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Basic Instinct

Among the many ways that the second season of True Detective has disappointed its fans, the tepid sexual intrigue deserves a footnote. We were promised three broken cops descending into a morass of decadence that would twist their souls. Instead, we got a city manager with a prediliction for watching prostitutes screw each other, a kink so mild it barely deserves its own subreddit. Highway Patrolman Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch) is violently repressing a same-sex hookup during his tour in Afghanistan, a story which Brokeback Mountain only made interesting through gorgeous direction and detailed character development. And Detective Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams) has sexual hangups you could pull from a screenwriter’s manual: repressed abuse as a child, manifested as violence and bitterness as an adult.

Itemizing the ways True Detective falls flat got me thinking about the ways it could have gone the distance. “If these sexual intrigues are dull and predictable,” I asked myself, “what would have made them more interesting?” I ran through a few scenarios in my head–maybe Paul can’t get off unless his adrenaline’s pumping; maybe Ani needs coke or amyl nitrates–but none of these would have helped Season 2’s (ahem) performance issues. Worse, it felt like they’d been done before.

Which has me wondering whether it is even possible to make an engaging story of sexual intrigue anymore? Is the era of the erotic thriller over?

**THE FILM:** *Basic Instinct*
**SYNOPSIS:** Drug and sex addicted cop (Michael Douglas) interrogates drug and sex addicted blonde (Sharon Stone) about whether or not she murders her lovers with an ice pick.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 10/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 10/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 20/20
[Where To Stream *Basic Instinct*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Body Double*
**SYNOPSIS:** This Hitchcock tribute from director Brian DePalma is about a struggling actor/Peeping Tom who may or may not have witnessed the brutal murder of his naked neighbor. Oh, did we mention Melanie Griffith also stars as a porn star?
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 9/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 9/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 18/20
[Where To Stream *Body Double*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Bound*
**SYNOPSIS:** The debut film from the Wachowskis twists the Mob caper into a sexual stew featuring some searing chemistry between Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 10/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 8/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 18/20
[Where To Stream *Bound*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Fatal Attraction*
**SYNOPSIS:** A one-night stand between (the very married) Michael Douglas and (the totally insane) Glenn Close goes awry. Bunnies are boiled.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 8/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 10/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 18/20
[Where To Stream *Fatal Attraction*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Body Heat*
**SYNOPSIS:** The only hotter than Florida in the summertime is the sexual chemistry between William Hurt and Kathleen Turner (here in her film debut). There's murder, double crosses, and triple crosses!
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 10/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 7/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 17/20
[Where To Stream *Body Heat*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Dressed To Kill*
**SYNOPSIS:** A sexually frustrated wife (Angie Dickinson) vents to her psychiatrist (Michael Caine) in the sexually liberated '70s. Be warned: This one gets DARK.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 7/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 10/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 17/20
[Where To Stream *Dressed To Kill*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Unfaithful*
**SYNOPSIS:** Diane Lane is a wayward wife and Richard Gere is her suspicious husband in Adrian Lyne's film about adultery.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 9/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 8/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 17/20
[Where To Stream *Unfaithful*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Wild At Heart*
**SYNOPSIS:** Sailor (Nic Cage) and Lulu (Laura Dern) play a pair of lovers on the run in this sizzling, surreal masterpiece from director David Lynch.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 9/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 8/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 17/20
[Where To Stream *Wild At Heart*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Wild Things*
**SYNOPSIS:** Another Florida movie! This time around, a teen socialite (Denise Richards) gets involved with a high school classmate from the wrong side of the tracks (Neve Campbell) and their guidance counselor (Matt Dillon). Yes, there is a threesome.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 8/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 7/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 15/20
[Where To Stream *Wild Things*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Eyes Wide Shut*
**SYNOPSIS:** Stanley Kubrick's final film stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as a pair of wealthy but unhappy Manhattanites whose relationship unravels after a night of smoking reefer. Heads up -- orgies ahoy!
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 8/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 6/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 14/20
[Where To Stream *Eyes Wide Shut*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Fear*
**SYNOPSIS:** NICOLE 4-EVA! What happens when your daughter (Reese Witherspoon) dates a local goon (Mark Wahlberg)? William Peterson wishes he never found out.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 7/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 7/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 14/20
[Where To Stream *Fear*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Lust/Caution*
**SYNOPSIS:** Ang Lee's WWII era story is set in Shanghai and is chock full of political intrigue. That part is kind of slow, I'll admit, but pay attention and you'll see why this movie was rated NC-17.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 9/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 5/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 14/20
[Where To Stream *Lust/Caution*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Sea Of Love*
**SYNOPSIS:** Stop us if you've heard this one before. A detective (Al Pacino) gets involved with a woman (Ellen Barkin) who may or may not be the chief suspect in a series of murders. Peak Barkin!
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 7/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 7/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 14/20
[Where To Stream *Sea Of Love*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Angel Heart*
**SYNOPSIS:** The plot has something to do with Satanic cults, but what you really need to know is that this movie was almost rated X thanks to the crazy town sex scene between Mickey Rourke and Lisa Bonet. Yes, *that* Lisa Bonet, the one from *The Cosby Show*.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 8/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 5/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 13/20
[Where To Stream *Angel Heart*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Bitter Moon*
**SYNOPSIS:** Watch this movie! You should also totally read Olivia Armstrong's piece on this minor Roman Polanski masterpiece.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 8/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 4/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 12/20
[Where To Stream *Bitter Moon*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Killing Me Softly*
**SYNOPSIS:** No, this doesn't have anything to do with Roberta Flack. All you really need to know about this film is that it's got a Heather Graham/Joseph Fiennes sex scene in it that puts anything Rollergirl ever did on camera to shame.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 7/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 5/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 12/20
[Where To Stream *Killing Me Softly*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Single White Female*
**SYNOPSIS:** In this psychological thriller, a needy young woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) finds fulfillment by trying to literally become her successful roommate (Bridget Fonda).
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 7/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 5/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 12/20
[Where To Stream *Single White Female*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Enemy*
**SYNOPSIS:** Do you ever find yourself watching Jake Gyllenhaal movies and thinking "One Jake Gyllenhaal is not nearly enough"? If so, this is the film for you!
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 4/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 7/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 11/20
[Where To Stream *Enemy*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Jade*
**SYNOPSIS:** Two words for you. David Caruso. Not sold yet? Here's two more. Linda Fiorentino. Sold yet?
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 5/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 6/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 11/20
[Where To Stream *Jade*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Original Sin*
**SYNOPSIS:** A lonely man's (Antonio Banderas) search for companionship soon takes him to dangerous and unexpected places in this erotically charged drama. Oh, did we mention those erotically charged situations involve Angelina Jolie?
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 7/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 4/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 11/20
[Where To Stream *Original Sin*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Color Of Night*
**SYNOPSIS:** This movie explores double-identities, death threats and Bruce Willis' peen. That's all you need to know.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 6/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 4/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 10/20
[Where To Stream *Color Of Night*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Femme Fatale*
**SYNOPSIS:** Yes, yet ANOTHER Brian DePalma film. He is the master of the genre, after all! This one has a silly plot but features a stunning Rebecca Romijn as the titular (heh heh) femme fatale.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 6/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 4/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 10/20
[Where To Stream *Femme Fatale*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Quills*
**SYNOPSIS:** You know what's not sexy? Geoffrey Rush and 18th century insane asylums. That said, there are some great twists and turns in this story about the Marquis de Sade.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 3/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 6/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 9/20
[Where To Stream *Quills*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Sleeping With The Enemy*
**SYNOPSIS:** Who would ever hurt poor little Julia Roberts? Don't they know she's America's Sweetheart?
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 4/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 5/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 9/20
[Where To Stream *Sleeping With The Enemy*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *The Boy Next Door*
**SYNOPSIS:** Props to J. Lo for trying to resurrect this genre; this film about J. Lo seducing the titular (heh) boy next door grossed a healthy $50MM worldwide against a budget of $4MM.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 5/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 3/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 8/20
[Where To Stream *The Boy Next Door*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Bad Timing*
**SYNOPSIS:** You know who's even less sexy than Geoffrey Rush? Art Garfunkel, that's who! Still, this Nic Roeg movie is full of sexual intrigue and is TOTALLY worth watching. (If it helps convince you, this film is part of the Criterion Collection.)
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 3/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 4/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 7/20
[Where To Stream *Bad Timing*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *The Canyons*
**SYNOPSIS:** Lindsay Lohan gets naked, and naked again, and naked some more in this Hollywood thriller written by Bret Easton Ellis.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 4/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 3/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 7/20
[Watch *The Canyons* on Netflix]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *In The Cut*
**SYNOPSIS:** Jane Campion directs Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo in this erotic thriller based on the best-selling suspense novel by Susanna Moore.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 4/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 3/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 7/20
[Where To Stream *In The Cut*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Obsessed*
**SYNOPSIS:** Idris Elba and Beyonce (!) play a couple whose happy marriage is broken up by a Becky (Ali Larter).
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 3/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 3/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 6/20
[Where To Stream *Obsessed*]Photo: Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Fair Game*
**SYNOPSIS:** This movie is really terrible and not at all erotic, but that said, it's worth watching just to see Cindy Crawford try to act. (Oh, and she gets topless at one point, too.)
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 1/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 2/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 3/20
[Where To Stream *Fair Game*]Photo: Everett Collection

While all thrillers can have sex–where would James Bond be without it?–an erotic thriller derives its thrills from sex. It relies on the twin prongs of stimulation and shame associated with sex, especially with more exotic sex acts, to heighten narrative tension. The genre arose in the late Seventies and early Eighties, as neo-noir and relaxed film codes led to a more frank depiction of sexuality onscreen (not to mention the ways in which the introduction of premium cable and home video greased the path to profitability). But they peaked in the Nineties and have declined in popularity since.

Is Hollywood still making erotic thrillers? Gone Girl had sexual elements, weird and normal, but the chief tension came from the whodunnit at the center. The Loft wove a tale of cheating and privilege, but audiences and critics panned it. Studios may release the occasional tale of sex and danger, but they don’t command national attention the way Basic Instinct did.

What explains the decline in this once popular genre? We can point to a number of factors.

First, fewer actresses market themselves as femmes fatales in this century, and every erotic thriller needs one. This isn’t to suggest there aren’t any: Jennifer Lawrence took a stab at it in Serena, and Anne Hathaway’s Hitchockian turn in The Dark Knight Rises proves she has the chops for it. But it seems like contemporary leading actresses would rather establish themselves as action superstars, strong leaders, or comic dazzlers than as seductresses. No one’s aiming to capture the world’s attention the way Kathleen Turner did with her debut in Body Heat, or Linda Fiorentino with her starmaking turn in The Last Seduction. Frankly, this isn’t a bad thing–the very idea of the “femme fatale” is a bit dated–but it means fewer starlets to cast.

Second, growing movie budgets have made mid-tier thrillers less feasible for big studios. Over the last thirty-five years, the cost of marketing a movie alone has tripled in 2014 dollars. 2015’s The Boy Next Door likely wouldn’t have been released if Jennifer Lopez hadn’t championed it through her own production company and deliberately kept the budget small ($4MM). In the era of comic book blockbusters, YA dystopias, and Oscar-bait historical epics, a successful erotic thriller isn’t impossible, but it’s much less likely.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, sexuality has become less shameful over the last forty years. Characters that were homosexual, bisexual, or transsexual were still fringe enough behaviors to hang a thriller on in the Eighties or Nineties, whereas today, Orange is the New Black features all three among its supporting cast. Fifty Shades of Grey, as hackneyed as its depictions of kink may have been, went a long way toward mainstreaming bondage and other formerly hushed practices. Cheating on one’s perfect wife with a sexually voracious stranger might have been enough for Fatal Attraction to build a script off of. Today, it’d produce yawns.

You could also make the case that shame has also become less shameful in the 21st Century. People still have their lives ruined by secrets, stalking, and harassment campaigns — all elements you’d find in a good erotic thriller. But the very idea of sexual intrigue presumes that people in power have something to hide. In the era of social media, people in power are marked by their willingness to share, whether it’s Donald Trump taking shots at Lindsey Graham or 50 Cent thumbing his nose at his own bankruptcy filing. How long could Matt Dillon have kept things going with both Denise Richards and Neve Campbell if Wild Things had been set in the age of Snapchat?

While none of the above make an erotic thriller impossible in the 2010s, they all contribute to making them less likely to reach the pop cultural heights that Basic Instinct or The Crying Game did in their heyday. Perhaps the erotic thriller isn’t dead–merely sleeping, coiled under rumpled sheets in a slatted sunbeam, waiting to select its next victim. In the meantime, streaming video has given us more than enough classics to sate our decadent appetites.

RELATED: The 30 Best Erotic Thrillers Available To Stream

John Perich (@perich) lives and writes in the Boston area. When he’s not scrutinizing pop culture at Overthinking It, he blogs at his own site, Periscope Depth. His latest crime thriller, Too Late to Run, is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers.

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