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.
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.
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.
Hellraiser (1987)
Whether or not you think Doug Bradley’s iconic monster Pinhead is himself a looker — the memorable name came in the sequel — Clive Barker’s Hellraiser is a sensual feast for those with more sadomasochistic tastes. The Cenobites’ puzzle box unlocks a world of carnal extremes, with Claire Higgins’ Julia and Ashley Laurence’s Kristy becoming acutely aware of its powers in horrifying ways. (Or heavenly ones, depending on one’s perspective.)
Stream it on Prime Video, Pluto TV and Tubi.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
Under The Skin
Instantly polarizing upon its 2013 release, Jonathan Glazer’s dreary sci-fi feature Under the Skin is a lo-fi adaptation of Michel Faber’s 2000 novel, starring Scarlett Johansson as a nameless alien who makes easy prey out of her victims thanks to her ample sexuality. To be sure, Under the Skin’s sexiness is largely about the surface-level vibes, as the film’s disturbing denouement is hardly alluring, and its story can be interpreted in a number of anti-sexual ways.
Rent it on Prime Video or Apple TV.
Interview With The Vampire
As it tends to go with sexually tinged vampire movies, much of what makes Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire a horny movie comes from inherently disturbing situations that would be quite different outside of cinematic context. Brad Pitt’s Louie quasi-courting Kirsten Dunst’s underage vamp Claudia is one, while the unwitting victim stripped and murdered by the Théâtre des Vampires is another, and generally speaking, it’s probably not great to lust after murderous bloodsuckers just because they look and talk like Antonio Banderas’s Armand. But hey, it’s New Orleans, baby, so laissez les bons temps rouler.
Rent on Prime Video and Apple TV.
The Wicker Man (1973)
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.
Thirst
Four years before Stoker, Park Chan-wook dipped his toes into erotic horror waters (or blood in this case) with the 2009 vampire tale Thirst. Song Kang-ho stars as Catholic priest Fr. Sang-hyun, whose hospital volunteer work coincides with his newfound unquenchable desire for all things sanguine. Thirst's passion for other bodily pleasures is evident through Sang-hyun’s illicit exploits with ennui-stricken lover Tae-ju (Kim Ok-bin). Definitely one of the more twisted takes on sexy vampire lore out there.
Rent it on Prime Video or Apple TV.
Don't Look Now
Nicholas Roeg’s 1973 classic Don’t Look Now belongs to the subset of horror movies that are undoubtedly sexy in chosen moments, while other moments lose that veneer entirely. Which isn’t surprising, considering it centers on a couple grieving their young daughter’s death, and the haunting aftermath. But on the less disturbing hand, Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are quite the handsome couple that audiences want the best for, and their chemistry culminates in what remains one of cinema’s rawest sex scenes. The sequence is not only hot and heavy, with rarely seen cunnilingus on display, but is also dizzyingly edited to be juxtaposed with a more domestic setting. That the scene is echoed later is also of note, though it’s far less erotic after that midway point.
Rent on Prime Video and Apple+.
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.
CAM
2018’s Cam is an exercise in “write what you know,” with screenwriter Isa Mazzei crafting a doppelgänger horror story around a camgirl performer, a profession she’d previously held, with the film’s director Daniel Goldhaber having worked with her in that realm. Likely due to their life experiences, Cam approaches its inherently sexual subject matter with authenticity, as opposed to the salaciously cringey vibes that so many others would have been riddled with. For all the worries that viewers have about Madeline Brewer’s Alice (a.k.a. Lola_Lola) as she falls down the rabbit hole, there’s something not altogether unpleasant about the idea of two Lola_Lolas out there, albeit with fewer fake suicides.
Stream on Netflix.
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.
MaXXXine
The third film in Ti West’s trilogy kicked off by 2022’s slasher X and 2023’s psychological horror Pearl, the ‘80s-set sequel MaXXXine goes all-in on the era’s exploitative excess. Mia Goth again rules the screen as Hollywood starlet-in-training Maxine in her quest, no matter whose testicles and faces she has to destroy in the process. Even without the focus on pornography and outright horror as Maxine’s first outing, Goth is a fountain of sexually confident power throughout, whether or not a cigarette is dangling from her lips. What’s sexier than success?
Rent it on Prime Video or Apple TV.
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.
Crimson Peak
While one’s mileage may vary when it comes to Crimson Peak’s story from top to bottom, the general consensus is that Guillermo del Toro did a commendable job with the film’s sexualized elements, from Mia Wasikowska’s Edith being a horny virgin to essentially everything that Tom Hiddleston does when he’s on screen as her worldly significant other Thomas. Like, it’s obviously not as hot when his character’s being an ass or when his incestuous relationship is revealed, but it’s not impossible to just mute the movie and lose track of context in those cases. Del Toro’s lush visuals allow for such suspensions of disbelief. And I think most would agree that the apex comes in the form of Edith and Thomas consummating their marriage for the first time.
Rent on Prime Video and 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+.
Stoker
On paper, in theory, and in practice, Park Chan-wook’s wickedly intense 2013 thriller Stoker probably shouldn’t harbor any sexual desires among its viewers, given the fact that the film starts with death and mourning, and its other main ingredients are psycho-incest lust and murder. And yet… There’s something about the mansion and its gothic aesthetic, about the way Matthew Goode’s Charlie brings mischief and mayhem to the prim and pristine lives of Nicole Kidman’s Evelyn and Mia Wasikowska’s India, about the all-out taboo nature of everything happening within those walls. It stokes, it stokes.
Rent on Prime Video and Apple TV
Cat People (1982)
Paul Schrader followed American Gigolo up with his 1982 remake of the 1940s horror Cat People, and there would be no confusing which one came first considering how overtly kinky and horny the ‘80s revision is. (Even by 2024 standards.) Nastassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell star as siblings Irena and Paul, who are revealed to be part of a bloodline of feline creatures who turn into panthers after having sex, and can only return to human form through murder. In a word, it’s quite rawr.
Rent it on Prime Video or Apple TV.
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.
