Decider After Dark

Generation (se)X: The 13 Steamiest Erotic Thrillers from the ‘90s

By Joe Reid @joereid

Published Aug. 3, 2018, 9:00 p.m. ET

1133 Shares

madonna laying partially nude , pink background — Does anybody else just want to fully take a break from 2018? It's summertime, and summertime means vacation, and what better way to take a vacation than to pack up the car (mentally speaking) and take a cross-country trip (mentally speaking) to a different time. That time could and should be the 1990s, for so many reasons. Today's reason is that the 1990s were the heyday of that most steamy of genres: the erotic thriller.Photo: Everett Collection ; Illustration: Dillen Phelps

**THE FILM:** *A Kiss Before Dying* (1991)
**SYNOPSIS:** A sociopathic young student (Matt Dillon) kills his pregnant girlfriend (Sean Young) and then starts dating her oblivious twin sister so he can get entry into her wealthy family's train money.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 4/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 7/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 11/20
[Where to stream *A Kiss Before Dying*]

**THE FILM:** *Basic Instinct* (1992)
**SYNOPSIS:** An icy blonde femme fatale (Sharon Stone) engages in a game of wits (and tits) with a cokehead sex addict detective (Michael Douglas).
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 10/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 10/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 20/20
[Where to stream *Basic Instinct*]

**THE FILM:** *Body of Evidence* (1993)
**SYNOPSIS:**In this Razzie-winning sex thriller, woman (Madonna) is accused of killing her older lover by having kinky sex with him. The case becomes complicated when she begins a sexual affair with her lawyer (Willem Dafoe).
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 9/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 5/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 14/20
[Where to stream *Body of Evidence*]

**THE FILM:** *Sliver* (1993)
**SYNOPSIS:**A nervous woman (Sharon Stone) moves into a new apartment building and starts up a relationship with another tenant (William Baldwin) while also catching the eye of another (Tom Berenger). Unbeknownst to her, she's being filmed in her most private moments.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 8/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 8/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 16/20
[Where to stream *Sliver*]

**THE FILM:** *The Temp* (1993)
**SYNOPSIS:** Lara Flynn Boyle plays a temporary office employee at a cookie company who makes heavy advances on her boss (Timothy Hutton), who becomes paranoid that someone in his business (possibly his boss, played by Faye Dunaway) is out to get him. Hutton's character stops short of having sex with his temp, but all the thriller elements are there (including a climax at the cookie factory!).
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 3/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 8/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 11/20
[Where to stream *The Temp*]

**THE FILM:** *The Last Seduction* (1993)
**SYNOPSIS:**Linda Fiorentino won awards from the New York and London critics, as well as the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Actress -- and was only ruled ineligible for the Oscars on a technicality -- for playing a sexy criminal on the run after stealing her husband's drug money.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 8/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 8/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 16/20
[Where to stream *The Last Seduction*]

**THE FILM:** *The Babysitter* (1995)
**SYNOPSIS:**Alicia Silverstone capitalized on her Aerosmith-video-era fame by starring in this sex thriller where she, as the titular babysitter, becomes the object of obsessive desire for the dad who hired her to watch his kid (J.T. Walsh), her boyfriend (Jeremy London), and his scummy friend (Nicky Katt).
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 5/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 5/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 10/20
[Where to stream *The Babysitter*]

**THE FILM:** *Never Talk to Strangers* (1995)
**SYNOPSIS:** A criminal psychologist (Rebecca DeMornay) with a tragic past begins a relationship with a sleazy photographer (Antonio Banderas). Their sex is intense (she bites his butt!), but when creepy, stalker-y things start happening to her, she gets suspicious that he could be dangerous.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 9/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 6/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 15/20
[Where to stream *Never Talk to Strangers*.]

**THE FILM:** *Jade* (1995)
**SYNOPSIS:** Written by Joe Eszterhas, produced by Robert Evans, and directed by William Friedkin, this quintissential erotic thriller starred David Caruso as a San Francisco D.A. investigating a murder where the evidence leads right to his ex (Linda Fiorentino), a psychologist who's been moonlighting as a prostitute for wealthy men, going by the name of "Jade."
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 7/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 6/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 13/20
[Where To Stream *Jade*]

**THE FILM:** *Poison Ivy 2: Lily* (1996)
**SYNOPSIS:**Alyssa Milano and Drew Barrymore both played Amy Fisher in TV movies, so it only makes sense that Milano followed Barrymore's footsteps in the *Poison Ivy* franchise. Milano plays Lilly, a sheltered Michigan girl who goes away to art school, finds her sexual confidence, and ends up in a dangerous relationship with a professor (Xander Berkeley).
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 6/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 4/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 10/20
[Where to stream *Poison Ivy 2: Lily*]

**THE FILM:** *Bound* (1996)
**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*]Everett Collection

**THE FILM:** *Wild Things* (1998)
**SYNOPSIS:** The ultimate Florida movie. 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?** 9/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 7/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 16/20
[Where To Stream *Wild Things*]

**THE FILM:** *Eyes Wide Shut* (1999)
**SYNOPSIS:** Stanley Kubrick's final film stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as an unhappily married couple whose worlds (especially his) begin to unravel after he encounters a secret sex society. The fancy masked orgy scene required digitally-rendered extras to mask all the nudity.
**HOW EROTIC WAS IT?** 8/10
**HOW THRILLING WAS IT?** 6/10
**TOTAL SCORE:** 14/20
[Where To Stream *Eyes Wide Shut*]

Decider After Dark

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘This Closeness’ on MUBI, A Gen Z-Tinged Take on the Erotic Drama

Waking the Dragon: Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond Gives Full Frontal in 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 Episode 3

Nicole Kidman Tore Zac Efron’s Shirt Off in One Take, Says ‘A Family Affair’ Director: “She Does Have That Strength!”

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ on Netflix, the Quasi-Naughty Sex-Dungeon Romance Starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan

Does anybody else just want to fully take a break from 2018? It’s summertime, and summertime means vacation, and what better way to take a vacation than to pack up the car (mentally speaking) and take a cross-country trip (mentally speaking) to a different time. That time could and should be the 1990s, for so many reasons. Today’s reason is that the 1990s were the heyday of that most steamy of genres: the erotic thriller. This week, let Decider After Dark take the wheel.

If you’re new to Decider’s late-night, R-rated celebration, you should take a moment to look back at some of our favorite posts from the past few months. Last week, Josh Sorokach listed HBO’s steamiest moments, a celebratory burst of True Blood vamps and Roman orgies. Or, speaking of tonight’s ’90s theme, who could forget Brett White delving into the smutty side of Friends?

Once upon a time, all you needed to do to make a movie was to cast a slightly sleazy leading man as a detective or an attorney or a college professor, cast them opposite a far more interesting actress with more power and charisma in her little finger than anyone else in the film combined, and essentially just let her ride roughshod over all the men in the movie until the end credits came around. Previously, we’re looked back at the sexy stylings of Sharon Stone and William Baldwin giving voyeurism a try in Sliver, wondered whether Madonna really deserved that Razzie in Body of Evidence, and remembered just what a big deal Basic Instinct was back in the day.

Those films represented the golden age of erotic thrillers in Hollywood. They may not have the best Rotten Tomatoes scores, but we’ve devised our own Erotic Thriller Rating System to evaluate for ourselves. Join us, won’t you?

Sign up for Decider After Dark and get news and info about the hottest movies and sexiest shows on streaming, all in our Decider After Dark newsletter!

Where to stream Wild Things