What Are Body Horror Movies?
Body horror moviesfocus on depicting the physical body as ruined, contaminated, deformed, or infected. There’s a fascination with showing the breakdown of the body, its transformation into something else—somethingother, somethinginhuman.
To be clear, not every film that features themes of bodily violence counts as a body horror movie.
The genre specifically emphasizes the human body as emblematic of something greater. Often, there are allegories at work and there are deeper meanings beneath the surface vileness. Indeed, meaningfully grotesque disfiguration is the name of the game.
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As such, slasher films that showcase the violent hacking of body parts typically don’t count as body horror. (Sorry, Jason!)
Similarly, whileGet Out(2017) andInvasion of the Body Snatchers(1955) are fantastic allegorical horror films about the abduction of the body, they aren’t exactly body horror because they don’t feature corruption of the body as a symbolic focus.
With the term now defined, here are our picks for the best body horror movies of all time and why they’re so fascinating!
10. Titane (2021)
Titanewas the brain child of French auteur Julia Ducournau. Though she’s only made two movies so far—the other one beingRaw(2016)—both have demonstrated a keen interest in body horror.
Titanecenters on a woman (played by Agathe Rousselle) who had a titanium plate placed in her head after she was injured in a car crash when she was just a young child.
This one recently won the Palme d’Or, so you know it’s good! But it’s also strange and takes a large number of narrative turns that might confuse you on first watch.
Still, it’s an excellent body horror that’s worth experiencing if you want something a bit different.
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9. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
John Landis was well-regarded as a great comedy movie director in the 1970s, so when he came out withAn American Werewolf in Londonin 1981, people expected it to be a hoot.
Many of them ended up being terribly surprised when they discovered it was more body horror than laugh-out-loud romp.
When two American tourists get lost in the British countryside, things take a turn for the worst. What follows is a rather tragic tale that’s chock-full of lore, secrecy, and one unlucky lycanthrope.
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8. District 9 (2009)
District 9remains one of the most lauded and most impressive films to come out of the 2000s. It also just happens to be one of the best body horror movies—not just of the decade, but of all time.
Featuring a solid performance from Sharlto Copley,District 9follows a man who’s slowly turning into an alien. It documents his horror and panic as he tries his best to remain human.
District 9is an intelligent and much-needed socio-political allegory for how we see and treat other people, especially outsiders.
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7. Videodrome (1983)
Videodromewas the first David Cronenberg film to gain any studio backing, and it resulted in one of the most interesting body horror films ever made. (And as a heads-up: this won’t be the last time you see David Cronenberg on this list.)
Featuring James Woods in his prime,Videodromefollows a man who watches a snuff film, only to become obsessed with the mystery behind the channel he’s stumbled upon. What are its origins?
The answer to that question leads him down a dark path of body horror and technological madness. It’s a most strange but fantastic film.
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6. Slither (2006)
Before James Gunn directed any of theGuardians of the Galaxymovies, he made his directorial debut withSlither, a body horror movie that pays homage to all the body horror movies that inspired it. How meta!
It sees Nathan Fillion playing the Police Chief of a provincial town that’s subject to an alien invasion, and we get thrills, laughs, and screams of disgust as Michael Rooker’s character slowly becomes deformed.
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5. Eraserhead (1977)
David Lynch is one of the most cerebral directors of our time, having created some of the most ineffable films ever made.
Eraserheadis one such film. It centers on a man who’s thrust into the nightmare of fatherhood—and just like any real nightmare,Eraserheadis surreal, horrifying, and confusing.
Henry’s (played by Jack Nance) offspring turns out to be a deformed, disgusting, worm-looking creature. We’re never given the reason as to why, and the entire film moves forward in a delirious haze.
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4. Black Swan (2010)
Darren Aronofsky was never a man to make a relaxing film. Even so, withBlack Swan, he made one of his most intense and unsettling films ever.
Though the movie is primarily a depiction of obsession and the kind of madness that’s induced by unending ambition,Black Swanshows the ramifications of such hysteria in bodily form.
There are several scenes in the film that feature moments of stomach-turning body horror, but the one that has stayed with me for years is when Natalie Portman is pulling at a hangnail. Yeesh…
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3. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
Tetsuo: The Iron Manwas written, produced, edited, and directed by one man with a disturbing vision: Shinya Tsukamoto.
And what a disturbing vision it was! Of all the films on this list,Tetsuo: The Iron Manis perhaps the most off-putting. (Given that this list also features Ducournau and Cronenberg, that’s sayinga lot!)
Tetsuo: The Iron Mancenters on a man who’s tormented by images of metal and industrialism, and those intrusive thoughts end up driving him hysterical.
It’s a challenging film to watch with all the self-harm, sodomy, and maggot-infested wounds, so viewer discretion is advised…
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2. The Thing (1982)
No doubt director John Carpenter learned a thing or two from his predecessors when it came to body horror. That said, John Carpenter was also the director who changed the entire genre.
AfterThe Thing, body horror would never quite be the same again. With the help of Robin R. Bottin and Stanley Winston—two of the best special effects artists in the film industry—he made a most shocking film.
Audiences had no idea what they were in for when they walked into the theater to watchThe Thingin 1982.
The scene where “the thing” from another world starts assimilating itself with dogs in the kennel? It became a landmark that showed every film director (body horror enthusiast or not) what was possible in cinema.
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1. The Fly (1986)
When picking the best body horror movie of all time, it’s a tough choice betweenThe ThingandThe Fly. But ultimately it’s David Cronenberg who reigns supreme as the body horror virtuoso.
AndThe Flyis Cronenberg’s masterpiece. It features Jeff Goldblum in his best performance as a scientist who’s on the cusp of discovering one of the most groundbreaking inventions in history: teleportation.
However, as the title might suggest, something goes wrong… and what follows is a film unlike any other.
The film is part remake ofThe Fly(1958) and part homage to Kafka’sThe Metamorphosis(1915), but all David Cronenberg: tragic, horrifying, and disturbing. In terms of sheer body horror,The Flyremains unrivaled.
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