+ Best Horror Movie of the Year + Best Low-Budget Movie of the Year + Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best Witch Movie of the Year
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| The greyish body of a deceased young woman fills the cold poster for André Øvredal's The Autopsy of Jane Doe |
A father-son coroner team receive a 'Jane Doe' [unidentified female corpse] from a house with more bodies in it along with an investigative demand for answers asap. But their autopsy reveals shocking mistreatment, and the two - three - are soon locked in by a major storm.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe is written by Ian B. Goldberg and Richard Naing (Dead of Summer (2016), TV-series, both) and directed by great Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal (Trollhunter/Trolljegeren (2010)).
Øvredal impresses in his English-language feature debut here. Made on a strong Blacklist-featured script, the film is simply skillfully directed. Although there is lots of autopsy-related gore horror, SPOILER this still feels like a bare bones (no pun intended) little horror flick, which develops in a surprising supernatural direction; the deceased was an innocent woman who was not a witch but became one from being the victim of extensive anti-witch torture!
Brian Cox (RED 2 (2013)) and Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild (2007)) are believable as father and son, and both are really good here. - The Autopsy of Jane Doe is also an unusual horror because we almost only spend time with two grown men in it. It is original and plays on several of its genre's chords and also features excellent sound design. From a semi-comical beginning, The Autopsy of Jane Doe evolves into a surprisingly horrifying ride, - a real treat for horror fans and an obvious and strong horror movie night candidate.
Related posts:
André Øvredal: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Trollhunter/Trolljegeren/Troll Hunter/The Troll Hunter (2010) - Øvredal's hilarious found footage kaiju horror comedy
Øvredal, Cox and Hirsch attend a Q&A for the film here - don't watch until after you've seen the film!
Cost: Unknown (but likely 1-2 mil. $)
Box office: At least 6.1 mil. $
= Uncertainty - but at least a box office success
[The Autopsy of Jane Doe premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 86 minutes. Øvredal was inspired by James Wan's great The Conjuring (2013) to do a similarly pure horror film. Martin Sheen was originally cast but dropped out. Shooting took place in March 2015 - ? in England in London and Kent. The Jane Doe is played by Olwen Catherine Kelly (Darkness on the Edge of Town (2014)) rather than a prosthetic corpse dummy. Forbes Magazine has estimated the film's budget at around 1-2 mil. $. The box office gross above is the total for the film's 19 international markets. Its North American gross is unlisted; perhaps it was very small as it only played a few festivals and had a limited release along with VoD roll-out domestically. Its biggest 3 markets were France with 1.2 mil. $ (19.7 %), Mexico with 1.1 mil. $ (18 %) and Brazil with 0.8 mil. $ (13.1 %). Stephen King has tweeted in favor of the film, saying that it rivals Alien (1979) and early David Cronenberg in visceral horror. Øvredal has two upcoming projects, Bright Skies and Mortal (2018), both fantasy projects anchored in Norway. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is certified fresh at 87 % with a 6.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Autopsy of Jane Doe?
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