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The Substance is one hell of a movie, especially if you didn’t know what you were expecting when you went in. But what if it’s left you craving more? Don’t worry; I’ve got you covered. Here are the 10 best body horror movies to watch after The Substance.
Like The Substance? You’ll Love These Body Horror Movies
These movies are not for the faint of heart, but if you’ve seen The Substance, you’ve already been traumatized and/or delighted by it. So, here’s what you should watch next.
1. The Thing (1982, dir. John Carpenter)
The Thing wasn’t a smash when it first hit movie theatres, but it’s regarded as one of the best horror movies of all time, and I’d absolutely agree. A group of Antarctic researchers encounter a lifeform that can infect and mimic any other lifeform. Paranoia sets in as they struggle to determine who is human and who’s The Thing. It boasts some spectacular special effects, most of which are practical, unlike the later CGI-heavy prequel.
2. Society (1989, dir. Brian Yuzna)
Unlike The Thing, Society doesn’t start out as a body horror movie; instead, it’s the story of a teenager who suspects his ridiculously wealthy parents are hiding something. Could they be secret swingers or even murderers? It’s so much worse, and the last half an hour, with special effects by “Screaming Mad George,” is mind-blowingly bizarre.
3. Tusk (2014, dir. Kevin Smith)
Tusk isn’t Kevin Smith‘s first foray into horror, but it’s still hard to reconcile this movie’s content with Smith’s other Askewniverse content. Cut from the same cloth as The Human Centipede, it’s an amazing and disturbing watch about a man, who against his will, is turned into a walrus or some horrifying approximation.
4. The Fly (1986, dir. David Cronenberg)
David Cronenberg is no stranger to body horror movies, and it’d be easy to populate this list with half his oeuvre. However, The Fly is one of his finest. Martin Brundle is a scientist whose otherwise revolutionary teleportation experiment goes awry when a fly finds its way into the process. Things go downhill from there, with some superb, stomach-churning special effects and a brilliant turn from Jeff Goldblum as Martin Brundle.
Related: 10 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time
5. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989, dir. Shinya Tsukamoto)
Japanese sci-fi horror Tetsuo: The Iron Man makes Tony Stark look like a lightweight. It’s not the easiest movie to follow, and in some ways, it feels more like a performance piece than a conventional movie. But watching the movie’s Japanese salaryman morph into a mess of metal and flesh is enough to turn the strongest of stomachs.
6. Possessor (2020, dir. Brandon Cronenberg)
Possessor isn’t so much about people’s bodies warping in strange and unusual ways – rather, it explores the nightmare that you might not be in control. It follows the story of an assassin who hijacks people’s bodies and uses them to kill while watching her own personal life fall apart. Director Brandon Cronenberg is David Cronenberg’s son; I guess body horror runs in the family.
7. Patchwork (2015, dir. Tyler MacIntyre)
Patchwork asks Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein to hold its beer, being a tale of three women who are resurrected post-mortem. The catch is that they’re all sharing one body, none of them truly in control, and they have to somehow cooperate if they’re going to maintain this twisted existence.
8. Splinter (2008, dir. Toby Wilkins)
Think getting a piece of wood stuck in your skin is unpleasant? Splinter introduces a lifeform that, through the merest contact, can infect and twist the living and the dead into disturbing forms. Getting car-jacked is just the start of the nightmare for this movie’s couple.
9. Get Out (2017, dir. Jordan Peele)
Why is Get Out one of the best body horror movies? If I told you, I’d be giving away the movie’s big twist, but it neatly reframes some of its events, including protagonist Chris’s encounter with a cop. It’s so good that you need to watch this at least twice.
10. Crimes of the Future (2022, dir. David Cronenberg)
It’s only fitting to finish this list with another David Cronenberg movie, this time featuring Viggo Mortensen. Yes, Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. Here, he plays a performance artist whose body actively generates organs, and that’s just the start. When one character utters the line, “Surgery is the new sex,” you know you’re in for a wild ride.
And those are the 10 best body horror movies to watch after The Substance.
The Substance is in theaters now.