Horror movies like Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s Bone Lake serve as good reminders that the genre has always and will forever be erotic. In the right hands, sex and seduction become intertwined with horror, often a metaphor or a driving narrative device. Most erotic horror movies pull you in with the promise of the dangerous, the alluring, and the irresistible.
Particularly in the 1960s and ‘70s, horror became a vehicle for sexual freedom and expression, and pushed against societal norms and herteronormative standards. Films like The Devils (1971), Ganja & Hess (1973), and Shivers (1975) put forth the very real truth that human beings are naturally carnal creatures. From there, filmmakers began exploring sex in all its forms through various genres and styles and pushed the conversation ever-forward.
Today, sex continues to be an integral component of many horror movies, including Ti West’s X trilogy, Titane, and Infinity Pool. It’s an endless supply for horrifying (and pleasurable) storytelling.
In gazing through history, we’ve put together ten incredibly erotic horror movies inspired by Bone Lake.
Suitable Flesh (2023)
Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s The Thing on the Doorstep, the film relies heavily on sex to drive the narrative forward. Screenwriter Dennis Paoli (Re-Animator, From Beyond) adapted the short story with the understanding that carnal lust is essential to the human experience. Director Joe Lynch (Mayhem, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End) takes the material and molds a super horny story that’ll leave you breathless. Heather Graham, Judah Lewis, and Barbara Crampton star in this sex-crazed epoch about an ancestral, body-hopping entity hellbent on destruction.
Cat People (1982)
A remake of the 1942 Jacques Tournier original, the 1982 film, free from the constraints of the Hays Code, leans heartily into blood-soaked sensuality. Nastassja Kinski plays Irena, opposite Malcolm McDowell as her long-lost brother Paul. When the two connect, their infatuation with one another turns intensely sexual, veering into strange, incestual territory. Director Paul Schrader (American Gigolo, Affliction) embraces the electric magnetism between Irena and Paul, as well as between Irena and Oliver (John Heard). As being aroused sets off Irena’s physical transformation into a panther, there’s no telling what’ll happen next.
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
In 1971’s Daughters of Darkness, a newlywed couple meets Countess Elizabeth Báthory (Delphine Seyrig), a seductress who doesn’t seem to age. The hotel clerk swears he saw her 40 years prior, raising suspicions among the other guests. Director Harry Kümel (The Legend of Doom House) supplies elegant, tasteful nudity that pairs nicely with all the bloodsucking, a common sexual link in most vampire stories. An unexplainable thrill comes from sex, and Daughters of Darkness captures the beauty of carnal lust.
The Hunger (1983)
Any film starring David Bowie is guaranteed to turn the eroticism up to 100. In his theatrical film debut, director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide) knew exactly how to lavish you with bodies caressing, quick and hot embraces, and stolen kisses. Immortal vampire Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) convinces her boyfriend John (Bowie) that he’ll live forever, but when his health declines, Miriam seeks another lover in Susan Sarandon’s young scientist Sarah. Peppered with betrayal and alluring pleasure, The Hunger follows vampire tradition in using bloodsucking and sex as one and the same.
The Untamed (2016)
An otherworldly creature brings unimaginable pleasure to a lonely, sexually frustrated woman. After a meteorite crashes into Earth, she becomes infatuated with the unknown being and has sex with it for years. If you’ve ever wondered what it could be like having sex with an alien, Amat Escalante’s (Narcos: Mexico) The Untamed taps into the seductive fantasy that features just as much uncontrollable destruction.
Knife+Heart (2018)
Writer/director Yann Gonzalez nosedives into the slimy underbelly of the gay porn industry. Knife+Heart follows a porn director in the aftermath of her breakup with a film editor. A masked assailant begins stalking and slaughtering those on the set of the director’s most ambitious film to date. Playfully erotic, the absolute blood bath takes sensuous engagements to a whole new level.
The Vampire Lovers (1970)
Roy Ward Baker’s (Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde) The Vampire Lovers packs a quiet temptation into its sultry nature. Set in late 18th-century Germany, the film focuses on a vampire named Carmilla Karnstein (Ingrid Pitt), who’s been known under several different aliases, when she enthralls Laura (Pippa Steel) into her hypnotic orbit. Their chemistry is electric, making the touching caresses and embraces that much more magnetizing.
Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)
Among Sergio Martino’s (Torso, All the Colors of the Dark) best, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key uses sex and other erotic imagery as bargaining tools. Oliviero (Luigi Pistilli), a washed-up writer, alcoholic, and abuser, hosts parties full of drink and debauchery. In true Giallo fashion, an unknown killer appears to be someone very close to the den of sin. As the film switches between bewitching pleasure and blood-soaked mystery, the viewer is left feeling sullied and ensnared within Martino’s clutches. Oh, and it also stars the marvelous Edwige Fenech, sure to bring sweat to anyone’s brow.
Bliss (2019)
Dora Madison plays Dezzy, a young painter struggling to create her next masterpiece. Writer/director Joe Begos (VFW, Jimmy and Stiggs) conjures a story about the creative process through the lens of a vampire tale. After a drug-induced night out, Dezzy begins craving blood, which subsequently opens the floodgates of inspiration. Bloody and arousing, Bliss doesn’t get talked enough about as a glorious erotic piece of horror filmmaking.
Stranger by the Lake (2013)
Stranger by the Lake sees writer/director Alain Guiraudie exploring gay cruising around a secluded lake. When Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) falls for the dashing but dangerous Michel (Christophe Paou), he tumbles into the dark web of a serial killer. Equal parts chilling and erotic, the 2013 French film tickles the pleasure receptors and offers a tantalizing escape. Also laced with themes of loneliness and desperation, Stranger by the Lake remains an underrated cult classic.
