As a bonafide horror supergeek, 2016 was a phenomenal year. Aside from a collection of great films, horror has dominated TV and pop culture as well, with hit shows like The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Scream Queens and Black Mirror. While horror fans are usually passionate about their genre, sometimes to a fault, a shocking thing happened this year. More than a few mainstream horror films received critical acclaim. Plus, between the countless streaming services out there, horror films are now more readily accessible than ever before. I was also privileged to attend two horror film festivals in New York, FEARnyc and the New York City Horror Film Festival, where I took in countless new independent feature-length and short horror films.

So, without further ado, I present my list of the Top 10 Horror Movies of 2016 (and some honorable mentions) below.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Written by Ian B. Goldberg & Richard Naing
Directed by Andre Ovredal
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Brian Cox, Ophelia Lovibond, Olwen Catherine Kelly, Michael McElhatton, Parker Sawyers, Jane Perry
IFC Films | 86 Minutes
Release Date: December 21st, 2016

“Doesn’t look like someone broke in; to me it looks like they were trying to break out.”

The Autopsy of Jane Doe opens right at the end of very strong year for horror. There were critical and theatrical hits like The Conjuring 2, Don’t Breathe, and Ouija: Origins of Evil, as well as plenty of noteworthy films uploaded to various streaming sites. I saw the preview for The Autopsy of Jane Doe and it genuinely creeped me out. Directed by Scandinavian filmmaker Andre Ovredal (Trollhunter), The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a claustrophobic, atmospheric, and an overall scary movie that fits comfortably amongst this year’s horror best.

More below.

IFC Films has released a trailer for The Autopsy of Jane Doe, the latest movie from André Øvredal, the Norwegian writer and director behind the fun found footage flick Trollhunter.

The movie stars Brian Cox (Braveheart, Super Troopers, NOT Game of Thrones) and Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild, Lone Survivor) as a father and son coroner team dealing with a mysterious new homicide victim.

Click on over to the other side to check out the trailer.