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Many academically minded types have written at great length and with fascinating eloquence on the connection between sex and death in horror movies. We’ll cut right to the chase, offering up some of the best and most potent examples of sexuality in the horror-movie genre.
But first, a disclaimer: These are horror movies, spanning decades, and, thus, don’t always, or often, offer up the healthiest representations of human sexuality. Whether it’s vampire eroticism or horny teen campers, sex in movies is complicated, and not always sex-positive, even as we’re being invited to be aroused.
Some of these movies have deep and complex, if often uncomfortable, things to say about the links between sex and death; others are pure titillation—movies that throw in some nude bodies and sweaty, writhing flesh in order to get more butts in seats. We’re not here to make a distinction between high-minded horniness and baser sexual impulses—if it’s sexy, it’s under consideration.
Don’t Look Now (1973)
Mourning the recent death of their child, Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland take off for Venice to get away from things—and then almost immediately run into a psychic who claims to be in contact with their daughter. Adapted from a Daphne du Maurier story, and ultimately about the ways in which grief and loss can profoundly alter a relationship for better or for worse, the movie includes one major sex scene involving the couple, but it quickly went down in horny horror history: Not only does it include a depiction of oral sex, unheard-of for a mainstream movie in 1973 and rare even today, given that it’s a woman on the receiving end, but the scene is both emotionally raw and impressively frank. So much so that rumors have persisted in the decades since that the scene itself was entirely unsimulated. Probably not true, despite the Paramount executive who claims he saw it, but still gives you a sense of the scene’s hold on imaginations. Warren Beatty (of all people) even fought to have the scene removed from the film, horrified that his then-girlfriend Christie would be involved in such a sordid business.
Where to stream: digital rental
Knife + Heart (2018)
Yann Gonzalez’s slick and stylish French slasher is set, quite reasonably, in the world of ‘70s gay porn. Anne Parèze (Vanessa Paradis) runs a production company that makes the exploitation movies Knife + Heart centers on, but the series of murders that occur on set barely draw the attention of the local police, who aren’t terribly torn up about the deaths of gay porn actors. Anne decides that her next film will be about the murders themselves, unfolding a movie-within-a-movie that only draws the attention of the killer (and his spiked dildo). The movie celebrates giallo, with plenty of deep cuts for fans of classic Italian horror, and ‘70s sleaze more generally, but with a gorgeous look all its own.
Where to scream: Shudder, AMC+, digital rental
Mulholland Drive (2001)
I think we’re supposed to call this a thriller to distinguish it from less-reputable horror movies like Friday the 13th, but no one evokes nightmarish disconnection and existential dread like David Lynch, and this story of the descent into madness by an aspiring actress is as horrific as they come. But it’s not all bad for Naomi Watts’ Diane Selwyn—or is it Betty Elms? She finds herself in a very hot, very heavy relationship with Laura Harring’s Rita, climaxing (ahem) in one of mainstream cinema’s hottest same-sex love scenes this side of Bound. It’s also very nearly the moment when everything bright and hopeful turns dark and forbidding for our heroine, but I think that’s more to do with the type of movie we’re in than with the sexy gay stuff.
Where to stream: digital rental
The Hunger (1983)
There’s only so much plot here, but who needs plot when charting a stylish and sexy vampire love triangle among Catherine Denueve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon, all three at approximately their most beautiful. Deneuve is vampire Miriam Blaylock, while Bowie plays her longtime companion John. Miriam is truly immortal, but John is fading after centuries, and desperate to preserve not just his life but his youth. Enter Sarah (Sarandon) the doctor whom he seeks out for help, and who quickly becomes the latest target of Miriam’s erotic fascination. Director Tony Scott’s movie is all glossy, gauzy style and set design—but the chemistry (and sex) between Miriam and Sarah is delicious.
Where to stream: digital rental
Def by Temptation (1990)
K (Kadeem Harrison) and Joel (James Bond III, who also wrote and directed) have been best friends since childhood—but while Joel has become a minister, K has put his similarly religious upbringing aside to move to New York and become an actor. Still, it’s Joel who becomes enamored of the mysterious woman that they meet during a night out in NYC. She’s known only as Temptress (novelist Cynthia Bond), and she’s been seducing and murdering men in seedy NYC bars for some time, what with being a succubus and all. It’s a smart, stylish, and erotic bit of early 1990s horror that comes with more than its share of sex and nudity.
Where to stream: Tubi, Peacock, Shudder, AMC+, Prime Video
Species (1995)
There’s an alien on the loose—and she must mate! The setup here is very 1950s monster movie, and that’s what makes it fun. Scientists at SETI receive an alien genome from space and, believing the senders to be benevolent, go right ahead and splice it with human DNA. As you do. The result is SIl (Natasha Henstridge), a hybrid who grows to adulthood in just months, and who the scientists quickly realize is impossible to control. Fearing that she’ll mate with humans (will she ever!) and eventually wipe out our gene pool, they try to kill her before she escapes and, as predicted, starts looking for humans to fuck. It might not be high art, but the movie’s soft-core thrills inspired several sequels and even a couple of novels.
Where to stream: Tubi, Prime Video, Pluto TV, digital rental
Society (1989)
Given that it contains, without exaggeration, one of the most batshit sex scenes in horror movie history, it would be malpractice to not include Brian Yuzna’s directorial debut. That being said, there’s far more shock here than titillation in this story of the young scion of a wealthy family (Billy Warlock, best known for a very long and Emmy-winning run on Days of Our Lives) who comes to suspect that his family is involved in some sort of murderous sex cult. It would be thoroughly disappointing were he to be proven wrong, so it’s not much of a spoiler to reveal that they are indeed the leaders of a just such an organization—with a twist. It all builds to a massive and truly shocking orgy at the climax, albeit one that you might not find terribly titillating (though I didn’t come here to judge).
Where to stream: Fubo, digital rental via Fandango at Home
Cat People (1982)
A loose remake of 1942’s similarly sensual, if far less overt, original, Cat People stars Nastassja Kinski as Irena, who reconnects with her brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell) in New Orleans while learning some old family history. It turns out, you see, that they come from a long line of werepanthers (not as silly as it sounds, at least in the context of the movie), and the transformation tends to happen in moments of maximum passion. Sex transforms them, and only killing a human can turn them back. This complicates her crush on zookeeper Oliver (John Heard), and introduces a weird tension with Paul, who informs her that their kind are typically incestuous. The result is an erotic fever dream of a movie, with an absolutely wild ending.
Where to stream: digital rental
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Not unlike Tod Browning’s 1931 adaptation of Dracula, this Francis Ford Coppola take is an often unwieldy assortment of stunning imagery and more forgettable moments. Like that earlier movie, though, what works here works impeccably, and remains as haunting as it is hot. Gary Oldman’s performance here is a campy career best, his entire motivation coming down to love (i.e. erotic obsession) for/with Winona Ryder’s Mina Harker, who he believes to be the reincarnation of his beloved wife, Elisabeta (and why shouldn’t he, given that they’re played by the same actress). Come for the blood drinking, wolf-man sex, and passionate longing, stay for the horny and half-naked vampire thralls who populate Dracula’s Castle and who can’t keep their hands off of Keanu Reeves’ Jonathan Harker.
Where to stream: Paramount+, MGM+, digital rental
Knock Knock (2015)
Since we’re talking about Keanu Reeves, we’ll just forward to this 2015 sexy home invasion (-ish) horror movie from writer/director Eli Roth (Hostel, Thanksgiving). Family man Evan (Reeves) is left home alone when two very wet young women (Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo, who’ve been caught in a storm, you see) come to the door and quickly get flirty with the middle-aged dad. The three of them have fairly aggressive sex, which winds up being an understandable but extremely bad decision on poor Evan’s part. It’s a sexier and slightly more satirical take on more serious torture thrillers like Funny Games, and a solid reminder that you’re absolutely correct to never answer your doorbell.
Where to stream: Pluto TV, digital rental
Stranger by the Lake (2013)
This slasher/horror movie also echoes the erotic thrillers of the good old days. Here, Pierre Deladonchamps plays Franck, a regular visitor to a nude beach and the surrounding woods, both popular cruising spots. Franck begins a passionate relationship (meaning: lots of pretty explicit sex in the woods) with Michel (Christophe Paou), who Franck later spots drowning someone in the lake. As the investigation into that event heats up, Franck finds himself struggling to give up a good thing, even in the face of murder.
Where to scream: digital rental
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Ah, yes: the erotic bisexual vampire genre, which definitely had a moment in the 1970s. Daughters of Darkness is better than most, and certainly more genuinely sexy. Eschewing the hot-lesbians-for-straight-guys vibe of other movies, Daughters has a look and feel that borders on arthouse, with a grand and elegant style, as well as a willingness to go deeper. Delphine Seyrig plays Countess Elizabeth Báthory, who happens upon a newlywed couple honeymooning in a remote region, and immediately sets about seducing the wife away from her boring human sexual and moral conformity.
Where to scream: Shudder, Tubi, digital rental
Interview With the Vampire (1994)
The recent AMC series adaptation is great, and dispenses with any subtext where Lestat and Louis (and Armand!) are concerned. Subtext is way overrated when it comes to queer themes, but this 1994 adaptation walks impressively close to that edge, and seeing a couple of big-name male stars set up house and raise their surly vampire daughter while sucking each other’s blood was thrilling back in the day. As threeways go, you could have done a helluva lot worse in the mid-1990s than to assemble Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Antonio Banderas. The movie remains a thoroughly entertaining, and very, very sweaty, story of housekeeping and murder in New Orleans.
Where to scream: digital rental
Titane (2021)
Just another movie about a gender-fluid erotic dancer and serial killer (Alexia/Adrien, played by Agathe Rousselle) who fucks a car, gets pregnant as a result, and is then taken in by a man (Vincent Lindon) who believes that, in Alexia (soon to identify as Adrien), he’s found his long lost son. You know. Typical Hollywood. There’s a lot going on in writer/director Julia Ducournau’s wild love story, and the sex and eroticism aren’t entirely conventional (unless Crash-style car sex is your thing), but the movie definitely has an undeniable, and undeniably weird, sensuality.
Where to scream: Hulu
Hatchet II (2010)
Adam Green’s slasher series was created as an explicit tribute to the trashy slashers of yore, with roles and appearances from actors better known for A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Candyman, Halloween, etc. That means not only lots of gruesome practical effects, but also plenty of nudity (i.e. boobs) and sex. The second movie in the series, which finds the first movie’s Final Girl Marybeth (Danielle Harris) returning to the swamp with plans to take revenge on murderous Victor Crowley (Kane Holder), goes further than the others in its (non-male) nudity and sex. Try to beat the sex scene involving the corpse that won’t stop thrusting for intentional tastelessness.
Where to stream: Tubi, Prime Video, Screambox
Nadja (1994)
Riffing on the classic 1936 Dracula’s Daughter (with its extremely thinly veiled lesbian subtext and its “Save the women of London from Dracula’s Daughter!” tagline, this film opens with the death of Count Dracula at the hands of his old nemesis, Van Helsing (Peter Fonda)—traumatizing the vampire’s daughter, Nadja (Elina Löwensohn). On a sullen quest for revenge, she seeks out the daughter of Van Helsing to have sex with—Nadja will make her a thrall and use her to destroy the whole family. A late example of the sexy queer lady vampire genre, Nadja brings some arthouse style (David Lynch produces and has a cameo) to its blood, gore, and horny gay vamps.
Where to scream: Prime Video
Swallowed (2022)
Ben (Cooper Koch) just wants to pop off to Los Angeles for an exciting new life as a gay porn star—but, first, his friend Dom (who has a secret crush) has a great idea: They’ll make a quick drug run across the Canadian border for some seed money, if you will. Actually, and unsurprisingly, it’s a very bad idea, as the two are forced to swallow condoms full of a mysterious … something. Some of the condoms are broken during a confrontation with a bigot in a bathroom truck stop, and things go from bad to worse when they finally meet the drug boss (Mark Patton) who’s simultaneously ruthless, and also extremely hot for Ben. Oh, and did I mention that the condoms are filled with the larvae of a bug that bites to get you high and or erect? Classify this one as Boner Body Horror.
Where to stream: digital rental
Thirst (2009)
If you want subversive, it’s hard to beat the great South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Decision to Leave), and he’s at the height of his powers with this erotic vampire horror movie. Christian priest Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) volunteers to be infected by a virus for research, but finds himself with an endless hunger for blood, and also sex, as a result. It builds to a gory climax as Sang-hyun finds himself gradually shedding his earlier morality, but in the meantime there’s a passionate affair, as well as some more uncomfortable moments of sexual violence. Genuinely a vampire film like no other.
Where to stream: digital rental
Possession (1981)
A horror movie about a bad divorce written during the director’s real-life marital split, Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession deals with an allegory for marriage going wrong in the form of a literal monster. As her marriage to Sam Neill’s Mark disintegrates, Isabelle Adjani’s Anna is nurturing a creature whom seems to have taken Mark’s place in her affections; the movie includes a memorable sex scene with the shapeless mass of a monster that put it on the radar of the anti-video nasty crusaders in Britain, where it was banned. It’s been recently restored to its full length, and makes a compelling case for the Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill as two of the hottest actors in the game circa 1981.
Where to stream: Shudder
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Hardly the most graphically sexual horror movie, An American Werewolf in London still more than makes the cut for the presence of, and movie-length chemistry between, David Naughton and Jenny Agutter. It doesn’t get much hotter than the movie’s central shower-sex scene.
Where to stream: Tubi, Prime Video, The Criterion Channel
Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort (2014)
It was promised that this list wouldn’t be all high-minded eroticism, so we’ll end with this fairly sleazy Wrong Turn reboot, part of a series well past its prime by this point. No matter! It’s more cannibal murder in the woods in a venerable slasher tradition, and one that’s absolutely chock-full of horny people hanging out naked, having sex, or even just running around in wet clothing before they get killed. Perfectly entertaining as a late-night movie, but earns extra points as one of the horniest recent (-ish) examples of the form.
Where to stream: digital rental
