Ah, October: The month where Pumpkin Spice lattes reign supreme, dying leaves dazzle us all with their golds and reds, and those of us who are Halloween-obsessed cram as many horror movies into our eyeballs as humanly possible.
“Horror movie fans” is too big of a blanket term, however. Like all forms of media, there are shades upon shades of variation. Some like a good slasher flick, or have a thing for zombies, or can’t get enough of psychological horror that rewires your brain in squirmy ways.
Then there’s the sexy horror movie, which, if you watch horror, you know is a true art. It’s hard to artfully balance hotness with gore, but not impossible – many filmmakers have done so to the tune of great success. If you’d like some babes with your blood to watch this Halloween season, read on.
Friday the 13th
It doesn’t get more classic than this when it comes to the juxtaposition of sex and horror than Friday the 13th. Pounding the message home that any enjoyable pounding will likely get you murdered, the film spawned decades of discussion about Jason Voorhees as an anti-sex figure – which, ironically, was never director Sean S. Cunningham’s intention. Not that that matters, because this was the sexy horror film that established one of the genre’s key tropes, which is that if you’re a female and go outside wearing only a t-shirt, you gettin’ murdered, girl.
Jennifer’s Body
X
The first entry in a series from director Ti West, X is set in the ’70s and sees a group of friends drive to a remote rental cabin to make a porno. But the owner of the cabin, who just so happens to also live on the same property, is a weird old man who also happens to have a weird old wife, and naturally some very weird things happen because of it. This sexy horror movie also brought a lot of attention to English actress Mia Goth, who went on to star in the rest of the films in the series (Pearl and MaXXXine).
Zombie Strippers
This low-budget delight stars famous porn star Jenna Jameson and involves a deadly chemo-virus escaping containment and leaking into the local strip club. Give it a while to do its work and what do you get? Zombie strippers, naturally! If you’re in the mood for over-the-top, ridiculous camp plus a Robert Englund cameo, this is the movie for you. It’s a sexy horror movie, but of the extremely silly variety.
The Hunger
Picture this: A horror movie. Starring David Bowie. As a vampire. If you’re not aroused at the mere thought, you may already be dead. Flanked by Catherine Deneuve (also a vampire) and Susan Sarandon, this movie leaks eroticism and style from every possible pore, not to mention a lesbian love scene, which was quite spicy indeed when this originally came out in 1983.
Also, again: DAVID BOWIE AS A VAMPIRE.
Climax
Simultaneously sensual and disturbing, Gasper Noe’s Climax is about a dance troupe that gets drugged during a days-long rehearsal at an abandoned school. The film features 24 dancers, who descend into varying states of madness as the night goes on. Noe’s films are certainly not for everyone, but if you dig the idea of watching two dozen people survive an unexpected psychedelic trip and you’re okay with seeing some very risqué sex of the incestual variety, you might enjoy this banger of a film.