12 Body Horror Films James Gunn Wants You to Watch Before Clayface: From Cronenberg to Carpenter
The DC Studios head picks a dozen movies to warm audiences up for the body horror supervillain film
by Alex Kaan 15 October 2026
20th Century Studios
With Clayface directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake, Speak No Evil) and co-written by Mike Flanagan (Carrie, The Haunting of Hill House), the DC film is set to fully embrace its horror elements.
Accordingly, DC Studios head James Gunn has made a recommended watchlist to prepare audiences for the body horror supervillain film. Featuring work by filmmakers like David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, and Guillermo del Toro, Gunn’s list gathers sci-fi horror classics (The Fly, The Thing), cult horror comedies (Re-Animator, Basket Case), and more.
Clayface opens in US and UK cinemas Friday, October 23rd.
Shivers (1975)
Cinépix Film Properties
This early effort from body horror master David Cronenberg follows the residents of a luxury apartment complex outside Montreal who are infected by parasites that turn them into bloodthirsty nymphomaniacs.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Amazon MGM Studios
Donald Sutherland and Jeff Goldblum star in Philip Kaufman’s sci-fi horror classic, the second film adaptation of the 1954 novel The Body Snatchers, about an alien invasion that spreads through San Francisco by replacing humans with exact, emotionless duplicates.
The Brood (1979)
New World Pictures
As a disturbed woman receives a radical form of psychotherapy at a remote, mysterious institute, her estranged husband tries to uncover the truth about the psychologist’s unconventional techniques, all while navigating a series of brutal local murders with a sinister connection to the institute’s activities in David Cronenberg’s celebrated chiller.
Altered States (1980)
Warner Bros.
A surrealist fever dream, this trippy body horror film from British auteur Ken Russell (The Devils, The Lair of the White Worm) follows a respected research scientist who sets out to explore the boundaries of the human consciousness, but as he finds success with the experiments, he begins to lose his grip on reality.
The Thing (1982)
Universal
Originally derided by critics but now an unequivocal sci-fi horror classic, John Carpenter’s brutal mix of psychological horror and creature feature centres on a group of American researchers in Antarctica who start to turn on each other after being infiltrated by a vicious alien life-form that can perfectly imitate its victims.
Basket Case (1982)
Arrow Video
The debut feature of exploitation-horror specialist Frank Henenlotter (Frankenhooker), this horror comedy follows a young man, carrying a basket containing his deformed, formerly conjoined twin, who seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.
Videodrome (1983)
Universal
Blending his signature body horror with still-relevant technological anxieties, David Cronenberg’s gory classic follows a man (James Woods) who becomes obsessed with a mysterious S&M-themed TV channel called “Videodrome”, and soon will stop at nothing to discover its origins.
Re-Animator (1985)
Empire International Pictures
A Frankenstein film by way of an H.P. Lovecraft short story, Stuart Gordon’s gruesome horror comedy follows Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs), a medical student who develops a serum to revive the dead. Bonus points for the outrageous tagline: Herbert West has a good head on his shoulders… and another one on his desk.
The Fly (1986)
20th Century Studios
James Gunn’s fourth and final Cronenberg shout-out, this adaptation of George Langelaan’s 1957 short story stars Jeff Goldblum as a brilliant scientist who makes a huge breakthrough in teleportation. Unfortunately, when he tests the machine, a housefly sneaks inside and the two morph into a horrific hybrid creature.
The Blob (1988)
Tri-Star Pictures
From the late director Chuck Russell (The Mask) and co-writer Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist), this remake of the 1958 film of the same name follows three high school students who must protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches.
Cronos (1992)
Criterion
Before Pan’s Labyrinth and Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro began his career with a Mexican independent horror drama about an elderly antiques dealer who accidentally pricks his hand on an ancient mechanism that gives its user eternal life, but at a terrible, bloody price.
Slither (2006)
Universal
Ending the list with his own film, James Gunn’s cult directorial debut sees a sheriff (Nathan Fillion) and local resident (Elizabeth Banks) team up to stop the spread of a ruthless extraterrestrial parasite.