From gothic seduction to sex-as-a-death-sentence, horror has a complicated relationship with desire. We rank the genre's most memorable approaches to sexuality, from genuinely empowering to downright problematic.
Horror films have never been shy about sex. Whether it's a vampire's seductive stare, a slasher interrupting a teenage hookup or a monster representing society's deepest anxieties, sexuality has been woven into the genre for decades. But not every film gets it right. Some explore desire, repression and identity with remarkable intelligence, while others reduce sex to a predictable punishment.
Here's our ranking of horror cinema's approaches to sexuality, from best to worst.
1. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): Sexual Liberation
Few cult classics celebrate sexual experimentation quite like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Through outrageous costumes, camp humour and unapologetic performances, the film challenges conventional ideas about gender, desire and respectability.
Its enduring appeal lies in its invitation to embrace individuality rather than apologise for it. Sexuality becomes a source of expression, rebellion and community.
Verdict: Iconic, liberating and gloriously unconventional.
2. Jennifer's Body (2009): Female Desire Gets Dark
Initially misunderstood, Jennifer's Body has since attracted renewed appreciation for its exploration of female friendship, sexuality and misogyny.
Megan Fox's Jennifer becomes a supernatural predator after a disastrous ritual, turning male desire and entitlement into part of the film's bloody satire. Beneath the horror lies a sharp critique of how teenage girls are sexualised and exploited.
Verdict: A feminist cult favourite with plenty to say about the male gaze.
3. The Love Witch (2016): Seduction as Performance
Anna Biller's stylised horror film follows Elaine, a witch searching for romantic love through beauty, magic and seduction. Its saturated colours and retro aesthetic disguise a darker examination of gender expectations.
Elaine performs femininity as though following a script, revealing how romantic fantasies can become destructive when love is confused with control.
Verdict: Visually stunning and psychologically fascinating.
4. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992): Gothic Eroticism
Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation transforms vampirism into an elaborate fantasy of forbidden desire. Opulent costumes, sensual imagery and supernatural temptation make sexuality central to its gothic atmosphere.
However, its treatment of female desire remains tangled with Victorian ideas about purity, danger and transgression.
Verdict: Beautifully seductive, if occasionally weighed down by old-fashioned sexual anxieties.
5. It Follows (2014): Sex as Existential Dread
David Robert Mitchell's supernatural horror film turns sexual intimacy into the source of an inescapable threat. A mysterious entity pursues its victims after sexual contact, creating a chilling metaphor for vulnerability, mortality and the consequences people attach to desire.
The concept is deliberately unsettling, although its premise can invite simplistic interpretations of sex as inherently dangerous.
Verdict: Clever, atmospheric and genuinely disturbing.
6. Psycho (1960): Repression and Punishment
Alfred Hitchcock's classic helped establish the association between sexuality, guilt and danger that would influence generations of horror filmmakers.
Its famous opening connects sexual transgression with violence, reflecting the restrictive cultural attitudes of its era. While historically significant, its treatment of desire is far less liberating than contemporary audiences might expect.
Verdict: A masterpiece of suspense, but hardly a celebration of sexual freedom.
The Final Verdict
Horror is at its most interesting when sexuality becomes more than a cheap shock tactic. Films like Jennifer's Body and The Rocky Horror Picture Show use desire to challenge cultural expectations, while It Follows transforms intimacy into a metaphor for fear.
The worst approach isn't necessarily depicting sex as dangerous. It's doing so without examining why society fears desire in the first place.
Because when horror explores sexuality with nuance, it doesn't simply frighten audiences. It forces them to question what they've been taught about pleasure, power and the bodies they inhabit.
Written by VavaViolet Magazine’s Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Sophie Blackman
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