10 Best Horror Movie Moments Of 2024

The Substance revolves around aging celeb Elizabeth Sparkle, who's grown frustrated by her dwindling career. Hoping to get her old life back, she takes a serum known as the Substance that creates a young clone of herself called Sue.

But after Elizabeth dies, Sue's body starts breaking down since she needs the host's stabiliser fluid to survive. Out of desperation, Sue uses the Substance on herself, hoping to create a better clone.

Since it's been repeatedly emphasised the Substance was designed to be used once, it goes without saying that something terrible is going to happen. And yet, nobody is ready for what's to come.

As Sue's clone emerges, the camera is from her point of view, so her appearance can't be seen at first, building the anticipation. When the clone's clone finally looks in the mirror, she's revealed to be a malformed grotesquery, composed of contorted limbs. The sickening reveal is accompanied by a deafening sound, which guarantees one hell of a jump scare. 

That first glimpse of this creature, known as Monstro Elisasue, is most effective because it only appears for a half-second, so it's unclear at first what we just witnessed. As horrifying as this abomination looks, probably the most unnerving detail is how the head of the original Elisabeth is fused to Elisasue's back, her facial expression frozen in a permanent and silent scream.

Although there are plenty of haunting images after this, nothing hits with the same impact as Monstro Elisasue's money shot.