10 Even More Insane Over The Top Horror Movies

In Coralie Fargeat's be-careful-what-you-wish-for satire, aging celebrity Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is heartbroken about her declining career. Desperate to recapture her glory days, Elizabeth takes a black market drug - known only as the substance - that creates a younger clone of herself called Sue (Margaret Qualley). Though Sue finds fame and fortune, chaos ensues when the pair misuse the experimental compound.

What makes the horror elements so profoundly effective in this Monkey Paw tale is how gradually they're introduced. The first half focuses more on Elizabeth's growing anxiety, which is amplified by the heightened performances of the ensemble (especially Dennis Quaid). And though the body horror is introduced early on, the worst thing Elizabeth has to deal with for a while is an aged finger... before The Substance goes in places nobody could've prepared for. 

The sickening imagery here becomes so cartoonish, it makes Braindead seem tame by comparison. Just when it looks like the grisliness has reached its limit, something else happens that's guaranteed to spawn a legion of nightmares, and the third act alone feels like the final boss of body horror.

The Substance is a lot more hard-hitting when things go to hell, since the story spent such a long time exploring Elizabeth's dilemma and insecurities.