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Erotic thriller

January 01, 1970

Not to be confused with Romantic thriller.

The erotic thriller or sexual thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or sexual fantasy.[1] 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."[2] Most erotic thrillers contain scenes of softcore sex and nudity, though the frequency and explicitness of those scenes can differ from film to film.[3]

Fatal Attraction, a major box office success in 1987, was featured on the cover of Time magazine and is credited with kicking off the erotic thriller film craze.

Erotic thrillers emerged as a distinct genre in the late 1980s, bolstered by the popular success of Fatal Attraction in 1987[4][5] and continuing into the early 1990s. Studio films of this "classic period", such as Paul Verhoeven's Basic Instinct, were box office successes, helmed by big-name directors, and starred high-profile actors.[6] The popularity of the genre spawned a lucrative cottage industry for the burgeoning home video and cable television markets. The direct-to-video erotic thriller wave from 1985 to 2005 produced over 700 films.[7] By the end of the 1990s, market saturation, audience fatigue, cultural changes and the rise of the Internet led to the decline of the genre's popular appeal and production volume.[7][8]

Definition edit

According to British film studies professor Linda Ruth Williams, "Erotic thrillers are noirish stories of sexual intrigue incorporating some form of criminality or duplicity, often as the flimsy framework for onscreen softcore sex".[2]

The predominating syntax that shapes these films combines romanticized, "erotic" appeal with a dangerous "thriller" narrative – a "pleasure/danger" principle.

— Nina K. Martin, Sexy Thrills: Undressing the Erotic Thriller[9]

The thriller film genre contains subgenres other than the noir crime film and murder mystery,[10] 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,[11] such as film noir, romance, gothic, and the thriller, taking narrative and stylistic elements from each.[7] 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.[12]

Characteristics of the genre edit

Femme fatale edit

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.[13] From "Sharon Stone's icy Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct or Linda Fiorentino's brusque Bridget in The Last Seduction…[these archetypes] tend 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".[2] 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 [different] than a gun or a knife or any kind of weapon."[2] 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".[14]

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'".[2] 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".[13] Although these female characters wielded agency and power, they were usually limited to using their bodies and sexuality as weapons.[2] Furthermore, some films saw the male protagonist ultimately triumph over the femme fatale, subduing the threat she represents.[2][15]

The fall guy edit

The counterpart to the femme fatale is the "fall guy"—a man who is easily manipulated by the femme fatale.[16] The fall guy is often sexualized himself,[17] with some films featuring full-frontal male nudity in addition to female nudity, as in the films American Gigolo, Color of Night, and Wild Things.[2] 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".[2]

Origins edit

The erotic thriller has been interpreted as a direct descendant of 1940s and 1950s film noir,[18] 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, one of the first films of the erotic thriller's classic period,[2] was itself inspired by the film noir Double Indemnity (1944).[19] "Body Heat star Kathleen Turner argued it was precisely because [cast and crew] were 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.'"[2]

 
The erotic thriller as a hybrid of thriller narrative, romance story, and softcore sex film.

However, looking at erotic thrillers solely through the lens of film noir can be misleading.[7] The erotic thriller also has its roots in the mystery genre, the horror genre, European art cinema and pornography.[7][20] Brian De Palma'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".[20] 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".[20]

Other forebears of the erotic thriller include the romance novel, the soap opera, and works of gothic fantasy.[21] Softcore sex films are often romances of some kind, and the genre has a long tradition, particularly in Europe. Directors such as Radley Metzger (Therese and Isabelle 1968), Joseph Sarno (Inga 1968), and Just Jaeckin (Emmanuelle 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.[22]

1980s–1990s: Classic period edit

William Friedkin'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.[23][2] The next few years saw a flood of titles, including Body Double (1984), Jagged Edge (1985), and 9½ Weeks (1986). Fatal Attraction in 1987 was seen as the first visible success in the genre, as it was a critical[24] and commercial success. The film was a mixture of psychological thriller action with brief scenes of softcore sex and illicit romance.[3] 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.[24] Hoping to repeat the film's success, Hollywood studios released a spate of erotic thriller films[25] over the next several years, including The Hot Spot (1990), Presumed Innocent (1990), Shattered (1991), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), A Kiss Before Dying (1991), Consenting Adults (1992), Single White Female (1992), Love Crimes (1992), Unlawful Entry (1992), Poison Ivy (1992), Final Analysis (1992), Malice (1993), The Crush (1993), Indecent Proposal (1993), The Last Seduction (1994), and Color of Night (1994).

Basic Instinct, directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas, 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, the film is seen as the apotheosis of the genre.[26] Though it received mixed reviews, it was a significant box office smash as it grossed $352 million worldwide.[27] Sliver attempted to duplicate this success—with the same screenwriter, Eszterhas, and star, Sharon Stone—the following year. Though Sliver fared even worse with critics,[28] it also opened at No. 1 at the box office.[29] Disclosure, directed by Barry Levinson, was met with considerable success in 1994. The film—which concerns a computer specialist (played by Michael Douglas, his then third film of the genre) who is sexually harassed by his female superior and former lover (played by Demi Moore)—grossed $214 million against its $50 million budget.[30]

DTV (direct-to-video) market edit

This classic period took place amidst the boon of the video rental market[31] and the worldwide cable TV market.[32] Over the course of the 1980s, these two new markets, together called direct-to-video, or DTV, would become a lucrative, non-theatrical alternative for producers of low-budget, R-rated films.[33] The DTV market would often have a symbiotic relationship with the big studio films.[34]

Video rental chains like Blockbuster were instrumental in the popularity of the genre.[35] Since Blockbuster did not stock unrated films as part of its family-friendly image,[36] DTV titles were able to meet demand for content that was geared towards adults but did not stray into outright pornography.[37] Gerry Weber, former chief operating officer for Blockbuster, said "[DTV] erotic thrillers rated at the top" out of all the genres for rentals.[36]

Throughout the 1980s, cable television was similarly expanding and diversifying its appeal to adult audiences. In 1980 Cinemax (owned by HBO) launched with a 24-hour schedule.[38] Soon after, Showtime followed suit with The Movie Channel.[38] Fearing the negative publicity associated with traditional sexploitation[39] 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".[40]

With smaller budgets than studio films and less high-profile stars, the DTV market became hugely profitable.[41] Between 1985 and 2005, over 700 DTV erotic thrillers were produced. In sheer size alone, the DTV erotic thriller surely demands consideration as one of the largest, specifically American film movements of the 20th century.[7] These "high and low" markets for the erotic thriller overlapped but did not compete,[42] and each fed off the other financially and artistically.[43] 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.[42]

A film that served as a prototypical success and catalyst in this new market was Night Eyes (1990).[44][45] Shannon Tweed,[36] Tanya Roberts, Andrew Stevens, Joan Severance, Tané McClure, Martin Hewitt, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Shannon Whirry became notable actors in DTV films.[7] Axis Films International and Prism Entertainment[36] 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.[46] These directors included Gregory Dark,[47] Zalman King,[48] and Jag Mundhra.[49] Though King is mostly associated with erotic romance films,[50] the director had an unmistakable stamp on the genre with his films Two Moon Junction (1988), Wild Orchid (1989), and Red Shoe Diaries (1992), which is also the title of his long-running cable television series consisting of erotic featurettes with female protagonists.[48]

In 1994 the Chicago Tribune reported that erotic thrillers—a term which, Leonard Maltin said, "didn't even exist 15 years ago"—and action films were the two most successful direct-to-video genres.[51] In 1993, the genre was spoofed in the comedy Fatal Instinct.

Cultural factors edit

The popularity of the erotic thriller during the 1980s and early 1990s has been said to reflect the cultural fear of AIDS,[20] as the rise of the genre overlapped with the early years of the epidemic.[2] 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".[2] 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".[2]

Post-classic period edit

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 and Jade, both written by Eszterhas.[2][19] 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.[2] Jade, directed by William Friedkin and starring Linda Fiorentino in the femme fatale role, earned only $9,851,610 at the North American domestic box office.[52] These films' critical and financial disasters led to the dismissal of erotic thrillers—and similar films with risqué content—as a studio risk.[2] Though Basic Instinct is seen as the pinnacle of the erotic thriller craze,[53] some argue it also signaled the genre's demise.[2] 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".[54]

Some films of the mid-to-late 1990s were lauded for elevating the genre, despite not matching Basic Instinct's commercial success. Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster, Exotica, and Chloe all trade on the audience's perception of what an erotic thriller should be with their complexity and depth in plot.[55] David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers and Crash propel the genre into the near future, where sex, obsession, and erotic desire are played out in hypermodern settings mediated by potentially destructive technologies.[56]

Bound (1996), the Wachowski sisters' 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,[57] Bound was praised for offering a realistic portrayal of a lesbian relationship that did not feel crafted for the male gaze.[13] Other films that were commended for their subversion of common erotic thriller tropes were Gus Van Sant's media satire To Die For (1995) and David Lynch's Mulholland Drive (2001).[58]

1999's Eyes Wide Shut was another high-profile film of the late 1990s due to its famed director Stanley Kubrick and its stars (then couple Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise). 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.[2][59][60]   

Backlash edit

The turn of the 21st century saw the erotic thriller genre as all but obsolete.[61][62] One of the foremost reasons cited for the death knell of the genre's heyday is the Internet.[63][64] The increased availability of online pornography in the 1990s arguably diminished the significance of the genre.[65] 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[66] and causing budgets for erotic thrillers to shrink to nearly a third or less of what they were in the early 1990s.[67] As budgets shrank, so did actor salaries, image quality, and shooting schedules.[68] Family films became more important in the direct-to-video market, as retailers stocked more copies of blockbuster films instead of more titles.[69] 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.[66][70]

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 was due to a more conservative America in 2006. Verhoeven explained, "'Look at the people at the top [of the government]. We are living under a government that is constantly hammering out Christian values. And Christianity and sex have never been good friends'".[2]

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 (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.[2]

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.'"[65][71] As Carlee Gomes writes,

We’re left with a landscape wherein films that are algorithmically deemed to have a higher chance of success are given more resources and marketing budgets, while riskier projects, projects that might appeal to a smaller number of people rather than the entirety of the four quadrants, are often ignored or underfunded, or go directly to streaming, or become serialized in some way. And sex scenes don’t appeal to the four quadrants, do they, if the four quadrants contain children as a key audience demographic lumped in with the rest of the movie-going public.[72]

Another reason given for the backlash against the genre is the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera. Though there have been a few exceptions,[73] such as the Rob Hardy-directed Trois films, as well as Jane Campion's In the Cut, erotic thrillers are mostly written and directed by white men.[2][74]

Moreover, the #MeToo movement has shifted the dynamic in film productions to where actors and actresses feel less pressure to do nude scenes, and to feel more power to advocate for themselves against potentially exploitative situations.[19][71]

Further developments of the genre edit

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 art-house cinema.[65][75] More recent examples center gay sexuality, such as the French film Stranger by the Lake (2013)[76] and the South Korean film The Handmaiden (2016).[77] Paul Verhoeven premiered his French-language erotic thriller Benedetta at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.[65]

Erotic thrillers are also thriving in three very different markets: women’s television, black independent cinema, and Bollywood.[7]

Lifetime, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Passionflix produce a torrent of sexy thrillers that push female protagonists into shadowy borderlands of dangerous desire, such as Dating to Kill (2019), Psycho Escort (2020), Deadly Seduction (2021), Fatal Memory (2022), etc. In the last years the titles of these films have become as unapologetically lurid as those of many late-stage erotic thrillers, and the films have begun to explore more sexually explicit territory.[7]

The 2000s and 2010s saw erotic thriller films with non-white lead actors, such as Asunder (1999), the Rob Hardy-directed Trois films (2002-2004), Obsessed (2009), The Boy Next Door (2015), When the Bough Breaks (2016), and Fatale (2020).[78]

In the early 2000s a few classic DTV erotic thrillers — such as Body Chemistry (1990), Animal Instincts (1992), and Secret Games (1992) — began showing up on YouTube with the government of India’s Central Board of Film Certification header; an indication that India’s long-standing anti-pornography stance did not extend to R-rated thrillers of the DTV era, and that the fan base for erotic thrillers in India might be large. Continuing through the present day, the Bollywood erotic thrillers include Jism (2003), Aitraaz (2004), Hawas, the Murder trilogy (2004-2013), the Hate Story tetralogy (2012-2018), and Wajah Tum Ho (2016).[7]

Recent erotic thrillers starring Hollywood actors and actresses include Unforgettable (2017), in which Rosario Dawson appeared as a co-lead.[77] Although the Fifty Shades film series was anticipated to revive the genre, the films were widely panned as lacking chemistry[79] and sparked criticism for the depiction of BDSM and consent.[19] The 365 Days trilogy on Netflix (365 Days, 365 Days: This Day, and The Next 365 Days) received a highly negative reception and similar criticisms to the Fifty Shades series for its depiction of sexual violence and treating its central toxic relationship as romantic.[80]

In an interview with Vulture, 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 [a few years ago] to 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."[64]

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.[63] Netflix's Bridgerton,[65] HBO's I May Destroy You,[81] Euphoria[71] and The Idol,[82] and Hulu's Normal People[83] have all featured graphic scenes of nudity.

The films Fatal Attraction and American Gigolo are being rebooted as TV series on Paramount+ and Showtime, respectively.[64] Of the former, Paramount producer Nicole Clemens said the TV reboot will give "a 360-degree view, dimensionalizing the characters of [Alex, Dan, and Beth], really getting underneath their skin and examining the psychology."[64]

A handful of recent films have attempted to breathe new life into the genre, including 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)[62] and Don't Worry Darling (directed by Olivia Wilde). As a result, some publications have considered that erotic thrillers have seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years.[62][64][84][85] The Voyeurs was planned to be the first in a series of "sexy date night films" for Amazon Prime with the intention to revitalize the erotic thriller genre, but despite the film performing well for the streaming service, those plans had reportedly been abandoned.[64]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Martin 2007, p. 17-18.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Juzwiak, Rich (August 13, 2021). "The Lost Art of the Erotic Thriller". Jezebel. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Andrews 2006, p. 136.
  4. ^ Keesey 2001, p. 44.
  5. ^ Williams 2005, p. 49.
  6. ^ Mind & Body Pt 17: The Rise and Fall of the Erotic Thriller (1987 - 1995) - Evolution of Horror on YouTube
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Penta, Anthony (June 7, 2023). "Crimes of Desire: A Casefile on the Erotic Thriller". Lo Specchio Scuro. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  8. ^ Williams 2005, pp. 77–78.
  9. ^ Martin 2007, p. 4.
  10. ^ McKee 1997, p. 82.
  11. ^ Williams 2005, p. 23.
  12. ^ Martin 2007, p. 29.
  13. ^ a b c Cote, Rachel Vorona (August 29, 2019). "'90s erotic thrillers and the satisfaction of watching women burn the world". Vox. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  14. ^ Newland, Christina (December 19, 2017). "The Gruesome Demise of the 90s Erotic Thriller". Vice. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  15. ^ Cacioppo, Cristina (July 15, 2021). "Notebook Primer: 90s Erotic Thrillers". Mubi. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  16. ^ Williams 2005, pp. 107–121.
  17. ^ Williams 2005, p. 107.
  18. ^ a b c d Roberts, Soraya (May 24, 2019). "The Erotic Thriller's Little Death". Longreads. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  19. ^ a b c d Keesey 2001, p. 46.
  20. ^ Martin 2007, p. 18.
  21. ^ Andrews 2006, p. 15.
  22. ^ Williams 2005, p. 80.
  23. ^ a b "30 years ago today, "Fatal Attraction" couldn't be ignored - Entertainment News". ABC News Radio. September 18, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  24. ^ Although some of these titles may not fall under the precise definition of "erotic thriller", they all fell under the thriller category (psychological or neo-noir), contained sex and/or nudity, with marketing that emphasized these lurid elements.
  25. ^ Williams 2005, p. 163.
  26. ^ "Basic Instinct (1992) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  27. ^ "Sliver (1993)", Rotten Tomatoes
  28. ^ Fox, David J. (May 24, 1993). "Stone Gets a 'Sliver' of Box Office but Not a Runaway : Movies: 'Hot Shots!' also opens strongly but the blockbuster hopes are now on Memorial Day weekend". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  29. ^ "Disclosure". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  30. ^ Williams 2005, p. 7.
  31. ^ Andrews 2006, p. 77.
  32. ^ Andrews 2006, p. 83.
  33. ^ Willmore, Alison (April 8, 2022). "Erotic Thrillers Owe Everything to Home Viewers". Vulture. from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  34. ^ Williams 2005, p. 62.
  35. ^ a b c d Liebenson, Donald (March 20, 2017). ""The Sexpendables": How Basic Instinct Birthed a Schlocky, Sexy Cottage Industry". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  36. ^ Williams 2005, p. 65.
  37. ^ a b Andrews 2006, p. 82.
  38. ^ Andrews 2006, p. 84.
  39. ^ Mair 1988, p. 109.
  40. ^ Williams 2005, p. 6.
  41. ^ a b Williams 2005, p. 69.
  42. ^ Williams 2005, p. 14.
  43. ^ Williams 2005, pp. 2, 264.
  44. ^ Martin 2007, p. 137.
  45. ^ Williams 2005, p. 250.
  46. ^ . Nightflight. February 9, 2016. Archived from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  47. ^ a b Andrews 2006, p. 110.
  48. ^ Williams 2005, p. 312.
  49. ^ Williams 2005, p. 390.
  50. ^ Alvarez, Max J. (December 30, 1994). . Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011.
  51. ^ "Jade". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  52. ^ Karagiannidou 2006, p. 8.
  53. ^ Barber, Nicholas (June 3, 2021). "Basic Instinct defined the erotic thriller – and killed it". BBC. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  54. ^ Clarke, Cath (January 21, 2010). "The double life of Atom Egoyan". The Guardian.
  55. ^ Johnson, Brian D. (May 27, 1996). "Cronenberg Film Controversy". Maclean's.
  56. ^ Nelson, Carrie (March 13, 2012). "Visi(bi)lity: Biphobia Bingo! A Look at Basic Instinct". Bitch Media. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  57. ^ Chamings, Andrew (January 12, 2021). "From 'Basic Instinct' to 'Showgirls': The rise and fall of the erotic thriller". SF Gate. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  58. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (September 9, 1999). "Eyes Wide Shut". The Guardian. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  59. ^ O'Callaghan, Paul (April 10, 2019). "Eyes Wide Shut, 20 years on: how does Stanley Kubrick's last testament stand up?". British Film Institute. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  60. ^ Bray, Catherine, "Who killed the erotic thriller? | Inside Cinema", BBC — via YouTube. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  61. ^ a b c Davis, Allison P. (April 5, 2022). "The Erotic Thriller Is Still the Best Way to Talk About Sex". Vulture. from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  62. ^ a b Otterson, Joe (August 19, 2022). "Streamers Get Steamy as They Lust After Sex-Drenched Fare to Seduce Subscribers". Variety. Retrieved August 23, 2022. Ironically, the embrace of more explicit fare comes after cable moved away from such content in the internet age.
  63. ^ a b c d e f Lee, Chris (April 4, 2022). "Hollywood Has No Idea What to Do With the Erotic Thriller". Vulture. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  64. ^ a b c d e Newland, Christina (November 4, 2021). "Why Hollywood is shunning sex". BBC. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  65. ^ a b Williams 2005, p. 323.
  66. ^ Williams 2005, p. 71.
  67. ^ Andrews 2006, p. 151.
  68. ^ Matzer, Marla (April 16, 1997). . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012.
  69. ^ Andrews 2006, p. 152.
  70. ^ a b c Helmore, Edward (June 16, 2019). "The end of erotica? How Hollywood fell out of love with sex". The Guardian. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  71. ^ Gomes, Carlee (November 25, 2023). "The Puritanical Eye: Hyper-mediation, Sex on Film, and the Disavowal of Desire". Lo Specchio Scuro. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  72. ^ Female directors in the genre include Katt Shea (Poison Ivy), Karen Arthur (Lady Beware), Lizzie Borden (Love Crimes), Sondra Locke (Impulse), Donna Deitch (Criminal Passion), and Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena).
  73. ^ Bender, Abbey (October 2, 2019). "Let women make erotic thrillers". The Outline. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  74. ^ Hornaday, Ann (June 7, 2019). "Sex is disappearing from the big screen, and it's making movies less pleasurable". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  75. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (January 23, 2014). "Sex and danger are entwined in the erotic thriller Stranger By The Lake". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  76. ^ a b Bender, Abbey (May 13, 2017). "Where have all the erotic thrillers gone?". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  77. ^ Schilling, Dave (September 7, 2016). "Basic instincts: how the erotic thriller went black to the future". The Guardian. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  78. ^ Fifty Shades Darker, Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved November 30, 2021
  79. ^ Burlingame, Russ (August 26, 2022). "Netflix's 365 Days Trilogy Sets Rare Rotten Tomatoes Record". ComicBook.com. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  80. ^ Latif, Leila (October 19, 2021). "I May Destroy You and how it represents the future of TV". BBC. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  81. ^ Kurutz, Steven (June 6, 2023). "Can HBO's The Idol Bring Back '80s Sleaze?". The New York Times. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  82. ^ Stanford, Eleanor (April 17, 2020). "'Normal People' Takes Sex Seriously". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  83. ^ Hellerman, Jason (April 15, 2022). "Erotic Thrillers Are Back, and Hollywood Has No Idea What to Do with Them". NoFilmSchool.com. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  84. ^ "The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema and Streaming". Lo Specchio Scuro. November 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.

Bibliography edit

  • Andrews, David (2006). Soft in the Middle: The Contemporary Softcore Feature in Its Contexts. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University Press. ISBN 9780814210222.
  • Karagiannidou, Aneta (2006). Getting Away With It: The Erotic Thriller and Its Fantasies (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
  • Keesey, Douglas (July 2001). "They Kill for Love: Defining the Erotic Thriller as a Film Genre". CineAction. Vol. 56. CineAction Collective. pp. 44–53.
  • Mair, George (1988). Inside HBO: The Billion Dollar War Between HBO, Hollywood, and the Home Video Revolution. New York, NY: Dodd, Mead, and Co. ISBN 9780396084204.
  • Martin, Nina K. (2007). Sexy Thrills: Undressing the Erotic Thriller. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252074370.
  • McKee, Robert (1997). Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting. New York, New York: Harpercollins. ISBN 9780060391683.
  • Palmer, R. Barton (1994). Hollywood's Dark Cinema: The American Film Noir. New York: Twayne. ISBN 9780060391683.
  • Williams, Linda Ruth (2005). The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253347138.

January 01, 1970
erotic, thriller, confused, with, romantic, thriller, erotic, thriller, sexual, thriller, film, subgenre, defined, thriller, with, thematic, basis, illicit, romance, sexual, fantasy, though, exact, definitions, erotic, thriller, vary, generally, agreed, bodily. Not to be confused with Romantic thriller The erotic thriller or sexual thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or sexual fantasy 1 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 2 Most erotic thrillers contain scenes of softcore sex and nudity though the frequency and explicitness of those scenes can differ from film to film 3 Fatal Attraction a major box office success in 1987 was featured on the cover of Time magazine and is credited with kicking off the erotic thriller film craze Erotic thrillers emerged as a distinct genre in the late 1980s bolstered by the popular success of Fatal Attraction in 1987 4 5 and continuing into the early 1990s Studio films of this classic period such as Paul Verhoeven s Basic Instinct were box office successes helmed by big name directors and starred high profile actors 6 The popularity of the genre spawned a lucrative cottage industry for the burgeoning home video and cable television markets The direct to video erotic thriller wave from 1985 to 2005 produced over 700 films 7 By the end of the 1990s market saturation audience fatigue cultural changes and the rise of the Internet led to the decline of the genre s popular appeal and production volume 7 8 Contents 1 Definition 2 Characteristics of the genre 2 1 Femme fatale 2 2 The fall guy 3 Origins 4 1980s 1990s Classic period 4 1 DTV direct to video market 4 2 Cultural factors 5 Post classic period 6 Backlash 7 Further developments of the genre 8 See also 9 References 9 1 BibliographyDefinition editAccording to British film studies professor Linda Ruth Williams Erotic thrillers are noirish stories of sexual intrigue incorporating some form of criminality or duplicity often as the flimsy framework for onscreen softcore sex 2 The predominating syntax that shapes these films combines romanticized erotic appeal with a dangerous thriller narrative a pleasure danger principle Nina K Martin Sexy Thrills Undressing the Erotic Thriller 9 The thriller film genre contains subgenres other than the noir crime film and murder mystery 10 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 11 such as film noir romance gothic and the thriller taking narrative and stylistic elements from each 7 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 12 Characteristics of the genre editFemme fatale edit 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 13 From Sharon Stone s icy Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct or Linda Fiorentino s brusque Bridget in The Last Seduction these archetypes tend 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 2 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 different than a gun or a knife or any kind of weapon 2 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 14 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 2 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 13 Although these female characters wielded agency and power they were usually limited to using their bodies and sexuality as weapons 2 Furthermore some films saw the male protagonist ultimately triumph over the femme fatale subduing the threat she represents 2 15 The fall guy edit The counterpart to the femme fatale is the fall guy a man who is easily manipulated by the femme fatale 16 The fall guy is often sexualized himself 17 with some films featuring full frontal male nudity in addition to female nudity as in the films American Gigolo Color of Night and Wild Things 2 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 2 Origins editThe erotic thriller has been interpreted as a direct descendant of 1940s and 1950s film noir 18 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 one of the first films of the erotic thriller s classic period 2 was itself inspired by the film noir Double Indemnity 1944 19 Body Heat star Kathleen Turner argued it was precisely because cast and crew were 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 2 nbsp The erotic thriller as a hybrid of thriller narrative romance story and softcore sex film However looking at erotic thrillers solely through the lens of film noir can be misleading 7 The erotic thriller also has its roots in the mystery genre the horror genre European art cinema and pornography 7 20 Brian De Palma 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 20 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 20 Other forebears of the erotic thriller include the romance novel the soap opera and works of gothic fantasy 21 Softcore sex films are often romances of some kind and the genre has a long tradition particularly in Europe Directors such as Radley Metzger Therese and Isabelle 1968 Joseph Sarno Inga 1968 and Just Jaeckin Emmanuelle 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 22 1980s 1990s Classic period editWilliam Friedkin 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 23 2 The next few years saw a flood of titles including Body Double 1984 Jagged Edge 1985 and 9 Weeks 1986 Fatal Attraction in 1987 was seen as the first visible success in the genre as it was a critical 24 and commercial success The film was a mixture of psychological thriller action with brief scenes of softcore sex and illicit romance 3 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 24 Hoping to repeat the film s success Hollywood studios released a spate of erotic thriller films 25 over the next several years including The Hot Spot 1990 Presumed Innocent 1990 Shattered 1991 Sleeping with the Enemy 1991 A Kiss Before Dying 1991 Consenting Adults 1992 Single White Female 1992 Love Crimes 1992 Unlawful Entry 1992 Poison Ivy 1992 Final Analysis 1992 Malice 1993 The Crush 1993 Indecent Proposal 1993 The Last Seduction 1994 and Color of Night 1994 Basic Instinct directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas 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 the film is seen as the apotheosis of the genre 26 Though it received mixed reviews it was a significant box office smash as it grossed 352 million worldwide 27 Sliver attempted to duplicate this success with the same screenwriter Eszterhas and star Sharon Stone the following year Though Sliver fared even worse with critics 28 it also opened at No 1 at the box office 29 Disclosure directed by Barry Levinson was met with considerable success in 1994 The film which concerns a computer specialist played by Michael Douglas his then third film of the genre who is sexually harassed by his female superior and former lover played by Demi Moore grossed 214 million against its 50 million budget 30 DTV direct to video market edit This classic period took place amidst the boon of the video rental market 31 and the worldwide cable TV market 32 Over the course of the 1980s these two new markets together called direct to video or DTV would become a lucrative non theatrical alternative for producers of low budget R rated films 33 The DTV market would often have a symbiotic relationship with the big studio films 34 Video rental chains like Blockbuster were instrumental in the popularity of the genre 35 Since Blockbuster did not stock unrated films as part of its family friendly image 36 DTV titles were able to meet demand for content that was geared towards adults but did not stray into outright pornography 37 Gerry Weber former chief operating officer for Blockbuster said DTV erotic thrillers rated at the top out of all the genres for rentals 36 Throughout the 1980s cable television was similarly expanding and diversifying its appeal to adult audiences In 1980 Cinemax owned by HBO launched with a 24 hour schedule 38 Soon after Showtime followed suit with The Movie Channel 38 Fearing the negative publicity associated with traditional sexploitation 39 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 40 With smaller budgets than studio films and less high profile stars the DTV market became hugely profitable 41 Between 1985 and 2005 over 700 DTV erotic thrillers were produced In sheer size alone the DTV erotic thriller surely demands consideration as one of the largest specifically American film movements of the 20th century 7 These high and low markets for the erotic thriller overlapped but did not compete 42 and each fed off the other financially and artistically 43 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 42 A film that served as a prototypical success and catalyst in this new market was Night Eyes 1990 44 45 Shannon Tweed 36 Tanya Roberts Andrew Stevens Joan Severance Tane McClure Martin Hewitt Jan Michael Vincent and Shannon Whirry became notable actors in DTV films 7 Axis Films International and Prism Entertainment 36 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 46 These directors included Gregory Dark 47 Zalman King 48 and Jag Mundhra 49 Though King is mostly associated with erotic romance films 50 the director had an unmistakable stamp on the genre with his films Two Moon Junction 1988 Wild Orchid 1989 and Red Shoe Diaries 1992 which is also the title of his long running cable television series consisting of erotic featurettes with female protagonists 48 In 1994 the Chicago Tribune reported that erotic thrillers a term which Leonard Maltin said didn t even exist 15 years ago and action films were the two most successful direct to video genres 51 In 1993 the genre was spoofed in the comedy Fatal Instinct Cultural factors edit The popularity of the erotic thriller during the 1980s and early 1990s has been said to reflect the cultural fear of AIDS 20 as the rise of the genre overlapped with the early years of the epidemic 2 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 2 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 2 Post classic period edit1995 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 and Jade both written by Eszterhas 2 19 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 2 Jade directed by William Friedkin and starring Linda Fiorentino in the femme fatale role earned only 9 851 610 at the North American domestic box office 52 These films critical and financial disasters led to the dismissal of erotic thrillers and similar films with risque content as a studio risk 2 Though Basic Instinct is seen as the pinnacle of the erotic thriller craze 53 some argue it also signaled the genre s demise 2 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 54 Some films of the mid to late 1990s were lauded for elevating the genre despite not matching Basic Instinct s commercial success Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan s The Adjuster Exotica and Chloe all trade on the audience s perception of what an erotic thriller should be with their complexity and depth in plot 55 David Cronenberg s Dead Ringers and Crash propel the genre into the near future where sex obsession and erotic desire are played out in hypermodern settings mediated by potentially destructive technologies 56 Bound 1996 the Wachowski sisters 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 57 Bound was praised for offering a realistic portrayal of a lesbian relationship that did not feel crafted for the male gaze 13 Other films that were commended for their subversion of common erotic thriller tropes were Gus Van Sant s media satire To Die For 1995 and David Lynch s Mulholland Drive 2001 58 1999 s Eyes Wide Shut was another high profile film of the late 1990s due to its famed director Stanley Kubrick and its stars then couple Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise 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 2 59 60 Backlash editThe turn of the 21st century saw the erotic thriller genre as all but obsolete 61 62 One of the foremost reasons cited for the death knell of the genre s heyday is the Internet 63 64 The increased availability of online pornography in the 1990s arguably diminished the significance of the genre 65 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 amp 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 66 and causing budgets for erotic thrillers to shrink to nearly a third or less of what they were in the early 1990s 67 As budgets shrank so did actor salaries image quality and shooting schedules 68 Family films became more important in the direct to video market as retailers stocked more copies of blockbuster films instead of more titles 69 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 66 70 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 was due to a more conservative America in 2006 Verhoeven explained Look at the people at the top of the government We are living under a government that is constantly hammering out Christian values And Christianity and sex have never been good friends 2 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 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 2 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 65 71 As Carlee Gomes writes We re left with a landscape wherein films that are algorithmically deemed to have a higher chance of success are given more resources and marketing budgets while riskier projects projects that might appeal to a smaller number of people rather than the entirety of the four quadrants are often ignored or underfunded or go directly to streaming or become serialized in some way And sex scenes don t appeal to the four quadrants do they if the four quadrants contain children as a key audience demographic lumped in with the rest of the movie going public 72 Another reason given for the backlash against the genre is the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera Though there have been a few exceptions 73 such as the Rob Hardy directed Trois films as well as Jane Campion s In the Cut erotic thrillers are mostly written and directed by white men 2 74 Moreover the MeToo movement has shifted the dynamic in film productions to where actors and actresses feel less pressure to do nude scenes and to feel more power to advocate for themselves against potentially exploitative situations 19 71 Further developments of the genre editWith 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 art house cinema 65 75 More recent examples center gay sexuality such as the French film Stranger by the Lake 2013 76 and the South Korean film The Handmaiden 2016 77 Paul Verhoeven premiered his French language erotic thriller Benedetta at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival 65 Erotic thrillers are also thriving in three very different markets women s television black independent cinema and Bollywood 7 Lifetime Hallmark Movies amp Mysteries and Passionflix produce a torrent of sexy thrillers that push female protagonists into shadowy borderlands of dangerous desire such as Dating to Kill 2019 Psycho Escort 2020 Deadly Seduction 2021 Fatal Memory 2022 etc In the last years the titles of these films have become as unapologetically lurid as those of many late stage erotic thrillers and the films have begun to explore more sexually explicit territory 7 The 2000s and 2010s saw erotic thriller films with non white lead actors such as Asunder 1999 the Rob Hardy directed Trois films 2002 2004 Obsessed 2009 The Boy Next Door 2015 When the Bough Breaks 2016 and Fatale 2020 78 In the early 2000s a few classic DTV erotic thrillers such as Body Chemistry 1990 Animal Instincts 1992 and Secret Games 1992 began showing up on YouTube with the government of India s Central Board of Film Certification header an indication that India s long standing anti pornography stance did not extend to R rated thrillers of the DTV era and that the fan base for erotic thrillers in India might be large Continuing through the present day the Bollywood erotic thrillers include Jism 2003 Aitraaz 2004 Hawas the Murder trilogy 2004 2013 the Hate Story tetralogy 2012 2018 and Wajah Tum Ho 2016 7 Recent erotic thrillers starring Hollywood actors and actresses include Unforgettable 2017 in which Rosario Dawson appeared as a co lead 77 Although the Fifty Shades film series was anticipated to revive the genre the films were widely panned as lacking chemistry 79 and sparked criticism for the depiction of BDSM and consent 19 The 365 Days trilogy on Netflix 365 Days 365 Days This Day and The Next 365 Days received a highly negative reception and similar criticisms to the Fifty Shades series for its depiction of sexual violence and treating its central toxic relationship as romantic 80 In an interview with Vulture 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 a few years ago to 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 64 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 63 Netflix s Bridgerton 65 HBO s I May Destroy You 81 Euphoria 71 and The Idol 82 and Hulu s Normal People 83 have all featured graphic scenes of nudity The films Fatal Attraction and American Gigolo are being rebooted as TV series on Paramount and Showtime respectively 64 Of the former Paramount producer Nicole Clemens said the TV reboot will give a 360 degree view dimensionalizing the characters of Alex Dan and Beth really getting underneath their skin and examining the psychology 64 A handful of recent films have attempted to breathe new life into the genre including 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 62 and Don t Worry Darling directed by Olivia Wilde As a result some publications have considered that erotic thrillers have seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years 62 64 84 85 The Voyeurs was planned to be the first in a series of sexy date night films for Amazon Prime with the intention to revitalize the erotic thriller genre but despite the film performing well for the streaming service those plans had reportedly been abandoned 64 See also editList of erotic thriller films Vulgar auteurism Social thriller Pinku Slasher film Peak TV Weinstein effectReferences edit Martin 2007 p 17 18 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Juzwiak Rich August 13 2021 The Lost Art of the Erotic Thriller Jezebel Retrieved November 29 2021 a b Andrews 2006 p 136 Keesey 2001 p 44 Williams 2005 p 49 Mind amp Body Pt 17 The Rise and Fall of the Erotic Thriller 1987 1995 Evolution of Horror on YouTube a b c d e f g h i j Penta Anthony June 7 2023 Crimes of Desire A Casefile on the Erotic Thriller Lo Specchio Scuro Retrieved December 2 2023 Williams 2005 pp 77 78 Martin 2007 p 4 McKee 1997 p 82 Williams 2005 p 23 Martin 2007 p 29 a b c Cote Rachel Vorona August 29 2019 90s erotic thrillers and the satisfaction of watching women burn the world Vox Retrieved November 29 2021 Newland Christina December 19 2017 The Gruesome Demise of the 90s Erotic Thriller Vice Retrieved November 29 2021 Cacioppo Cristina July 15 2021 Notebook Primer 90s Erotic Thrillers Mubi Retrieved November 29 2021 Williams 2005 pp 107 121 Williams 2005 p 107 Palmer 1994 p 168 Perhaps the most popular genre in the 1990s the so called erotic thriller is a direct descendant of the classic film noir a b c d Roberts Soraya May 24 2019 The Erotic Thriller s Little Death Longreads Retrieved November 30 2021 a b c d Keesey 2001 p 46 Martin 2007 p 18 Andrews 2006 p 15 Williams 2005 p 80 a b 30 years ago today Fatal Attraction couldn t be ignored Entertainment News ABC News Radio September 18 2017 Retrieved November 29 2021 Although some of these titles may not fall under the precise definition of erotic thriller they all fell under the thriller category psychological or neo noir contained sex and or nudity with marketing that emphasized these lurid elements Williams 2005 p 163 Basic Instinct 1992 Financial Information The Numbers Retrieved November 29 2021 Sliver 1993 Rotten Tomatoes Fox David J May 24 1993 Stone Gets a Sliver of Box Office but Not a Runaway Movies Hot Shots also opens strongly but the blockbuster hopes are now on Memorial Day weekend Los Angeles Times Retrieved November 30 2021 Disclosure Box Office Mojo Retrieved November 29 2021 Williams 2005 p 7 Andrews 2006 p 77 Andrews 2006 p 83 Willmore Alison April 8 2022 Erotic Thrillers Owe Everything to Home Viewers Vulture Archived from the original on April 12 2022 Retrieved April 21 2022 Williams 2005 p 62 a b c d Liebenson Donald March 20 2017 The Sexpendables How Basic Instinct Birthed a Schlocky Sexy Cottage Industry Vanity Fair Retrieved November 29 2021 Williams 2005 p 65 a b Andrews 2006 p 82 Andrews 2006 p 84 Mair 1988 p 109 Williams 2005 p 6 a b Williams 2005 p 69 Williams 2005 p 14 Williams 2005 pp 2 264 Martin 2007 p 137 Williams 2005 p 250 Filmmaker Gregory Dark his Fallen Angels and the other side of Hollywood Nightflight February 9 2016 Archived from the original on February 16 2016 Retrieved June 5 2016 a b Andrews 2006 p 110 Williams 2005 p 312 Williams 2005 p 390 Alvarez Max J December 30 1994 Big Names Look For Bright Lights In Videoland Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on May 11 2011 Jade Box Office Mojo Retrieved November 30 2021 Karagiannidou 2006 p 8 Barber Nicholas June 3 2021 Basic Instinct defined the erotic thriller and killed it BBC Retrieved November 30 2021 Clarke Cath January 21 2010 The double life of Atom Egoyan The Guardian Johnson Brian D May 27 1996 Cronenberg Film Controversy Maclean s Nelson Carrie March 13 2012 Visi bi lity Biphobia Bingo A Look at Basic Instinct Bitch Media Retrieved November 30 2021 Chamings Andrew January 12 2021 From Basic Instinct to Showgirls The rise and fall of the erotic thriller SF Gate Retrieved November 30 2021 Bradshaw Peter September 9 1999 Eyes Wide Shut The Guardian Retrieved December 12 2021 O Callaghan Paul April 10 2019 Eyes Wide Shut 20 years on how does Stanley Kubrick s last testament stand up British Film Institute Retrieved December 12 2021 Bray Catherine Who killed the erotic thriller Inside Cinema BBC via YouTube Retrieved 30 November 2021 a b c Davis Allison P April 5 2022 The Erotic Thriller Is Still the Best Way to Talk About Sex Vulture Archived from the original on April 5 2022 Retrieved April 21 2022 a b Otterson Joe August 19 2022 Streamers Get Steamy as They Lust After Sex Drenched Fare to Seduce Subscribers Variety Retrieved August 23 2022 Ironically the embrace of more explicit fare comes after cable moved away from such content in the internet age a b c d e f Lee Chris April 4 2022 Hollywood Has No Idea What to Do With the Erotic Thriller Vulture Retrieved June 26 2022 a b c d e Newland Christina November 4 2021 Why Hollywood is shunning sex BBC Retrieved November 30 2021 a b Williams 2005 p 323 Williams 2005 p 71 Andrews 2006 p 151 Matzer Marla April 16 1997 Direct to Video Family Films Are Hitting Home Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on May 16 2012 Andrews 2006 p 152 a b c Helmore Edward June 16 2019 The end of erotica How Hollywood fell out of love with sex The Guardian Retrieved November 30 2021 Gomes Carlee November 25 2023 The Puritanical Eye Hyper mediation Sex on Film and the Disavowal of Desire Lo Specchio Scuro Retrieved December 2 2023 Female directors in the genre include Katt Shea Poison Ivy Karen Arthur Lady Beware Lizzie Borden Love Crimes Sondra Locke Impulse Donna Deitch Criminal Passion and Jennifer Lynch Boxing Helena Bender Abbey October 2 2019 Let women make erotic thrillers The Outline Retrieved November 30 2021 Hornaday Ann June 7 2019 Sex is disappearing from the big screen and it s making movies less pleasurable The Washington Post Retrieved November 30 2021 Kenigsberg Ben January 23 2014 Sex and danger are entwined in the erotic thriller Stranger By The Lake The A V Club Retrieved December 12 2021 a b Bender Abbey May 13 2017 Where have all the erotic thrillers gone The Washington Post Retrieved November 30 2021 Schilling Dave September 7 2016 Basic instincts how the erotic thriller went black to the future The Guardian Retrieved November 30 2021 Fifty Shades Darker Rotten Tomatoes retrieved November 30 2021 Burlingame Russ August 26 2022 Netflix s 365 Days Trilogy Sets Rare Rotten Tomatoes Record ComicBook com Retrieved January 24 2023 Latif Leila October 19 2021 I May Destroy You and how it represents the future of TV BBC Retrieved November 30 2021 Kurutz Steven June 6 2023 Can HBO s The Idol Bring Back 80s Sleaze The New York Times Retrieved December 2 2023 Stanford Eleanor April 17 2020 Normal People Takes Sex Seriously The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved November 30 2021 Hellerman Jason April 15 2022 Erotic Thrillers Are Back and Hollywood Has No Idea What to Do with Them NoFilmSchool com Retrieved June 9 2022 The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema and Streaming Lo Specchio Scuro November 2023 Retrieved December 2 2023 Bibliography edit Andrews David 2006 Soft in the Middle The Contemporary Softcore Feature in Its Contexts Columbus Ohio The Ohio State University Press ISBN 9780814210222 Karagiannidou Aneta 2006 Getting Away With It The Erotic Thriller and Its Fantasies PDF Ph D thesis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Keesey Douglas July 2001 They Kill for Love Defining the Erotic Thriller as a Film Genre CineAction Vol 56 CineAction Collective pp 44 53 Mair George 1988 Inside HBO The Billion Dollar War Between HBO Hollywood and the Home Video Revolution New York NY Dodd Mead and Co ISBN 9780396084204 Martin Nina K 2007 Sexy Thrills Undressing the Erotic Thriller Chicago University of Illinois Press ISBN 9780252074370 McKee Robert 1997 Story Substance Structure Style and the Principles of Screenwriting New York New York Harpercollins ISBN 9780060391683 Palmer R Barton 1994 Hollywood s Dark Cinema The American Film Noir New York Twayne ISBN 9780060391683 Williams Linda Ruth 2005 The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema Bloomington Indiana Indiana University Press ISBN 9780253347138 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Erotic thriller amp oldid 1221818331, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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