5 Movies to Watch If You Love Clayface’s Dark DC Horror Vibe

After watching “Clayface,” audiences will likely find themselves swapping theories, ranking their favorite scenes, and discussing the performances that made the biggest impression. Dedicated DC fans may even start hunting for the film’s hidden Easter eggs. But another question is just as inevitable: What should you watch next? By bringing body horror and Gotham City into the DC Universe, “Clayface” could leave viewers eager for another unsettling cinematic experience.

Fortunately, the horror landscape offers plenty of options. The best movies to watch after “Clayface” are not limited to DC adaptations. Instead, this selection explores the film’s key ingredients, from grotesque transformations and comic-book terror to the work of major creative figures connected to the movie, including director James Watkins and screenwriter Mike Flanagan.

Whether you want more extreme body horror, supernatural suspense, or a gleefully bizarre creature feature, these five films offer compelling follow-up viewing. Prepare yourself for five very different movies that share the same appetite for darkness as “Clayface.”

Body horror has become one of the most visible branches of mainstream horror during the 2020s. That renewed interest may reflect a heightened awareness of physical vulnerability, a revival of David Cronenberg-style genre cinema, or horror’s broader rise in popularity. Whatever the reason, the arrival of a body horror film from DC Studios with “Clayface” confirms just how far the subgenre has moved into the cultural spotlight.

Few recent films embody that movement more powerfully than Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” a movie so intense that some theatergoers reportedly fainted during screenings. Agathe Rousselle stars as Alexia, a troubled woman whose violent impulses and fascination with automobiles send her life spiraling out of control. After her crimes begin to catch up with her, she assumes the identity of a missing teenage boy. From there, the film pushes body horror into startlingly intimate and psychosexual territory.

Yet “Titane” is more than a brutal endurance test. Beneath its shocking imagery is a surprisingly tender story about identity, connection, and the need for human affection. Ducournau commits fully to the film’s strange visual and emotional world, creating an experience that can be horrifying, moving, and unexpectedly warm. If “Clayface” has sparked your interest in modern body horror, “Titane” is an ideal plunge into its deepest waters.

Horror filmmakers have long found a natural home in superhero cinema. Sam Raimi’s move from grimy genre movies to the original “Spider-Man” trilogy helped open the door for directors such as James Wan, James Gunn, and David F. Sandberg. Even so, genuinely horror-driven comic-book movies remain relatively uncommon. “Clayface” belongs to that select group, alongside films such as “Spawn” and “The New Mutants.”

The standout may be Guillermo del Toro’s “Blade II,” which builds on the strengths of its already entertaining predecessor. Wesley Snipes returns as the vampire hunter, but this time Blade must form an uneasy alliance with several vampires to stop the Reapers, a deadly strain capable of destroying both human beings and vampires.

Del Toro fills the film with atmospheric scares and unsettling creature design while balancing them with kinetic action and Snipes’ commanding performance. “Blade II” works equally well as a supernatural horror movie and a comic-book action thriller, demonstrating how exciting a straightforward horror superhero film can be.

If “Clayface” leaves you wanting to explore James Watkins’ earlier work, “Eden Lake” is the obvious place to begin. Watkins’ 2008 debut follows Jenny (Kelly Reilly) and her boyfriend, Steve (Michael Fassbender), as a quiet trip to a remote lake turns terrifying. A volatile group of teenagers, led by the intimidating Brett (Jack O’Connell), begins tormenting the couple, and a series of escalating confrontations soon becomes a fight for survival.

“Eden Lake” also anticipates ideas Watkins would revisit in “Clayface,” particularly the disturbing violence that can emerge from people who appear respectable or harmless. Like Matt Hagen and his transformation into a Gotham monster, the film’s characters reveal just how quickly ordinary situations can expose something deeply savage. Both movies also refuse to offer easy comfort, ending on bleak notes that leave viewers disturbed rather than reassured.

The film remains a significant entry in Watkins’ career and an early showcase for the talents of Reilly and Fassbender. Its relentless grimness will not suit every viewer, but fans of “Clayface” may appreciate this uncompromising companion from the director’s filmography.

“Clayface” brings Mike Flanagan’s influence into James Gunn’s DC Universe. Flanagan originally proposed a solo Clayface movie to DC Studios and wrote an early draft, although his screenplay was later revised and James Watkins ultimately took the director’s chair. For viewers interested in the horror filmmaker’s signature style, the underrated 2019 film “Doctor Sleep” is an excellent next stop.

A sequel to “The Shining” and an adaptation of Stephen King’s 2013 novel, “Doctor Sleep” follows Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) as an adult struggling with alcoholism and the psychic ability known as the shining. His fragile new life is disrupted when he encounters Abra (Kyliegh Curran), a gifted young girl who needs his help against a dangerous supernatural group.

Although the movie delivers plenty of scares, Flanagan is equally interested in trauma, recovery, and the challenge of making peace with the past. The measured atmosphere reflects his careful approach to horror, while McGregor gives one of his strongest performances as Danny. Rebecca Ferguson is equally memorable as the chilling Rose the Hat. Anyone looking for more Mike Flanagan horror after “Clayface” should find “Doctor Sleep” a fitting prescription.

Few movie titles announce their intentions as boldly as “Frankenhooker.” Frank Henenlotter’s gleefully outrageous horror comedy is an especially fitting recommendation for “Clayface” fans thanks to its fixation on body parts, grotesque transformations, and spectacularly messy deaths. There is even an indirect connection to James Gunn: years before leading DC Studios, Gunn included a reference to Henenlotter in his creature feature “Slither.”

The story follows Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz), a devastated man whose fiancée, Elizabeth (Patty Mullen), dies in a freak accident. Determined to bring her back, Jeffrey assembles a new body from the parts of New York sex workers and uses a substance called “super-crack” to revive it. Elizabeth returns as Frankenhooker, a bizarre creation with exaggerated expressions and a deadly ability to dispatch the men who cross her path.

Unhinged from beginning to end, the film delivers slimy organs, flying plastic heads, outrageous practical effects, and Patty Mullen’s fearless performance. If Matt Hagen’s transformation in “Clayface” feels like a lot to handle, imagine living in a city where Frankenhooker is simply part of the local scenery. This cult classic is every bit as outrageous as its unforgettable title suggests.