Our occasional series on cinema’s most underrated films arrives at what many have considered the peak of misogynistic trash.
We’re in 1980s America, and a bunch of Hollywood execs are puffing on cigars, sipping scotch. ‘You know, I’ve been hearing a lot about these so-called “liberated women”. What do you think they’re like?’ And thus — or so I imagine — the erotic thriller was born.
Everything we’ve learned from the #MeToo accusations, scandalous trials and casting-couch innuendos suggests powerful men might have been shocked to learn that there were women engaging in sexual activity voluntarily — without having to be coerced or forced. Is this why they made so many films that showed liberated women as ultimately mentally unstable (Fatal Attraction, No Way Out), or dangerous (Body Heat, The Last Seduction)? Women who like sex? They must be crazy!
The world these men have created is all fluorescent lighting, sensible sedans and ugly shoes
Though there were many terrible erotic thrillers produced in the 1980s and 1990s, one scene has stuck in our collective memory.
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