The Autopsy of Jane Doe was such a good horror film that it’s almost criminal that we didn’t get The Autopsy of Jane Doe 2 — a sequel to shed even more light on the mysterious Jane Doe. Even in 2024, fans of the horror movie are still calling for a prequel or a sequel to the terrifying thriller. And, honestly, we can’t blame them.
Some of the best horror films of all time stick with you long after you left the theatre – especially if they come with the crippling uncertainty of just what the hell did you just watch. At the same time, some of the most unsettling flicks in cinema history are widely underappreciated, even by horror fans themselves. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a film that ticks both of those boxes.
Released in 2016, the flick mainly went unnoticed by moviegoers, amassing a meagre $6 million at the box office. Even if the studio produced the movie on a shoestring budget, that’s still a startlingly low sum considering the usual popularity of horror flicks. Still, critics loved The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and there are more than a few reasons to do so.
For starters, The Autopsy of Jane Doe came out in the middle of the Insidious/Conjuring furore—a time when horror movies followed a very formulaic pattern, relying mostly on cheap jumpscares and startling sound cues to scare their audience. This film, however, took a very different approach.
The film starts things off with an intriguing mystery. After an unidentified body – hence the “Jane Doe” – arrives at a morgue, a series of inexplicable, almost paranormal happenings begin to manifest. It soon becomes clear that this Jane Doe holds more secrets than one can count as she continues to haunt those who handle her bodily remains.
Low-budget horror films have become a cornerstone of the genre over the years. Since filmmakers are forced to do the best they can within their limitations, the results often turn out to be incredibly creepy – a quality that The Autopsy of Jane Doe has in spades. The movie is also loaded with enough subtle details that it never feels cheap or messy despite its modest means.
Perhaps the best part about the film is how it manages to create complex and fascinating mythos throughout its short runtime. What most movies do in two hours – heck, the Conjuring series rivals even the Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of running time – The Autopsy of Jane Doe does in under an hour and a half. It hooks you in and doesn’t let go until the end credits roll, and even then, the ending leaves you with a lingering sense of dread.
Director André Øvredal cleverly presented a fleeting sequel hook at the end of the film. In a move that follows suit with the movie’s premise of “everything gets weirder,” we’re left with the lingering question of whether or not Jane Doe is actually dead – not to mention the even more pressing matter of what even is Jane Doe.
While some other horror films with a similarly rich background – like Robert Eggers’ The Witch – have also done well without sequels, The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one of those films that leaves you wanting more. Not because the movie falls short in any particular area – but simply because you want to know what comes next for the creature that Øvredal created.
As it is now, there has been no talk of a The Autopsy of Jane Doe sequel, but fans of the film would be pleased to hear that Øvredal has been busy in the horror movie industry. His upcoming film, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, promises to reintroduce Dracula to mainstream horror popularity – something that no other horror director has done in quite a while.
Considering that the movie is based on one of the early chapters from Bram Stoker’s masterpiece – specifically one that deals with a merchant ship unknowingly carrying the body of Count Dracula – The Last Voyage of the Demeter might be the closest we might get to see a proper The Autopsy of Jane Doe sequel.
Tell us, do you want The Autopsy of Jane Doe 2?
The Autopsy of Jane Doe |
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A father and son, both coroners, are pulled into a complex mystery while attempting to identify the cause of death of a young woman who was apparently harboring dark secrets. |
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| Studio: Lionsgate |
| Running Time: 86 minutes |
| Release Date: December 21, 2016 |
| Cast: Emile Hirsch, Brian Cox Olwen, Catherine Kelly |
| Director: André Øvredal |
| Writers: Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing |
| Genre: Supernatural horror |
| Box Office: $6 million |
