When thinking of the world’s most noteworthy combinations, the mind immediately goes to peanut butter and jelly, socks and shoes, thunder and lightning…and sex and horror. The most physically visceral cinematic genre is definitely tied into some of humankind’s most carnal influences and desires, and whether literal or metaphorical, sexuality and seduction are key factors in several of the best horror movies of all time.
A horror movie’s sexiness is admittedly as subjective as can be, and the line between erotic and despotic can be quite thin. Seeing a couple having tent-based fornication within the Friday the 13th franchise doesn’t necessarily mean one is having a “sexy horror movie” experience. And yet for as nasty as Alien’s xenomorphs look, there’s something about all those wet phallic shapes… I believe it was Austin Powers who said, “In space, no one can hear you scream, so get loud, baby yeah.” And on that note, time for all kinds of gore-soaked debauchery.
The Lost Boys
Among the best vampire movies ever created is The Lost Boys, Joel Schumacher’s crown jewel of ‘80s hair-metal swagger.The concept of eternal youth is a sexy idea all on its own, but Jason Patric and Jami Gertz personify the shit out of it as Michael and Star, with Keifer Sutherland leading a pack of hunky, denim-and-leather-clad hooligans who I have to assume many fans would love to offer their necks to. And let’s not be ageist here, since Dianne Wiest and Edward Herrmann also make quite the dapper parental coupling, even though Corey Haim’s Sam would hate to know people were thinking about his mom getting it on.
Angel Heart
Alan Parker’s 1987 genre-blending horror Angel Heart would already make the shortlist of sexiest horror movies just for Robert de Niro oozing all that bearded mystique as Louis Cypher. But the devilishness that sends it over the top is, put simply enough, the tawdry goings-on between Harry and Epiphany, as played by an in-his-prime Mickey Rourke and a post-Cosby Show Lisa Bonet. In seemingly every scene, Rourke is dripping with either rainwater or sweat, and it is quite a lasting look. And that’s not even taking into account the fact that Angel Heart’s more extreme scenes were edited down to secure its R rating.
Rent it on Prime Video or Apple TV.
From Dusk Till Dawn
More than a decade before Robert Rodriguez worked opposite Quentin Tarantino on Grindhouse, they delivered a similar genre-swapping film experience with the 1996 romp From Dusk Till Dawn. It was notably the breakout movie role for ER fave George Clooney, and watching him as a cocky thief fighting for survival with ever-present beads of sweat is certainly tingle-worthy. But we’re talking about a movie that flips its focus midway through from a raunchy robbery to a Mexican strip club populated by vampires, with Salma Hayek dancing her way into horror fans’ long term memories as the kind of eye candy that bites back. Not even Tarantino’s gross-as-fuck performance as Richie could dissuade the more gleeful perversity on display.
Stream it on Max. (And check out these behind-the-scenes facts, rhyme unintended.)
Jennifer's Body
Screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Karyn Kusama joined forces for 2009’s fatal femme film Jennifer’s Body, which brought Megan Fox’s sex symbol energy to the horror genre in a big male-chomping way alongside Amanda Seyfried. Despite the subdued response upon its initial release, Jennifer’s Body has since reached newfound popularity as a poster child for feminism in genre cinema. And that poster would probably be a centerfold of some kind, with succubus Jennifer Check posed and poised to feed on anyone who dares to cross her path.
Rent it on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Lifeforce
Texas Chain Saw Massacre helmer Tobe Hooper and Alien scribe Dan O’Bannon created the textbook definition of a cult move with 1985’s Lifeforce, whose legacy for years hinged largely on being “that movie with the naked space vampire.” That clothing-optional shapeshifter, portrayed by Mathilda May, isn’t the only reason why Lifeforce’s reputation is so much more positive now than it was around its panned release, to be sure. But if you’re talking sexy horror movies specifically, “naked space vampires” are as formidable as threats get.
Stream it on Prime Video and Tubi.
The Wicker Man
Robin Hardy’s 1973 classic The Wicker Man is steeped in the push and pull between overt and repressed, whether it’s in regards to information that Edward Woodward’s police sergeant is looking for, or the seductive nature of Summerisle and its very willful inhabitants. As it can often go with films set within cult-ish communities, The Wicker Man taps into psychosexual threads that run deeper than corporeal pleasures and stick around longer than more direct imagery might. Not that it lacks in that department, either. But all the Isle of Horndog-ness would be for naught if not for that gut-punch of a final act.
Stream it on Prime Video and Tubi.
Species
Certainly not the only horror movie out there with a hawt extraterrestrial at its center, 1995’s Species stars Natasha Henstridge as its extremely deadly (and also extremely provocative) human-alien hybrid Sil. Unlike some horror and sci-fi movies’ more complex sexual charges, Species wears its horniness right on its ooey-gooey sleeves in the way a slasher movie does, only this time it’s the malicious big bad handling all the nudity and sex scenes. There’s even full-on penetration, at least by way of Sil’s tongue penetrating a dude’s throat and neck. And it should probably come as a surprise to no one that Sil’s alien nature was designed by H.R. Giger.
Stream it on Max, Hulu and Tubi.
X
Given that it’s ostensibly about making a pornographic movie, Ti West’s 2022 hit X could either be seen as a no-brainer for a sexy movies round-up, or it could be viewed as too obvious a choice to truly qualify. Of course, both are kind of true, and kind of aren’t, since X features more than a few moments that completely remove thoughts of libidinous pleasure from one’s mind. But hey, it’s also a movie about people who want to fuck and have a good time doing it, and nothing is sexier than that. Up until a certain point in the runtime, anyway.
Infinity Pool
It’s no shock that Infinity Pool comes from the mind of Brandon Cronenberg, son of The Fly and Crash director David Cronenberg, given that the 2023 film is the cinematic equivalent of diving down an extreme-internet rabbit hole in the early 2000s, and may indeed inspire a similar kind of guilt-ridden concupiscence when watching the multitude of fetishes and kinks on display. It’s probably too psychological to delve into how the concept of doubles and cloning plays into the film’s sexual impact, so we’ll just let that part slide while focusing on everything else Alexander Skarsgård’s novelist gets into.
Bram Stoker's Dracula
While debates can be made about the worth of Bram Stoker’s Dracula as a literary adaptation, its inherent physical (and perhaps emotional) lust cannot be denied. Francis Ford Copolla’s 1992 vampiric romance hits many notches on the “sexy horror movie” checklist, from Dracula’s brides enamoring Keanu Reeves’ Jonathan Harker to Sadie Frost’s hyper-eroticized take on Lucy Westenra to rugged Anthony Hopkins as the best Van Helsing ever. But what sizzles harder than anything is the on-screen passion between Gary Oldman’s shapeshifting bloodsucker (in his mustachioed younger form) and Winona Ryder’s Mina. And for those watching the edited version: if you squint from far away, the older Count’s hair kinda looks like boobs.
The Love Witch
While a good number of genre flicks spice their narratives up with romance and sex, Anna Biller’s 2016 technicolor horror-comedy The Love Witch focuses squarely on the dalliances of its bewitching Elaine, portrayed with Hollywood starlet perfection by Samantha Robinson. The ‘60s setting gives Bewitched in an alt-universe where Elizabeth Montgomery played a horny widow who may have snapped and killed Darren, with some delightful Munsters-esque camp rounding out the more salacious side of things. It’s the rare form of sexy horror movie that doesn’t inspire pangs of awkward self-judgment.
Streaming on Peacock, Tubi, Pluto TV, and Philo.
Mulholland Drive
Still serving as the penultimate film in David Lynch’s bizarre oeuvre, 2001’s Mulholland Drive takes audiences from the sensual glamour and confidence of Old Hollywood to its sleazy and regretful antithesis, with Naomi Watts ostensibly delivering two distinct performances opposite Laura Harring’s femme fatale. It’s the relationship between their characters, darkly twisted yet authentically loving, that really take Mulholland Drive into wet fever dream territory, despite the unsettling notion that someone’s tiny grandparents might be watching voyeuristically from the floor. Lots of things about this movie are confusing — with its horror distinction sometimes needing defense — but its effect on horny viewers is as clear as the L.A. sky.
Rent it on Prime Video or Apple TV.
The Hunger
As the perhaps surprising directorial debut from action movie mastermind Tony Scott, 1983’s The Hunger wasn’t so well received at the time. But like many genre standouts, its popularity grew over time, in part for being one of the most erotic vampire movies in existence, thanks to the love triangle between characters played by the OMG trio of Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon. To everyone’s credit, perhaps, The Hunger’s sexual themes and scenes were among the more highly regarded aspects of the film early on, and they’ve all maintained their sensual sense of danger in the years since.
Rent it on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark
The words “sexy” and “horror” can’t be said together in any capacity without including Cassandra Peterson’s genre maven Elvira, whose big-screen arrival came in the form of 1988’s Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. (No worries about branding mix-ups with that one.) The goofy plot sees the hostess moving her massive coif and equally massive cleavage from Los Angeles to a conservative-minded Massachusetts town, where she obviously insults everyone with her out-there nature. Even as a PG-13 release, Elvira’s cinematic debut makes the cut because Peterson has been a sex symbol icon for decades without missing a beat, or a neckline stitch.
Streaming on Prime Video, Pluto TV, Tubi, and AMC+.
Black Swan
A master in crafting films whose main characters suffer increasingly terrifying situations, Darren Aronofsky clawed his way into audiences nightmares with Natalie Portman's Oscar-winning performance as Black Swan's obsession-driven dancer. (Not that the film was pushed as a horror release.) Of course, for all the troubles that obsession brings, pleasures aren't usually far behind, and Nina finds herself surrounded by others' often carnal energy, especially that of Mila Kunis' Lily. Although it's often hard to tell what's actually happening and what's only in Nina's mind, there's no questioning where some viewers' minds went during the movie's more intense sequences, sensual and otherwise.
Not everyone agrees on what makes the best cup of tea, the same way that not everyone will agree on what makes the sexiest horror movie, but part of what makes being a movie fan so enjoyable is sharing those opinions and hearing what others are into as well. If we all agreed on everything, horny or otherwise, it'd make for a pretty boring life. Although I dare say I may have to step back warily from anyone whose biggest specific turn on is Renfield feeding on bugs in Bram Stoker's Dracula. I'm not shaming anyone, but I'm just saying.
