''Alien Autopsy'' is a 2006 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

with elements of science fiction directed by

Jonny Campbell Jonny Campbell is a British director. Biography Campbell studied French and German at Durham University and began his career at Granada TV working on documentaries. He soon moved into drama. Selected filmography Film * ''Alien Autopsy'' (2006) ...

. Written by William Davies, it relates the events surrounding the famous "

alien autopsy The alien autopsy is a 17-minute black-and-white film supposedly depicting a secret medical examination or autopsy of an alien by the United States military.Barton, Steve (September 30, 2010)"Ray Santilli, Gary Shoefield Talk the Real Alien Auto ...

" film promoted by Ray Santilli and stars

Ant McPartlin Anthony David McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) is an English television presenter, singer, rapper, comedian and actor. He is best known for working alongside Dec Donnelly as part of the presenting duo Ant & Dec. McPartlin came to prominence ...

and

Declan Donnelly Declan Joseph Oliver Donnelly (born 25 September 1975) is a British television presenter, television producer, former singer, rapper, comedian and actor from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He is best known for working alongside Ant McPartlin as ...

, also known as

Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenter, television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as chil ...

, as Santilli and

Gary Shoefield Gary Shoefield is a television and film producer. Shoefield was portrayed in the 2006 film 'Alien Autopsy' by Ant McPartlin having been involved with the now infamous faked footage from the beginning with business partner and friend Ray Santil ...

. The film was a moderate commercial success domestically, making no. 3 on the British box office chart.

Plot

The film is framed by Ray Santilli and his friend

retelling the events to a documentary maker named Morgan Banner. In 1995, Ray and Gary go to the USA to find

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

memorabilia to sell on the market stall Ray runs in London. A former

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmakin ...

, Harvey, sells them a silent

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

film of Elvis performing live, but later returns with an intriguing offer. Harvey takes Ray to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

to see a film from 1947, showing the

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

of an

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

supposedly killed in a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

crash in

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in, and the County seat, seat of, Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the List of micropolitan areas in New Mexico, Roswell micropolitan area. As of ...

. Harvey wants to sell the film for $30,000. Gary and Ray return to England to look for an investor to give them the money. Ray convinces Laszlo Voros, a Hungarian homosexual art and drug dealer obsessed with crop circles, to give him the $30,000 and retrieves the film from Harvey. Back in England, the pair discover that the film has degraded from humidity and heat and is now completely unwatchable. In order to avoid serious repercussions from Voros, they decide to make their own recreation of it. They base the content on Ray's memories of the original, and, with the help of some friends, fashion a convincing replica of the dead alien using a mannequin and meat products obtained from a friend's butcher's shop, turn the living room of Gary's sister into a

film set A set is artificially constructed scenery used in theatre, film and TV. In the latter two cases there are many reasons to build or use a set instead of travelling to a real location, such as budget, time, the need to control the environment, or t ...

, and shoot the film on a

Bell and Howell Bell and Howell LLC is a U.S.-based services organization and former manufacturer of cameras, lenses, and motion picture machinery, founded in 1907 by two projectionists, and originally headquartered in Wheeling, Illinois. The company is now ...

spring-wound camera. Ray gives a copy of the final product to Voros, who believes it to be real. Having convinced Voros, Ray and Gary decide to sell the film to other venues, earning them a large sum of money. However, when Voros hears about its international distribution, he demands 80% of the profits. A potential clash is averted when Voros is killed by a green

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

while standing naked in the middle of a crop circle, leading to speculation that he has been killed by a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

agent. Ray and Gary travel to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

to promote the film, followed by reporter Amber Fuentes, who seduces Ray. She eventually tracks down Harvey, who demands from Ray and Gary that they maintain his anonymity. To fulfil this obligation, they produce an interview with a homeless former actor playing Harvey, which convinces Amber. She remains sceptical, however, about the film's authenticity. Ray and Gary are now persuaded that some of the original 1947 footage might actually be recovered by

film restoration Film preservation, or film restoration, describes a series of ongoing efforts among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images they contain. In the wi ...

experts in order to be viewed. However, after viewing the results, the pair bury the film, telling each other that they cannot continue with the endeavour.

Cast

as Ray Santilli *

Anthony McPartlin Anthony David McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) is an English television presenter, singer, rapper, comedian and actor. He is best known for working alongside Dec Donnelly as part of the presenting duo Ant & Dec. McPartlin came to prominence ...

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. He made his film debut in ''R ...

as Morgan Banner *

Götz Otto Götz Otto (born 15 October 1967) is a German film and television actor who is perhaps best known internationally for his roles as henchman Richard Stamper in the 1997 James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', as Adolf Hitler's adjutant Otto Gün ...

as Laszlo Voros *

Morwenna Banks Tamsin Morwenna Banks (born 20 September 1961) is a British comedy actress, writer and producer. She appeared in the Channel 4 comedy sketch show '' Absolutely'', and wrote, produced, and appeared in the British ensemble film ''The Announcemen ...

as Jasmine *

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili ( fa, امید جلیلی; born 30 September 1965) is a British actor, comedian and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in Chelsea, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents. He attended Holland Park ...

as Melik *

Harry Dean Stanton Harry Dean Stanton (July 14, 1926 – September 15, 2017) was an American actor, musician, and singer. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films including '' Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Kelly's Heroe ...

as Harvey **

Michael Rouse Education, Sports and Fun Camps (ESF) is a network of summer day camps. ESF operates 60+ different camps at 12 ESF Camp locations in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Florida. ESF is described by Philadelphia Magazine ...

as Young Harvey * Mike Blakeley and Matthew Blakeley as The Camera Team *

John Shrapnel John Morley Shrapnel (27 April 1942 – 14 February 2020) was an English actor. He is known mainly for his stage work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre in the United Kingdom and for his many television appearances. O ...

as Michael Kuhn * Madeleine Moffatt as Nan *

John Cater John Edward Cater (17 January 1932 – 21 March 2009) was an English actor. His television credits include: ''Danger Man''; ''Z-Cars''; '' The Avengers''; '' The Baron''; ''Doctor Who'' (in the serial '' The War Machines''); '' Follyfoot''; ' ...

as Maurice *

Lee Oakes Lee Oakes (born 1976) is an English actor best known for his role as Munch Wilkinson in the British comedy ''Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps'' and as Kev in the British television series '' After You've Gone,'' a friend and fellow buil ...

as Edgar *

Perry Benson Perry Benson (born 9 April 1961) is a British character actor best known for his regular roles in British television sitcoms ''You Rang, M'Lord?'' (1988–1993), '' Oh, Doctor Beeching!'' (1995–1997) and ''Operation Good Guys'' (1997–2000). ...

as Trading Standards Officer *

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

as Gary's Manager * Winston Thomas as Zachary * Pam Shaw as Aunty P. *

David Threlfall David John Threlfall (born 12 October 1953) is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series '' Shameless''. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In Ap ...

as Jeffrey, Film Restorer * Andrew Greenough as Preston * Stephanie Metcalfe as Doreen *

Jonathan Coy Jonathan Coy (born 24 April 1953, in Hammersmith, London) is a British actor. He has worked since 1975 largely in television, notably as Henry in the long-running legal series ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' and as Bracegirdle in the television seri ...

as The Museum Director * Ian Porter as Pentagon Officer *

Shane Rimmer Shane Rimmer (born Shane Lance Deacon; May 28, 1929 – March 29, 2019) was a Canadian actor and screenwriter who spent the majority of his career in the United Kingdom. The self-proclaimed "Rent-A-Yank" of the British entertainment industry, he ...

as Colonel * Naima Belkhiati as French TV Buyer * Miguel Angel Plaza as Mr. Gonzalez * Jeff Harding as CIA Agent * Kevin Breznahan as Junior TV Executive * Martin McDougall as Middle-Ranking TV Executive *

Lachele Carl Lachele Carl is an American actress based in England. She is best known for playing the recurring character of news anchor Trinity Wells in ''Doctor Who'', appearing in the episodes " Aliens of London"/"World War Three", "The Christmas Invasion ...

as TV News Anchor *

Paul Birchard Paul Birchard is an American actor who lives in Finland. He has appeared in film, television, stage and radio productions, most notably as Bud in ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' with the Royal National Theatre, Ross in ''The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?'' at ...

as Senior TV Executive *

Sam Douglas Sam Douglas (born Douglas Samuel Waters; 17 June 1957) is a British actor best known for his role as private detective Scott Shelby in the PlayStation 3 video game ''Heavy Rain'', as King Herod in ''The Bible'' miniseries for the History Chan ...

as The Network President * Adriana Yanez as The Stewardess, Argentina *

Nichole Hiltz Nichole Marie Hiltz is an American actress. She has appeared in several films, made-for-TV movies, and television series. Her most recent long-running television credit is for USA Network's ''In Plain Sight'' from 2008 to 2012 in which she portra ...

as Amber Fuentes * Luis Soto as Peruvian TV Host * Christina Piaget as The Interviewer * Christina Souza as The Stewardess, Mexicana * Bradley Lavelle as New York Host *

Orson Bean Orson Bean (born Dallas Frederick Burrows; July 22, 1928 – February 7, 2020) was an American film, television, and stage actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’ small ...

as Homeless Man * Sophia Ellis as UFO Enthusiast *

Jonathan Frakes Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Commander William Riker in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and subsequent films and series. Frakes als ...

Himself The film also contains brief appearances by Ray Santilli and

Reception

The film received mainly positive reviews earning a 71% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

Releases

The film was released as a

Region 2 DVD DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to ...

by Warner Home Video on 3 July 2006. In America, the film was released as a

Region 1 DVD DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to ...

by Warner Home Video on 21 September 2010.

Soundtrack

Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993 in Oxford. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey ( ...

– "

Alright Alright, All Right or Allwright may refer to: Music Albums * ''Alright!'' (album), a 2007 album by Bogdan Raczynski * ''Alright'', a 2011 album by Jerry Williams * ''All Right'', a 1982 album by Himiko Kikuchi Songs * "Alright" (Cast song) * ...

" * Pete Moore – "Asteroid" * The Beloved – " Sweet Harmony" * Stakka Bo – "Here We Go" *

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

– "

I'm a Believer "I'm a Believer" is a song written by Neil Diamond and recorded by the Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number-one spot on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for the week en ...

" *

Stereo MC's Stereo MC's are an English Hip hop music, hip hop/electronic dance music, electronic dance group which formed in Nottingham, England, in 1985. They had an international Top 40, top 20 hit with their single "Connected (Stereo MCs song), Connected ...

– " Step It Up" * Tom Jones – "If Only I Knew" *

Nouvelle Vague French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

– " Just Can't Get Enough" *

Son of Dork Son of Dork were a British pop punk band formed by James Bourne after his previous band, Busted, split in January 2005. The name of the band came from a scene in the 1990 film '' Problem Child'' where the chant "Son of Dork" is used. Their de ...

– "We're Not Alone"

References

External links

''Alien Autopsy - The Full Original Footage on YouTube''

''Alien Autopsy - Fact or Fiction? - Documentary on YouTube''
* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, alien-autopsy, Alien Autopsy 2006 films 2006 LGBT-related films Roswell incident in fiction 2000s science fiction comedy films British science fiction comedy films British LGBT-related films LGBT-related science fiction comedy films Films about filmmaking Films set in 1995 Films set in 2005 Films set in London Films set in Ohio Films set in Miami Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Argentina Films set in Venezuela Fiction about hoaxes Films with screenplays by William Davies Films shot at Pinewood Studios Qwerty Films films 2006 comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films