The Top 22 Horror And Sci-Fi Movies With Terrible Medical Experiments

Horror movies where experiments go awry always have one thing in common, human error. We are flawed messes that act based on fear, folly, and overreaching hubris. It’s pretty common for things to take an unexpected rough turn. Messing with genetics, psychological experiments, or physical alterations may start as altruistic endeavors, but in sci-fi/horror movies, the other foot(or feet) invariably drops. Some experiments are carried out by deranged mad scientists and others by average citizens who have convinced themselves they are experts. Whether they be trained or not makes no difference. Things always end poorly. The Horror Pod Class is dissecting Anatomy this week, so there is no better time to revisit the best sci-fi and horror movies where medical experiments go wrong.

Frankenstein(1994)

You can’t have a medical experiment list without including the granddaddy of all cautionary medical tales. Mary Shelley’s classic is one of the best examples of monster sympathy, dangerous conceit, and mob mentality.

The Fly(1986)

The Jeff Goldblum vehicle from David Cronenberg is brilliant. A scientist invents teleportation but fails to keep track of the smallest of details. When he uses the teleportation chambers himself, he becomes fused with a fly. The special effects haven’t held up all that well, but Goldblum and Geena Davis are great, and it is body horror at its best by the master.

Flatliners(1990)

The original is far superior to the 2017 remake. A group of medical students seeks to discover what comes after death by flatlining themselves. They, unfortunately, find bad things follow you back from that shadowy place. The cast is impressive, with Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, and Julia Roberts. It is still a compelling movie because we all have past tragedies and regrets, and most of us are still haunted by them.

The Human Centipede

This shock fest from Tom Six is gross. A mad scientist kidnaps three tourists and sews them together, mouth to rectum, to create a centipede. It is disturbing and disgusting, with minimal plot beyond the surgeries and subsequent torture. This is not a fun movie, but it is worth watching once if you like this subgenre.

American Mary

From the Soska Twins, American Mary stars scream queen Katharine Isabelle as a former medical student who left school after being raped. She becomes embroiled in the world of extreme body modification and finds it is the catharsis she needs to exorcise her demons. It features some of the wildest body modifications you will ever see, and most of it is real. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it is well-acted and certainly makes you think.

Re-Animator

This is one of the funniest films on the medical experiments list. Based on a story by HP Lovecraft, Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator features some deliciously gross effects that are still fun today. A young medical student discovers a way to reanimate dead flesh, and madcap insanity ensues. It is raunchy, sexy, gory, and hysterical.

Dead Ringers

This Cronenberg film is psychological brilliance. Twin gynecologists, played by Jeremy Irons, take advantage of patients and girlfriends until one comes between them, and they unravel. The integration scene of the twins was achieved using computer-controlled moving-matte photography. This film was one of the first to use it.

Tusk

One of the most disturbing movies of all time, Tusk is an odd one to describe. A vile podcaster heads to Canada to interview a wealthy recluse with an unhealthy fascination with walruses. Things get real weird, real fast, with a bizarre cameo by Johnny Depp that can’t be described adequately. If you want to know the real story behind Tusk, you can read that here.

The Skin I Live In

A brilliant plastic surgeon with a tragic past creates indestructible synthetic skin. He experiments with his invention on a mysterious young woman who holds the key to his obsession. Antonia Banderas is very good, and the psychological thriller is as perfectly paced and compelling. It is a modern classic. If you need an explanation of the madness click here after watching.

Aliens

While Alien: Resurrection was the movie in the franchise that actually did experiments, Aliens was the first to think of it. Ripley and crew were supposed to provide an incubator for the alien babies that Paul Reiser’s Burke wanted. It has one of any film’s best ending fight scenes and solidifies Ripley(Sigourney Weaver) as an iconic hero.

Splice

This is one of my favorites on this medical experiments list. It seems pretty clear that animal-human hybrids are never a good idea. Yet, despite the apparent risks, scientists Elsa(Sarah Polley) and Clive(Adrian Brody) do it anyway and end up creating a creature so foreign and horrifically beautiful you get lost wondering who the real monsters are. The ending is brutal and surprising.

Martyrs(2008)

The original French version from Pascal Laugier is about a cult of pain-loving lunatics who believe torture is the only way to enlightenment. Two young women’s quest for vengeance after a childhood of torment leads them down a dark and depraved road. This is one of the best examples of French Extremism. While the things done to the girls at the end of Martyrs aren’t done in a medical setting for any scientific purpose, they are experiments and deeply disturbing.

Morgan

This film deserves a place on the medical experiments list based on its star power alone. Ana Taylor-Joy, Kate Mara, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Brian Cox, Paul Giamatti, Michelle Yeoh, and Jennifer Jason Leigh are all in this unbelievable cast. Researchers have created an artificial intelligence that has been behaving violently lately. Mara’s Lee Weathers is called in to find out why. It’s a great example of scientific overreach and good intentions gone bad.

A Clockwork Orange

The psychological experiment to end all experiments this film from 1071 starring Malcolm McDowell, is still referenced today because Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece is deeply unsettling, intelligent, politically stirring, and scary. McDowell’s Alex is a criminal the government in a dystopian world believes they can rehabilitate by mentally torturing him. The result is nothing short of powerful and, to this day, says a lot about morality, free thought, mind control, and societal responsibility.

The Invisible Man

Leigh Whannell, best known for the Saw and Insidious franchises, tackles one of Lovecraft’s best-known stories. Elizabeth Moss is Cecilia Kass, a woman figuratively and literally haunted by her past. She believes her abusive ex committed suicide, but when strange things begin happening, she starts to believe he has returned to terrorize her. Nobody does tormented like Moss, and she delivers another powerhouse performance. With Apple TV+’s mindbender The Shining Girls starring Moss premiering soon, it’s a good time to remind yourself how great she is.

Deep Blue Sea

I love this movie, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Whether it be the over-the-top performances of LL Cool J or Samuel L. Jackson or the beautiful bodies of Saffron Burrows and Thomas Jane, the massive, intelligent sharks are the real draw here. It’s silly and just scary enough to continue our fear of sharks.

Cube

One of the best sci-fi/horror films of all time, Cube plays on our paranoia of big government and big business. A group of people wakes up to find they are locked in a seemingly endless set of cubes, each designed to kill them in unexpected and gruesome ways. The kills are inventive and gnarly, and the effects still hold up.

The Belko Experiment

It’s Battle Royale, the workplace addition. In this social experiment set in Colombia, a group of eighty office workers is told to kill or be killed. It is ugly, brutal, and seriously gory. We never learn the purpose of the experiment or who is behind it, which is just one of many reasons this is a must-see.

The Lazarus Effect

A group of researchers discovers an antigen that brings people back from the dead. The film’s success is largely based on a great cast, including Donald Glover, Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters, and Ray Wise. While this premise has been done many times before(arguably better), the cast is beyond reproach. In addition, there are a few unexpected scares, and the ambiguous ending is great.

Devil’s Pass

A group of college students travels to Russia to discover what happened to nine hikers found dead in the Dyatlov Pass Incident. The found footage film is surprisingly scary and features a mind-bending twist ending. Given our opinions on Russia right now, it isn’t that hard to imagine something like this happening.

Leviathan

Here’s another film that gives us a reason to hate Russians. Technically it’s the Soviet Union, but the details hardly matter in this underwater horror about genetic mutations. A deep-sea mining expedition gets more than they bargained for when the crew begins mutating after being exposed to an unstable mutagen left over by the Soviets. Ernie Hudson, Peter Weller, Hector Elizondo, and Daniel Stern are all excellent.

Possessor

An agent works for an organization that uses brain implants to take over others’ bodies and assassinate targets for the rich and powerful. Although she is good at her job, it is taking a toll on her, and soon she finds herself locked in the mind of another, fighting for her very existence. This wacky film has an outstanding cast featuring Andrea Riseborough, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Christopher Abbott from David Cronenberg’s son Brandon. It’s gory and visually stunning, with primarily practical effects used. Get a full explanation here.