[Ads-l] body horror

Wed May 22 04:13:32 UTC 2024

Interesting topic, JL and Bill.
The OED has a pertinent entry for "body horror" with a first citation in 1983.

[Begin OED excerpt]
body horror   noun
Horror elicited by the depiction of destruction or disfigurement of
the human body; an instance of this; (also) a genre of film
characterized by this.
Used originally with reference to the films of Canadian filmmaker
David Cronenberg (b. 1943).

1983 There is some bloody shooting, but there is no sex at all and
little to compare with the messily explicit body horrors of the other
features.
W. Beard in P. Handling, Shape of Rage 41
[End OED excerpt]

I think this 1972 citation fits the general sense of  "body horror"
applied to the domain of fashion. The film genre sense of "body
horror" is important, but it is too narrow. The 1972 book is a satire
of marketing theory and advertising. Below are two excerpts to provide
additional context.

Year: 1972 Copyright
Book Title: IC: An Introductory Exposition of Infinite Capitalism, or,
the Great Nipple Plot
Authors: Richard Altschuler and Nicholas Regush
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Chapter 15: Macabre Service
Quote Page 101, 104-105
Database: Internet Archive

[Begin excerpt]
Macabre Service
Function and Nature

An in-person amusement service offering both personalized horror
experiences and a series of horror chambers to allow individuals to
satisfy their craving for extreme horror.
[End excerpt]

[Begin excerpt]
Horror Vacations: An Added Feature

The Service could easily plot a sequence horror vacation for clients
who desire to be horrified at intervals while they are traveling.

Spin-off Market
Fashion

MCA predicts that within one year, after expansion of the Service into
foreign countries, the horror-service industry will become ubiquitous,
so much so as to stimulate the need for a new fashion rage -- the
Horror Look. Such items as flesh-eaten nylons, and an entire series of
“body-horror coverups” (e.g., lacerated chins) are just around the
corner. It is expected that Women's Wear Daily will pace-set the
Horror Look.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, May 21, 2024 at 3:11 PM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> A subgenre of horror cinema mostly associated with the films of David Cronenberg and Clive Barker.
>
>
> 1988 Atlanta Journal 23 Dec 2C/1
>
> With its demonic puzzle boxes (imagine a Rubik's cube whose solution opens the gates of Hades), punk ghouls from the fourth dimension (the fearsome Cenobites) and frenzied plasma fests (visit the butcher this week?), the movie aimed to take "body horror" to a higher, pulsating plateau.
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> https://www.newspapers.com/image/976986083/?match=1&terms=cronenberg%20%22body%20horror%22
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> 1989 T. Milne (ed.) Time Out Film Guide 256
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> A disappointing sequel to Clive Barker's innovatory ‘body horror’ pic, which — while making some effort to flesh out the Cenobite mythology — simply performs cosmetic surgery on the original.
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> https://archive.org/details/timeoutfilmguide0000unse_u4n8/page/256/mode/1up?q=+%22body+horror%22
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> 1989 North Mission News Mar 13/2
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> The most superficially normal of Cronenberg's films turns out to be his most deeply disturbing evocation of body horror and panic sex.
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> https://archive.org/details/northmissionnew1989unse_2/page/12/mode/1up?q=cronenberg+%22body+horror%22
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> 1992 The Independent 24 Apr 16/6
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> Naked Lunch continues Cronenberg's steady progress away from body horror proper, and you suspect that many of his fans will be lost along the way.
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> https://www.newspapers.com/image/718975390/?terms=%20%22body%20horror%22&match=1
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> 1995 M. Wynne-Davies The Bloomsbury Guide to English Literature xi
>
> She is now working on body horror cinema, and writing a book on erotic thrillers.
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> https://archive.org/details/bloomsburyguidet00mari/page/n14/mode/1up?q=cronenberg+%22body+horror%22
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> 2009 Austin Chronicle 25 Sept 50/2
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> Your film has a very unique feel to it, sort of a cross between the body horror of David Cronenberg and Rube Goldberg by way of Josef Mengele.
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> https://archive.org/details/The_Austin_Chronicle-2009-09-25/page/n49/mode/1up?q=cronenberg+%22body+horror%22
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> 2010 Philadelphia City Paper 23 Sept 22/3
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> Plumbing levels of body horror that would do David Cronenberg proud, Aronofsky literalizes Portman’s inner transformation, a move that, as his movies often do, straddles the line between affectingly gonzo and merely over-the-top.
> https://archive.org/details/Philadelphia_City_Paper-2010-09-23/page/n21/mode/1up?q=cronenberg+%22body+horror%22
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org