Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King/Autopsy Room Four

Autopsy Room Four
Episode 7
Airdate	August 2, 2006
Written by	April Smith
Directed by	Mikael Salomon
← 6 The Fifth Quarter	8 → You Know They Have a Hell of a Band
Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King

Autopsy Room Four is the seventh episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King. A business man playing golf in Myrtle Beach is bitten by a snake and paralyzed. Presumed dead, he becomes witness to his own autopsy in the hospital morgue.

Starring: Richard Thomas (Howard Cottrell), Greta Scacchi (Dr. Katie Arlen), Robert Mammone (Dr. Peter Jennings)

Co-Stars: Robyn Arthur (Nurse), Jude Beaumont (Angela), Paul Gleeson (Ed Brooks), Linc Hasler (Rusty), Josh Lawson (ER Doctor), Brian Lipson (Mike the Orderly), Steve Mousakis (Driver), Martin Vaughan (Dr. Kazalian)

Plot Overview

Howard Cottrell is dead, yet able to narrate his experience in the morgue. Howard eventually remembers that he had been playing golf the last time he remembered. His got into a small argument with his friend and goes off into the brush to continue to play while his friend heads back (due to a storm). While his friend is leaving, Howard falls over and when his friend becomes worried he comes over and finds Howard passed out. The friend gets a doctor (who was playing golf also), who declares that Howard is dead.

Back at the morgue, Howard continues to think that he is still alive. He became convinced that he was bitten by a snake and is paralyzed, but not dead. He can feel everything that is happening to him. The doctors see scratches and bites on his legs but think they are only mosquito bites. Dr. Peter takes his temperature and remarks on how his temperature is still 94 °F. Peter and Rusty get into an argument because Rusty wants to open him up. Meanwhile, Angela, Howard's girlfriend, comes to the hospital distraught.

Rusty and another orderly are bringing the golf clubs in from the ambulance when Rusty pulls out one of the clubs and a snake is on the end. The snake bites the other orderly a couple of times and he passes out. The elevator breaks down with the snake and Rusty still inside. Meanwhile Dr. Arlen and Dr. Jennings are preparing to open Howard up but keep stopping because they are flirting with each other. But they get a phone call that another body is coming in and so they have to speed up the autopsy.

The doctors get into the elevator, and despite Rusty's beliefs, the bitten orderly is not dead. This makes a light bulb go off in Rusty's head and he runs back to the morgue to tell them that Howard might not be dead. They find snake bites on the leg but still think he's dead; until Howard gets an erection. They give him oxygen and after Howard wakes up, Dr. Jennings passes out.

Notes

• This story is adapted from King's 2002 short story collection, Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales.

Reviews

• Overall Grade: B- with 0 reviews
• Review Breakdown: A+: 0 A: 0 A-: 0 B+: 0 B: 0 B-: 1 C+: 0 C: 0 C-: 0 D: 0 F: 0
• B-: This is probably my third favorite Nightmares & Dreamscapes episode (behind Crouch End and Battleground). However it still suffers in much of the same way a lot of King's latter day literature suffers: it's an interesting and unique premise that doesn't quite come through. And like almost all of the episodes of this miniseries, it comes off as softcore horror, at best. --MateoP 20:10, 5 August 2006 (EDT)