Body Horror - Biology, Biopower, Biotechnology

"This primer considers the representational and ideological work body horror carries out, from its encapsulation of biological concerns to wider sociological preoccupations that have been at the heart of body studies since their explosion in the 1990s. Traditionally occupied with themes of biology, pathology, and (lack of) bodily autonomy, body horror has more recently grown into a cultural forum for engaging with themes of racism, cissexism, and transhumanism, especially since Jordan Peele's breakthrough Get Out (2017). Rather than depicting these concepts, and the social processes they describe, allegorically or metaphorically, however, body horror's distinctive quality is to attempt to render them literally, vividly visible. Xavier Aldana Reyes provides an introduction to the intellectual inner workings of this subgenre, tracing its evolution from the splatter films of Cronenberg, Barker and Raimi in the 80s to cult classics like Tetsuo, as well as art house fare such as Titane.