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'". On trial for the murder of her lover, Rebecca is described by a prosecutor as "no than a gun or a knife or any kind of weapon." In erotic thrillers, power dynamics are subverted as femme fatales "turn men into pliable playthings, and the punchline of almost all of these films revolves around one idea: Men are basically stupid blinded by sex, and helpless in the face of it". The most blatant depiction of the femme fatale is the character of Rebecca Carlson, played by Madonna in 1993's Body of Evidence. From " Sharon Stone's icy Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct or Linda Fiorentino's brusque Bridget in The Last Seduction… 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". Villainous, even deadly, femme fatales manipulate and entrap the male characters, at times being in complete control of the men. The character type of the femme fatale-an alluring, mysterious, and seductive woman-is common to many erotic thriller films. Characteristics of the genre Femme fatale 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. Because the erotic thriller combines various genres, pinning down the exact formula for an erotic thriller can be difficult. Thus, the erotic thriller participates in several genres and film styles at once, such as film noir, romance, gothic, and the thriller, taking narrative and stylistic elements from each. The thriller film genre contains subgenres other than the noir crime film and murder mystery, including the psychological thriller, or suspense stories of illicit romance and sexual obsession. Martin, Sexy Thrills: Undressing the Erotic Thriller The predominating syntax that shapes these films combines romanticized, "erotic" appeal with a dangerous "thriller" narrative – a "pleasure/danger" principle. Definition Īccording 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". 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. The direct-to-video erotic thriller wave from 1985-2005 produced over 700 films. The popularity of the genre spawned a lucrative cottage industry for the burgeoning home video and cable television markets. 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. Įrotic thrillers emerged as a distinct genre in the late 1980s, bolstered by the popular success of Fatal Attraction in 1987 and continuing into the early 1990s. Though exact definitions of the erotic thriller can vary, it is generally agreed "bodily danger and pleasure must remain in close proximity and equally important to the plot." Most erotic thrillers contain scenes of softcore sex and nudity, though the frequency and explicitness of those scenes can differ from film to film. The erotic thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or erotic fantasy.
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