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10 Most Unsettling Body Horror Movies

The grosser the better.
Best Body Horror
By  · Published on October 10th, 2022

5. Altered States (1980)

Altered States

Ken Russell and Paddy Chayefsky‘s kaleidoscopic descent into metaphysical horror is one of the most unusual films to come out of the 1980s. Birthed from a round of bullshitting between Chayefsky, Herb Gardner (I’m Not Rappaport), and Bob Fosse (All That Jazz), Altered States follows a psychopathologist on a journey to discover our inner states of consciousness through a combination of hallucinogens and sensory deprivation chambers, only to find our bodies and minds have secrets even our wildest imaginations could never conceive. As it sits firmly on the barrier between body horror and hard sci-fi, Russell’s film doesn’t necessarily nestle quite as neatly with other titans of body horror like Videodrome or Society, but it does act as one of the most unique approaches to this subgenre. What if the horror didn’t come from above or below, the cosmos or another dimension, but an inner depth we didn’t know we possessed? (Jacob Trussell)


4. Possession (1981)

Possession Sam Neill

If you’ve read our previous 31 Days of Horror Lists, you’ll know that around these here parts, we all love Possession. And what’s not to love? With a focus on psychological horror and a hefty dose of body horror, Possession has something for everyone. The film centers on a married couple on the brink of divorce. Isabelle Adjani‘s Anna has had it with Mark (Sam Neill), but her motivations are never totally clear. So, as you do, Mark hires a private investigator to follow Anna. Meanwhile, he has a startling realization that his son’s teacher bears a striking resemblance to his soon-to-be ex-wife. Beyond these plot points, it’s difficult to summarize Possession without getting into glaring spoilers, but let’s just say if you’re familiar with this film, it’s probably because of the iconic subway scene. And this moment not only delivers a whirlwind performance from Adjani, it’s also viscerally upsetting. But trust us when we say that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this film’s body horror. The rest you’ll have to see for yourself. (Anna Swanson)


3. Alien (1979)

Alien

If I’m being honest, “body horror” has always felt like a bit of a cop-out as far as horror subgenres go. It’s just a horror flick in which someone’s body gets jacked up? Oh, okay, thanks for narrowing that down. But if we must discuss movies with jacked-up bodies, Ridley Scott‘s Alien is a good one to go with you. Unless you’re my boy Kane (John Hurt), who becomes the unfortunate host for the alien. First, he has to deal with a facehugger playing a wicked game of tonsil hockey with him. And just when he thinks he’s in the clear, a chestburster comes bursting out of his chest. As they do. The rest of the film is actually quite mild in terms of gore but becomes a rather tense game of cat and mouse between Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the xenomorph aboard the Nostromo. Alien rules and kind of made me feel weird about spoons. (Chris Coffel)


2. The Fly (1986)

The Fly Brundlefly

The best body horror films work in two ways – they put viewers both in the body of the one affected and in the mindset of those around them. David Cronenberg’s masterful remake accomplishes this beautifully through a combination of fantastically effective practical effects and affecting performances from the two leads. Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) fucks up his overly ambitious science experiment and fuses a fly’s DNA into his own. The result is a grotesque, slow-moving transformation that starts with nails falling off and ends with a full-body metamorphosis into something monstrous. It’s gross, and Goldblum makes it feel endlessly painful too. Our own teeth suddenly feel loose, and our skin grows itchy. Geena Davis, meanwhile, has arguably the tougher role in portraying a woman who loves Seth and is horrified to watch his descent into flesh-tearing, bile-covered madness. We see it, we hear it, and we feel it. And it is horrifying. (Rob Hunter)


1. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

Tetsuo

A lot of body horror movies can be hard to watch, but Tetsuo: The Iron Man is one that’s more so hard to explain. Don’t get me wrong, that does not mean the movie pulls punches in any way. It’s just that the film, which, to put it as simply as possible, is about a couple who has their world turned upside down after being involved in a hit-and-run with a metal fetishist, is rather hard to make sense of. Impressionistic and surreal, Shinya Tsukamoto‘s cyberpunk flick is a mishmash of flesh and metal, and considering it’s shot in 16mm black and white film stock, it’s remarkable how alike blood and oil can be. This is a film about pushing the very limits of what it means to be human, or at least what it means to have a human body. As breathtaking as it is bewildering, the two strongest points of comparison are probably Cronenberg’s Crash and Lynch’s Eraserhead, but the truth is that Tetsuo is a film like no other. (Anna Swanson)


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Anna Swanson is a Senior Contributor who hails from Toronto. She can usually be found at the nearest rep screening of a Brian De Palma film.