¡QUÉ HORROR! 2017

Candidate #13

THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE

(September 2016)

"Mommy told me something a little girl should know.
It’s all about the Devil and I’ve learned to hate him so.

She said he causes trouble when you let him in the room.

He will never ever leave you if your heart is filled with gloom.”

--“Open Up Your Heart”

The body of an unidentified young woman found under strange circumstances is brought in to the Tilden Morgue & Crematorium, where father and son Tildens, Tommy (Brian Cox) and Austin (Emile Hirsch) set about to uncover cause of death.

But this is far from a cut and dried post mortem, as the Tildens soon discover…

The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a rousing “Welcome Back!” for director André Øvredal (who was last seen ‘round these parts in the 2011 ¡Qué horror! rundown, with Trolljegeren).

This time though, there are no amusing, humorous chuckles to be had. This is dark and disturbing stuff, courtesy of a script by Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing, which is, honestly, a welcome surprise.

Familiar with some of Goldberg’s work on Once Upon a Time and Dead of Summer (for which Naing also wrote an episode), I hadn’t expected him capable of horror of this grimness. I’m glad to be divested of that impression.

So effective is the film that no less than Guillermo del Toro (“A fun, stylish, beautifully built funhouse of horror!”) and Stephen King (“Visceral horror to rival ALIEN and early Cronenberg. Watch it, but not alone.”) have sung its praises.

¡Qué horror! can do naught but agree…

“Whatever the hell happened in here… we are way past possible.”

(The Autopsy of Jane Doe OS’ courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com & mondotees.com.)

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2017

Candidate #12

SEOUL-YEOK

(SEOUL STATION)
(April 2016)

Yeon Sang-ho's animated prequel to Busanhaeng (Train to Busan) actually plays better than its live-action sequel, and that’s probably all down to the fact that it’s a more atypical zombie cinema viewing experience than Busanhaeng.

Why is that, you may ask?

To wit:

A: Animated zombies are far more uncommon than live-action ones.

B: Unlike Busanhaeng, we don’t really see your usual zombie cinema character types here.

C: The social commentary is far more satisfactorily evident, with some barbed rants against country and government. And the class divide is likewise more overt here.

It should be noted though that there are some rather cruel and vicious moments in this one, some moments having nothing at all to do with the zombies…

If that all still sounds like your cup of (zombie) tea, then take heed: ¡Qué horror! strongly approves Seoul-yeok!

(Seoul Station UK quad courtesy of impawards.com.)

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2017

Candidate #11

THE VOID

(September 2016)

"You'd be surprised at the things you find when you go looking.”

Co-written and co-directed by Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski (art and make-up veterans on the sorely missed Hannibal, among other things), The Void is the kind of horror film that does not f*ck around.

As per this excerpt from the synopsis on the film’s Indiegogo page (more on that later), In the middle of a routine patrol, officer Daniel Carter happens upon a blood-soaked figure limping down a deserted stretch of road. He rushes the young man to a nearby rural hospital staffed by a skeleton crew, only to discover that…

Dot dot dot indeed.

 

“… [T]he body has to adjust, of course. Adapt. We weren’t… built for this kind of thing.”

Suffice it to say that experiencing The Void is like having rotting, putrid gobbets of Carpenter, Fulci, and Cronenberg (along with some stringy bits of Lovecraft) flung right in your face… in the best possible way.

There’s plenty of dread and gruesome practical effects (to which the Indiegogo funds went), and if you’re in the mood for some disturbing cosmic horror, you’d be well advised to step right up and into The Void.

“I defy God. There are things much older. Older than time. And they blessed me.”

(The Void OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)