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Encyclopedia > Body horror
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Body horror, or, alternatively, biological horror, is a term applied to works of horror fiction in which the horror is principally derived from a sense of physical "wrongness" with the body. Body horror mainly focuses upon radical physical transformations, bodily degeneration, mutant births, and the invasion/violation of the body by a disease or foreign organisms. Works of body horror integrate the psychological horror of one's body undergoing disturbing and irreversible changes with grotesque and shocking imagery. Frequently body horror is allegorical. The Fly has been said to have been a metaphor for debilitating disease and the ravages of old age upon the mind and body. Rosemary's Baby certainly draws from fears of rape and birth defects. Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle, or horrify the reader. ... Shapeshifting, transformation , transmogrification or morphing is a change in the form or shape of a person, especially: a change from human form to animal form and vice versa a change in appearance from one person to another Shapeshifting is not considered scientifically or medically possible for humans (and animal shapeshifting... It has been suggested that Psycho (genre) be merged into this article or section. ... Shock value is the potential of an image, text or other form of communication to provoke a reaction of disgust, shock, anger, or similar negative emotion. ... In common usage, an image (from Latin imago) or picture is an artifact that reproduces the likeness of some subject—usually a physical object or a person. ... The Fly is a 1986 science fiction film produced by Brooksfilms and Twentieth Century Fox Television, directed by David Cronenberg, and starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz. ... Rosemarys Baby is a 1967 horror novel by Ira Levin which deals with Rosemary, a housewife in New York City who is a native of Omaha, Nebraska. ... A congenital disorder is a medical condition or defect that is present at or before birth (for example, congenital heart disease). ...


In horror literature, body horror can be found in many of the works of Clive Barker. Comic books and graphic novels are no strangers to body horror either, with one of the best examples being Black Hole. In the horror films, David Cronenberg is largely attributed as introducing the concept to mainstream audiences. Other seminal examples of body horror movies include John Carpenter's The Thing, several films of Shinya Tsukamoto including Tetsuo: The Iron Man, and the movie Alien. Clive Barker (Born October 5, 1952, Liverpool, England) is an English-born American-resident author, film director and visual artist. ... Black Hole is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Charles Burns. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... David Cronenberg at Cannes 2002 David Paul Cronenberg OC, FRSC (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director and occasional actor. ... John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, film score composer and occasional actor. ... John Carpenters The Thing is a 1982 science fiction film directed by John Carpenter. ... Shinya Tsukamoto (塚本 晋也 Tsukamoto Shinya) is a Japanese film director and actor with a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad. ... Alien is a 1979 science fiction/horror film directed by Ridley Scott, from an original story by Dan OBannon and Ronald Shusett. ...


The animated television series Æon Flux by Peter Chung frequently makes use of body horror elements as plot devices, particularly amputation and disease. Æon Flux is an avant garde American science fiction animated television series that aired on MTV. It premiered in 1991 on MTVs Liquid Television experimental animation show as a six-part serial of short films, followed in 1992 by five individual short episodes. ... Peter Chung Peter Chung (born 1961 in Seoul, South Korea) is a Korean American animator. ... Partial hand amputation For the song Amputations by Death Cab for Cutie, see You Can Play these Songs with Chords Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma (also referred to as avulsion) or surgery. ...


Notable films

The 1955 advertising poster for the films UK release. ... Rosemarys Baby is a 1967 horror novel by Ira Levin which deals with Rosemary, a housewife in New York City who is a native of Omaha, Nebraska. ... Its Alive was a 1974 horror film written and directed by Larry Cohen. ... Shivers (also known as The Parasite Murders, or They Came from Within) is a 1975 Canadian horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. ... Rabid is a 1977 horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. ... The Brood is a 1979 Canadian horror film directed by David Cronenberg. ... Alien is a 1979 science fiction/horror film directed by Ridley Scott, from an original story by Dan OBannon and Ronald Shusett. ... Altered States is the name of both a novel (ISBN 0060107278) and a film adaptation of that novel, both written by Paddy Chayefsky. ... Basket Case is a 1982 horror comedy directed and written by Frank Henenlotter. ... John Carpenters The Thing is a 1982 science fiction film directed by John Carpenter. ... Videodrome is a 1983 film directed by David Cronenberg. ... The Stuff is a 1985 science fiction/horror film written and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Michael Moriarty, Garrett Morris, Andrea Marcovicci, and Paul Sorvino. ... The Fly is a 1986 science fiction film produced by Brooksfilms and Twentieth Century Fox Television, directed by David Cronenberg, and starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz. ... From Beyond was released in 1986. ... Brain Damage is a 1988 American film directed by Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case, Frankenhooker). ... Dead Ringers is a 1988 psychological horror film directed by David Cronenberg. ... Society is an American horror film released in 1989 . ... Body Melt (1993) is an Australian horror film directed by Philip Brophy, influenced by splatstick Peter Jackson films like Bad Taste and Braindead, but mainly reagrded as being inferior in terms of overall coherency and special effects. ... Safe is a 1995 drama/thriller film directed by Todd Haynes. ... eXistenZ is a 1999 psychological thriller/science fiction film by Canadian director David Cronenberg. ... Dreamcatcher (2003) is a movie adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name. ... Slither is a 2006 Universal horror / comedy film, written and directed by James Gunn. ... Silent Hill is the 2006 film adaptation of Konamis famous survival horror video game franchise. ...

See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
Horror Films in the 1980s (1017 words)
Horror films have always dealt with the taboos surrounding Death, and in the 1980s they began to deal with evisceration, pulling apart the human body and turning it inside out, with all the bloody, slimy contents on display.
The main demographic for audiences of horror movies in the 1980s was 15-24 year old and male; an audience seeking thrills as a rite-of-passage, seeking to prove that they have strong enough stomachs to sit through whatever the film-makers may throw at them.
Horror movies were designed to appeal to aficionados of the genre and no one else, stuffed full of in-jokes and unnecessary, OTT gore.
Kinoeye | Italian Horror: Dario Argento's Phenomena (1985) (2498 words)
The horror film subgenre most relevant to my focus on those adolescent anxieties associated with the change of the childhood body into an adult one is "body-horror." The monster in the body-horror film is not a creature external to us, but a human being with a body much like our own.
Some adolescents experience their body as undergoing a metamorphosis during puberty, with accompanying anxieties about the loss of what was familiar, narcissistic wounds, and what to do with the new body, as represented in, for example, David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986).
This is an excerpt from a longer paper, entitled "A psychoanalytic perspective on the horror film genre and adolescent development," read as part of the "Psychoanalysis and Euro-Horror" panel at the 1st European Psychoanalytic Film Festival (held in London, 1-4 November 2001).
  More results at FactBites »


 

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