The Best Horror Movies About Evil Experiments
Horror movies about evil experiments often vary in subject matter from crazy science experiments gone wrong to movies with experiments that go exactly as planned. Sometimes, the experiment is on a human subject, as seen in The Fly or The Human Centipede. Other times, scary movies can be about social experiments, like in the The Belko Experiment. Military and medical experiments can also be the source of a scourge in some of these films. The plot of the film is simple- coworkers in an office are pitted against each other in a kill or be killed situation.
Sometimes the experiments themselves are not as evil as the result. Morgan is about a scientifically created "human" that loses its mind and begins to kill the scientists that helped create her. Other good scary movies about experiments gone wrong include Re-Animator, Scanners, and From Beyond.
The purpose of this list is to rank the best evil experiment horror movies, so vote up your favorites below, and add to the list if you think the scariest human experiment movie isn't already here.
- Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: David Cronenberg
When scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) completes his teleportation device, he decides to test its abilities on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a housefly slips in during the process, leading to a ...more - Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina
- Released: 1995
- Directed by: Roger Donaldson
When government scientist Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley) intercepts a space transmission containing the genetic sequence for an alien life form, he uses it to produce "Sil" (Natasha Henstridge) -- a ...more - Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke
- Released: 1931
- Directed by: James Whale
This iconic horror film follows the obsessed scientist Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) as he attempts to create life by assembling a creature from body parts of the deceased. Aided by his loyal ...more - Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: Alex Proyas
John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens alone in a strange hotel to find that he is wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is that he can't remember whether he committed the murders or not. ...more - Marilyn Chambers, Joe Silver, Susan Roman
- Released: 1977
- Directed by: David Cronenberg
Rabid is a 1977 Canadian drama horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. It features Marilyn Chambers in the lead role, supported by Howard Ryshpan, Joe Silver and Robert A. Silverman. ...more - Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Cary Elwes
- Released: 2003
- Directed by: James Wan, Darren Lynn Bousman, David Hackl, Kevin Greutert
Saw is an American horror franchise distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment and produced by Twisted Pictures that consists of seven feature films and additional media. In 2003, Australian director ...more - Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon
- Released: 1990
- Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Seeking answers about the afterlife, Chicago medical student Nelson (Kiefer Sutherland) persuades his fellow pupils to help him end his life, and then resuscitate him in the nick of time. Atheist ...more - Maurice Dean Wint, Nicole de Boer, Nicky Guadagni
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Vincenzo Natali
Without remembering how they got there, several strangers awaken in a prison of cubic cells, some of them booby-trapped. There's onetime cop Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint), scientist Holloway (Nicky ...more - Mylène Jampanoï, Morjana El Alaoui, Xavier Dolan
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: Pascal Laugier
Martyrs is a 2008 horror film written and directed by Pascal Laugier. It was first screened during the 2008 Cannes Film Festival at the Marché du Film, and the film's French release was on 3 ...more - Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, Una O'Connor
- Released: 1933
- Directed by: James Whale
The Invisible Man is a 1933 science fiction film based on H. G. Wells' science fiction novel The Invisible Man, published in 1897, as adapted by R. C. Sherriff, Philip Wylie and Preston Sturges, ...more - Barbara Crampton, Jeffrey Combs, David Gale
- Released: 1985
- Directed by: Stuart Gordon
Re-Animator is a 1985 American science fiction horror comedy film loosely based on the H. P. Lovecraft episodic novella "Herbert West–Reanimator." Directed by Stuart Gordon, it was the first film in ...more - David Keith, Drew Barrymore, George C. Scott
- Released: 1984
- Directed by: Mark L. Lester
As youths, Andy McGee (David Keith) and his future wife, Vicky (Heather Locklear), participated in secret experiments, allowing themselves to be subjected to mysterious medical tests. Years later, ...more - Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac
- Released: 2009
- Directed by: Vincenzo Natali
Geneticists Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) specialize in creating hybrids of species. When they propose the use of human DNA, their pharmaceutical company bosses forbid it, forcing them ...more - Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander
- Released: 2014
- Directed by: Alex Garland
Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) a programmer at a huge Internet company, wins a contest that enables him to spend a week at the private estate of Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), his firm's brilliant ...more - Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Patrick McGoohan
- Released: 1981
- Directed by: David Cronenberg
Scanners are men and women born with incredible telepathic and telekinetic powers. There are many who exercise the benefits of their special gifts in a safe and judicious manner. However, there is a ...more - Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Leigh Taylor-Young
- Released: 1973
- Directed by: Richard Fleischer
In a densely overpopulated, starving New York City of the future, NYPD detective Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston) investigates the murder of an executive at rations manufacturer Soylent Corporation. ...more - 17Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella
- Released: 2016
- Directed by: Julia Ducournau
Stringent vegetarian Justine (Garance Marillier) encounters a decadent, merciless and dangerously seductive world during her first week at veterinary school. Desperate to fit in, she strays from her ...more - John Gallagher, Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona
- Released: 2016
- Directed by: Greg McLean
An ordinary day at the office becomes a horrific quest for survival when 80 employees (John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona) at the Belko Corp. in Bogotá, Colombia, learn that they are ...more - Katharine Isabelle, Antonio Cupo, Tristan Risk
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska
Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle) is lured into a world of freakish surgeries for easy money. - Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason
- Released: 1978
- Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner
Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck) clones Hitler 95 times, and hopes to raise the resulting boys in Brazil, giving them childhoods identical to Hitler's. His ultimate plan is to create a band of Nazi ...more - William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban
- Released: 1980
- Directed by: Ken Russell
Respected scientist and psychology professor Edward Jessup (William Hurt) decides to combine his experiments in sensory deprivation tanks with powerful hallucinogenic drugs, convinced that it may ...more - Fabiana Udenio, Jeffrey Combs, Kathleen Kinmont
- Released: 1990
- Directed by: Brian Yuzna
Bride of Re-Animator is a 1990 American science fiction horror film directed by Brian Yuzna and was written by Yuzna, Rick Fry and Woody Keith. H. P. Lovecraft wrote the original serialized story, ...more - Michael Madsen, Natasha Henstridge, Marg Helgenberger
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: Peter Medak
Having just returned from a mission to Mars, Commander Ross (Justin Lazard) isn't exactly himself. He's slowly becoming a terrifying alien entity with one goal -- to procreate with human women! When ...more - Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Adam Robitel
Six adventurous strangers travel to a mysterious building to experience the escape room -- a game where players compete to solve a series of puzzles to win $10,000. What starts out as seemingly ...more - 25Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover
- Released: 2015
- Directed by: David Gelb
The Lazarus Effect is a 2015 American supernatural science fiction horror film directed by David Gelb. A group of medical researchers discover a way to bring dead patients back to life.