Talk:List of body horror media

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What's up?[edit]

I know, I know... I'm not a user, but I frequent wikipedia every day, and this site several times a year. Been doing so the past 3 years, and every time I get dissapointed, 'cause there's next to no improvements or updates happening. It just seems to be a change in 'relevant' movies every now and then. A list of approximatly 10 movies, can hardly be called relevant right? There's so many more body horror movies out there. I don't speak english as my first language, hence I'm hesitant to change anything on here, except for spelling errors, so I can only hope someone, someday will re-write this into a proper article on body horror, because I personally find it to be the most interesting of horror genres out there.

Cheers,

David —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.162.196.39 (talk) 00:56, 28 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

District 9[edit]

I haven't heard anyone else say it, but I really felt that District 9, if not a body horror film, contained strong elements of body horror. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.168.34.78 (talkcontribs)


There's a difference between "being a body horror film" and "incorporating graphic degeneration of the human body." District 9 does not strictly belong on this list. --HubHikari (talk) 02:49, 5 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]


I agree Discrict 9 should be included. The guy turns into a bug/alien. But if it shouldn't, strictly limiting to "graphic degeneration" then Alien shouldn't be on it either since the victims just die. And Jacob's Ladder is about hallucinations. Why is it on here? I think a looser definition would allow these films and District 9. CorkyH (talk) 14:34, 19 March 2016 (UTC) --- The director and interviewer acknowledges District 9 as being Body Horror in this interview: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/12/15954482/neill-blomkamp-zygote-experimental-sci-fi-film-watch-interview — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:982:E80B:1:7064:ADB2:1C57:9D77 (talk) 13:06, 16 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Freaks[edit]

What about Freaks? Would that qualify? --LV (Dark Mark) 03:19, 25 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't really know. The "transformation" element is nearly as strong in Freaks as it is in say the Fly, but the lady does wind up as the Feathered Hen at the end. It's your call, I guess. -Adam Atom

I think that Freaks has similar scares in it, and it could certainly be called a forebear, but it's pretty different from what other movies have been described as body horror. I'd say no. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of people interested in this little page, but while on the topic of what movies oughta' go here, what do people think of Brain Damage? (Headless Gunfighter)

If the list has alien-in-disguise, taking-over-body films like The Thing, what about something like The Astronaut's Wife? 68.35.129.180 23:44, 4 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Freaks is a social commentary, not a horror film, and the monsters are not the freaks, but the normal people like you and me.

The Thing. The Astronauts wife, as well as the Invasion of the Bodysnatchers are about (alien) parasites, even though people seemingly change, it doesnt have the personal element where one goes trough the horror of deformation or transformation, but rather that of a society around them. These films portray alien invasions without a grand attack of spaceships, but that of silent and hostile takeover from within. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.208.231.129 (talk) 17:29, 30 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Sources?[edit]

This article needs to cite sources, otherwise it looks like Original research (see WP:NOR). What literature actually uses the term "body horror" and what literature cites the movies listed herein as being part of this alleged genre? 23skidoo 01:19, 28 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

My search has turned up only one website, which uses the term only in the article title, not necessarily with the meaning given here. Its the one used as the only reference, and the basis for my deletion of works before Alien. It is basically an out of date fan term, that nobody uses.Yobmod (talk) 13:47, 30 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. The article and list read like something cooked up to hide one or two movies someone was trying to promote in an advertorial... CorkyH (talk) 14:55, 19 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Virus (1999 film)[edit]

The 1999 film Virus could be considered biologcal horror. True it's not the main theme of the movie but it's one of the primary "scare factors" in the movie, with the crew being ripped apart and rebuilt piece by piece onto a robotic chassis. Victis Kato (talk) 17:06, 27 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Scanners[edit]

Would the 1981 Cronenberg classic Scanners be classified as body horror? yes it would, cronenberg is a champion of the genre. surely cronenberg should get a mention here, he practically invented the genre... Xtiaaneubaten (talk) 08:37, 15 January 2010 (UTC) also whilst i agree with most of the definition of the genre I think it should also mention that it is a psychological horror of self that is manifest in these film, the horror of having a body, dragging all this flesh around, its almost existential in this sense. Also body horror is very prevalent in post modern art, see damian hirst or jake and dinos chapmans work etc etc Xtiaaneubaten (talk) 09:04, 15 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Scanners lacks the emphasis on horrific physical transformation seen in other Cronenberg works, though at least one source does mention it. —Eric S. Smith (talk) 23:25, 24 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Scanners does not belong to the Body Horror genre, even though Cronenberg's major focus surrounds the human body in his works, Scanners as wel as the derived Scanner Cop series both focus on the paranormal gifts as clearvoyance and telekinesis, and is obviously more concerned with the mental part instead of the physical part of the horror. I would agree that Videodrome is an absolute body horror film, and also one of the best. (long live the new flesh!) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.208.231.129 (talk) 17:05, 30 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Scanners is definitely body horror: the horrific physical transformation occurs at the end, where Cameron's body is exploded, burnt, and consumed during the fight between Cameron and Daryl. "Scanner Cop", although it uses Cronenberg's characters, is not part of Cronenberg's oeuvre. -- The Anome (talk) 17:10, 30 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

SAW 1-7[edit]

Wouldn't the SAW-movies suit this category? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.255.163.59 (talk) 00:29, 5 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]


Nope, SAW as other films like Cube, the Killing Room is about being trapped in deadly situations often designed and built by some mad man or a grand malicious institute (US Government?!). They can be conspiratorial of nature or revolve around revenge. I believe these films also deserve a clear label for their ingenius setups of the psychological paranoia and mechanical traps in claustrophobic environments. I do not account Hostel in this genre for it doesnt revolve around traps, it simply belongs to the torture porn genre. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.208.231.129 (talk) 17:20, 30 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

'Notable films' sans citations[edit]

From the 'Notable films' section — tagged for original research since December, 2010 — I have here split the examples without refs for possible future reintroduction into the article. ValidusernameTalk」 05:38, 7 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Stub template[edit]

I made this article a film-genre related stub. Hopefully that was the right thing to do. 100.0.21.108 (talk) 06:46, 17 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The genre is not clearly defined in the article.[edit]

When i see the list of films associated within the bodyhorror genre, i sigh and palm face.

Body horror should be defined as the personal experience or threat of degenration or transformation. Movies as: The Fly, Altered States, Society, From Beyond are perfect examples of this genre.

Other films listed have body horror elements, but do not focus on the enduring transformation.

Tetsuo the Iron Man does account for the transformation, but is not a horror movie, neither a cyberpunk film as described in its article. It belongs to a different japanese monster genre, of wich i forgot the name.

The Human Centipide is not a Body Horror film, even though it is concerned with bodies and horror, cause from that perspective, every horror film should be considered a body horror movie cause its always about the body, the vessel of our minds.

So i hope people will pick up on this, and try to help clarify the genre. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.208.231.129 (talk) 16:30, 30 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Origin of the term[edit]

Body horror article: "The term 'body horror' was first used by Phillip Brophy in his 1983 article 'Horrality: The Textuality of the Contemporary Horror Film.'"

This article: "The term body horror was coined with the 'Body Horror' theme issue of the University of Glasgow film journal Screen (vol. 27, no. 1, January–February 1986)"

So which is it? PacificBoy 17:42, 16 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

What type of body horror is Call Of Duty: WW2 Zombies[edit]

Anywhere I can find more of this type of body horror would be amazing 2601:2C1:C80A:5DB0:9918:7957:8F96:E1B2 (talk) 02:31, 22 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]