Horror fans 'desensitised' to gore say scene in Demi Moore horror is 'one of most disgusting they've ever seen'

Warning: The following articles contains discussion of body horror some readers may find disturbing.

Viewers across the world are walking out of The Substance shocked by some of the most graphic body horror ever made in a studio film – and there is one particular scene lingering on the minds of many.

The Substance is a new horror starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, with Dennis Quaid, Tiffany Hofsteter, and Hugo Diego Garcia rounding out the cast.

It follows Moore as 50-year-old celebrity Elisabeth, who decides to use a black market drug after being fired.

The drug allows her to temporarily create a younger, ‘better’ version of her, ‘Sue’, played by Margaret Qualley.

The body horror features a number of various absolutely unhinged scenes of gore, though there is one in particular that has been turning the stomachs of some fans.

Minor spoiler for The Substance.

The film is full of body horror (Mubi)

Once Elisabeth’s younger body is created, which she names Sue, they are given strict rules to follow – namely, they must swap control between one another every seven days, or else there will be horrible consequences.

Qualley’s Sue spends longer than this in control, and when she returns to Moore’s Elisabeth, she has aged, and it has horrible effects on her body.

Among the effects, she has to crack her knee into place in order to be able to walk on it, with a horrible noise accompanying it.

One post on the subreddit r/horror about the film said: “I am nowhere near squeamish when it comes to gore nowadays (as I’m sure is the case with the majority of people in this subreddit), but the scene where Demi Moore has to practically break her knee to walk is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in a long time. 10/10.”

The film has been a hit with fans and has received critical acclaim (Mubi)

A reply to this said: “Yeah i agree, I feel so desensitized to most gore, killing, blood, etc. But the movements of Old Elisabeth and [spoiler] did something to me. I loved every second!”

While we can’t reveal what they said, believe me, that this is not the extent of the body horror in the film.

In more general threads about the film, one horror fan said: “Amazing movie with an amazing concept and execution but jesus f*cking christ it is so disgusting 😭 glad to have seen it but definitely a one-time watch for me.”

Body image is a major theme of the film (Mubi)

Another replied saying: “It didn't hit me until I was almost home but holy hell yes this was gnarly”, whilst another said: “Same! I only started feeling nauseous after I exited the theater. It's like there was so much to process throughout the movie that my mind had to play catch-up”.

The film has so far been a massive hit with fans and critics alike.

With a 7.9 on IMDb and 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it has already earned back more than half its budget, having made over $10 million on a reported $17 million budget.

The Substance is in theatres now.