Body-horror movies : Their emergence and evolution.

The subject of this thesis is the body-horror film, considered as a cycle which emerged in the early 1970s and which lasted until the late 1980s when it went into decline. It begins with a discussion of the body-horror film, what it is and how it can be distinguished from other kinds of film product. This is then followed by a detailed examination of the two clusters which comprise the cycle i.e. medical body-horror and non-medical body-horror. Following this the cultural context is discussed in an attempt to explain what motivated the production of these films, providing a background against which the films of David Cronenberg can be considered. A detailed discussion of Cronenberg's work, from Shivers (1974) to Dead Ringers (1988), then follows, with particular attention given to his concept of 'creative diseases' and New Flesh.