Body Horror: A Primer
“‘He was lying on his back as hard as armor plate, and when he lifted his head a little, he saw his vaulted brown belly, sectioned by arch-shaped ribs, to whose dome the cover, about to slide off completely, could barely cling.’ - The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka 1915 ”
Body horror, sometimes referred to as biological or bio-horror, is a sub-genre of horror that deals with the transformation, mutation, or violation of the human body. Now, I can already see your hamster furiously running his wheel. “But,” you might say, “doesn’t most horror deal with those same elements?” Well, tell your hamster to take a breather because you’re right – it does. The difference lies in the intent. I probably should have been clearer about that from the start.
Body horror has existed in media for a long time, although it wasn’t popularized until the 1950s with such films as Irvin Yeaworth’s The Blob or Kurt Neumann’s The Fly. Although Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, which I quoted above was much older, and is arguably that author’s most notable work, it unfortunately doesn’t seem to have had quite the same impact as these cinematic tales of body horror – which is a shame, because it’s a pretty phenomenal novella that I highly recommend reading.
Body horror taps into one of humanity’s most primal fears – a loss of control over our own bodies. Whereas in other horror sub-genres these elements may be present, only in body horror are they central to the story. So, the intent in body horror is to exploit those fears specifically. Imagine what it would be like to wake up one day to discover that your body is no longer your own. It seems far-fetched, but it’s not. Our bodies betray us all the time. Whether through illness, infirmity, accidents, a bad decision or a freak accident, things go awry. Biomech is becoming less outlandish by the day, biological weaponry is becoming more horrific and deadly all the time, technology is in control of nearly every aspect of our day to day lives.
Are you still with me? Good.
Most people, when they think of body horror probably think of director David Cronenberg. While he certainly didn’t originate body horror, one could argue that he did perfect it – or at the very least, popularize it. His version of The Fly is easily one of my top 5 favorite movie transformations. But it’s worth noting that there are plenty of different types of body horror. Not just transformative in the ways that Cronenberg does it. There’s also body mod- or medical-based horror, virus or disease, chemical/scientific/biomechanical, supernatural, or purely psychological body horror. Sometimes it is the main point of the story, like in most werewolf films (yep, they’re body horror too). Other times it might be a secondary aspect of a larger story, like in Spring, where the transformation takes a back seat to the over-arching love story – it’s just a hurdle for the characters to navigate.
So let’s dive into some body horror in the coming weeks! We’ll look at some of the most messed up, and some of my absolute favorites. This week, we can start by digging into Cronenberg’s The Fly.
The Fly hit theaters in 1986. Starring Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle, a scientist researching matter transportation. He has successfully managed some transportations and thinks that he has figured out the solutions to the last little hitches in the experiment, and so, to impress journalist Veronica Quaife who he has invited to cover his research, he transports himself. Unfortunately, a fly had made its way into one of the transformation pods with him, and when he emerges, he finds he has begun to change.
It's honestly terrifying to watch Brundle abandon humanity. He tries desperately to cure himself, but all he accomplishes is to cause himself to have to experience a series of increasingly horrible results. The special effects are phenomenal – the film even won an Academy Award because of them.
This movie features some of the most disgusting transformations of any movie I can think of. Although Brundle’s Fly-ening (as I’m going to call it from here on out for absolutely no good reason) begins somewhat gradually, it ramps up rather quickly and horrifically. He undergoes a series of changes beginning with a rash that turns into some nasty open sores, and patches of wiry hairs on his back. The next stage in his (de-)evolution involves crooked teeth, thinning, patchy hair, and some facial deformity, which then develops into tumors and weirdly reddened eyes. This deforming and even reforming of new body parts and such continue until he’s a creature straight out of any sane persons’ nightmares.
If you don’t like goo, you might want to skip this movie in favor of the original, where you only see the after-effects. This transformation is very gnarly. It’s pretty standard Cronenberg fare, but still definitely not for the faint of heart.
And with that rather charming visual, I leave you until the next installment, where we’ll talk in depth about body modification/medical horror!
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