30 Most Gruesome Movie Diseases
Whatta way to go…
Venereal Disease Shivers (1975)
The Disease: Spread by a parasite, this unnamed venereal disease causes the infected to act out in a typically violent manner.
Worse, the disease can be spread during any form of sexual contact, making it just about the worst STI you could ever get.
Most Gruesome Symptoms: Big, bulging boils that pulse with a life all their own. Mmm, sexy.
How Long You’d Last: Depends how devout you are.
Keep it in your pants, and you’ve got a pretty good chance.
Krippin Virus - I Am Legend (2007)
The Disease: Never mess with diseases. That’s what Dr. Alice Krippin (Emma Thompson) did when she genetically engineered a variant of measles as a cure for cancer, which then turned into a lethal virus of epic proportions.
Most Gruesome Symptoms: The Krippin Virus killed 90% of the Earth’s population.
Those it didn’t kill, it transformed into ‘Darkseekers’, vampiric monsters that hunt and kill humans.
How Long You’d Last: If the Krippin Virus killed you, count yourself lucky – you wouldn’t want to go up against a Darkseeker.
Even Will Smith couldn’t handle them.
Virulent Bacteria Warning Sign (1985)
The Disease: Created in a top secret military lab, this virulent strain of bacteria was intended as a biological weapon.
Except then it got out into the rest of the building, infecting and eventually killing innocent workers.
Most Gruesome Symptoms: The infected suffer not only from the kind of bad skin usually reserved for hormonal teens, but glowy eyes that would be perfect for raving with.
How Long You’d Last: This thing was meant as a weapon, and boy is it good at its job. Don’t except to see another sunrise.
Bloody Skin Carriers (2009)
The Disease: A virus that’s gone global, the bloody skin disease in Carriers does exactly what it says on the tin – it opens up gory sores in your skin so that you sort of resemble somebody who’s been on the sunbed a bit too long.
Most Gruesome Symptoms: The icky-looking skin sores – small wonder Brian (Chris Pine) abandons his infected girlfriend.
How Long You’d Last: Not long. You’ll be able to hide it for a while (like Bobby), but in the end, the bruises and rashes will give the game away. Gross.
Bug Virus - The Thaw (2009)
The Disease: A creeping infection that takes control of the body.
The origin of that infection? Bugs that have been hibernating in the frozen carcass of a woolly mammoth.
Most Gruesome Symptoms: Gross ulcers that gradually creep up the body.
Amputation doesn’t help – when Bart’s infected arm is removed, it doesn’t stop the infection’s covetous spread…
How Long You’d Last: A matter of days.
Mad Zombie Disease Zombieland (2009)
The Disease : Remember when there was that massive Mad Cow Disease scare?
Well, in Zombieland , that virus mutated into Mad Person Disease before finally becoming Mad Zombie Disease.
Most Gruesome Symptoms: You basically look like a rotting corpse.
Which is pretty much what you are.
How Long You’d Last: If you follow Columbus’ (Jesse Eisenberg) rules, there’s a good chance you won’t get infected at all.
Vampire plague Daybreakers (2009)
The Disease: A plague propagated by a vampire bat transforms much of the human race into vamps – so much so that neck-chewers are now the norm, and humans are the minority.
Most Gruesome Symptoms: Even if a vampire attempts to retain some of its humanity by abstaining from drinking blood, that just makes things worse.
Fail to sate your bloody appetite and you’ll turn into a ‘subsider’, a horrific bat-like monster that’s as far away from human as it’s possible to get.
How Long You’d Last: If you’re one of the few unaffected by the vampire plague, it’s likely you’ll get gobbled up pretty sharpish.
If you’re now a vampire, you’re laughing all the way to the blood bank.
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Language Pontypool (2008)
The Disease: A virus that has managed to infect the human language, the unnamed disease in Pontypool can only infect you if you say certain words or phrases.
Most Gruesome Symptoms: As the infection spirals out of control, causing erratic behaviour, it sends its victims to the grave in super-gore-soaked fashion by causing them to vomit a fountain of blood before succumbing to death.
How Long You’d Last: Laurel-Ann (Georgina Reilly) succumbs in mere hours, but this one probably depends on how well you use the English language…
Reaper Virus Doomsday (2008)
The Disease: Breaking out in Scotland, the Reaper virus “spread across Scotland like a common cold” according to the film’s doom-laden opening narration.
And apparently, “there was no stopping it”…
Most Gruesome Symptoms: You’ve seen The Elephant Man , right?
Now imagine him with what looks like puss-filled burn wounds and you’re pretty much there.
How Long You’d Last: Considering it spreads through the rest of Britain pretty sharpish, not long by our estimations.
Possession Disease - [REC] (2007)
The Disease: Completely unbiased when it comes to infecting humans and animals, the Possession Disease is a contagious virus that causes demonic possession.
Anybody got a number for a good bio-exorcist?
Most Gruesome Symptoms: You basically end up looking like chopped liver and running around with an insatiable lust for blood.
How Long You’d Last: A fair while, so long as you can find a dark room to inhabit and a few humans to snack on.
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.
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