15 Sexiest Horror And Thriller Movies Of All Time

So many horror films are released every year, but the best movies in the small subgenre of sexy horror can be especially fascinating. 2022 prequel Orphan: First Kill is a dark, psychological drama filled with violence and more twists that eclipse even the original film, Orphan. The storylines of the movies are scary enough on their own: an adult posing as a child to infiltrate grieving families. However, the filmmakers add a layer of eroticism by having the villain also be a serial seducer. The combination of sex and terror is a tried and true classic that has been around since early 20th-century filmmaking.

With the phenomenal success of Ti West’s X film series, which made huge box office returns relative to their microbudgets, the 2020s’ sexiest horror movies are starting to outshine sexy horror movies from decades past. But while it’s hard to compete with serial killers running wild on an adult movie set, there are tons of great and surprisingly profound sexy horror movies to discover. Between a woman’s sexual obsession with a tentacled alien, three witches who conjure a man who can fulfill every desire, and a woman who becomes a serial killer after years of being sexually repressed, the best sexy horror movies have always captured imaginations.

15 The Untamed (2016)

The Untamed is one of the best Spanish-language movies for the way it explores repressed sexuality and forbidden desires, but it does so in the strangest way possible. The movie follows Alejandra (Ruth Ramos), a bored and sexually frustrated wife, and Verónica (Simone Bucio), a young woman who becomes obsessed with a tentacled alien creature who can satisfy her sexual desires. The heart of the movie is about their relatable personal lives and relationships, but that contrasts with the outrageous narrative of the crash-landed alien who can give these women pleasure but also becomes increasingly violent and dangerous.

14 An American Werewolf In London (1981)

On the face of it, An American Werewolf in London wouldn’t be considered one of the sexy horror movies, as the prosthetics and practical effects of the creature are inherently unappealing to the eye. However, the gothic ambiance and the rich, detailed London aesthetic are the perfect foundation for an oddly sensual and seductive movie. David Naughton and Jenny Agutter’s chemistry is off the charts, and there’s romantic tension that could be cut with a knife. While the shower scene in Psycho is easily the most iconic movie shower scene, An American Werewolf in London features a memorable raunchy shower sequence of its own.

13 The Witches Of Eastwick (1987)

The Witches of Eastwick is one of the sexiest horror movies of the 1980s, which is a huge feat given that there are so many of them. The three titular witches (Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfieffer) discover their supernatural abilities for the first time, which results in them accidentally conjuring the jokingly named Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson), a seductive and charming man who’s just as devilish. He fulfills all of the women’s desires, but that leads to mass destruction. The Witches of Eastwick has a quintessential ’80s cast, which makes the movie endlessly entertaining, and they absolutely lean into the raunchiness.

12 Don’t Look Now (1973)

Above all else, Don’t Look Now is a horror movie about grief, as it follows John and Laura Baxter (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) as they move to Venice to mourn the death of their young daughter. The movie takes a turn for the worst when two sisters claim that they communicated with the child’s spirit, and all hell breaks loose. Amongst the emotionally exhausting and grueling narrative are moments of extremely passionate scenes between John and Laura. The scenes are undoubtedly erotic, but they aren’t exploitative, as they heighten the emotional stakes, and the characters’ desires wildly contrast with their fears, which are just as heavily depicted.

11 Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman at the height of their fame and uses the then-real-life couple’s relationship to extraordinary effect in this erotic thriller. The plot revolves around a couple in a struggling relationship who are not completely honest with themselves or each other when it comes to their sexual proclivities. The couple is dragged into an underground world of sex and secrecy and becomes part of an underground society dedicated to masked orgies. The society begins to reveal an even more sinister underbelly, and mystery, thrills, and sex join to form one of the sexiest horror movies.

10 Videodrome (1983)

David Cronenberg is the master of body horror and one of the key films in the genre is Videodrome. The film stars James Woods and involves virtual pornography and rapidly growing tumors, and the video cassette “Videodrome” is causing it all. The main characters are either working in or adjacent to pornography and themes of sadomasochism permeate the film as people are titillated and then hypnotized by Videodrome. The end of the film caps off the sexual themes, as the killer cassette only affects those whose curiosity is piqued enough to turn the film on in the first place.

9 The Hunger (1983)

The sexual implications of vampires have been present in the lore since Dracula was written by Bram Stoker in 1897. Drinking the blood of virgins, killing via stake in the heart, and the nighttime visits of vampire lore are not an accident — they are explicit references to sexuality. The Hunger takes these themes and puts them plainly on the screen with its love triangle plot between a doctor and a couple who also happen to be vampires. There is plenty of blood of course, but the sexual desires of creatures that have lived for centuries is why this film sits firmly in the erotic-horror genre.

8 Jennifer’s Body (2009)

This dark comedy horror stars Megan Fox the titular demonically possessed host who uses her sexuality to seduce men and feed on them when she gets them into a vulnerable position. Eventually, it is revealed Jennifer is playing host to a succubus, a mythological creature deeply rooted in sex and eroticism. While at first glance, Jennifer’s Body seems to be exploiting Megan Fox’s sexuality, there are clear feminist undertones to the film as oppressive males are often punished for their aggressiveness. When the #MeToo movement began, the film grew in popularity as a cult favorite and symbol of the feminist movement in horror (via Vox).

7 Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Making one of the 1990s’ sexy horror movies was an unusual follow-up for Francis Ford Coppola after a career of gangster films, dramas, and sweeping war epics. His dip into horror was both celebrated and somewhat mystifying to critics who weren’t completely sure of what to make of it. Dracula in this film is very well aligned with the original creation in the novel. Gary Oldman stars as the vampire and hypnotically seduces a number of women throughout the film. However, it is Lucy (Sadie Frost) and Dracula’s brides who exude the most sexuality. Their openness and eroticism are a statement about the restricted role women played during the era.

6 The Love Witch (2016

The Love Witch is a passion project of virtuoso filmmaker Anna Biller, who not only directed but wrote, edited, produced, and even scored the sexy horror movie. The film centers around a woman who uses witchcraft to get men to fall in love with her, and the sexiness ramps up from there. The themes of eroticism and sex in the film and the way they play off each other makes for a chilling, often hilarious, and always sexy movie. The passion that the lead witch gives her targets is one of a kind and the other darker side of that is shown in the ritual and occult scene.

5 Black Swan (2010)

A psychological body horror film about ballet was bound to have a heightened level of eroticism and sex, as Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is one of the more titillating films of the 21st century. Natalie Portman plays Nina, a talented professional ballet dancer selected to try out for the swan role in Swan Lake. Unfortunately, her kind and naive nature mean she is only successful in embodying the White Swan, not the Black Swan, a role that requires more sexuality and aggressiveness. The rest of the film is Nina’s hallucinatory journey toward finding that side of herself.

4 Pearl / X (2022)

Pearl and X are two sexy horror movies of the 2020s, and they go hand in hand as Pearl is a prequel to X, and they both explore similar themes of sexual repression and the lengths that one character goes to suppress those feelings. X takes place on a rural Texas property that has been rented out for a porn shoot, and it becomes a cross between exactly that and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Pearl sees the titular character becoming a serial killer because she’s so sexually repressed. The third movie MaXXXine is currently in development too, and it’ll likely explore similar themes.

3 American Psycho (2000)

Unlike many other films in the sexual-horror film genre, American Psycho relies heavily on male eroticism, specifically Christian Bale’s wickedly intelligent Patrick Bateman character. Bateman is a shell of a human being who seemingly exists only to make money, have sex, and murder. While the film has been memed to death, it’s still one of the sexiest horror movies full of gore and an unsettling refusal to let the audience know what is reality and what is fake. The shots of Bale’s body as he beds women throughout the film are not just for gratuity, but to juxtapose the messy killings with the film’s sexuality.

2 Enemy (2013)

Enemy begins and ends with an underground sex club. It also begins with a normal-sized spider and ends with a room-sized one cowering in a corner. This Jake Gyllenhaal-led film is about frustration with life and sex, and its use of spiders to get that point across is effectively creepy. Jake Gyllenhaal plays two characters, doppelgängers who appear to have no relation to each other than they look exactly alike, down to their scars. Both men use this resemblance to boost their sexual and personal lives to the point of disaster, and Enemy leaves audiences with a lingering unsettling feeling.

1 Cat People (1942)

RKO Pictures and French director Jacques Tourneur teamed up to direct one of the earliest sexy horror movies, Cat People. Unlike many other films of its genre, sexuality and violence are rarely shown on screen. Instead, they are alluded to off-screen, creating a suitably creepy effect. Protagonist Irena (Simone Simon) is a mysterious woman from Eastern Europe who moves to New York City and brings a terrible curse. Irena and the people of her village all turn into panthers when sexually aroused, and they’re forced to remain that way. The suspense comes from the tense wait for when Irena will give in to her suitor’s advances and transform for good.