Summary
- David Cronenberg's influence has shaped the modern horror landscape, blending metaphysical and physical elements for provocative storytelling.
- Cronenberg's impact on body horror is evident in films like American Mary, Slither, and Kuso, pushing boundaries with grotesque transformations.
- Newer films like Censor and Possessor continue Cronenberg's legacy, exploring themes of anatomy, self-transformation, and the blurred lines between reality and fiction.
The modern horror landscape wouldn’t look the same without the influence of body horror maestro David Cronenberg. Since his debut, Shivers, a sticky satire about an apartment complex infected with an erotic virus clearly meant to critique the sexual revolution, his work has provoked by combining metaphysical with the very-physical on screen, plumbing the depths of the human animal’s urges by testing its boundaries, usually proving them much too porous for comfort, from The Fly to The Brood, to Videodrome.
The once-polarizing Cronenberg has become an elder statesman in horror over the years. Where his auto-erotic Crash was venomously boo’d at Cannes (several jurors had to stage a revolt to deliver his Special Jury Prize), The Shrouds feels like one of his most experimental. While critics have traced his influence as far back as films like Peter Jackson’s Braindead or Shinya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man his unique, clinically fleshy influence has only grown, its juicy mark dribbling down the edges of the silver screen.
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16 Sliver (1993)
A Cronenberg-Inspired Apartment Thriller
Sliver is a psychological thriller film based on the novel by Ira Levin. The film stars Sharon Stone as Carly Norris, a book editor who moves into a luxury New York City high-rise building known as Sliver. As Carly becomes acquainted with her neighbors, including a handsome and mysterious novelist, she begins to uncover dark secrets and mysterious events that threaten her own life.
- Writers
- Joe Eszterhas
- Studio(s)
- Robert Evans Company, Paramount
- Budget
- 40000000.0
- Main Genre
- Drama
Penned by Joe Esterhaas, the most financially successful shock jock of the ‘90s erotic thriller boom fresh off the success of Paul Verhoven’s Basic Instinct, Sliver falls perfectly under the “Cronenbergian” rubric. When a wealthy divorcé (Sharon Stone) moves into a swanky new apartment building, she’s quickly seduced by her handsome, videogame designer landlord, Zeke (William Baldwin), who gets his kicks watching tenants on his high-tech surveillance cameras.
Its erotics and apartment-building set-up bring Shivers to mind, while its slick, Y2K play with voyeurism is a Videodrome redux perfectly suited for the Blockbuster adult section (and it worked–– Sliver was the eighth most rented tape of 1994 in the US). When things heat up and the tenants tell Carly she looks just like the previous tenant, the movie throws in a little Vertigo too.
15 American Mary (2012)
The Soska Sisters' Tribute To Cronenberg
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American Mary
- Release Date
- January 11, 2013
- Runtime
- 103 minutes
- Director
- Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska
Cast
Katharine Isabelle-
Antonio Cupo
-
Tristan Risk
-
David Lovgren
WHERE TO WATCH
American Mary, directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska, follows Mary Mason, a medical student drawn into the world of underground surgeries and body modification. As her career advances, she becomes increasingly entangled in a subculture where her skills are in high demand but ethics and morality are questioned. Starring Katharine Isabelle, the film explores themes of ambition, vengeance, and the desire for control.
- Writers
- Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska
- Main Genre
- Horror
A riff on the classic mad scientist tale, American Mary follows a medical student (Katharine Isabelle, better known for her standout performance as a pubescent werewolf in another body horror classic, Ginger Snaps,) into the most extreme subcultures of body modification to pay her loans.
The film demonstrates an erotic curiosity for the power of self-transformation that’s a hallmark of Cronenberg’s work, effectively presaging his most recent film Crimes of the Future with its credo, “surgery is the new sex.” For Mary, whose job as a stripper leads to her turn as a goth-DIY-surgeon, as well as her clients, this slogan fits like an elbow-length latex glove. The Soska sisters (Dead Hooker in a Trunk), who directed the film, have been so inspired by Cronenberg over their careers that they remade his second feature, Rabid, in 2019.
14 Kuso (2017)
A Goopy, Gonzo Anthology
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Kuso, a 2017 film directed by Flying Lotus, presents a surreal and grotesque narrative set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. The movie explores the bizarre and often unsettling lives of survivors as they navigate a world affected by an earthquake. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film blends live-action, animation, and experimental storytelling to create a unique cinematic experience.
- Writers
- David Firth, Flying Lotus
- Main Genre
- Animation
Like some of Cronenberg’s best, Kuso triggered walkouts during its festival premiere in 2017. This gonzo anthology film tracks a motley crew of mutants through the landscape of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. While its liberal use of abstract animation and collage as well as its experimental jazz score bring it into conversation with older erotic horror films like Belladonna of Sadness, its penchant for the goopy stuff is very Cronenberg (though it winks towards Lars von Trier and John Waters–– Kuso isn’t for the faint of heart in the gore or feces department).
The film’s director, Flying Lotus (also known as Steve) has called the film a “hallucination that feels like David Cronenberg meeting Ren & Stimpy.” From its raunchy sex scenes to its scenes of graphic mutilation, this macabre, playful film definitely meets that description.
13 Slither (2006)
James Gunn's Homage To Cronenberg's Best
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Slither
- Release Date
- March 31, 2006
- Runtime
- 95 minutes
- Director
- James Gunn
Cast
-
Elizabeth Banks
WHERE TO WATCH
Written and directed by James Gunn, Slither tells the story of a small town that gets invaded by an alien mind-controlling parasite. Starring Nathan Fillion as Police Chief Bill Pardy, Elizabeth Banks as Starla Grant, and Michael Rooker as Grant Grant, the 2006 horror comedy marks James Gunn's directorial debut.
- Writers
- James Gunn
- Studio(s)
- Universal Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures
- Budget
- $15 million
James Gunn’s Slither was a box office bomb upon its release for its off-kilter blend of horror and comedy. Starring Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks, it boldly plays Cronenberg’s first two films (Shivers and Rabid) for laughs alongside The Blob and Brain Damage, reveling in the kinds of physical transformation that define the gross-out aesthetic typified in The Fly.
When an alien meteorite crash-lands in the middle of a small town, all hell breaks loose for its residents–– especially the husband and wife who found it first. The alien’s decidedly anatomical design and hornily parasitic tendencies make this openly movie a perfect slumber-party-style pick for fans of the genre.
12 Tusk (2014)
Kevin Smith's Gross-Out Meta B-Horror Film
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Tusk
- Release Date
- September 6, 2014
- Runtime
- 101minutes
- Director
- Kevin Smith
Cast
-
Michael Parks
-
Justin Long
WHERE TO WATCH
When Wallace Bryton interviews an eccentric old sailor, Howard Howe, for his podcast, the old man tells him of a walrus named "Mr. Tusk" who once saved his life. Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there, as Howard's obsession with Mr. Tusk means he has some disturbing plans for Wallace.
- Writers
- Kevin Smith
- Sequel(s)
- Yoga Hosers
- Studio(s)
- A24
- Distributor(s)
- A24
- Budget
- $3 million
The only horror comedy more famously Cronenbergian than Slither is Kevin Smith’s wacko gross-out meta-cult-classic Tusk. Inspired by an episode of his stoner-friendly podcast SModcast, the film draws on “The Walrus and the Carpenter” to tell the story of a podcaster who, after a shipwreck, is saved by a walrus. Most of the loose and vaguely episodic plot can be chalked up to a series of unfortunate events, but, long story short, the walrus is trying to turn the podcaster into another walrus.
The film may have gotten mixed reviews, but for fans of the Clerks director’s goofy oeuvre, Tusk is another sleepover classic, the kind of movie that comes with its own introduction, a la The Human Centipede. Distributed by A24 at the early end of their rise to arthouse world domination, Tusk may very well have gotten more attention had it been released several years later.
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11 Censor (2021)
A Cronenberg-Style Gorefest
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A British horror film set in the 1980s, following a film censor who starts to lose her grasp on reality after watching a video nasty that echoes her sister's mysterious disappearance.
- Writers
- Prano Bailey-Bond, Anthony Fletcher
Prano Bailey-Bond’s highly effective throwback debut feature, Censor, recalls De Palma’s Body Double as well as Videodrome. Set in 1985, at the peak of the controversy over British film censorship, during a panic around the so-called “Video Nasty,” of which Cronenberg’s films up to that point were all examples.
The film takes its censor protagonist down the rabbit hole as she slowly loses her grip on reality, testing the boundaries between on-screen violence and real-life carnage. The film blends the clinical style of a Cronenberg gore-fest with lively pastiche, not dissimilar from this year’s MaXXXine. Reviews noted that the film drew on Cronenberg’s visual (and anatomical) style to explore questions of sight, responsibility, and erotic charge.
10 Swallow (2019)
An Uncomfortable Appetite
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Swallow
- Release Date
- January 15, 2020
- Runtime
- 94 minutes
- Director
- Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Cast
Austin Stowell
WHERE TO WATCH
Swallow is a psychological thriller directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis. The film follows Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, played by Haley Bennett, who develops a dangerous habit of swallowing inedible objects. This condition, known as pica, reveals deeper issues within her seemingly perfect marriage and life, leading her to confront disturbing secrets and personal struggles.
- Writers
- Carlo Mirabella-Davis
- Main Genre
- Thriller
Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ Swallow finds a different entry point to Cronenbergian body horror–– namely, the mouth. Borrowing the sadomasochistic gender roles of a film like A Most Dangerous Method, the film is a portrait of repression quite literally internalized. Hunter (Carole Baraton) is a newlywed housewife whose working-class upbringing constantly keeps her on the back foot with her new family.
To cope with the impossible balancing act she faces, incapable of speaking openly with her husband for fear of losing his interest, she takes to eating her feelings–– and marbles, thread, thumbtacks, and anything else that comes her way. The film is effectively distressing, likely to get a viewer’s sympathetic gag reflex going. Where its visual arsenal is very Cronenberg, its thematic toolbox is closer to Todd Haynes (think Safe). An eerie combination.
9 Bad Biology (2008)
An Odyssey Of Anatomy
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Bad Biology
- Release Date
- June 6, 2009
- Runtime
- 84 Minutes
- Director
- Frank Henenlotter
Cast
-
Charlee DanielsonJennifer
-
Anthony SneedBatz
-
Mark WilsonPool Player
-
John A. ThorburnJunkyard Owner
WHERE TO WATCH
Bad Biology is a 2008 horror-comedy film directed by Frank Henenlotter. It follows Jennifer, a woman with a mutant reproductive system, and Batz, a man with an uncontrollable mutant member, as their paths collide. The film explores the consequences of their unique biological conditions in a bizarre and macabre manner.
- Writers
- Frank Henenlotter, R.A. The Rugged Man
- Main Genre
- Comedy
The last film to date directed by exploitationeer extraordinaire Frank Henenlotter, Bad Biology is the story of a boy and a girl with a unique set of problems. The film’s protagonist, Jennifer (Charlee Danielson), was born with an unusually expansive female anatomy and the voracious erotic metabolism to match. In true Cronenberg fashion, Jennifer’s quest for sexual satisfaction, spawned by her quasi-monstrous birth (and the rapid gestation period of the children she spawns like frogs, or like of The Brood,) borders on transcendental.
Her would-be paramour, meanwhile (Anthony Sneed), was born with an equally pressing deficiency in the anatomy department that drove him on an odyssey of chemical enhancement so extreme that his member becomes sentient–– and murderous. This gonzo pairing is suitably zany, playing on Rabid with irreverent good cheer.
EDITAR ESSE AQUI
8 Possessor (2020)
A Different Kind Of Espionage Film
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Possessor, directed by Brandon Cronenberg, is a 2020 science fiction horror film that follows Tasya Vos, a corporate agent who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people's bodies and perform assassinations. As Vos struggles with her identity and loses control over her host, the boundaries between her own mind and her host's begin to blur, leading to catastrophic consequences. Starring Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott, the film explores themes of control and identity.
- Writers
- Brandon Cronenberg
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
Who could be more inspired by David Cronenberg than his son, Brandon? Possessor, the younger Cronenberg’s sophomore film, brings in many of the same hangups the older director has made his hallmark. In this world, assassins take control of their targets’ bodies to make their hits, staging conflicts or breakdowns that will make their deaths appear more plausible. On this particular occasion, though, the assassin, Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough), enjoys the swap a little too much. Suffering from dissociative symptoms, the hit didn’t go according to plan.
This film’s gender-bending treatment of social role-playing, the strangeness of family ties, and the erotic charge of dangerous circumstances feels like a blend of Crash and Scanners, though the younger director puts his own visual spin on the subject through ample use of psychedelic imagery far closer to the work of Panos Cosmatos.
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7 Boxing Helena (1993)
A Distant Cousin To Dead Ringers
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Boxing Helena
- Release Date
- September 3, 1993
- Runtime
- 107 Minutes
- Director
- Jennifer Lynch
- Writers
- Philippe Caland, Jennifer Lynch
Cast
-
Julian SandsDr. Nick Cavanaugh
-
Sherilyn FennHelena
Bill PaxtonRay O'Malley
Kurtwood SmithDr. Alan Harrison
Boxing Helena is a psychological thriller directed by Jennifer Lynch. The film centers on a surgeon, Dr. Nick Cavanaugh, who becomes obsessively infatuated with Helena, a woman he once briefly dated. After an accident, he takes extreme measures to keep her in his life, leading to disturbing consequences. The film stars Julian Sands and Sherilyn Fenn, delving into themes of obsession and control.
- Main Genre
- Drama
Boxing Helena was the feature debut of another Freudian indie auteur’s child, Jennifer Lynch, David Lynch’s daughter. This film, then, could be viewed as a blend of the two maestros' oneiric aesthetics. It tells the story of a surgeon (Julian Sands) who develops a dangerous obsession with his neighbor, Helena (Sherilyn Fenn, Audrey in Twin Peaks). He kidnaps the beautiful, sexually unavailable woman and the two begin a game of erotic cat and mouse, complicated violently by the doctor’s petulant penchant for amputation.
While the doctor’s motivations feel like something borrowed from Dead Ringers, the sexual dynamics of the amputation process speak to the radical transformations of works like Crash, where amputations are fair collateral for the highs of erotic rubbernecking.
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