The erotic thriller is a
film subgenre defined as a
thriller with a thematic basis in illicit
romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
or
erotic fantasy
A sexual fantasy or erotic fantasy is a mental image or pattern of thought that stirs a person's sexuality and can create or enhance sexual arousal. A sexual fantasy can be created by the person's imagination or memory, and may be triggered auto ...
. Though exact definitions of the erotic thriller can vary, it is generally agreed "bodily danger and pleasure must remain in close proximity and equally important to the plot."
Most erotic thrillers contain scenes of
softcore sex and nudity, though the frequency and explicitness of those scenes can differ from film to film.
Erotic thrillers emerged as a distinct genre in the late 1980s, bolstered by the popular success of ''
Fatal Attraction'' in 1987 and continuing into the early
1990s. Studio films of this "classic period", such as
Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
's ''
Basic Instinct
''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wea ...
'', were box office successes, helmed by big-name directors, and starred high-profile actors. The popularity of the genre spawned a lucrative cottage industry for the burgeoning
home video
Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...
and
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
markets. By the end of the 1990s, cultural changes and the rise of the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
led to the decline of the genre's popular appeal and production volume.
Definition
According to British film studies professor
Linda Ruth Williams
Linda Ruth Williams (born 16 April 1961) is Professor of Film Studies in the College of Humanities at the University of Exeter, UK. Her special interests include sexuality and censorship in cinema and literature (she has written widely on porno ...
, "Erotic thrillers are
noirish stories of sexual intrigue incorporating some form of criminality or duplicity, often as the flimsy framework for onscreen
softcore sex".
The
thriller film genre contains subgenres other than the noir crime film and murder mystery, including the psychological thriller, or suspense stories of illicit romance and sexual obsession. Thus, the erotic thriller participates in several genres and film styles at once, such as
film noir,
romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
, and the
thriller, taking narrative and stylistic elements from each. Because the erotic thriller combines various genres, pinning down the exact formula for an erotic thriller can be difficult. Though academics and writers on the subject encapsulate the erotic thriller film differently, the overlapping of the suspense thriller, romance, and softcore sex film is the unique domain of the erotic thriller.
Characteristics of the genre
Femme fatale
The character type of the
femme fatale—an alluring, mysterious, and seductive woman—is common to many erotic thriller films. Villainous, even deadly, femme fatales manipulate and entrap the male characters, at times being in complete control of the men.
From "
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
's icy
Catherine Tramell
Catherine Tramell is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the film ''Basic Instinct'' (1992) and its sequel ''Basic Instinct 2'' (2006). Catherine Tramell, created by writer Joe Eszterhas, is played by Sharon Stone in both films. In ...
in ''
Basic Instinct
''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wea ...
'' or
Linda Fiorentino
Clorinda "Linda" Fiorentino (born March 9, 1958 or 1960) is an American former actress. Fiorentino made her screen debut with a leading role in the 1985 coming-of-age drama film ''Vision Quest'', followed that same year with a lead role in the ac ...
's brusque Bridget in ''
The Last Seduction
''The Last Seduction'' is a 1994 American neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by John Dahl, and features Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, and Bill Pullman. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and distributed by October Films. Fiorentino ...
''…
hese archetypestend to be cheerfully promiscuous…These women actively reject
domesticity in all its forms, sniping about 'hating rugrats' and holding intimidatingly high-powered careers as stockbrokers and novelists".
The most blatant depiction of the femme fatale is the character of Rebecca Carlson, played by
Madonna in 1993's ''
Body of Evidence''. On trial for the murder of her lover, Rebecca is described by a prosecutor as "no
ifferentthan a gun or a knife or any kind of weapon."
In erotic thrillers, power dynamics are subverted as femme fatales "turn men into pliable playthings, and the punchline of almost all of these films revolves around one idea: Men are basically stupid; blinded by sex, and helpless in the face of it".
The femme fatale of erotic thrillers took shape against "the backdrop of what German sexologist/sociologist
Volkmar Sigusch deemed the 'neosexual revolution,' 'a tremendous cultural and social transformation of sexuality during the 1980s and 1990s'".
Feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s resulted in greater socioeconomic opportunities for women of the 1980s; thus, the femme fatales in erotic thrillers "flagrantly embody male anxieties over women's burgeoning financial and professional independence".
Although these female characters wielded agency and power, they were usually limited to using their bodies and
sexuality as weapons.
Furthermore, some films saw the male protagonist ultimately triumph over the femme fatale, subduing the threat she represents.
The fall guy
The counterpart to the femme fatale is the "fall guy"—a man who is easily manipulated by the femme fatale. The fall guy is often sexualized himself, with some films featuring
full-frontal male nudity in addition to female nudity, as in the films ''
American Gigolo'', ''
Color of Night
''Color of Night'' is a 1994 American erotic mystery thriller film produced by Cinergi Pictures and released in the United States by Buena Vista Pictures (through its Hollywood Pictures label). Directed by Richard Rush, the film stars Bruce Wil ...
'', and ''
Wild Things''.
The fall guy, usually working in a
white-collar occupation, sees the femme fatale as "a portal or chaperone…to go from a world of normality into the world of noir or the erotic thriller".
Origins
The erotic thriller is a direct descendant of 1940s and 1950s
film noir, a thriller genre exemplified by stylish crime films and mysteries that explores the dark underworld of post-World War II America. 1981's ''
Body Heat
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...
'', one of the first films of the erotic thriller's classic period,
was itself inspired by the film noir ''
Double Indemnity'' (1944).
"''Body Heat'' star
Kathleen Turner argued it was precisely because
ast and crewwere working in an
old-Hollywood framework that they were able to get away with the sexual explicitness that would set the tone for the ensuing decade: 'Film noir has a formality and shape to it. Its very familiar form allowed people to accept more readily the daring content that we were presenting.'"
![Erotic Thriller Venn Diagram](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Erotic_Thriller_Venn_Diagram.png)
The erotic thriller also has its roots in the
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
genre, the
horror genre, and
pornography.
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
's ''
Dressed to Kill'' (1980), another early 1980s erotic film, contains several direct references to
Alfred Hitchcock's psychological horror film ''
Psycho'' (1960). Though the
R-ratings, theatrical releases, and notable actors differentiate erotic thrillers from pornography, both erotic thrillers and pornography "feature sex scenes occurring at regular intervals, and in low-budget erotic thrillers, the plot, as in porn, may be mainly a pretext for the sex". It is this proximity to pornography that is one of the reason's for the erotic thriller's "popular success–and probably one reason for its critical neglect as a genre".
Other forebears of the erotic thriller include the
romance novel
A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pr ...
, the
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
, and works of
gothic fantasy
Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror fiction, horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense o ...
. Softcore sex films are often romances of some kind, and the genre has a long tradition, particularly in Europe. Directors such as
Radley Metzger
Radley Metzger (also known as Radley Henry Metzger, Radley H. Metzger and by the pseudonyms, "Jake Barnes", "Erich Farina" and "Henry Paris") (January 21, 1929 – March 31, 2017) was an American pioneering filmmaker and film distributor, mos ...
(''Theresa and Isabelle'' 1968),
Joseph Sarno (''
Inga
''Inga'' is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" ''The Guardian'' 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. ''Inga''s ...
'' 1968), and
Just Jaeckin
Just Jaeckin (8 August 1940 – 6 September 2022) was a French film director, photographer, and sculptor.
Early life
Jaeckin was born in Vichy, Allier, French State during the Second World War, but left with his mother and father for Englan ...
(''
Emmanuelle
Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French erotic films based on the main character in the novel '' Emmanuelle'' (1959), created by Emmanuelle Arsan.
Character history
Emmanuelle appeared as the pen name of Marayat Rollet-Andri ...
'' 1974) were influential pioneers of the softcore-romance film. Their "middlebrow
sexploitation" films put stories of female desire at the center, and helped pave the way for softcore's reemergence in the 1990s.
1980s-1990s: Classic period
William Friedkin
William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the " New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in ...
's ''
Cruising'' and the aforementioned ''Dressed to Kill'' and ''Body Heat'' arguably ushered in the Golden Age of the erotic thriller at the beginning of the 1980s.
The next few years saw a flood of titles, including ''
Body Double
In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...
'' (1984), ''
Jagged Edge'' (1985), and ''
9½ Weeks
''9½ Weeks'' is a 1986 American erotic romantic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne, and starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. Basinger portrays a New York City art gallery employee who has a brief yet intense affair with a mysterious Wal ...
'' (1986). ''
Fatal Attraction'' in 1987 was seen as the first visible success in the genre, as it was a critical
and commercial success. The film was a mixture of psychological thriller action with brief scenes of softcore sex and illicit romance. Spending eight weeks in the No. 1 spot at the box office, ''Fatal Attraction'' grossed more than $320 million worldwide, making it the biggest film of that year.
Hoping to repeat the film's success, Hollywood studios released a spate of erotic thriller films over the next several years, including ''
The Hot Spot
''The Hot Spot'' is a 1990 American neo-noir film directed by Dennis Hopper, based on the 1953 novel ''Hell Hath No Fury'' by Charles Williams, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It stars Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, and Jennifer Connelly, and f ...
'' (1990), ''
Presumed Innocent'' (1990), ''
Shattered'' (1991), ''
Sleeping with the Enemy
''Sleeping with the Enemy'' is a 1991 American psychological thriller film directed by Joseph Ruben and starring Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin and Kevin Anderson. The film is based on Nancy Price's 1987 novel of the same name. Roberts play ...
'' (1991), ''
A Kiss Before Dying'' (1991), ''
Consenting Adults
In criminal law, consent may be used as an excuse and prevent the defendant from incurring liability for what was done.
Defences against criminal liability
A defence against criminal liability may arise when a defendant can argue that, becaus ...
'' (1992), ''
Single White Female
''Single White Female'' is a 1992 American psychological erotic thriller film based on John Lutz's 1990 novel '' SWF Seeks Same''. It stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and was directed by Barbet Schroeder.
Plot
New York City softwa ...
'' (1992), ''
Love Crimes'' (1992), ''
Unlawful Entry'' (1992), ''
Poison Ivy'' (1992), ''
Final Analysis
''Final Analysis'' is a 1992 American neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Phil Joanou and written by Wesley Strick from a concept by forensic psychiatrist Robert H. Berger. It stars Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman, Eric Roberts, Ke ...
'' (1992), ''
Malice'' (1993), ''
The Crush'' (1993), ''
Indecent Proposal
''Indecent Proposal'' is a 1993 American erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Amy Holden Jones. It is based on the 1988 novel by Jack Engelhard, in which a couple's marriage is disrupted by a stranger's offer of a million d ...
'' (1993), ''
The Last Seduction
''The Last Seduction'' is a 1994 American neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by John Dahl, and features Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, and Bill Pullman. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and distributed by October Films. Fiorentino ...
'' (1994), and ''
Color of Night
''Color of Night'' is a 1994 American erotic mystery thriller film produced by Cinergi Pictures and released in the United States by Buena Vista Pictures (through its Hollywood Pictures label). Directed by Richard Rush, the film stars Bruce Wil ...
'' (1994).
''
Basic Instinct
''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wea ...
'', directed by
Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
and written by
Joe Eszterhas
József A. Eszterhás ( born November 23, 1944) is a Hungarian-American writer. He attended Ohio University. He wrote the screenplays for the films ''Flashdance'', '' Jagged Edge'', ''Basic Instinct'' and ''Showgirls''. His books include ''Americ ...
, was released to great success and controversy in 1992. Featuring overt sexuality and violence, including a plot depicting a
bisexual woman as a murderous
psychopath
Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...
, the film is seen as the apotheosis of the genre. Though it received mixed reviews, it was a significant box office smash as it grossed $352 million worldwide. ''
Sliver'' attempted to duplicate this success—with the same screenwriter, Eszterhas, and star,
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
—the following year. Though ''Sliver'' fared even worse with critics, it also opened at No. 1 at the box office. ''
Disclosure
Disclosure may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Disclosure'' (The Gathering album), 2012
*Disclosure (band), a UK-based garage/electronic duo
* ''Disclosure'' (novel), 1994 novel written by Michael Crichton
** ''Disclosure'' (1994 film), an American ...
'', directed by
Barry Levinson
Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ...
, was met with considerable success in 1994. The film—which concerns a computer specialist (played by
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the A ...
, his then third film of the genre) who is
sexually harassed by his female superior and former lover (played by
Demi Moore
Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera '' General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the Br ...
)—grossed $214 million against its $50 million budget.
DTV (direct-to-video) market
This classic period took place amidst the boon of the
video rental
A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditions and terms a ...
market and the worldwide cable TV market. Over the course of the 1980s, these two new markets, together called
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...
, or DTV, would become a lucrative, non-theatrical alternative for producers of low-budget, R-rated films. The DTV market would often have a symbiotic relationship with the big studio films.
Video rental chains like
Blockbuster
Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to:
*Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived.
Corporations
* Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain
** Bl ...
were instrumental in the popularity of the genre. Since Blockbuster did not stock unrated films as part of its family-friendly image,
DTV titles were able to meet demand for content that was geared towards adults but did not stray into outright pornography. Gerry Weber, former chief operating officer for Blockbuster, said "
TVerotic thrillers rated at the top" out of all the genres for rentals.
Throughout the 1980s, cable television was similarly expanding and diversifying its appeal to adult audiences. In 1980
Cinemax
Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...
(owned by
HBO) launched with a 24-hour schedule. Soon after,
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
followed suit with
The Movie Channel
The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Media Networks unit. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released ...
. Fearing the negative publicity associated with traditional sexploitation these late-night, premium cable channels actively sought and developed adult programming that could be, in the words of one HBO programmer, "spicy but not obscene".
With smaller budgets than studio films and less high-profile stars, the DTV market became hugely profitable. These "high and low" markets for the erotic thriller overlapped but did not compete, and each fed off the other financially and artistically. The "blockbuster" erotic thrillers boosted sales for small players, who sold films to DTV markets by underscoring the similarities between their films and works by the majors.
A film that served as a prototypical success and catalyst in this new market was ''
Night Eyes'' (1990).
Shannon Tweed
Shannon Lee Tweed Simmons (born March 10, 1957) is a Canadian actress and model. One of the most successful actresses of mainstream erotica, she is identified with the genre of the erotic thriller. Tweed has appeared in more than 60 films and in ...
,
Tanya Roberts
Tanya Roberts (born Victoria Leigh Blum; October 15, 1949 – January 4, 2021) was an American actress. She played Julie Rogers in the final season of the television series ''Charlie's Angels'' (1980–1981), Stacey Sutton in the James Bond fi ...
,
Andrew Stevens,
Joan Severance
Joan Marie Severance (December 23, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model.
Early life
Severance was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Martha and John C. Severance. Her father was an IBM systems manager who had to move freq ...
,
Tané McClure
Tané M. McClure (born June 8, 1958), sometimes credited as Tahnee Cain and Tané Cain, is an American former actress and singer.
Biography
McClure was born in Los Angeles County, California. She is the daughter of actor Doug McClure and Faye ...
,
Martin Hewitt,
Jan-Michael Vincent
Jan-Michael Vincent (July 15, 1944 – February 10, 2019) was an American actor known for portraying helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke in the TV series ''Airwolf'' (1984–1987) and the protagonist, Matt Johnson, in the 1978 film ''Big W ...
, and
Shannon Whirry
Shannon Whirry is an American actress.
Career
A native from Green Lake, Wisconsin, where she was the salutatorian of her 1983 high school graduating class, in 1985 Whirry was accepted to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, one of onl ...
became notable actors in DTV films. Axis Films International and Prism Entertainment
were the most prominent production companies. The former produced over 30 DTV erotic thriller titles, using a rotating stable of filmmakers over a period of ten years. These directors included
Gregory Dark
Gregory Dark (born Gregory Hippolyte Brown on July 12, 1957, in Los Angeles) is an American film director, film producer, music video director, and screenwriter. Dark is an adult filmmaker who transitioned into directing Hollywood movies. He ...
,
Zalman King
Zalman King (born Zalman King Lefkowitz; May 23, 1941 – February 3, 2012) was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica.
Early life
Zalman Kin ...
, and
Jag Mundhra
Jagmohan "Jag" Mundhra (29 October 1948 – 4 September 2011) was an Indian director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his early career as an American exploitation film writer-director.
Family and early life
Mundhra was born at Nagp ...
. Though King is mostly associated with erotic romance films, the director had an unmistakable stamp on the genre with his films ''
Two Moon Junction
''Two Moon Junction'' is a 1988 American erotic thriller romance film written and directed by Zalman King and starring Sherilyn Fenn and Richard Tyson. The original music score is composed by Jonathan Elias.
The film is noted for the final film ...
'' (1988), ''
Wild Orchid'' (1989), and ''
Red Shoe Diaries
''Red Shoe Diaries'' is an American anthology erotic drama series that aired on Showtime cable network from 1992 to 1997 and distributed by Playboy Entertainment overseas. It is a spinoff of an earlier film by the same name, also directed by Za ...
'' (1992), which is also the title of his long-running cable television series consisting of erotic featurettes with female protagonists.
In 1994 the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' reported that erotic thrillers—a term which,
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...
said, "didn't even exist 15 years ago"—and
action films
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...
were the two most successful direct-to-video genres.
In 1993, the genre was spoofed in the comedy ''
Fatal Instinct
''Fatal Instinct'' is a 1993 American sex comedy thriller film directed by Carl Reiner. A parody of the erotic thriller genre, which at the time had reached its commercial peak, as well as being a pastiche of 1940s film noir and psychological t ...
''.
Cultural factors
The popularity of the erotic thriller during the 1980s and early 1990s has been said to reflect the cultural fear of
AIDS, as the rise of the genre overlapped with the early years of the
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time.
Epidemics of infectious ...
.
Though few films actually addressed AIDS directly, "only in the late '80s and '90s—after the sex wars, against the backdrop of AIDS, and in the midst of increasingly fraught public discussions of gender politics—could pleasure and pain intertwine so enthrallingly on film".
In contrast to the
pornographic films of the 1970s, which embodied the ethos of "pleasure without regret," "the erotic thriller offered pleasure with a cost…the loss of human life".
Post-classic period
1995 is seen as the hypothetical endpoint for the classic period of erotic thrillers, as that year saw the major
box office flops of two anticipated big-budget features, ''
Showgirls
''Showgirls'' is a 1995 erotic drama pulp noir film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film stars Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer, Robert Davi, Alan Rachins, and Gina Ravera.
Produ ...
'' and ''
Jade'', both written by Eszterhas.
Though ''Showgirls'' does not readily qualify as an erotic thriller, it was a heavily hyped re-teaming of Eszterhas with ''Basic Instinct'' director Verhoeven, whose reputations as pioneers in the genre preceded the film.
''Jade'', directed by
William Friedkin
William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the " New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in ...
and starring
Linda Fiorentino
Clorinda "Linda" Fiorentino (born March 9, 1958 or 1960) is an American former actress. Fiorentino made her screen debut with a leading role in the 1985 coming-of-age drama film ''Vision Quest'', followed that same year with a lead role in the ac ...
in the femme fatale role, earned only $9,851,610 at the North American domestic box office. These films' critical and financial disasters led to the dismissal of erotic thrillers—and similar films with risqué content—as a studio risk.
Though ''Basic Instinct'' is seen as the pinnacle of the erotic thriller craze, some argue it also signaled the genre's demise.
Writer Nicholas Barber opined the film "took every aspect of the erotic thriller to such outrageous extremes that there was nowhere left for any film in the same vein to go".
Some films of the mid-to-late 1990s were lauded for elevating the genre, despite not matching ''Basic Instinct'' commercial success. Canadian filmmaker
Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan (; hy, Աթոմ Եղոյեան, translit=Atom Yeghoyan; born July 19, 1960) is a Canadian filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in the 1980s from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. Egoyan ...
's ''
The Adjuster
''The Adjuster'' is a 1991 Canadian drama film directed by Atom Egoyan. It premiered at the New York Film Festival, and was invited to the Director's Fortnight program at the Cannes Film Festival. It is Egoyan's fourth feature film, and the firs ...
'', ''
Exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny Exotica (Martin Denny album), album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon Wa ...
'', and ''
Chloe
Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root ', which relates to the colors yellow and green. T ...
'' all trade on the audience's perception of what an erotic thriller should be with their complexity and depth in plot.
David Cronenberg's ''
Dead Ringers'' and ''
Crash
Crash or CRASH may refer to:
Common meanings
* Collision, an impact between two or more objects
* Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond
* Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating
* Couch su ...
'' propel the genre into the near future, where sex, obsession, and erotic desire are played out in hypermodern settings mediated by potentially destructive technologies.
''
Bound
Bound or bounds may refer to:
Mathematics
* Bound variable
* Upper and lower bounds, observed limits of mathematical functions
Physics
* Bound state, a particle that has a tendency to remain localized in one or more regions of space
Geography
*B ...
'' (1996), the
Wachowski siblings' directorial debut, was the first major film of the genre to feature a
lesbian relationship after ''Basic Instinct''. However, unlike ''Basic Instinct'', which was heavily criticized for its negative depiction of lesbians and bisexuals, ''Bound'' was praised for offering a realistic portrayal of a lesbian relationship that did not feel crafted for the
male gaze
In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world in the visual arts and in literature from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heteros ...
.
Other films that were commended for their subversion of common erotic thriller tropes were
Gus Van Sant's media satire ''
To Die For
''To Die For'' is a 1995 satirical black comedy film directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Buck Henry based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the story of Pamela Smart. It stars Nicole Kidman, Joa ...
'' (1995) and
David Lynch's ''
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...
'' (2001).
1999's ''
Eyes Wide Shut
''Eyes Wide Shut'' is a 1999 erotic mystery psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It is based on the 1926 novella '' Traumnovelle'' (''Dream Story'') by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's set ...
'' was another high-profile film of the late 1990s due to its famed director
Stanley Kubrick and its stars (then couple
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...
and
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
). Though it contained elements of the erotic thriller genre, some critics found its self-serious tone and arguably conservative message were a departure from the thrills and entertainment of films of the classic period.
Backlash
The turn of the 21st century saw the erotic thriller genre as all but obsolete.
One of the foremost reasons cited for the death knell of the genre's heyday is the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
.
The increased availability of online pornography in the 1990s arguably diminished the significance of the genre.
Furthermore, by the late 1990s, the very success of the erotic thriller in the DTV era helped officiate its collapse. A glut of cheaply produced "T&A films" which offered sexual spectacle and copious nudity, but little else, began to saturate the market, watering down lucrative pre-sales deals with foreign distributors and causing budgets for erotic thrillers to shrink to nearly a third or less of what they were in the early 1990s. As budgets shrank, so did actor salaries, image quality, and shooting schedules.
Family film
A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films ar ...
s became more important in the direct-to-video market, as retailers stocked more copies of blockbuster films instead of more titles.
For these reasons many of the pioneers of the erotic thriller film, such as Axis Films International and Prism, left the market in frustration or went out of business entirely.
Filmmakers of erotic thrillers have also cited a changing cultural landscape. Paul Verhoeven, the original director of ''Basic Instinct'', reasoned that the box office failure of the sequel ''
Basic Instinct 2
''Basic Instinct 2'' (also known as ''Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction'') is a 2006 erotic thriller film and the sequel to 1992's '' Basic Instinct''. The film was directed by Michael Caton-Jones and produced by Mario Kassar, Joel B. Michaels ...
'' was due to a more
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
America in 2006. Verhoeven explained, "'Look at the
people at the top f the government
F, or f, is the sixth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet#Let ...
We are living under a government that is constantly hammering out
Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different schools ...
. And Christianity and sex have never been good friends'".
Of the cultural factors that helped lead to the genre's demise, writer Rich Juzwiak detailed,
In some ways, the erotic thriller was no longer needed because it ceased speaking to the fears and interests of the viewing public. Though AIDS still claims far too many lives, the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multip ...
(HAART) made HIV a manageable condition for many with access to it. HAART became commercially available in 1996, the year after ''Showgirls'' and ''Jade'' bombed.
In the decades since the erotic thriller's boom period, the economics of cinema have also changed massively. An effect of Hollywood's shift to big-budget franchises is an aversion to "'the business of making mid-budget character dramas that might or might not include physical bonding.'"
Another reason given for the genre's decline is the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera. Though there have been a few exceptions, such as the
Rob Hardy-directed ''
Trois
''Trois'' is a 2000 erotic thriller film directed by Rob Hardy and produced by William Packer. It stars Gary Dourdan, Kenya Moore and Gretchen Palmer. The film was given a limited theatrical release and was one of the years highest grossing ...
'' films, as well as
Jane Campion
Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...
's ''
In the Cut
''In the Cut'' is a 1995 thriller novel by American writer Susanna Moore. The plot follows an English teacher at New York University who becomes entangled in a sexual relationship with a detective investigating a series of gruesome murders in her ...
'' which subverts the male gaze, erotic thrillers are mostly written and directed by white men.
Moreover, the
#MeToo movement has shifted the dynamic in film productions to where women feel less pressure to do nude scenes, and to feel more power to advocate for themselves against potentially exploitative situations.
Many erotic thrillers of the classic period, filmed from a white, heterosexual male perspective, arguably objectify their female leads, who are "stripped of agency and reduced to mere vessels for men's
wish fulfillment
A wish is a hope or desire for something. In fiction, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used.
In fiction
In fiction a ...
".
However, despite all this, erotic thrillers have seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years.
Further developments of the genre
With few mainstream erotic thrillers being made in the United States or the UK today, many films of the genre have been relegated to the
European and
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
art-house cinema
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...
.
More recent examples center
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
sexuality, such as the French film ''
Stranger by the Lake'' (2013) and the South Korean film ''
The Handmaiden
''The Handmaiden'' (; ) is a 2016 South Korean psychological thriller film directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo and Cho Jin-woong. It is inspired by the 2002 novel '' Fingersmith'' by Welsh writer Sarah Wa ...
'' (2016).
Paul Verhoeven premiered his French-language erotic thriller ''
Benedetta Benedetta is a feminine given name of Italian origin, the feminine equivalent of the masculine name Benedetto, a cognate of Benedict. Persons having the name include:
* Benedetta Barzini (contemporary), Italian actress and model
*Benedetta Bianchi ...
'' at the
2021 Cannes Film Festival
The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American director Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after t ...
.
The 2000s and 2010s saw erotic thriller films with non-white lead actors, such as ''
Obsessed'' (2009), ''
The Boy Next Door'' (2015), and ''
When the Bough Breaks'' (2016). ''
Unforgettable'' (2017), which starred
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama ''Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include ''He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...
as a co-lead, was written and directed by women.
Although the ''
Fifty Shades'' film series was anticipated to revive the genre, the films were widely panned as lacking chemistry and sparked criticism for the depiction of
BDSM
BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...
and
consent
Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...
.
As television has flourished as an art form, many have argued the graphic sex scenes that were previously limited to the erotic thriller have migrated to TV shows on premium cable channels and streaming services.
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
's ''
Bridgerton
''Bridgerton'' is an American historical- romance streaming television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted show for Netflix. It revolves around the epony ...
'',
HBO's ''
I May Destroy You'' and ''
Euphoria'',
and
Hulu's ''
Normal People
''Normal People'' is a 2018 novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney. ''Normal People'' is Rooney's second novel, published after '' Conversations with Friends'' (2017). It was first published by Faber & Faber on 30 August 2018. The book became a ...
''
have all featured graphic scenes of nudity. Current erotic thriller films include ''
The Voyeurs (''2021), a film in the vein of the voyeuristic erotic thriller, as well as the 2022 films ''
Deep Water'' (directed by genre pioneer
Adrian Lyne)
and ''
Don't Worry Darling'' (directed by
Olivia Wilde
Olivia Jane Cockburn ( ; born March 10, 1984), known professionally as Olivia Wilde, is an American actress and filmmaker. She played Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House'' (2007–2012), and has appeared in the ...
).
In an interview with ''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
'', an unnamed former development executive at a major streaming service described the challenge of making erotic thriller films today. The executive said, "There was an active effort
few years agoto find projects that would both be modern and a throwback to the erotic thrillers of yore. And there were, quite frankly, very few that fit both bills. That in a post–Me Too environment felt like they were giving a nod to current mores and current moral panics while being of a piece with the goals of an erotic thriller. Which are to both entertain and, to a degree, titillate."
The films ''Fatal Attraction'' and ''
American Gigolo'' are being rebooted as TV series on
Paramount+
Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media ...
and
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
, respectively.
Of the former, Paramount producer Nicole Clemens said the TV reboot will give "a 360-degree view, dimensionalizing the characters of
lex, Dan, and Beth really getting underneath their skin and examining the psychology."
See also
*
List of erotic thriller films
The erotic thriller is a film Genre, subgenre defined as a film that "combines romanticized, 'Eroticism, erotic' appeal with a dangerous 'Thriller film, thriller' narrative—a "pleasure/danger" principle". The elements of bodily danger and pleasur ...
*
Vulgar auteurism
Vulgar auteurism is a movement that emerged in early 2010s cinephilia and film criticism associated with championing or reappraising filmmakers, mostly those working in the horror and action genres and whose work has otherwise received little atte ...
*
Social thriller
A social thriller is a film genre using elements of suspense and horror to augment instances of apparent oppression in society. The genre gained attention in 2017 with the release of Jordan Peele's ''Get Out'', a film highlighting occurrences ...
*
pinku
in its broadest sense includes almost any Japanese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. The Western equiv ...
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Erotic Thriller
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Film genres
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