Not every erotic thriller is a film noir, but they all owe a debt to the genre. The ‘80s erotic thriller took the formulas established by post-war noir and adapted them for a post-pornographic film landscape, adding scenes of explicit sex and nudity where they were once merely suggested. Like classic noirs, erotic thrillers also revolve around the archetypes of the femme fatale and her hapless mark. These, too, were updated to fit the times, reaching their ultimate ‘80s form in Adrian Lyne’s 1987 smash hit “Fatal Attraction.”
In Lyne’s film the male schmuck in question is a married Manhattan yuppie about to move to the suburbs, and the femme fatale is a single career woman with a loft in the Meatpacking District. Fear of female independence is foundational to the femme fatale archetype. Here, it’s incorporated with Susan Faludi’s “backlash” theory to create what Brian De Palma...
In Lyne’s film the male schmuck in question is a married Manhattan yuppie about to move to the suburbs, and the femme fatale is a single career woman with a loft in the Meatpacking District. Fear of female independence is foundational to the femme fatale archetype. Here, it’s incorporated with Susan Faludi’s “backlash” theory to create what Brian De Palma...
- 8/16/2023
- by Katie Rife
- Indiewire
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