It’s time again for another addition to 2012’s Spotlight on Horror series. This time I am looking at films from an often gruesome and disturbing horror subdivision: Body Horror.
Body Horror refers to horror films that focus on the break down of the human body, usually in a graphic or explicit way. Mutilation and disease are common causes of degeneration in Body Horror films. Take a look at a few films that highlight this subgenre.
THE FLY (1986)
If you were to try to put a name to the body horror genre, director David Cronenberg would be your man. While a lot of his films are great examples, I chose to showcase the disturbing classic The Fly. The 1986 remake concentrates on brilliant scientist Seth Brundle’s (my buddy Jeff Goldblum) experimentation with teleportation. Because scientists are always doing crazy science shit, Seth uses one of his teleportaion devices on himself. He accidentally transports with a housefly and while he experiences no problems initially, over time his human body begins to deteriorate and transform because of the molecular-genetic combination with the fly. What’s disturbing here is observing Jeff Goldblum’s perfectly sculpted figure slowly become something so grotesque it’s almost unwatchable.
Gross Out Photo For Your Viewing Pleasure:
Yum. I’ll be sure to stay away for soups, yogurts and puddings for the next week or so.
THE THING (1982)
This is possibly my favorite horror film of all time. The movie works on multiple levels but there’s no better example of body horror than this. Following the activities of a group of Antarctic researchers, conflict brews after the discovery of a human-ish corpse at a Norwegian camp nearby. The title refers to alien life form that imitates it’s prey. When the ‘Thing’ is shown, it transforms the organism into unnatural, otherworldly proportions. It’s the kind of stuff nightmares are made of and only practical effects could create.
Gross Out Photo For Your Viewing Pleasure:
Come on guys, you’ve never just had a bad day and morphed into a head creature with spider legs and bad dental work?
CABIN FEVER (2002)
Eli Roth’s directorial debut isn’t flawless but it shows off his obvious love for the genre. In Cabin Fever, five college students are subjected to a terrible flesh-eating virus while on vacation in a cabin in the woods. The gore effects provide the film with one of it’s biggest positives, although sometimes it sacrifices plausibility for the more painful moments. The movie features a lot of effective scenes that display the real terror of a deteriorating body.
Gross Out Photo For Your Viewing Pleasure:
Occasionally there are special effects makeup moments that look really silly and unrealistic in horror films. This is not one of those moments.
RE-ANIMATOR (1985)
Another favorite of mine, Re-Animator is pure cult movie bliss. An on-point campy performance from Jeffrey Combs (he plays Herb West) mixed in with blood soaked humor put the film right in the running with The Evil Dead as one of the best. In the movie, mad scientist Herbert West struggles to perfect the re-animation of dead tissue but things go very wrong after he enlists the help of his roommate. Corpses are brought back to life zombie style, people are dismembered and bodies mutate and attack.
Gross Out Photo For Your Viewing Pleasure:
Fucking Herb West, mad scientist extraordinaire.
TEETH (2007)
Teeth is a gleefully funny horror movie. The brilliant idea stems from a folk legend about ‘Vagina dentata’ which is essentially a vagina with teeth. When teen Dawn O’Keefe (played excellently by Jess Weixler) is almost raped, she discovers that she suffers from this horrific condition. Teeth is clever and a lot funnier than a movie about a vagina with bite could have been. The ‘body horror’ aspect of this film works two-fold: The protagonist Dawn deals with the uncomfortable realization of the unusual power between her legs and the men she encounters deal with the dismemberment of… well, their members. If you’ve got a ding dong, I apologize in advance for the next photo.
Gross Out Photo For Your Viewing Pleasure:
I’m sorry to all the gentlemen reading this. I am deeply, deeply sorry and I promise that the pain you are currently feeling in your nether regions will soon subside.
HELLRAISER (1987)
Another gem from Clive Barker, Hellraiser is largely remembered for the main baddie Pinhead but the first half of the film displays some of the creepiest body horror ever put to screen. If you don’t actually remember how the movie starts out, there’s a bunch of craziness involving these mutilated humanoids and a guy named Frank that they cut up into little pieces and transport to an antique puzzle box/other realm. The absurdity continues when Frank’s body is partially restored to the real world where he convinces a woman he once had an affair with to collect blood for him to help make him whole. The story continues to be the most ridiculous you’ve ever heard as the lady does this by luring men into the room with the promise of sex and then beating the shit out of them with a hammer. It’s the craziest shit ever and all the while ‘Frank’ resembles a disturbingly realistic flesh skeleton. Even if you’re not a fan of Pinhead, Hellraiser is worth a watch for the unsettling visuals of the film’s first half.
Gross Out Photo For Your Viewing Pleasure:
Delightful gore in Hellraiser. I don’t know that many sane individuals that would keep this thing in their spare bedroom. Then again I don’t really know that many sane individuals in general.
And now, please enjoy this photo of puppies:
Check back next Saturday for the last installment of this October’s Spotlight on Horror series.
This post is part of the Countdown to Halloween blogathon, a month-long blogging marathon dedicated to honoring the Halloween season. For more information and a full list of participating sites, please visit www.countdowntohalloween.com.