Is there a subgenre of horror more equally beloved and reviled as body horror? The combination of special effects, the notion of bodily decay, and usually a dose of cerebral ick creates a unique space in the crowded horror genre that is as divisive as it is important in the history of film.
In addition to making names of legends like David Cronenberg, James Gunn, and David Lynch, the subgenre has seen an influx of new films from promising up-and-comers in the past decade. However, there are also those body horror films that get lost in the shuffle but deserve acclaim for their quality.
10 American Mary (2012) - 60%
In 2012, sister filmmaking duo Jen and Sylvia Soska unleashed a distinctly feminist twist on the genre with American Mary. In a career-best performance, Katharine Isabelle stars as Mary Mason, a medical student who slowly submerges herself into the sleazy world of extreme body modifying surgeries. One of the more horrific clientele Mary encounters is a young girl who requests Mary's skills to turn her into a walking "Betty Boop" figure.
Bizarre, funny, and demented in all the right ways, American Mary's small cult following has great potential to grow.
9 Begotten (1990) - 67%
There simply isn't a film on this planet like it. Begotten is an experimental horror film that was released to the horror underground in 1989. A silent film that ostensibly relays an allegorical interpretation of the "Creation of Man," the film is also an extremely disturbing film that contains extraordinarily horrific imagery throughout.
A film for the cinematically adventurous crowd who like a hefty dose of nihilism with their body horror, Begotten is certainly in a league of its own and earns its infamous reputation.
8 The Perfection (2019) - 72%
Released in 2019 via Netflix, this freaky story centers around two female cellists who embark on a journey into the surreal and, occasionally, flat out gross. Starring Get Out's Allison Williams, alongside standout Logan Browning, the two musicians' fates interweave at the common ground of their prestigious music academy.
Featuring a wicked streak of dark humor, the right amount of camp, and some genuinely revolting setpieces, The Perfection received less audience fanfare than it deserved and has already largely been forgotten about.
7 The Eyes Of My Mother (2016) - 78%
If one likes their body horror films infused with the bleak cerebral edge of an art-house drama and the creative freedom that only independent filmmaking allows for, then look no further than 2016's The Eyes of My Mother.
Combining a bleak coming-of-age story with a much darker take on the origins of evil, Nicolas Pesce's avant-garde shocker is a minor masterpiece. What separates the film is not only its slower and deliberate pace, but its intuition of what to show and what not to show in order to achieve maximum unease. It's a phenomenal debut.
6 Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) - 79%
In just under 70 minutes, Tetsuo: The Iron Man manages to cram in more pure body horror insanity than any other entry on this list.
While the film is respected and generally a known property in the Japanese market, as well as the American extreme film underground, it is not as widely spread in popularity as it could be among the crowd of film enthusiasts who enjoy a wacky ride through the transformation of human man into a truly disgusting technological nightmare. Short, never-boring, and still effective after over 30 years, Tetsuo is the next horror movie night surprise pick.
5 The Skin I Live In (2011) - 81%
Before teaming up again for the acclaimed film Pain and Glory, Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas rekindled their working partnership for this unsettling and unusually intelligent film about revenge.
A film that only garnered the brows of the art-house circuit, the film could join the ranks of a crossover hit with the right reappraisal due to its extremely compelling mixture of mystery and body horror. Not just a great horror flick, but a tremendous film regardless of genre, The Skin I Live In is one of Banderas' most underrated roles and one of body horror's great hidden gems.
4 Shivers (1975) - 84%
David Cronenberg is primarily known for his contributions to the body horror canon. Throughout his storied career, the man has created numerous classics, such as The Fly, Scanners, and Videodrome. However, one of his early opuses is Shivers, a wild and wacky story about an apartment complex under threat of being overrun with a parasite that invades the host and makes them uncontrollably aroused.
Yes, that is the plot and it is not all played for laughs. Crazier still, the film manages to straddle the serious gross-out factor perfectly with the inherent silliness in its premise.
3 Excision (2012) - 84%
Excision is one of the most underseen and underappreciated debut features of the past decade. Putting one part John Hughes suburban satire-melodrama in with two-parts Lynchian body horror weirdness in a blender might result in a product somewhat similar.
The film's ability to slide between funny and horrific, or its constant fluidity between genres, makes it something really special that, for the right kind of midnight crowd, is a cult classic waiting to happen. Particularly of note is the transformative (and transgressive) work done by lead actress, f0rmer 90210 star AnnaLynne McCord.
2 Spring (2014) - 84%
Indie horror masters Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead have carved an amazing niche for themselves in the art-house world with their subversive and always-entertaining sci-fi-horror hybrids.
Perhaps their best project to date is the 2014 romance-horror hybrid film Spring. Mixing the talky-traveler-falls-in-love flow of a Richard Linklater film with a Cronenberg-esque take on cosmic body horror by way of Arthur Machen, the film manages to overcome the odds and marry all the elements into a smoothly paced and, frankly, beautiful film.
1 Possession (1981) - 86%
While Possession was widely acclaimed by critics at the time of its initial release in 1981, it was not the same body horror crossover event that The Fly, or even Altered States, was. Still, today there is a small group of cinephiles who rave about the film. In the public eye, however, the film is largely forgotten.
The film is at once a Lovecraftian horror show and also a painful exploration of divorce and the loss of love. Featuring some unforgettable imagery paired with an emotional core that hangs over the whole film, Possession is a masterpiece that demands to be reevaluated.
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