10 Body Horror Movies That Went Too Far

5. Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Cabin Fever
Kaijyu Theatres

Shinya Tsukamoto's directorial debut Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a nuts movie about, well, a whole lot of insanity.

To try and break down this plot a tad, an unnamed man (Tsukamoto) with a metal fetish is hit by a car and killed. From there, another unnamed couple (Tomorowo Taguchi and Kei Fujiwara) start to become tormented by metallic nightmares that ultimately result in Taguchi's character slowly undergoing a transformation that turns his body to metal; this all being an act of revenge put in place after it's revealed how the couple had killed the metal fetishist in the movie's opening moments.

See, nuts, right?

In likely the most jarring sequence of Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Taguchi's character sees his penis suddenly become a drill, which in turn causes him to attack his girlfriend, who stabs him in the neck before impaling herself on his dril-d*ck to commit suicide.

Again, nuts. In this case, shiny, metal literal nuts.

Taking the tried and tested formula of flesh and bone-based deformity and modification, Shinya Tsukamoto's 1989 film showcased a whole other level of 'no thanks' by bringing its metal antics to the table.

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.