The DC film Clayface has reached a global box office of $83 million, surpassing The Substance's $77 million. ComicBook has thus dubbed it the highest-grossing "pure body horror film" in history.
This record is based on specific genre classifications, comparing works centered on bodily mutation and body horror, but excluding films that merely contain related elements while leaning more toward action-adventure horror. Therefore, this claim does not cover all films featuring body horror elements.
Clayface grossed $24 million in its North American opening weekend, with an estimated $10.4 million in its second weekend, slightly below the documentary You Can See Everythinggj, which earned $10.6 million. On Halloween, Clayface surpassed the latter's $3.58 million with $4.3 million.
Clayface and The Substance make for a great double feature. Both films explore themes of celebrity, appearance, and physical decay, with characters attempting to restore themselves through experimental medical procedures, ultimately undergoing grotesque transformations.
The two films differ in character backgrounds and thematic focus: Clayface centers on a young actor disfigured by a gang, while The Substance revolves around an aging actress seeking to regain her youth.