• History of Sex in Cinema
• Sexual and Erotic Films in Cinema
• The Most Controversial Films of All-Time
• Sexy Hollywood Bombshells
• Best and Most Memorable Film Kisses of All Time in Cinematic History

American Pie (1999)

The first in a series of wildly popular, raucous teen-sex comedies (typical of the late 90s) - and an extremely 'guilty pleasure' film about losing one's virginity on prom night. Characters in the romp included sex-obsessed, awkward, coming-of-age high school senior Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs), and frisky, busty Czech exchange student Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) who was spied with an Internet web-cam.

Angel Heart (1987)

A mystery horror film with a twist starred Mickey Rourke as Harry Angel, a Brooklyn private investigator in New Orleans searching for a missing person - Johnny Favorite (himself), and encountering young sexy voodoo priestess Epiphany Proudfoot (Lisa Bonet).

Basic Instinct (1992)

In Paul Verhoeven's sleazy thriller, Sharon Stone as bisexual blonde - and suspected bad-girl murderess Catherine Trammel with an ice-pick, flashed her nether region to a roomful of entranced cops during an interrogation

Betty Blue (1986, Fr.) (aka 37.2 Le Matin)

This unrated French film told about a self-destructive relationship between a young woman (Beatrice Dalle) and her lover (Jean-Hugues Anglade) and left little to the imagination.

Bitter Moon (1992, Fr./UK/US)

The dark and perverted side of sexuality (love/hate) was explored in this Roman Polanski psycho-thriller, between a wheelchaired husband (Peter Coyote) and his seductive French wife (Emmanuelle Seigner), as the two were on an ocean voyage with a prim and proper British couple (Kristin Scott-Thomas and Hugh Grant).

Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013, Fr.) (aka La Vie D'Adèle)

A French film accused of being nearly pornographic, and having its director mistreat its two female stars Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux, who had an explicit 7 minute lesbian scene between them as they explored their sexuality.

Body Double (1984)

Brian DePalma's twisting Hitchcockian thriller involved neighbor-peeping, a saucy porn star (Melanie Griffith), and a struggling Hollywood actor (Craig Wasson).

Body Heat (1981)

A not too bright attorney (William Hurt) passionately fell for a seductive wife (Kathleen Turner) in a plot to kill her husband in this sultry, film-noirish thriller.

Body of Evidence (1993)

An NC-17 rated erotic thriller starring Willem Dafoe (as a lawyer) and Madonna (with an outright sexy performance as a murder suspect) - derided and panned by many critics for its hot wax S&M sequence and other kinky sex scenes.

Boogie Nights (1997)

The LA adult film industry of the 1970s-80s was the hard-core focus of Paul Thomas Anderson's dark epic, starring Burt Reynolds as a porn director, Julianne Moore as often-nude adult actress Amber Waves, Heather Graham as stripped-down Rollergirl, and Mark Wahlberg as well-endowed Dirk Diggler (with a prosthetic penis).

Bound (1996)

This flick's depiction of Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly's titillating lesbian romance (and kinky sex life) was as exciting as their scheme to steal Mafia money.

Boxing Helena (1993)

This controversial, misogynistic, R-rated film (all a dream fantasy) told about an obsessive brilliant Atlanta surgeon Dr. Nick Cavanaugh (Julian Sands) who became entranced by his vivacious, unattainable, bitchy and libertine neighbor Helena (Sherilyn Fenn). Ultimately he performed surgery on her after a car accident and made her a 'Venus de Milo' amputee (metaphorically and physically) to imprison her in his home.

Breathless (1983)

The remake of Jean-Luc Godard's French film of the 1960s cast Richard Gere as a fugitive drifter and sexy Valerie Kaprisky as his romantic partner.

Cat People (1982)

Paul Schrader's erotic horror film remake (of the 1942 original) starred lithe Nastassja Kinski as Irena, doomed to turn into a black leopard if her sexual passions were stirred. Also with Annette O'Toole in the famous pool stalking sequence.

The Center of the World (2001)

A computer dot-com millionaire (Peter Sarsgaard) hired a club lap-dancer (Molly Parker) for $10,000 to accompany him to Las Vegas for three-nights of erotic play in this unrated film.

Color of Night (1994)

The who-dun-it was liberally laced with sex scenes between a distressed psychologist (Bruce Willis) and a torrid, mysterious female (Jane March).

Crash (1996)

David Cronenberg's controversial, fetishistic study of an automotive car-crash subculture was not for everyone. After an accident, unfaithful film producer (James Spader) was introduced to the cult group with injured victim Dr. Helen Remington (Holly Hunter), and found that a concluding almost-fatal car crash involving his wife Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger) was actually strengthening his marriage.

Crimes of Passion (1984)

Ken Russell's compelling work starred Kathleen Turner as a fashion designer moonlighting in a double life as street prostitute China Blue - often terrorized by a crazed, dildo-wielding preacher (Anthony Perkins).

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

This daring, aristocratic psychodrama was filmed multiple times - it involved court intrigue, scheming, betrayal and wagers placed in France a few centuries ago, over whether Valmont (John Malkovich) could seduce a virtuous young virgin (Uma Thurman) and a recently-married woman (Michelle Pfeiffer).

Desert Hearts (1985)

A lesbian-themed romantic drama set in the late 1950s in Reno, Nevada, it realistically and positively told the story of a growing relationship between free-spirited casino worker Cay (Patricia Charbonneau) and Columbia University professor Vivian (Helen Shaver) in town waiting for a divorce.

Don't Look Now (1973, UK/It.)

Nicolas Roeg's unsettling thriller remains famous for its realistic and explicit sex scene (the question still remains - was it simulated or not?) between a grieving, married couple (Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland) in Venice.

Dream Lover (1994)

The psychological thriller examined the short-lived, sexy romance between a yuppie guy (James Spader) and an enigmatic dream lover (Madchen Amick).

The Dreamers (2003, Fr./It./UK)

Explicit sexual content was rampant in Bernardo Bertolucci's erotic drama set in the late 60s Paris, about a trio of cinephiles, including Eva Green as Isabelle who enjoyed playing decadent sexual games within the love triangle.

Dressed to Kill (1980)

Brian De Palma's glossy thriller was a slasher film about a murderous blonde, a mysterious psychiatrist (Michael Caine), and the victims: a sexually-adventurous chic lady (Angie Dickinson), and a call girl (Nancy Allen).

Emmanuelle (1974, Fr.)

This was the first - and most infamous - of a long series of discreetly-shot, French soft-core films about the awakening of a suppressed, sexually-curious female (Sylvia Kristel) in various erotic locales.

The English Patient (1996)

A Best Picture winner, this romantic drama used flashback as a technique to tell the tale of the badly-burned "English Patient" Count László de Almásy (Ralph Fiennes) and his doomed love affair with a married woman (Kristin Scott-Thomas).

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Kubrick's last film of a sexual odyssey featured a sophisticated married pair (celebrity couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) with adulterous and jealous impulses while experimenting with new erotic adventures or experiences, including an ominous masked orgy.

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Before murderous and obsessive impulses were activated in this cautionary tale, happily-married attorney (Michael Douglas) had a weekend fling with a psycho-siren (Glenn Close).

Femme Fatale (2002)

This glossy and twisting noirish mystery-thriller from Brian DePalma began with an eye-popping opener: a sexy jewelry heist involving two femme fatales (Rebecca Romijn and Rie Rasmussen) at the Cannes Film Festival.

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

The trashy, best-selling erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey was adapted into this controversially-sexy film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. In this tale of sex and bondage, domineering, kinky, rich playboy bachelor Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) 'took' the virginity from innocent, wide-eyed, naive and submissive English literature university student Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson). She signed a master-slave, non-disclosure contract, and consented to spanking and mild bondage - and eventually more extreme S&M activities, until she left him after concluding that his sexual practices were deviant and excessive.