Science can cure diseases, fortify crops against changing climates, and connect humans on opposite sides of the planet. But as horror films show, science can also warp and destroy. Sometimes the experimenters' intentions were good, and things just got out of control. Other times they had ill-will from the beginning.
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Science gone wrong has been a literary and cinematic staple for centuries. Humans are curious, but also afraid of where their curiosity will lead them. For audiences, watching scientists push the boundaries of research — and seeing it all come crashing down — is its own delicious reward. In horror, even brilliant experiments lead to ruinous ends.
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's 1818 novel and James Whale's film have more than their title in common: each was, for their time, the most terrifying realization of science gone awry. Frankenstein and his monster might be memes today, but this 1931, black-and-white film remains haunting in its own right, even to viewers desensitized by a hundred trick-or-treaters with green face paint and stick-on bolts.
Frankenstein is perhaps the definitive example of scientific overreach, as overconfidence begets tragedy and a monster lurches forth from the storm. In some viewers' minds, it might not stand toe-to-toe with the best horror movies of the 2010s, but it deserves to.
American Mary
Jen and Sylvia Soska's 2012 film American Mary is equal parts damning social critique and jolly bloodfest. As bloody and disconcerting as the best modern slashers, here is a film that manages to be introspective, repulsive, and fun all at once. Mary is a surgical student in desperate need of money, and when she accepts $5,000 to perform emergency surgery on a criminal, she steps into the strange and shadowy world of experimental medicine.
The actors playing Mary's clients were plucked from the real-world body modification scene, and as such, the film doesn't even have to fake much of its more incredible imagery. American Mary is a funny, twisted take on experimental horror, and it takes braver strides than most of its competition can dream of.
Re-Animator
Based on the 1922 H.P. Lovecraft short story "Herbert West-Reanimator," Re-Animator is a modern revitalization of Frankenstein. It takes the basic premise of reanimated corpses run amok and dropping it in a modern setting.
After Herbert invents a serum that can bring the dead back to life, his first test subject is his dead professor. Unfortunately for Herbert, and everyone else in the immediate vicinity, the serum only brings people back to a zombie-like state. Watching the protagonist rush to cope with his increasingly out-of-control experiment is a pleasure. Just don't expect a a happy ending in this horror flick.
From Beyond
Another film taking a big swing at the Lovecraft canon, Stuart Gordon's From Beyond follows a pair of scientists trying to stimulate the pineal gland. They discover that their device has an unforeseen side effect: the ability to perceive monsters from another dimension.
This bad start gets worse when the creatures snatch up one of the scientists, transform him into a monster, and set him loose on earth to feast upon his former colleagues. Unlike the unseen ghosts of many of the best haunted house films, From Beyond wants viewers to see everything. Gooey, campy, and imbued with just enough satire and thematic layering that it rewards repeated viewing, From Beyond is terrific.
Tusk
Kevin Smith is not a name that many associate with horror, but after Tusk, it should be. "Getting turned into a walrus" probably isn't high on many people's fear lists either, but Tusk corrects that oversight as well.
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In Tusk, a retired seaman kidnaps podcast host Howard Howe with the intention of turning him into a walrus in body and mind. A true black comedy, Tusk alternates between savagely funny and simply savage. It's an upsetting film in all the right ways and proves beyond any doubt that its director is capable of more than zany buddy comedies.
The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
The less said about the revoltingly graphic violence of this film, the better. Anyone remotely interested in its subject matter has likely already seen this film, then showed it off to any friend with a sturdy enough constitution to sit through it. Director Tom Six is, if nothing else, an expert in body horror and sickening experimentation.
The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) is as masterfully conceived as it is gross. It is among the most terrifying black-and-white horror movies, with a villainous "researcher" that any character with the slightest sense of self-preservation would stay well away from. This film is not for the faint of heart or stomach.
Antiviral
Directed by Brandon Cronenberg, son of famed body horror filmmaker David, Antiviral is a novel exploration of the meeting point between celebrity obsession and science. Syd March works for the Lucas Clinic, an organization devoted to collecting viruses from sick celebrities so that fans may inject them and feel closer to their beloved entertainers.
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This warped premise may be one of the genre's best for sheer audacity and creep-factor, and the rest of the film clears the same high bar it sets. Antiviral takes its body horror identity seriously, and audiences should be ready for some shocking imagery.
Cabin Fever
People get sick all the time, and sometimes it's nothing to worry about. Not so in Cabin Fever by acclaimed horror director Eli Roth. Some college students' vacation into the mountains is catapulted into tragedy when one of them accidentally shoots a man in the woods. Worse? The dead man has a skin infection, and when his body falls into the reservoir, that infection spreads.
Cabin Fever is graphic, but also terrifying on a more basic level. Its characters deteriorate physically and mentally, literally unable to keep themselves together as the situation worsens. This film is as good as any of horror's best from 2021.
Godzilla
Though it may lack the CGI grandeur of more recent entries, 1954's Godzilla is the best in the horror franchise. This classic of atomic horror played on 1950s audiences' all-too-real fear of nuclear annihilation, putting a face to the new global threat by embodying it as a city-leveling reptile.
Godzilla leverages its campy practical effects in the best ways possible and more than achieves its goal of terrifying viewers. For those adapted to horror's more recent emphasis on jump scares and gore, Godzilla may not seem so horrifying. However, this film ranks among the greats for its cultural impact and expert manipulation of the fears of the time.
The Fly
Some directors aren't content until viewers want to crawl out of their own skin. Cronenberg's remake of the 1957 Vincent Price classic is one of the genre's most famous examples as well as its best. Eccentric scientist Seth Brundle is working on a teleportation device, but when a fly enters the teleportation chamber at the moment of ignition, Seth's DNA is spliced with that of the fly.
This lab accident initiates arguably the best devolution sequence in cinema, as masterful prosthetics and practical effects transform Seth into an unrecognizable monstrosity. The Fly projects the graphic consequences of scientific hubris, and for that, the film will always reign supreme.