10 Erotic Horror Movies To Watch After Reading The New Comic ‘Groupies’
Writer Helen Mullane pens a guest listicle for Dread Central in promotion of the release of Groupies #3. The new Comixology original follows a group of hot young women who get involved with a strange band called The Moon Show. The result is a darkly erotic tale about fame, fortune, and hanging with the band.
Groupies is a book that revels in creeping dread, and our story snakes its way through the liminal spaces between sex and death. It is part of a grand tradition of dark, erotic horror that depends on atmosphere and sensation to deliver its chills. Here’s a selection of some of my favorite horror that blur the lines between beauty and horror.
The Hunger (dir. Tony Scott)
This 1983 vampire film is a stylish mood piece. It doesn’t seem too concerned with establishing and following a set of rules of the occult, but it is lush and cool and sexy as it frames vampirism as a form of addiction.
Duke of Burgundy (dir. Peter Strickland)
In a world without men, where lifestyle BDSM appears to be the norm, a couple is slowly falling apart. The sadomasochism at the heart of the couple’s relationship could be lurid, but somehow this movie is tender, erotic, and sensitive rather than sleazy. What is has to say about relationships often feels quite universal.
The Handmaiden (dir. Park Chan-Wook)
Like Peter Strickland above, several Park Chan-Wook films could have had their place on this list. But The Handmaiden for me is the pinnacle of the master director’s fascination with romantic and occasionally erotic horror. Dizzyingly cinematic, the luxurious period piece is a marvel of design, with towering performances and a sensuality that oozes off the screen.
Altered States (dir. Ken Russell)
A mystical and disturbing fever dream, Altered States follows the fortunes of a scientist experimenting with sensory deprivation tanks. As he gets more obsessed with his work he becomes convinced he’s not experiencing visions but is rather tapping into an eternal truth. Bursting with gloriously strange imagery, Altered States is a thought-provoking classic of weird cinema.
Belladonna of Sadness (dir. Eiichi Yamamoto)
Tragic and bewitching, Belladonna of Sadness is one of the most beautiful animated films I’ve ever seen. There is nothing subtle about this movie. It follows a young woman’s descent into darkness after being the victim of a horrific sexual assault. Rightly, it divides audiences. It’s certainly no feminist classic—its protagonist has limited agency and is a constant victim of a cruelly chauvinistic world. Yet it’s dreamlike imagery and startling beauty elevates this movie above many others of its kind.
Blow-Up (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
London in the swinging sixties. A fashion photographer is taking candid shots, not realizing until later that he may have captured a murder. Antonioni’s classic is notable for its fashion, vivacity, and mystery that is eventually just abstracted out of the frame. I’m fond of a story where the elevator pitch might give Sherlock Holmes, but the delivery isn’t focused on resolution. As Antonioni said, the film is “not about a murder but about a photographer”.
Strip Nude For Your Killer (dir. Andrea Bianchi)
Another hapless fashion photographer is embroiled in a mystery in this classic 1970s giallo. This film is unapologetically sordid and pure exploitation. But, it’s delivered with undeniable panache, bolstered by the talent and style of genre heroine Edwige Fenech.
The Mephisto Waltz (dir. Paul Wendkos)
Your favorite satanic panic film’s favorite satanic panic film. This stylish gem is startlingly influential and stands tall as one of my very favorite of the occult knockoffs that followed the success of Rosemary’s Baby. It’s beautifully shot with some thrilling imagery.
Cronos (dir. Guillermo del Toro)
Guillermo Del Toro’s debut is dark and dirty as vampirism is depicted as desperate and covered in dust. It’s also a tragic story of how greed can corrupt familial love, as the sinister clockwork Cronos device proves an abyss for a little girl and her beloved grandad to get lost in.
The Love Witch (dir. Anne Biller)
A visual feast of sumptuous technicolor, The Love Witch is a glorious throwback to the erotic thrillers of the 1960s, with more than a little Hammer Horror and Giallo thrown in. By following the antics of the fascinatingly narcissistic witch hell-bent on love at any cost, director Anne Biller takes us down the rabbit hole of patriarchy. She effectively shows us how the cognitive dissonance of gender politics is bad for all of us.
Groupies #3 hits shelves on December 17, 2024.
Categorized:Editorials
