Body horror cinema explores themes of mortality and identity

The body horror film subgenre, which finds its literary roots in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein, examines psychological terror through horrific physical transformations. These films often utilize the motif of bodily change to explore human anxieties regarding mortality, the loss of identity, and the nature of existence.

Notable examples within the genre include the 2024 film The Substance, featuring Demi Moore, and Ken Russell’s 1980 film Altered States. Other significant works include Shinya Tsukamoto’s avant-garde Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator, which draws inspiration from the works of H. P. Lovecraft.