weird giallo starts off with several shocking suicides: a topless woman slashes her wrist; a man puts a carrier bag on his head and throws himself into a river; a bloke sets fire to the car he is sitting in, the vehicle exploding; and a father shoots his kids and then turns the (machine) gun on himself. It's a grim, attention-grabbing way to open a film, but director Armando Crispino doesn't stop there. He introduces lead character Simona while she is at work, surrounded by naked corpses, other pathologists busy at work cutting up the bodies. It's grisly stuff, and gets seriously creepy when Simona hallucinates, imagining the corpses rising from their slabs to fornicate.

Sadly, the rest of the film is nowhere near as powerful or as memorable: it's a typically convoluted, frequently baffling murder mystery revolving around a missing will, and is only enlivened by frequent nudity from Farmer. There's no explanation for Simona's funny spells, no reason is given for the frequent shots of solar flares, I have no idea what SIMONASEI means (as spelt out by Simona's paralysed father),and I'm still unsure as to why Simona is sexually repressed (although this does lead to a strange scene where her lover Edgar, played by Ray Lovelock, shows her vintage porn to get her in the mood). The only gore comes in the form of the real 'death' photos on display at a criminal museum.

The ending of the film is particularly dumb: having survived an arranged suicide by the killer, the protagonists don't go to the police, like most people would, instead opting to confront the maniac themselves. This allows for a perilous fight scene on some high scaffolding, the villain ultimately falling to their death, but next time, call the cops!