Erotic Thrillers on blu-ray & 4K UHD - Blu-ray Forum

Richard--W · 08-25-2025, 07:18 AM

Erotic Thrillers

From the late 1980s thru the 1990s HBO, CineMax, Showtime and other cable TV
networks produced a number of small-budget exercises in noir stylization and
plotting that came to be known as the Erotic Thriller. The new genre quickly
migrated to the new booming home video market. Independent producers,
funded by cable networks and home video labels sometimes in partnership with
studios, produced countless Erotic Thrillers. They were shot as 35mm feature films,
aired without commercial interruption and verged on the soft-core. Perhaps the
most famous was Red Shoe Diaries which begat a more explicit cable TV series.
The Erotic Thrillers had a large female audience, perhaps because it was mostly a
female-lead genre. The felonious femme fatales in these films made bankable stars
out of Shannon Tweed, Maria Ford, Shannon Whirry, Brigitte Bako and others. When
the films came to home video they proved to be best-sellers and high-volume rentals.
I started this thread to corral the genre on blu-ray, but alas, not one single Erotic
thriller of the period has been released on blu-ray. Not one. But the genre migrated
over to feature films. The features are not always as much fun as the cable and
direct-to-VHS films, but at least they're on blu-ray.

4K UHD

Related Threads:
Official Film Noir on blu-ray
Neo Film Noir 1961-2035 on blu-ray & 4K UHD

Further Reading:
The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema -by Linda Ruth Williams
Sexy Thrills: Undressing the Erotic-Thriller - by Nina Martin

Documentary History of the Erotic Thriller:

or watch on shudder dot com:

We Kill for Love

Richard--W · 08-25-2025, 07:19 AM

Richard--W · 08-25-2025, 07:29 AM

Suggestions for what titles to include are welcome.

moviegeek1992 · 08-25-2025, 07:51 AM

moviegeek1992 · 08-25-2025, 07:53 AM

Are we counting foreign Blu-rays also? I see you have 88 Film’s release of Two Moon Junction in the OP.

Richard--W · 08-25-2025, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moviegeek1992

Are we counting foreign Blu-rays also? I see you have 88 Film’s release of Two Moon Junction in the OP.

A Zalman King classic!

Depends. On the film and the blu-ray.

DaBargainHunta · 08-25-2025, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard--W

Suggestions for what titles to include are welcome.

Would these count?

Gotho(redux) · 08-25-2025, 08:11 AM

I only included Eureka's release of Wild Orchid, because the Olive release is the censored version.

Jorvic · 08-25-2025, 08:41 AM

This one needs a Blu-ray:

gimmeshelter · 08-25-2025, 11:03 AM

Jade is a 4K; also the Sliver from VS is a 4K also

NuXiaolin · 08-25-2025, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moviegeek1992

Are we counting foreign Blu-rays also? I see you have 88 Film’s release of Two Moon Junction in the OP.

88 showed the trailer for that on so many of their releases that I was gutted that the actual movie doesn't feature the song!

kinotek · 08-25-2025, 04:18 PM

Two of my holy grails in this category, never released on disc anywhere as far as I can tell, are Deceptions (1990) and Jim McBride's awesome The Wrong Man (1993), starring a scenery-chewing John Lithgow and the to-die-for Rosanna Arquette. Both were released on VHS by Republic Pictures Home Video, so I don't know where that leaves them now. Deceptions has been streaming on Tubi for a few years, so at least an HD version exists, but The Wrong Man, which to me is far better than McBride's Breathless, has been seriously neglected. Seems a prime candidate for FCE or Cinematographe.

Kyle15 · 08-25-2025, 04:32 PM

You need to remove a bunch of these. Les Diaboliques and Black Swan are psychological horror films. Eyes Wide Shut is an erotic drama film, Mulholland Drive is a surrealist mystery art film. lmao

Uncle Bud · 08-25-2025, 05:12 PM

Not sure is these fit neatly into the genre, but I think a case could be made for all of them:

DaBargainHunta · 08-25-2025, 05:28 PM

I think Eyes Wide Shut absolutely belongs here. I vehemently disagree with it being removed.

I enjoy Richard's posts in the noir thread, but even if you don't, I find it utterly pointless to complain about it in an unrelated thread.

Kyle15 · 08-25-2025, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I think Eyes Wide Shut absolutely belongs here. I vehemently disagree with it being removed.

I enjoy Richard's posts in the noir thread, but even if you don't, I find it utterly pointless to complain about it in an unrelated thread.

Write me a ticket.

apricissimus · 08-25-2025, 06:01 PM

Never mind whether it's a drama or a thriller, Eyes Wide Shut is not even erotic. It has the trappings of sex, but it's incredibly unsexy.

DaBargainHunta · 08-25-2025, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apricissimus

Never mind whether it's a drama or a thriller, Eyes Wide Shut is not even erotic. It has the trappings of sex, but it's incredibly unsexy.

I don't find Eyes Wide Shut sexy either, but this is Kubrick we're talking about, so it's clearly his subversive take on the genre. (Or, as one review I found in a quick Google search referred to it, "An ironic take on the Erotic Thriller genre.")

Regardless, it's widely considered an erotic thriller.

One example: It's #11 on this list.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movi...-4-1234833082/

traths · 08-25-2025, 06:41 PM

I would love a 4K of Body Heat.

Richard--W · 08-25-2025, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Would these count?

If I include every neo-noir with a love scene ... well, yes, but they
belong more to neo-noir than to erotic thriller. So I'd like to leave
them in the neo-noir thread.

08-25-2025, 07:29 AM	#3
Richard--W Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2012 4K collection:105 Blu-ray collection:3001 DVD collection:1767 Digital collection:1 Blu-ray reviews:1	Suggestions for what titles to include are welcome. Last edited by Richard--W; 08-25-2025 at 08:57 PM.

08-25-2025, 07:18 AM	#1
Richard--W Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2012 4K collection:105 Blu-ray collection:3001 DVD collection:1767 Digital collection:1 Blu-ray reviews:1	Erotic Thrillers on blu-ray & 4K UHD Erotic Thrillers From the late 1980s thru the 1990s HBO, CineMax, Showtime and other cable TV networks produced a number of small-budget exercises in noir stylization and plotting that came to be known as the Erotic Thriller. The new genre quickly migrated to the new booming home video market. Independent producers, funded by cable networks and home video labels sometimes in partnership with studios, produced countless Erotic Thrillers. They were shot as 35mm feature films, aired without commercial interruption and verged on the soft-core. Perhaps the most famous was Red Shoe Diaries which begat a more explicit cable TV series. The Erotic Thrillers had a large female audience, perhaps because it was mostly a female-lead genre. The felonious femme fatales in these films made bankable stars out of Shannon Tweed, Maria Ford, Shannon Whirry, Brigitte Bako and others. When the films came to home video they proved to be best-sellers and high-volume rentals. I started this thread to corral the genre on blu-ray, but alas, not one single Erotic thriller of the period has been released on blu-ray. Not one. But the genre migrated over to feature films. The features are not always as much fun as the cable and direct-to-VHS films, but at least they're on blu-ray. 4K UHD Related Threads: Official Film Noir on blu-ray Neo Film Noir 1961-2035 on blu-ray & 4K UHD Further Reading: The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema -by Linda Ruth Williams Sexy Thrills: Undressing the Erotic-Thriller - by Nina Martin Documentary History of the Erotic Thriller: or watch on shudder dot com: We Kill for Love Last edited by Richard--W; 09-03-2025 at 08:42 PM.

08-25-2025, 07:19 AM	#2
Richard--W Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2012 4K collection:105 Blu-ray collection:3001 DVD collection:1767 Digital collection:1 Blu-ray reviews:1

08-25-2025, 07:51 AM	#4
moviegeek1992 Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Apr 2015 4K collection:73 Blu-ray collection:1512 DVD collection:266

08-25-2025, 07:53 AM	#5
moviegeek1992 Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Apr 2015 4K collection:73 Blu-ray collection:1512 DVD collection:266	Are we counting foreign Blu-rays also? I see you have 88 Film’s release of Two Moon Junction in the OP.

08-25-2025, 08:11 AM	#8
Gotho(redux) Blu-ray Guru Member since:Aug 2016 Location:Rat infested catacombs 4K collection:121 Blu-ray collection:1259 Trading Score:1	I only included Eureka's release of Wild Orchid, because the Olive release is the censored version.

08-25-2025, 08:41 AM	#9
Jorvic Blu-ray Prince Member since:May 2018	This one needs a Blu-ray:

08-25-2025, 11:03 AM	#10
gimmeshelter Blu-ray Guru Member since:May 2019 4K collection:136 Blu-ray collection:1160	Jade is a 4K; also the Sliver from VS is a 4K also

08-25-2025, 04:18 PM	#12
kinotek Member Top contributor Member since:Sep 2023 Location:Seattle 4K collection:4 Blu-ray collection:598 DVD collection:509 Digital collection:176	Two of my holy grails in this category, never released on disc anywhere as far as I can tell, are Deceptions (1990) and Jim McBride's awesome The Wrong Man (1993), starring a scenery-chewing John Lithgow and the to-die-for Rosanna Arquette. Both were released on VHS by Republic Pictures Home Video, so I don't know where that leaves them now. Deceptions has been streaming on Tubi for a few years, so at least an HD version exists, but The Wrong Man, which to me is far better than McBride's Breathless, has been seriously neglected. Seems a prime candidate for FCE or Cinematographe.

08-25-2025, 04:32 PM	#13
Kyle15 Blu-ray Duke Top contributor Member since:Jan 2011 Location:Alabama 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:393 DVD collection:8 Trading Score:5	You need to remove a bunch of these. Les Diaboliques and Black Swan are psychological horror films. Eyes Wide Shut is an erotic drama film, Mulholland Drive is a surrealist mystery art film. lmao

08-25-2025, 05:12 PM	#14
Uncle Bud Expert Member Top contributor Member since:Dec 2023 Location:USA 4K collection:28 Blu-ray collection:53 DVD collection:6 Blu-ray reviews: 8	Not sure is these fit neatly into the genre, but I think a case could be made for all of them:

08-25-2025, 05:28 PM	#15
DaBargainHunta Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:May 2011 Location:Parts Unknown - because I blabbed about Mars! Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Trading Score:30	I think Eyes Wide Shut absolutely belongs here. I vehemently disagree with it being removed. I enjoy Richard's posts in the noir thread, but even if you don't, I find it utterly pointless to complain about it in an unrelated thread.

08-25-2025, 06:01 PM	#17
apricissimus Senior Member Member since:Sep 2022 4K collection:64 Blu-ray collection:250 DVD collection:41 Trading Score:2	Never mind whether it's a drama or a thriller, Eyes Wide Shut is not even erotic. It has the trappings of sex, but it's incredibly unsexy.

08-25-2025, 06:41 PM	#19
traths Blu-ray Baron Top contributor Member since:Dec 2012 Location:Minnesota 4K collection:252 Blu-ray collection:1040 DVD collection:53 Trading Score:2	I would love a 4K of Body Heat.

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