[Editorial] Editor’s Note: Getting sticky, slimy & sexy with body horror

11 Jul

Written By Zoë Rose Smith / Editor-in-Chief

A Head Full of Ghouls

The human body is a thing of wonder and amazement–the way it heals itself, regenerates certain parts and can withstand pain and suffering to extreme extents. But the human body can also be a thing of disgust and revulsion–with repugnant distortions, oozing fluids and rotting viscera. Which is why the human body has been used within horror to disturb the audience, because no matter what, we will always connect with it and instantly relate what we see on-screen to our physical form.

Whilst other sub-genres in horror might get inside our minds and haunt our visions for days to come, there is nothing quite like the intense and physical reaction we often feel when watching a body horror film. As someone that watches a lot of disturbing and nasty content, there are still elements and aspects in certain body horror films that get under my skin and make me nauseous. From the slimy, sweaty and far from sensual end scenes in Brian Yuzna’s Society (1989), to the mouth-to-ass transformation in Tom Six’s The Human Centipede (2009), to the barbaric and skin-crawling vines in Carter Smith’s The Ruins (2008). But body horror isn’t just about making the audience gag, it is often a catalyst for telling stories about bodily autonomy and choices we make, or are forced into, when it comes to our body.

Swallow (2019) by Carlo Mirabella-Davis looks at how a controlling and abusive relationship manifests in a need to swallow objects unfit for human consumption. This is a look at how women’s choices— when it comes to their bodies— are often dictated by abusive partners, with a powerful and bleak ending that left me in tears. Or there is Eric Farlardeau’s 2012 Thanatomorphose that provides a horrific telling of constant sexual abuse, using the body as a means to show the decay and rot that happens when one woman is treated like a piece of decaying meat. In a similar vein, Eric England’s Contracted (2013) also opts to utilise the body horror genre to tell the story of one woman and her decline in mental health after she is raped by a supposed friend at a party.

These films are instantly recognised for their grossness and ability to make us feel sick, but body horror films can provide such a deep telling of stories that are often difficult to convey l using words. One of the greats of this sub-genre is David Cronenberg, with a commitment to providing us with some of the best body horror films to exist; Videodrome (1983), Crash (1996), The Fly (1986) and most recently Crimes of the Future (2022). Even though I appreciate everything Cronenberg has done for the genre, I appreciate him even more for bringing his son, Brandon Cronenberg, into the world, and giving us another perspective and take on this genre. What Brandon does that I do not feel his father ever quite achieved, is take all of the body horror goodness and connect this with the mind–a vital element to our experience with the body. Antiviral (2012), Possessor (2020) and Infinity Pool (2023) are all masterpieces in my eyes, and really bring to life just how disturbing the body, and mind, can be.

That’s why this month at Ghouls Magazine we are looking at body horror films for the whole of July–and it makes sense considering it’s summer, which is one of the sweatiest, stickiest and strangely sexiest times of the year. What are your favourite body horror films? Tweet us to let us know which body horrors get under your skin!

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[Editorial] Editor’s Note: Getting sticky, slimy & sexy with body horror

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