The horror genre has the ability to show in detail the worst fears and collective paranoias. But it is, especially, body horror and the one that appeals to phobias, it is the most disturbing of all. From the degradation of bodies in terrifying limits, to depraved and disgusting monsters. Cinema dedicated to fear can reach a chilling dimension that is related to the deepest terrors. At the same time, with the graphic and disturbing representation of the transformation, mutilation or corruption of the flesh.
Which results in a series of ideas of enormous interest to delve deeper into the field of creepy topics. A premise that is based on the possibility that the body itself, which is generally considered a stable and familiar entity, can become terrifying. At the same time, it explores fears and anxieties related to vulnerability and mental fragility, as well as the limits of identity and perception. Representations in body horror can include mutations, deformities, amputations, diseases, parasitism and any type of physical alteration that causes horror and repulsion. Even the most terrifying sexual perversions.
We leave you six disturbing movies that you can watch streaming right now. From a depraved cult classic of literature brought to the cinema to the most insane and degrading experiment. A collection that It will test your capacity for disgusting and even downright unbearable images.
The Human Centipede (AMC)
Directed by Tom Six, the film is known for its extremely cruel and twisted premise. The plot tells the story of the perfidious German surgeon Doctor Heiter (Dieter Laser), who has the macabre idea of creating a human centipede. All through the surgical union of three victims. His goal is to connect people through the mouth and anus, to give life to a single creature with a continuous digestive system.
For this purpose, he kidnaps two American tourists (Ashley C. Williams and Ashlynn Yennie), along with a Japanese one (Akihiro Kitamura), to carry out his grotesque experiment. As the film progresses, the medical process and the horrible physical and psychological consequences for the victims are shown.
The Human Centipede has been the subject of criticism and debate due to its extremely graphic content. At the same time, for its representation of torture and body horror. Many critics have pointed out that the film is based on revulsion and provocation rather than a solid narrative or a meaningful message.
Grandma (Prime Video)
Director Paco Plaza transformed the fear of old age and physical weakness into a sinister film of hagsploitation. When Suzanne (Almudena Amor) must travel to take care of her grandmother Pillar (Vera Valdez), a sinister threat will stalk her. Not only because the old woman’s physical state is, in itself, a form of horror. At the same time, because of the secret that she seems to keep in her past and that links her to her granddaughter in an atrocious way.
The premise goes from being a plot based on the complex and often debilitating links between a sick person and his or her care, to having a supernatural undertone. The director plays with spaces and claustrophobia, until building the sensation of an imminent invisible attack. But, in reality, the most unique point of the film is the way in which it explores the human body as a disturbing terrain, which can also be, the door open to unknown horrors.
In its shocking ending, the film managed to overcome its air of an intimate piece to pay tribute even to folkloric terror. However, what remains its central element is the fear that instills the loss of control and the fall into old age. A point that makes the film a rare vision of our time.
Swallow (Prime Video)
The psychological drama, directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis and released in 2019, could not be classified as a body horror or disturbing film. Even so, several of its scenes are so chilling, as if it were part of a particularly uncomfortable type of cinema. The plot is known for its approach to the Pica eating disorder, in which people feel a compulsion to eat inedible objects.
The plot follows Hunter (Haley Bennett), a young housewife who apparently leads a perfect life with her husband Richie (Austin Stowell). However, the young girl begins to develop an obsession with swallowing dangerous objects, such as nails and glass balls. As her behavior escalates, Hunter He faces the emotional and physical consequences of his disorder, while trying to find his autonomy.
Swallow addresses themes such as oppression, repression and control in the context of domestic life and patriarchal society. The film delves into Hunter’s psychology and explores the underlying reasons for his disorder, revealing the story of her own oppression and the struggle to find her voice and her identity.
To the bones: Bones and All (Prime)
Cannibalism is still a complicated topic in horror films, so it’s surprising that director Luca Guadagnino (who doesn’t specialize in the genre) touches on it. Much more, in the form of a perverse love story, with shades of twisted drama. The result is a film with an air of unique black humor, in which eating human flesh is the bond that unites two very young lovers.
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Based on the novel of the same name by Camille DeAngelis, the premise tells the story of maren (Taylor Russell) and read (Timothée Chalamet). Both are united by an unspeakable, violent and irrepressible appetite. But more than an acquired taste, the film hints that both belong to a race condemned to roam the earth and contain their insatiable hunger. Gradually, what begins as the story of Maren’s suffering also explores fear and desire as a form of voracity. A point that becomes increasingly bloody, scary and disgusting until its harrowing final sequence.
Salo or the 120 days of Sodom (Filmin)
The controversial and disturbing film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini and released in 1975, is now just a click away. Based on the novel The 120 days of Sodom of the Marquis de Sadethe adaptation crudely explores explicit sexual themes and the transgression of morality.
Set during the final days of World War II, the plot takes the novel’s original setting to the Republic of Saló. An area controlled by Italian fascists. The plot follows four powerful and anonymous figures, known as the dukeswho kidnap a group of young men and women. That, to subject them to a series of torture, sexual abuse and extreme humiliation.
The film features graphic and explicit scenes of sadism, voyeurism and violent perversion. The director uses these shocking images to make a fierce criticism of the corruption of power, oppression, abuse of authority and the moral decadence of society.