10 Body Horror Movies That Went Too Far

7. Tusk

Cabin Fever
A24

Kevin Smith's second venture into horror and the first leg of his True North trilogy, 2014's Tusk is a movie that manages to be both effortlessly charming and a total headf*ck at the same time.

With the sadly deceased Michael Parks on absolutely phenomenal form here, Tusk essentially breaks down to the tale of one man and his love for the walrus that saved his life.

That man is Parks' Howard Howe, an old seadog who was rescued by a walrus he dubbed Mr. Tusk after being left stranded at sea.

As Justin Long's Wallace winds up in Manitoba, Canada on the hunt for content for his The Not-See Party podcast, he's unable to resist Howe's offer of hearing some of the seaman's stories. Alas, poor Wallace is soon drugged and slowly mutilated as Howard turns this podcaster into a twisted humanoid walrus.

This was all part of Howe's plan to absolve himself of the guilt he has felt for years after eating Mr. Tusk. And thus, when the fully-transformed Wallace impales Howard with his tusks and kills him, it's a sense of closure for Parks' character.

Many found the final form of the walrus-man hybrid Wallace to be hugely disturbing when Tusk was first released - and it is a truly tormented sight - yet Smith somehow brought a sense of heart and dark humour to this sinister tale.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.