6 Horror Movies About Breeding the “Perfect” Human to Watch Before ‘Breeder’

Breeder, filmmaker, and former YouTuber Alex Goyette’s horror debut is going to make you sick. That’s complimentary, of course. Breeder hits theaters on October 28, and nothing can sufficiently prepare you for just how nasty things get when a poodle breeder shifts from dogs to human beings. It’s wickedly funny, devilishly playful, and in the words of our own Caroline Colvin, “Breeder will zig where you thought it would zag” because it’s “seriously messed up.” Sounds like an endorsement to me. To whet your appetite while you wait, check out our list of six other movies about breeding the “Perfect” human before Breeder.

Gattaca

Gattaca. I love saying that, and I love revisiting Andrew Niccol’s weird, heady sci-fi odyssey even more. The broad outline sees a future constrained by eugenic perfection. New generations are produced almost exclusively via genetic selection, ensuring only the most desirable of hereditary traits are passed on from parent to child. Ethan Hawke’s Vincent Freeman was conceived outside the program and grapples with the mounting discrimination in his way as he endeavors to realize his dream. It’s gorgeous. It’s provocative. And it’s exactly the kind of hard-hitting sci-fi that’ll have you questioning whether the pursuit of perfection, in any capacity, is worth it at all.

Splice

Splice is a weird one in the best way. No, it’s not the best pick for family movie night (I learned that the hard way in eighth grade, true story), but for horror/sci-fi fans looking for something that ooks without excess gore, Splice is the perfect (ha) genre hybrid (double ha). Vincenzo Natali’s (Cube) claustrophobic feature follows two genetic engineers (Adrienne Brody and Sarah Polley) whose efforts to create a human-animal hybrid yield disastrous results. Splice might be slow-going, but the creature, Dren (Delphine Chanéac) is a sight to behold, all the more so as the movie progresses and Dren’s characteristics become more human-like.