This article is part of a directory: Game Rant's Ultimate Guide To Horror Movies
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Horror cinema encompasses the widest variety of content and quality, leaving room for some of the most disposable garbage and the most incredible art in the medium. It's also one of the most prolific genres of cinema, so there's a ton of good stuff that can get buried by bigger names.

Body horror eschews the incomprehensible threats of cosmic horror or the unkillable murderers of slasher films for something a bit simpler. Instead, body horror focuses on the inherent unpleasantness of the blood and skin mankind walks around inside. Between transforming into an inhuman shape to being ripped apart from within, body horror is the kind of thing that doesn't appeal to everyone but really appeals to a chosen few.

Updated on October 13, 2022 by Joshua McCoy: The spirit is willing, but the flesh is always weak. Body horror is having something of a moment right now. Thanks to the return of the longtime master of the art form David Cronenberg and the rise of multiple new voices, body horror is very popular. Maybe the gradual shift towards modern CGI has led fans to gravitate to any example of unusual visuals. Maybe guts and gore are a bit less transgressive today. Or maybe something about the modern climate makes the on-screen corruption of the human form a bit easier to stomach. However people come by it, body horror is a special subgenre.

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Slither

Slither movie

James Gunn is perhaps the most sought-after director in the world of both blockbusters and independent cinema right now, but in 2006, he was a more obscure figure. Gunn's masterful contributions to both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe are hugely popular, but his first film only attained success from a cult audience.

Slither stars Nathan Fillion as a small-town cop who is faced with an alien invasion. Elizabeth Banks plays opposite him as the first person in town to discover the problem. The parasitic aliens infest the bodies of their victims, turning them into tentacled monstrosities. The first victim is Michael Rooker, in a stellar role as a horrific host. In the time-honored style of James Gunn, the film plays this nightmarish situation into a pitch-black comedy alongside its horror elements.

Existenz

No list of body horror films could ever be complete without the work of David Cronenberg. From his genre-defining Scanners in 1981 to this year's return to form in Crimes of the Future, he's been the king of the subgenre for forty years. His 1999 sci-fi horror effort brings the world of the internet and virtual reality gaming into his traditional horror style. eXistenZ, as the title is stylized, follows Jude Law as security guard Ted Pikul, charged with defending Jennifer Jason Leigh as game designer Allegra Geller.

Geller has crafted a fully immersive virtual reality experience, in which the rules of the human body simply do not apply. Guns made from flesh that fire teeth, neural implants, and connections via the intestinal tract, this movie gets disgusting without boundaries. Cronenberg continues to be the biggest name in body horror, and his take on cyberpunk is happy to blend the concepts.

Titane

titane movie body horror

Brilliant independent director Julia Ducournau intricately crafted the strangest and most powerful body horror family drama of the past century. Released just last year, Titane is not something that can be understood through text. It has to be experienced first-hand, with an open heart and a strong stomach. It stars model Agathe Rousselle as Alexia, a woman whose behavior becomes increasingly erratic after a childhood auto accident leaves her with a metal plate in her skull.

Beneath the revolting body horror, of which there is quite a bit, lies a complex narrative of gender, sex, and love. The film is masterful, but it is not for everyone. The extremely specific audience for this film needs to find it because it deserves to be seen and discussed.

Spring

spring-movie Cropped

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are well-known for their indie sci-fi and horror career, and their more recent work with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The filmmaking duo's first few films are directed, written, and edited by Benson and Moorhead. They even occasionally star in them. Released in 2014, Spring is the second film created by Benson and Moorhead, and it's a very special experience. It follows Lou Taylor Pucci as Evan, a man who takes a trip to Italy to find himself in a time of personal crisis. He meets and is instantly smitten with Louise, a captivating and intelligent student portrayed by Nadia Hilker.

Their bizarre romance is sidetracked a few times by the fact that Louise is something far more than human. Her nightmarish transformations complement the naturalistic romance and combine to form something truly unique. Spring wasn't a big-budget blockbuster, but it is a masterful work of indie horror and romance from two beloved filmmakers.

The Stuff

the mysterious sweet substance from The Stuff attacking a woman

Written and directed by the master of satire Larry Cohen, this 1985 horror-comedy blends the horror of The Blob with the commentary of They Live. The film is a sharp parody of American consumerist culture and the perils of modern marketing, while also being a shocking body horror display. The eponymous Stuff is an alien organism that infects the mind of its victims.

Rather than fear and destroy this beast, mankind discovers its sweet taste and markets it as a healthy alternative to ice cream. Michael Moriarty was highly praised for his performance in the lead role of a corporate saboteur. Between the disgusting horror, the grim comedy, and the on-target satire, there's something for everyone in The Stuff.

Braindead

Braindead 1992

Years before the franchise that would make him a household name, Peter Jackson was a craftsman in the field of splatter horror. Braindead, known as Dead Alive in North America, is popularly recognized as one of the goriest films ever made. The film follows a young man and his girlfriend as they deal with his mother's recent nightmarish zombie transformation.

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Depending on who one asks, zombies are the most popular type of body horror, but Peter Jackson doesn't go the Cronenberg route. This blood and gore aren't there to make the audience think, it's there to make them recoil, wretch, and burst out laughing. Braindead is a fantastic horror comedy with some of the most memorable scenes of violence ever put to film.

Cronos

Scarab device from Cronos

Speaking of beloved directors' early work, Guillermo del Toro's first feature film is a body horror classic that deserves more attention. Del Toro's work is known for reusing elements in new contexts, and most of his films use a bit of body horror when the moment calls for it. Cronos dives fully into the ripping flesh for this Spanish-language nightmare. The film follows an antique dealer who acquires a unique golden artifact that will grant him eternal life, at a cost. It transforms the old man into a vampire, demanding he drink blood to survive.

As he enjoys his newfound immortality, the item's original owner sets a plan in motion to get the piece back. Though del Toro's later films are more popular, his first effort is still solid. Fans of the director are almost undoubtedly aware of the film, but it stands out among body horror movies.

Hellraiser

Hellraiser Trailer Jamie Clayton Pinhead Hulu

What better time than now to resurrect one of the most iconic body horror series in cinematic history? It's been a long time coming, but David Bruckner's take on Clive Barker's classic tale is finally here. It's not a perfect film, but the body horror aspects of the film are absolutely on point. The 2022 Hellraiser follows a recovering drug addict and her sketchy boyfriend as they try to make ends meet through an ill-advised burglary.

When they wind up in possession of the series' classic Lament Configuration, they awaken the Cenobites and begin the nightmarish body horror extravaganza. Elements of the human drama in this film fall flat, but the new Pinhead, the masterful audiovisual experience, and the creativity on display make the new Hellraiser a pleasure to watch.

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