Ryan charts the genres rise and fall…
Between 1987 and 1993, Michael Douglas was the undisputed, bare-bottomed prince of the erotic thriller.
In terms of box-office, 1987 was the erotic thrillers year zero.
IfFatal Attractionwas the erotic thriller genresJaws, thenBasic Instinctwas itsStar Wars.
Michael Douglas plays Nick Curran, a hot-blooded cop with an unfortunate taste in V-neck sweaters.
There followed an explosion of thrillers, which all contained sex or nudity to some extent.
A mix of courtroom drama and bedroom drama,Body Of Evidencewas released in 1993 to almost universal derision.
As the 90s wore on, the erotic thrillers kept coming.
Outside the erotic thriller genre,Indecent Proposal(directed by Adrian Lyne) was a huge hit.
After 1994, audience apathy towards erotic thrillers began to set in.
The subgenres death knell came in 2006 with the belated sequel,Basic Instinct 2.
The film was little short of a disaster.
Some blamed the Internet, with the ready availability of pornography robbing the genre of its mystique.
Some even blamed the Republicans.
And Christianity and sex have never been good friends.
