10 Hidden Gem Body Horror Movies

When it comes to horror cinema, one of the subgenres that so often splits opinion is the realm of body horror.

Given the sheer disgusting imagery often associated with such pictures, some film fans do their best to completely swerve body horror. Of course, that same disgusting imagery serves as an alluring attention-grabber for other moviegoers.

Over the decades, there have been countless classic pictures to have fallen under the body horror tag. When thinking of the greats of the subgenre, films such as The Thing, The Fly, The Blob, Eraserhead, Shivers and pretty much a whole bunch of other David Cronenberg movies all come to mind.

Away from the famed heavy hitters of body horror, though, there are those other great pictures that often end up flying under the radar somewhat. For whatever reason, these films may not have received the attention of the aforementioned movies, but they still have plenty to offer for horror hounds looking to get their body horror fix.

With all of that in mind, then, here are ten hidden gem body horror offerings that should certainly scratch that ooey, gooey itch.

While the majority of films featured on this list are played straight 'n' serious, György Pálfi's Taxidermia has its tongue firmly within its cheek. Comedy isn't something you necessarily associate with the world of body horror, but that's exactly what Pálfi serves up with his 2006 movie.

Telling the tale of three generations of male family members, Taxidermia largely hangs its hat on the notion of behavioural learning and how what we see is adapted into what we do.

First up, we're introduced to Morosgoványi (Csaba Czene), a World World II soldier with unique sexual habits (including getting it on with a pig, and being able to fire a flame from his d**k). Morosgoványi eventually fathers a son, Kalman (Gergely Trócsányi), who is born with a pig's tail. Rather than a lust for the female form, Kalman has a lust for food and ends up becoming a hefty speed-eater. He then eventually has his own son, Lajoska (Marc Bischoff), who replaces the urge to stuff his face with the urge to stuff dead bodies - becoming a taxidermist.

All three generations here offer up some demented imagery due to their own particular habits, and the end result is a movie that brilliantly manages to be entertaining and charming, yet totally disgusting at the same time.