When it comes to usual horror scares, one most likely thinks about masked serial killers, malevolent apparitions, possessed children, murderous hillbillies, bloodthirsty vampires, brain-craving zombies, or treacherous aliens. It is all the more surprising when a threat comes from the most mundane source — food.
Let’s be honest, vegetables, fruits, meat, and desserts are not very scary on their own — after all, all one needs to do to defeat such a villain is, well, eat them. However, some horror films do an excellent job proving that food can hold an element of true terror or become a villain in itself. These 5 underappreciated gems that range from horror-comedies to social satire to gothic musicals subvert all expectations and shouldn’t be missed by any genre fan.
The Stuff (1985)
Larry Cohen’s sentient killer dessert satire on American consumerism and lifestyle might be a bit on-the-nose. Still, it’s surprisingly spot-on, backed up by decent practical effects, and features an excellent deadpan performance from Michael Moriarty. The story follows a mysterious sweet, delicious, and addictive substance, the Stuff, discovered in Alaska, that becomes the new rage in the United States. While people can’t get enough of it, the Stuff starts consuming them from the inside, slowly transforming them into zombies.
In his early career, Cohen became a master of quasi-realistic horror, with such peculiar features as Q (about a prehistoric lizard nested on top of the Chrysler Building) and It’s Alive (about a murderous mutated infant, who is a victim of pharmaceutical conspiracy). The Stuff is a perfect continuation of the theme. According to the director, the New World Pictures studio was disappointed with the end result as they expected it to be a straight-on gory horror rather than a satirical horror-comedy and marketed it as such. The misleading promotion, combined with the hurricane that hit the US on the day of the theatrical release and prevented the positive newspaper reviews from reaching people’s homes (that was a pre-digital era, after all), led to sub-par viewing figures. That said, it didn’t stop The Stuff from becoming a cult movie later on.
The Gingerdead Man (2005)
The Gingerdead Man, as the title suggests, follows a homicidal reanimated gingerbread cookie possessed by a spirit of a dead murderer who is seeking revenge on his surviving victims. The outright ridiculous plot that takes Child’s Play themes into the realm of baked goods perfectly fits Charles Band’s spectacular B-movie portfolio (that includes such franchises as Puppet Master and Evil Bong) and the rest of the Full Moon Entertainment pictures.
This slasher is more funny than scary and is bursting with bad puns, but Gary Busey voicing the foul-mouthed gingerbread fiend alone is enough to add this underappreciated B-movie marvel to the watch list. What’s more, it spawned a franchise — with much better-received sequels Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust, Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver, and Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong, shorts, and comic books — so there’s plenty of material to go through to satisfy a murderous cookie craving.
Thinner (1996)
Based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name and directed by Tom Holland (no connection to the young web-shooting superhero), Thinner follows Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke), a corrupt, obese, and food-obsessed lawyer, who runs over an old Romani woman and gets cursed by her father, which leads to him losing weight at a life-threatening rate. As it’s revealed, the only way to pass on the curse is to feed a slice of a blood-soaked ‘strawberry’ pie to another victim — and the scene of Halleck dripping blood onto a vampiric dessert that eagerly laps it up certainly stays with a viewer for a long time.
Thinner might not be one of the King’s best movie adaptations, but this underappreciated food horror film features an excellent cast that includes Joe Mantegna, Michael Constantine, Kari Wuhrer, and Bethany Joy Lenz, commendable make-up and visual effects, and generally delivers an entertaining even if occasionally uncomfortable viewing experience.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (1982)
While Tim Buton’s 2007 atmospheric gothic piece featuring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter might be more widely known to the general audience, the original Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway show (filmed in 1982) with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury in the lead won eight Tony Awards and is deemed a theatrical (and cinematographic) masterpiece. The musical, which the director called a “movie for the stage,” follows the story of a homicidal London barber Sweeney Todd and his accomplice Mrs. Nellie Lovett as they go on a killing spree, with Lovett using Todd’s victims for her meat pies.
This thrilling horror musical (often perceived as a condemnation of dehumanized post-Industrial Revolution society) is not for the squeamish, but the award-winning score, exceptional performances, dark humor, macabre atmosphere, and emotional intensity make this often forgotten feature a true gem that shouldn’t be missed.
Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes! (1978)
Directed by John DeBello, this often underappreciated pinnacle of food horror-comedy and a hilarious spoof of B monster movies became an absolute cult classic. The premise is painfully simple — the traditionally docile garden fruits become sentient and revolt against humanity. The government assembles a wacky task force that includes a soldier who never goes anywhere without his parachute, a scuba diver, an Olympic swimmer, and a master of disguise dressed at various points of the movie as George Washington, black Adolf Hitler, and a giant tomato. The film culminates in an epic scene of people stomping stunned tomatoes to death at a massive stadium to the sounds of “Puberty Love” (performed by the future Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron).
Often references as one of the best ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ movies, the low-budget (less than $100,000) Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes! spawned an entire franchise, with the second part, Return of the Killer Tomatoes!, even starring George Clooney. Filled with silly parodies of classic monster movies like Jaws, ultimate Dad jokes, and outright facepalm moments, this food horror-comedy is an absolute must-watch.