In this talk, I explore the role of flesh within the cinematic subgenre of (medical) body horror, utilising David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986) as a primary case study. Medical body horror, often characterised by the violation and transformation of the human form through science or disease, exploits inherent anxieties regarding corporeal fragility and the limits of bodily autonomy. I argue that the subgenre's visceral impact is best understood through a trifecta of eye, gut, and hand – each signifying a critical mode of engagement with the monstrous spectacle of the transforming body. The eye refers to the depiction of flesh itself, examining how the visual articulation of decay, mutation, and biological fusion in film confronts the viewer with the raw materiality of the body. The gut addresses the affective reaction this imagery elicits, exploring how the film’s meticulous rendering of biological horror triggers the unsettling jouissance of the abject. The hand highlights the craftsmanship of practical effects, arguing that the tactile quality of makeup and creature design in body horror – the literal manipulation of matter – is crucial to generating a sense of grounded terror. By dissecting this trifecta, the analysis ultimately posits that medical body horror's enduring power lies in its ability to force a confrontation with the vulnerable, messy, and fundamentally material nature of being flesh.

Max Jokschus works as a research associate for urban literary and cultural studies in the transSCAPE project at the Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Germany. His dissertation titled Devils in the Data: The (Post-)Internet in the Contemporary Horror Film is currently in preparation for publication. He has previously worked as a research associate at the institute for British Cultural Studies at the University of Leipzig. His research focuses on contemporary popular culture, most notably the horror film, as well as material game studies and urban theory.