16 Body Horror Films Inspired by David Cronenberg

Summary

• David Cronenberg’s influence has shaped the modern horror landscape, blending metaphysical and physical elements for provocative storytelling.
• Cronenberg’s impact on body horror is evident in films like
  American Mary
  ,
  Slither
  , and
  Kuso
  , pushing boundaries with grotesque transformations.
• Newer films like
  Censor
  and
  Possessor
  continue Cronenberg’s legacy, exploring themes of anatomy, self-transformation, and the blurred lines between reality and fiction.

The modern horror landscape wouldn’t look the same without the influence of body horror maestro David Cronenberg. Since his debut, Shivers, a sticky satire about an apartment complex infected with an erotic virus clearly meant to critique the sexual revolution, his work has provoked by combining metaphysical with the very-physical on screen, plumbing the depths of the human animal’s urges by testing its boundaries, usually proving them much too porous for comfort, from The Fly to The Brood, to Videodrome.

The once-polarizing Cronenberg has become an elder statesman in horror over the years. Where his auto-erotic Crash was venomously boo’d at Cannes (several jurors had to stage a revolt to deliver his Special Jury Prize), Crimes of the Future received a six-minute standing ovation in 2022. His new film, The Shrouds feels like one of his most experimental. While critics have traced his influence as far back as films like Peter Jackson’s Braindead or Shinya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man his unique, clinically fleshy influence has only grown, its juicy mark dribbling down the edges of the silver screen.

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16 Sliver (1993)

A Cronenberg-Inspired Apartment Thriller

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Sliver is a psychological thriller film based on the novel by Ira Levin. The film stars Sharon Stone as Carly Norris, a book editor who moves into a luxury New York City high-rise building known as Sliver. As Carly becomes acquainted with her neighbors, including a handsome and mysterious novelist, she begins to uncover dark secrets and mysterious events that threaten her own life.

Director Phillip Noyce Release Date May 21, 1993 Studio(s) Robert Evans Company , Paramount Writers Joe Eszterhas Cast Sharon Stone , William Baldwin , Tom Berenger , Polly Walker , Colleen Camp Runtime 108 Minutes Budget 40000000.0 Main Genre Drama Expand

Penned by Joe Esterhaas, the most financially successful shock jock of the ‘90s erotic thriller boom fresh off the success of Paul Verhoven’s Basic Instinct, Sliver falls perfectly under the “Cronenbergian” rubric. When a wealthy divorcé (Sharon Stone) moves into a swanky new apartment building, she’s quickly seduced by her handsome, videogame designer landlord, Zeke (William Baldwin), who gets his kicks watching tenants on his high-tech surveillance cameras.

Its erotics and apartment-building set-up bring Shivers to mind, while its slick, Y2K play with voyeurism is a Videodrome redux perfectly suited for the Blockbuster adult section (and it worked–– Sliver was the eighth most rented tape of 1994 in the US). When things heat up and the tenants tell Carly she looks just like the previous tenant, the movie throws in a little Vertigo too.

15 American Mary (2012)

The Soska Sisters’ Tribute To Cronenberg

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American Mary, directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska, follows Mary Mason, a medical student drawn into the world of underground surgeries and body modification. As her career advances, she becomes increasingly entangled in a subculture where her skills are in high demand but ethics and morality are questioned. Starring Katharine Isabelle, the film explores themes of ambition, vengeance, and the desire for control.

Director Jen Soska , Sylvia Soska Release Date January 11, 2013 Writers Jen Soska , Sylvia Soska Cast Katharine Isabelle , Antonio Cupo , Tristan Risk , David Lovgren , Paula Lindberg , Clay St. Thomas Runtime 103 minutes Main Genre Horror Expand

A riff on the classic mad scientist tale, American Mary follows a medical student (Katharine Isabelle, better known for her standout performance as a pubescent werewolf in another body horror classic, Ginger Snaps,) into the most extreme subcultures of body modification to pay her loans.

The film demonstrates an erotic curiosity for the power of self-transformation that’s a hallmark of Cronenberg’s work, effectively presaging his most recent film Crimes of the Future with its credo, “surgery is the new sex.” For Mary, whose job as a stripper leads to her turn as a goth-DIY-surgeon, as well as her clients, this slogan fits like an elbow-length latex glove. The Soska sisters (Dead Hooker in a Trunk), who directed the film, have been so inspired by Cronenberg over their careers that they remade his second feature, Rabid, in 2019.

14 Kuso (2017)

A Goopy, Gonzo Anthology

Like some of Cronenberg’s best, Kuso triggered walkouts during its festival premiere in 2017. This gonzo anthology film tracks a motley crew of mutants through the landscape of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. While its liberal use of abstract animation and collage as well as its experimental jazz score bring it into conversation with older erotic horror films like Belladonna of Sadness, its penchant for the goopy stuff is very Cronenberg (though it winks towards Lars von Trier and John Waters–– Kuso isn’t for the faint of heart in the gore or feces department).

The film’s director, Flying Lotus (also known as Steve) has called the film a “hallucination that feels like David Cronenberg meeting Ren & Stimpy.” From its raunchy sex scenes to its scenes of graphic mutilation, this macabre, playful film definitely meets that description.

13 Slither (2006)

James Gunn’s Homage To Cronenberg’s Best

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Written and directed by James Gunn, Slither tells the story of a small town that gets invaded by an alien mind-controlling parasite. Starring Nathan Fillion as Police Chief Bill Pardy, Elizabeth Banks as Starla Grant, and Michael Rooker as Grant Grant, the 2006 horror comedy marks James Gunn’s directorial debut.

Director James Gunn Release Date March 31, 2006 Studio(s) Universal Pictures Distributor(s) Universal Pictures Writers James Gunn Cast Nathan Fillion , Elizabeth Banks , Brenda James , Jenna Fischer , Michael Rooker Runtime 95 minutes Budget $15 million Expand

James Gunn’s Slither was a box office bomb upon its release for its off-kilter blend of horror and comedy. Starring Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks, it boldly plays Cronenberg’s first two films (Shivers and Rabid) for laughs alongside The Blob and Brain Damage, reveling in the kinds of physical transformation that define the gross-out aesthetic typified in The Fly.

When an alien meteorite crash-lands in the middle of a small town, all hell breaks loose for its residents–– especially the husband and wife who found it first. The alien’s decidedly anatomical design and hornily parasitic tendencies make this openly movie a perfect slumber-party-style pick for fans of the genre.

12 Tusk (2014)

Kevin Smith’s Gross-Out Meta B-Horror Film

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When Wallace Bryton interviews an eccentric old sailor, Howard Howe, for his podcast, the old man tells him of a walrus named “Mr. Tusk” who once saved his life. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there, as Howard’s obsession with Mr. Tusk means he has some disturbing plans for Wallace.

Director Kevin Smith Release Date September 6, 2014 Studio(s) A24 Distributor(s) A24 Writers Kevin Smith Cast Michael Parks , Justin Long , Genesis Rodriguez , Haley Joel Osment , Johnny Depp Runtime 101minutes Sequel(s) Yoga Hosers Budget $3 million Expand

The only horror comedy more famously Cronenbergian than Slither is Kevin Smith’s wacko gross-out meta-cult-classic Tusk. Inspired by an episode of his stoner-friendly podcast SModcast, the film draws on “The Walrus and the Carpenter” to tell the story of a podcaster who, after a shipwreck, is saved by a walrus. Most of the loose and vaguely episodic plot can be chalked up to a series of unfortunate events, but, long story short, the walrus is trying to turn the podcaster into another walrus.

The film may have gotten mixed reviews, but for fans of the Clerks director’s goofy oeuvre, Tusk is another sleepover classic, the kind of movie that comes with its own introduction, a la The Human Centipede. Distributed by A24 at the early end of their rise to arthouse world domination, Tusk may very well have gotten more attention had it been released several years later.

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11 Censor (2021)

A Cronenberg-Style Gorefest

3.5 Not Yet RatedHorrorMystery

A British horror film set in the 1980s, following a film censor who starts to lose her grasp on reality after watching a video nasty that echoes her sister’s mysterious disappearance.

Director Prano Bailey-Bond Release Date June 11, 2021 Writers Prano Bailey-Bond , Anthony Fletcher Cast Niamh Algar , Nicholas Burns , Vincent Franklin , Sophia La Porta , Adrian Schiller , Michael Smiley , Clare Holman Runtime 84 Minutes

Prano Bailey-Bond’s highly effective throwback debut feature, Censor, recalls De Palma’s Body Double as well as Videodrome. Set in 1985, at the peak of the controversy over British film censorship, during a panic around the so-called “Video Nasty,” of which Cronenberg’s films up to that point were all examples.

The film takes its censor protagonist down the rabbit hole as she slowly loses her grip on reality, testing the boundaries between on-screen violence and real-life carnage. The film blends the clinical style of a Cronenberg gore-fest with lively pastiche, not dissimilar from this year’s MaXXXine. Reviews noted that the film drew on Cronenberg’s visual (and anatomical) style to explore questions of sight, responsibility, and erotic charge.

10 Swallow (2019)

An Uncomfortable Appetite

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Swallow is a psychological thriller directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis. The film follows Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, played by Haley Bennett, who develops a dangerous habit of swallowing inedible objects. This condition, known as pica, reveals deeper issues within her seemingly perfect marriage and life, leading her to confront disturbing secrets and personal struggles.

Director Carlo Mirabella-Davis Release Date January 15, 2020 Writers Carlo Mirabella-Davis Cast Haley Bennett , Austin Stowell , Denis O’Hare , Elizabeth Marvel , David Rasche , Laith Nakli , Babak Tafti , Nicole Kang Runtime 94 minutes Main Genre Thriller Expand

Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ Swallow finds a different entry point to Cronenbergian body horror–– namely, the mouth. Borrowing the sadomasochistic gender roles of a film like A Most Dangerous Method, the film is a portrait of repression quite literally internalized. Hunter (Carole Baraton) is a newlywed housewife whose working-class upbringing constantly keeps her on the back foot with her new family.

To cope with the impossible balancing act she faces, incapable of speaking openly with her husband for fear of losing his interest, she takes to eating her feelings–– and marbles, thread, thumbtacks, and anything else that comes her way. The film is effectively distressing, likely to get a viewer’s sympathetic gag reflex going. Where its visual arsenal is very Cronenberg, its thematic toolbox is closer to Todd Haynes (think Safe). An eerie combination.

9 Bad Biology (2008)

An Odyssey Of Anatomy

The last film to date directed by exploitationeer extraordinaire Frank Henenlotter, Bad Biology is the story of a boy and a girl with a unique set of problems. The film’s protagonist, Jennifer (Charlee Danielson), was born with an unusually expansive female anatomy and the voracious erotic metabolism to match. In true Cronenberg fashion, Jennifer’s quest for sexual satisfaction, spawned by her quasi-monstrous birth (and the rapid gestation period of the children she spawns like frogs, or like members of The Brood,) borders on transcendental.

Her would-be paramour, meanwhile (Anthony Sneed), was born with an equally pressing deficiency in the anatomy department that drove him on an odyssey of chemical enhancement so extreme that his member becomes sentient–– and murderous. This gonzo pairing is suitably zany, playing on Rabid with irreverent good cheer.

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8 Possessor (2020)

A Different Kind Of Espionage Film

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Possessor, directed by Brandon Cronenberg, is a 2020 science fiction horror film that follows Tasya Vos, a corporate agent who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies and perform assassinations. As Vos struggles with her identity and loses control over her host, the boundaries between her own mind and her host’s begin to blur, leading to catastrophic consequences. Starring Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott, the film explores themes of control and identity.

Director Brandon Cronenberg Release Date October 2, 2020 Writers Brandon Cronenberg Cast Andrea Riseborough , Christopher Abbott , Jennifer Jason Leigh , Sean Bean , Rossif Sutherland , Tuppence Middleton Runtime 103 minutes Main Genre Sci-Fi Expand

Who could be more inspired by David Cronenberg than his son, Brandon? Possessor, the younger Cronenberg’s sophomore film, brings in many of the same hangups the older director has made his hallmark. In this world, assassins take control of their targets’ bodies to make their hits, staging conflicts or breakdowns that will make their deaths appear more plausible. On this particular occasion, though, the assassin, Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough), enjoys the swap a little too much. Suffering from dissociative symptoms, the hit didn’t go according to plan.

This film’s gender-bending treatment of social role-playing, the strangeness of family ties, and the erotic charge of dangerous circumstances feels like a blend of Crash and Scanners, though the younger director puts his own visual spin on the subject through ample use of psychedelic imagery far closer to the work of Panos Cosmatos.

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7 Boxing Helena (1993)

A Distant Cousin To Dead Ringers

Boxing Helena was the feature debut of another Freudian indie auteur’s child, Jennifer Lynch, David Lynch’s daughter. This film, then, could be viewed as a blend of the two maestros’ oneiric aesthetics. It tells the story of a surgeon (Julian Sands) who develops a dangerous obsession with his neighbor, Helena (Sherilyn Fenn, Audrey in Twin Peaks). He kidnaps the beautiful, sexually unavailable woman and the two begin a game of erotic cat and mouse, complicated violently by the doctor’s petulant penchant for amputation.

While the doctor’s motivations feel like something borrowed from Dead Ringers, the sexual dynamics of the amputation process speak to the radical transformations of works like Crash, where amputations are fair collateral for the highs of erotic rubbernecking.

6 Teeth (2007)

Teeth is the first and only film directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, the son of iconic pop art master Roy Lichtenstein. Like any Cronenberg movie worth its salt, this film turns its unorthodox physical premise into a tale of self-actualization and, here, revenge. Skewering the Purity movement of the ‘90s and early ‘00s in a brilliant array of bubblegum pinks, sherbet oranges and waiting room blues, the film tracks Dawn (Jess Weixler) in the weeks when she discovers that she bears a mythical set of vagina dentata.

Where first she fears the teeth inside her, soon she realizes that they exist to protect her. Eventually, Dawn becomes her own kind of avenging superhero, sent to destroy Nazi punks and Catholic frat boys alike. Cronenberg would approve.

5 We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021)

A Lo-Fi, Coming-Of-Age Tale

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In “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” a teenager becomes immersed in an online role-playing horror game. As she documents her experiences, the lines between reality and fiction blur, leading to an unsettling exploration of identity and isolation. The film crafts a haunting narrative that delves into the psychological impact of digital culture.

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Director Jane Schoenbrun Release Date April 22, 2022 Writers Jane Schoenbrun Cast Michael J. Rogers , Anna Cobb , Theo Anthony , Holly Anne Frink Runtime 86 Minutes Main Genre Horror Expand

Jane Schoenbrun’s debut feature, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, brings the queer subtext of many Cronenberg films to the fore, turning its lo-fi, coming-of-age tale in the digital uncanny valley into a quiet exercise in dysphoric body horror.

Using the aesthetics of the Y2K shopping mall alongside the precarious vibes of early Web 2.0, Schoenbrun takes their protagonist through an endless scroll of teens’ transformations (barbie lookalikes with synthetic skin, steroidal jocks who beat themselves with household objects, impervious to pain). As arcade tickets cascade from arms like an ATM on the fritz, one would be justified in recalling Brundlefly’s curious gaze into his bathroom mirror before he pulls his teeth out, one by one.

4 Malignant (2021)

The Third Act Is A Twist No One Saw Coming

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In this horror thriller from the creator of the Conjuring universe, a woman named Madison is tormented by visions of grisly murders. When she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities, she attempts to unlock her repressed memories to find the killer and stop him.

Director James Wan Release Date September 10, 2021 Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Writers James Wan , Ingrid Bisu , Akela Cooper Cast Maddie Hasson , Annabelle Wallis , Jacqueline McKenzie , Ingrid Bisu , Michole Briana White , Jake Abel , Mckenna Grace , George Young Runtime 111 minutes Franchise(s) The Conjuring Budget $2.4 million Main Genre Horror Expand

James Wan’s delightfully retro low-budget exploitation flick, Malignant, is a tale of weird science and conjoined twins somewhere between Scanners, Basket Case, Sisters, and Dead Ringers. When a pregnant woman with an abusive boyfriend (Annabelle Wallis), hits her head during an altercation and begins to have visions, people begin to die.

Twists and turns abound, but needless to say, this visceral, and viscerally funny little shocker throws everything but the kitchen sink into the mix to get its points across. As the title would suggest, the film’s metaphors center around the relationship between the physical body and the impulses the mind struggles, and often fails, to control. Here, murderous rages take on telekenetic resonance as characters with physical uniquenesses butt up against the strictures of the world around them.

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3 Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Sexuality On Steroids

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Love Lies Bleeding is an action crime film from A24. Directed by Rose Glass, Love Lies Bleeding centers on a gym employee, played by Kristen Stewart, and a bisexual bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian) as they discover how difficult the world of competitive bodybuilding is. The film also stars Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, and Ed Harris.

Director Rose Glass Release Date March 3, 2024 Studio(s) A24 , Film4 Distributor(s) A24 , Lionsgate Writers Rose Glass , Weronika Tofilska Cast Kristen Stewart , Katy O’Brian , Jena Malone , Anna Baryshnikov , Dave Franco , Ed Harris Runtime 104 Minutes Main Genre Action Expand

While Rose Glass’s sophomore feature, Love Lies Bleeding, isn’t a horror flick per se, its brilliant blend of the erotic, the grotesque, and the downright nasty make it a worthy entry into this list. Glass herself has cited Crash as an inspiration (alongside Showgirls and Saturday Night Fever, among others). When gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) meets aspiring bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brien), their love is immediate, intense, and physically intoxicating.

Love Lies Bleeding
is strange, hallucinatory, sexy, and cheekily perverse

Jackie is unpredictable, however, as is Lou’s loose canon crime lord father (Ed Harris). Between heavy petting sessions (full of raw eggs and intense physical contortions), Jackie begins to shoot up steroids in massive doses, turning herself into the lesbian She-Hulk of Lou’s dreams and, soon, her ex’s nightmares. Love Lies Bleeding is strange, hallucinatory, sexy, and cheekily perverse.

2 Titane (2021)

Pure Cronenberg Influence

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Titane is a French horror drama directed by Julia Ducournau. Agathe Rousselle stars as Alexia, a woman with a titanium plate in her head who leads a violent and unconventional life.

Director Julia Ducournau Release Date October 1, 2021 Writers Julia Ducournau Cast Garance Marillier , Agathe Rousselle , Vincent Lindon , Laïs Salameh Runtime 108 minutes

Julia Ducurnau’s follow-up to her cannibal coming-of-age indie darling, Raw, isn’t quite a horror movie either; but it’s quite possibly the most Cronenbergian not-quite-love story put on screen by anyone else. Titane tracks the pregnancy of an exotic dancer, Adrien (Agatha Rousselle), after she has sex with a car she performs on top of at an expo.

This movie’s cyberpunk trappings and delicate use of graphic gore belie, like Crash before it, creates a genuinely warm relationship to its characters flawed (in)humanity. It’s dreamy, steamy, and punk rock.

1 Cuckoo (2024)

A Strangely Mutated Thriller

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On a trip to the German Alps with her father and stepmother, Gretchen (Hunter Schafer from HBO’s “Euphoria”) discovers that the resort town where they’re staying hides sinister secrets, as she’s plagued by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her. Soon, Gretchen finds herself pulled into a conspiracy involving bizarre experiments by the resort’s owner that echo back generations.

Director Tilman Singer Release Date August 9, 2024 Writers Tilman Singer Cast Hunter Schafer , Dan Stevens , Jessica Henwick , Marton Csokas , Astrid Bergès-Frisbey , Greta Fernández , Kalin Morrow , Mila Lieu Runtime 102 Minutes Main Genre Horror Expand

Cuckoo, out this weekend, is a taught psychological thriller that blends chilly settings with retro Cronenbergian stylings as it puts teenage Gretchen (Hunter Schaefer) through her paces evading the mutated denizens of a German health resort. The subtly funny, raucusly strange film features plenty of weird science, physical transformations, and high tension.

With Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo, and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, due this fall, it’s clear that David Cronenberg’s influence on the horror genre will keep our guts churning for the foreseeable future.

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David Cronenberg

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