Sex is no stranger to the horror genre. Whether it be horny teenagers sealing their own doom in myriad slasher flicks by shedding their clothes and getting nasty or sultry vampires using their mesmerizing charms to entice unwitting victims into their deadly embraces, sex and death often go hand-in-hand over on the dark side of cinema.
With the acclaimed It Follows landing in UK cinemas on February 27, we’ve decided to take a look at some of the more twisted approaches to sex in the genre. Rather than thematic eroticism or constructed sensuality, this particular list picks a choice selection of films that make the Beast With Two Backs their pivotal antagonist or launch pad for the terror within.
That means no sexy vampires (so we don’t just construct a massive Hammer and Jean Rollin selection, and I don’t go off the rails(back) rambling about the magnificence that is Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce), but a group of films that manage to twist the norms of sexuality in ways that could very well give you second thoughts the next time you wanna get jiggy.
So don your protection, and let’s get busy…
Shivers
The residents of the Starliner apartment complex find themselves in for a whale of a time when an insidious parasite gets loose in the building. Breeding rapidly and spreading from person to person, the parasite serves to relinquish the host of all inhibitions, pulling forth a wave of murder, rape and hedonism as the organisms are passed from host to victim by sexual contact and forced ingestion.
One of David Cronenberg’s earliest features, Shivers is still as disturbing and uncomfortable a watch as it was many moons ago.
Possession
Andrzej Zulawski’s art house shocker caused quite a stir upon its release and quickly found itself lumped amongst the UK’s controversial ‘video nasties’. Nowadays, it enjoys a healthy cult following and greater recognition amongst mainstream critics for its uncompromising look at the breakdown of human relationships by way of some horribly slimy, tentacled coitus.
Carlo Rambaldi’s effects work remains as stomach-churning and effective as ever, and the dream-like presentation married with unbridled, often histrionic performances from leads Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill make Possession a genuinely unsettling, and unforgettable, cinematic oddity.
Teeth
Carrying a similar theme to Wolfgang Büld’s Penetration Angst, our protagonist in Teeth, Dawn, finds her private parts have a rather undesirable penchant for mutilating her lovers. On the flip side, they also make short work of giving would-be abusers and rapists their rapid comeuppance.
More a coming-of-age tale focusing on acceptance of one’s own sexual awakening, Teeth nonetheless has the ability to force a primal crossing of the legs in the viewer. Vagina Dentata… enough said.
Species Series
Garnering most attention for its H.R. Giger-designed creature back in 1995, the original Species was an all-star B-movie which told the tale of an alien hybrid seeking to procreate with human males – with deadly consequences for the men and anyone else who gets in the way.
Natasha Henstridge is striking as the alien seductress – even knowing the results of such a coupling, it’d be difficult to refuse! The first sequel invited Henstridge back and ramped up the gore and creatures as it switched the devastating results of sexual encounters to women rather than men, while entries three and four went on to do little more than drive nails into the franchise’s coffin.
Contracted
After becoming a victim of date rape at a house party, Samantha starts to believe that she may have picked up a sexually transmitted disease. Her body begins to degrade, forming sores, spreading rashes, varicose veins, and worse. Losing not only her body, but her mind, Samantha falls into a life of despair – her bewildered doctor unable to identify the mysterious infection – before the true horrific nature of her affliction is revealed.
Moral of the story: Always protect your drink at parties, and never trust morticians.
Nekromantik/Nekromantik 2
Using the word ‘controversial’ is perhaps speaking too lightly of Jörg Buttgereit’s necrophilia duo, Nekromantik and Nekromantik 2. Featuring some seriously sickening effects work, both films focus on central characters looking to find love in all the wrong places (read: between the legs of a corpse).
While both films are, for the most part, tedious slogs to get through, their visceral impact and the revulsion that the images generate in the viewer can’t be denied. The climax (no pun intended) of the second film in particular is an astoundingly graphic and sickening spectacle. Only the strongest of stomach need apply for either of these grotesque excursions into the world of taboo.
Decoys
Taking a leaf from Species‘ book, Decoys features a couple of beautiful young college girls who also happen to be aliens looking to reproduce. Here, however, the results are somewhat less bloody – rather than ripping their way through their mates, sex with these girls results in the male participant being completely frozen from the inside out.
Bad Biology
Frank Henenlotter does what he does best – blowing the doors off of all sense of good taste – in the utterly nuts Bad Biology. Jennifer is a woman with an incredibly high sex drive but some strange abnormalities – sporting seven clitorises, she’s not only apt to kill her mate while in the throes of pleasure but also quickly gives birth to mutant offspring, which she summarily dumps, after the act.
Batz, on the other hand, is a man with a gigantic mutant penis with an insatiable appetite and a mind of its own – often detaching itself from his body at night in order to scour the town for female victims!
Fate is due to bring these two together… and when it does, the result is something the like of which you’ve never seen before – and probably won’t see again.
Vampire’s Kiss
Yeah, yeah… I know I said we’d be avoiding vampires here, but come on — Vampire’s Kiss makes it onto the list by offering a sexual encounter as the launching point for the mental breakdown of Nicolas Cage’s odious executive Peter Loew and the level of complete madness that follows.
Of course, he isn’t really turning into a vampire at all, but the weird mix of comedy and horror employed here leads to one hell of a strange tonal experience – one that, when backed up by Cage’s utterly unhinged performance, shoots straight into bewilderingly unmissable territory.
Here – just have a watch of this compilation of Cage’s glorious antics, and enjoy.
It Follows
Straight from last year’s barnstorming The Guest, Maika Monroe stars as the unfortunate 19-year-old Jay, who finds herself the recipient of one particularly nasty STD.
This infection isn’t physical, but demonic – and monstrous. Passed from person to person via sexual means, the infection in It Follows takes the form of an entity that mercilessly stalks its newest recipient. It’s always watching… always following… and when it gets you… well, you’ll just have to find out when it hits UK cinemas on February 27 and lands Stateside on March 27.