9 Sci-Fi Horror Movies That Went Too Far

5. Brightburn

Brightburn Erica
Sony Pictures

From director David Yarovesky, 2019's Brightburn takes the classic Superman mythos and fascinatingly flips it on its head.

Struggling to conceive, Kyle (David Denman) and Tori Breyer (Elizabeth Banks) have their greatest wish granted when an alien infant crash-lands in their backyard. Naming him Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn), the Breyers' story jumps ten years ahead as the otherworldly being discovers his true origins.

Influenced by the ship that brought him to Earth, Brandon starts to brutally terrorises his hometown of Brightburn using his Superman-esque abilities.

Seeing Brandon at work is a chilling sight, with him sinisterly killing his uncle, father and mother, amongst others. And while this evil youngster is happy to slaughter his own family, there's a particularly vile fate handed out to Erica (Becky Wahlstrom).

Erica is the mom of a classmate whose hand Brandon spitefully broke. After she makes it clear what she thinks of Dunn's character, Brandon later stalks Erica at the diner where she works.

Initially, Brandon causes a lightbulb to explode into Erica's face, forcing her to pull a slice of glass out of her eyeball. While we never actually see her death, the finale of Brightburn shows the naked, disembowelled corpse of Erica hanging in the Breyers' barn.

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 and Presenter, 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 day job, his role as 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 and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.