Introduction: In the following illustrated compilation are some of the most significant films in the history of sex on the screen. The influential film milestones and their memorable sexual/erotic scenes are thoroughly described. Including portrayals of sex and/or nudity, these films were often considered quite erotic, groundbreaking, unique and/or controversial at the time. The following listing of these influential, memorable and classic sex scenes and films takes into account all of the available surveys of this type of material, and attempts to provide an informed, detailed, unranked, chronological (by film title) grouping of the most influential and groundbreaking films and scenes. Some of the most notorious (or infamous) films are quite mediocre, usually made as an excuse to display nudity or eroticism of a star performer.

See also the multi-part Sexual and Erotic Films in Cinema, The Most Controversial Films of All-Time and the Best and Most Memorable Film Kisses of All Time in Cinematic History.

Key to Icon Symbol:

- Milestone Films With Scenes That Were Especially Notorious, Infamous, Controversial, or Scandalous

Example

Chained Heat (1983)

Director Paul Nicolas' classic, trashy sex-ploitative 'women-in-prison' (or 'chicks-in-chains') film, popular with drive-ins, starred The Exorcist's Linda Blair as innocent, virginal offender Carol Henderson who was sent to jail for 18 months for vehicular manslaughter; besides showcasing nudity by Blair for the first time (in a shower scene with Sybil Danning), it included all the requisite scenes and elements for this genre of film (lengthy nude showers, assaultive guards, rape, lesbianism, racial/gang warfare behind bars led by white leader Sybil Danning (as Ericka) and black leader Tamara Dobson (as Dutchess), a corrupt and vile Warden Bacman (John Vernon) who raped Carol (Blair) and videotaped other inmates in his office's conveniently-placed hot-tub, and a stern prison matron Captain Taylor (Stella Stevens), etc.); it followed the same stereotypes and predictability of Caged Heat (1974) and was part of a new wave of these types of films in the 80s - a combination of blaxploitation and sexploitation

Flashdance (1983)

Adrian Lyne's MTV-style, feel-good hit with rock music by Giorgio Moroder showcased an independent-minded 18 year-old woman who had dreams of being a dancer; it popularized ripped off-the-shoulder baggy sweatshirts, aerobic dancing, break dancing, and other fashion trends; it included an erotic, opening scene of Pittsburgh welder and gorgeous erotic dancer Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals in her first lead role, although quite a few of her scenes were performed by body double/ professional dancer Marine Jahan) in a wet skimpy red outfit in a quasi-strip club named Mawby's Bar, and then a well-publicized scene of her removing her black bra from under her torn gray sweatshirt; later, there was a suggestive scene of her tantalizing boyfriend Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri) during a lobster dinner - dressed in a black tux with just the front piece of a white shirt and cuffs without sleeves, she slowly nibbled and sucked soft pieces of seafood while asking: "What turns you on?...Do you like phone booths?...You probably just like doing it in bed, right?" as she moved her leg up under the table to tantalizingly touch his crotch with her toes

The Hunger (1983, UK)

Director Tony Scott's directorial debut film was this stylish, decadent and R-rated erotic film; it included a controversial, soft-focus lesbian vampires scene (with kissing and nipple-sucking) between seductively-elegant, centuries-old vampire queen Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) and new blood candidate/recruit - the butchy longevity scientist Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon); when Sarah spilled a blood-red droplet of sherry on her white T-shirt just above her breast, she was prompted to remove her clothing - leading to other Sapphic touches, love-bites, and the taking of the new lover by mingling with her blood; Miriam gave her a fatal bite with blood dripping from her lips, sending blood down the doctor's neck; this scene reportedly ushered in lesbian vampire chic, along with the earlier 'queer-horror' 70s films The Vampire Lovers (1970, UK), Daughters of Darkness (1971) (aka Les Lèvres Rouges), Vampyros Lesbos (1971), and Vampyres (1974) (aka Vampyres: Daughters of Darkness)

Raunchy Teen-Sex, Sexploitation Comedies of the 1980s

The late 70s and early 80s was a period of low-brow, teasy, R-rated sexy teen comedies with gratuitous nudity, mindlessly weak plots, and raunchy profanity, designed for horny adolescents, usually teenaged males with raging hormones and active fantasy lives who were looking for glimpses of naked girls and their first sexual conquest (a "Let's Get Laid" sub-genre); the smarmy trend signaled that theatrical films originally made for 'dirty old men' were now targeted at teenagers, with comedic laughs often directed at the semi-naked young stars; there were many representative films of varying quality (some pictured to the right):

- Revenge of the Cheerleaders (1976) - a classic drive-in film
- Malibu Beach (1978) - with all the typical ingredients, such as booze, sexy lifeguards, wild summer nights, a non-stop soundtrack
- Private Lessons (1981) - with Emmanuelle's Sylvia Kristel as 30-ish sexy French maid/housekeeper Nicole with the 'hots' for teenaged boy Philip Fillmore (Eric Brown), advertised with the tagline: "The bedroom is a fun classroom - EMMANUELLE's star is the teacher" - the first in a series of Private... films by producer R. Ben Efraim - see earlier description
- Stripes (1981) - a ribald military comedy with Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, bikini-clad mud wrestlers, and Murray's love-interest P.J. Soles
- The Beach Girls (1982) - see earlier description
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) - see earlier description
- The First Time (1982)
- Goin' All the Way (1982) - with the tagline: "Sometimes there's only one thing on your mind..."
- The Last American Virgin (1982) - see earlier description
- Porky's (1982) - considered the first major example of the vulgar sex comedies of the early Reagan era; with its memorable voyeuristic locker room scene; followed by the sequels Porky's II: The Next Day (1983) and Porky's Revenge (1985)
- Zapped! (1982) - featuring Happy Days star Scott Baio as science student nerd Barney Springboro who acquired the power of telekinesis (similar to DePalma's Carrie (1976)) - used in the climactic prom scene in the school gym to strip off the gown of mean cheerleader prom-queen Jane Mitchell (then unknown star Heather Thomas); with the awful sequel Zapped Again (1989)
- Class (1983) - one of many controversial films about a male teenaged prep school student (Andrew McCarthy as Jonathan) being schooled by an older sexy temptress (Jacqueline Bisset as Mrs. Ellen Burroughs), his roommate's mother; also featured future stars Rob Lowe, John and Joan Cusack, Virginia Madsen, and Lolita Davidovich
- The First Turn-On! (1983) - Troma Entertainment's early entry in the teen sex-comedy genre (and featuring the screen debut of Vincent D'Onofrio)
- Getting It On! (1983) - another teen exploitation film with the tagline: "Don't Miss the Stripped Down Fun and Hot Wired Action," starring Martin Yost as horny teenager Alex Carson, with scenes featuring spy cams and a nude dorm room pillow-fight
- Joy Sticks (1983) - supposedly referring to a videogame arcade
- Losin' It (1983) - directed by Curtis Hanson, about four high-schoolers (including Tom Cruise and Jackie Earle Haley) crossing the border to Tijuana to find hookers, and instead finding a runaway, divorce-seeking housewife (Shelley Long)
- My Tutor (1983) - about young senior high school student Bobby Chrystal (Matt Lattanzi) amorously tutored in "French" by 30 year-old blonde Terry Green (Caren Kaye) who enjoyed nightly skinny-dips in the family pool; also co-starred Russ Meyer's favorite big-breasted Kitten Natividad as Ana Maria
- Private School...for girls (1983) - with a female shower scene, guys masquerading as girls to peep, and a memorable topless slow-motion horseback ride by Betsy Russell (pictured); the second in a series of Private... films by producer R. Ben Efraim
- Risky Business (1983) - see later description
- Screwballs (1983) - director Rafal Zielinski's teen comedy, a Porky's rip-off story about five male students at T & A High School who made a pact to see the last virgin in their class, icy blonde Purity Busch (Linda Speciale) naked by the homecoming dance - accomplished by the end credits; its inferior sequel was Screwballs II: Loose Screws (1985)
- Spring Break (1983) - another film about sex/sun in Ft. Lauderdale, semi-inspired by the 50s-60s beach party movies, and co-starring Corinne Alphen (Penthouse's 1982 Pet of the Year)
- Bachelor Party (1984) - an early Tom Hanks film, with Tawny Kitaen and Monique Gabrielle - see later description
- Hardbodies (1984) - a brainless, soft-core beach-bunny exploitation sex comedy that was originally a Playboy TV movie, but was released as a feature film; it told about three divorced, middle-aged horny guys who rented a Venice Beach pad and then took lessons from local blonde beach bum/stud Scotty Palmer (Grant Cramer) on how to score with young "hardbodies"; commentator Joe Bob Briggs counted 44 breasts in the film; with an equally-inane sequel Hardbodies 2 (1986)
- Hot Moves (1984) - another archetypal teen comedy about pubescent males attempting to lose their virginity
- The Party Animal (1984) - a low-budget, exploitation flick about an obnoxious, redneck campus loser named Pondo Sinatra (Matthew Causey) who bargained his soul for the loss of his virginity, and received his wish (and more) - goddess Miranda (Susanne Ashley), with a love potion that made him sexually irresistible but exhausted from continual sexual pursuit
- Paradise Motel (1984) (aka New Kid in Town) - a sex comedy about horny teenagers using a motel's honeymoon suite as a "teenybopper whorehouse" (similar to the storyline of Wilder's The Apartment (1960), and an additional plot about two males (Robert Krantz as Mick and Gary Hershberger as Sam) competing over the attentions of Laura (Jonna Leigh Stack)
- Revenge of the Nerds (1984) - a typical low-brow college campus 80s comedy with the brainy nerds against the brawny jocks and their rich and bitchy sorority girlfriends (Julia Montgomery pictured as Pi-Delta-Pi sorority member and blonde cheerleader Betty Childs, and another unnamed coed (Colleen Madden pictured) who were spied upon by a hidden video camera with nerd Booger's (Curtis Armstrong) famous line: "We've got bush", and Takashi's (Brian Tochi) additional exclamation: "Hair pie!"); followed by three sequels in 1987, 1992, and 1994
- Where the Boys Are '84 (1984) - a remake of the innocent 1960 film about four college coeds (Lynn-Holly Johnson, Lisa Hartman, Wendy Schaal, and Lorna Luft) on spring break in Ft. Lauderdale, including a requisite "Hot Bod" contest
- The Big Bet (1985) - a sex comedy about a 'bet' between high school males about who would have sex first within a week with new blonde schoolgirl Beth (Kim Evenson, Playboy's September 1984 Playmate); the protagonist Chris (Lance Sloane), a perpetually sexually-aroused male (in the film's description on the video box) was given advice from pretty, knowledgeable, and experienced middle-aged neighbor Michelle (Emmanuelle's and Private Lesson's Sylvia Kristel)
- Fraternity Vacation (1985) - a stupid and frivolous spring break teen sexploitation film (set in Palm Springs, CA) with horny fraternity boys (including Tim Robbins in an early role as Larry "Mother" Tucker) in a contest to get laid by scoring with beautiful Ashley Taylor (Sheree Wilson); Barbara Crampton as Chrissie and Kathleen Kinmont as Marianne provided the requisite nudity by pretending to be willing to strip and have sex, and then announced that they had herpes
- Private Resort (1985) - with an early screen appearance by Johnny Depp (with a naked backside) and Rob Morrow in his screen debut; the third in a series of Private... films by producer R. Ben Efraim; an unamusing sex comedy about two sex-crazy guys spending a wild weekend in a luxury Miami resort hotel, featuring nude Hilary Shepard as crazy, Eastern religion-worshipping Jewish cousin Shirley, Police Academy's Leslie Easterbrook as trophy wife Bobbie Sue in a see-thru negligee, and sexpot Dana (Karyn O'Bryan)
- Tomboy (1985) - another sex comedy with Betsy Russell as a 'tomboyish' teen race-car driver and mechanic
- One Crazy Summer (1986) - with John Cusack, Demi Moore, and others during a summer on Nantucket Island
- Hot Times at Montclair High (1989) - a routine high school sex comedy
- Lauderdale (1989), aka Spring Fever USA

Balancing out the teen-sex comedies were some of writer-producer-director John Hughes' films which took a more sensitive look at adolescent issues, in films such as Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Pretty in Pink (1986). Other more realistic teenage-oriented films included Tex (1982) with Matt Dillon, Baby, It's You (1983) with Rosanna Arquette, and director Martha Coolidge's Valley Girl (1983) with Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman. See Entertainment Weekly's 50 Best High School Movies.

Young Doctors in Love (1982)
and
Easy Money (1983)
and
Back to School (1986)

These early 80s films were raucous, mildly funny comedies --

(1) Young Doctors in Love (1982) by director Gary Marshall was an example of a pre-Farrelly Brothers film (a cross between Airplane and the soap General Hospital); it was set in a hospital filled with horny young interns and nurses - including many reputable stars (Michael McKean, Sean Young, Harry Dean Stanton, Hector Elizando, and Pamela Reed)

(2) Easy Money (1983) by director James Signorelli was a seminal Rodney Dangerfield comedy (after his success in Caddyshack), with the comic starring as a 'black sheep' character who had to shed his vices (philandering, drinking, gambling, etc.) to inherit millions

(3) Back to School (1986) was Dangerfield's follow-up comedy film in which he headlined as Thornton Melon - a leering millionaire tycoon who improbably attended college (for carousing and romancing) with his son

The nudity quotient for the first two films was partially fulfilled by Kimberly McArthur (Playboy Playmate January 1982) - as a barely-costumed Santa Claus and as a topless sunbathing neighbor, and by Leslie Scarborough (Leslie Huntly) in the third film as a startled sorority Co-ed #1 in the shower

Deathstalker: The Last Great Warrior (1983)

and

Barbarian Queen (1985) and Barbarian Queen II (1989)

One-time model/singer Barbi Benton (and part time regular on TV's Hee Haw) - the girlfriend of Playboy's Hugh Hefner in the 70s, starred in a few cult-style B-films, including The Naughty Cheerleader (1970), Hospital Massacre (1982) and this tacky, sexist sword-sorcery fantasy from producer Roger Corman that was a ripped-off nude version of Conan the Barbarian (1982) with Arnold Schwarzenegger; Benton starred as beautiful chained prisoner Princess Codille wearing a flimsy white see-through robe - the prize for winning a warriors' tournament; Lana Clarkson was also featured in this film (that spawned three sequels in 1987, 1988, and 1990, although she was absent) with an unbelievable breast-baring, criss-crossing costume for her role as blonde warrior Kaira.

Lana Clarkson also appeared as statuesque barbarian warrior woman Amethea and Princess Athalia in two other sword & sorcery sexploitation tales: Barbarian Queen (1985) and its sequel Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back (1989); in both films, she was tortured while stripped topless on a stand-up rack - but most notably in the 1985 film, she was able to force her comically-accented captor Zohar (Tony Middleton) to release her by squeezing his manhood during forced rape/intercourse (Zohar (in agony): "Stop squeezing! Too Tight!" Amethea: "Free my hands!" Zohar: "I-I- will. I will! You can let me go now"); -- tragically, legendary record producer Phil Spector was later charged with her murder in 2003 and ultimately convicted in 2009

The Key (1983, It.) (aka La Chiave)

Italian erotic director Tinto Brass' film, based on Junichiro Tanizaki's novel Kagi, was banned by the Catholic church for its torrid soft-core tale set in pre-WWII Venice; it told about a kinky, aging, cross-dressing husband Nino Rolfe (Frank Finlay) and his younger, sexually-repressed wife Teresa (Stefania Sandrelli) who wrote their fantasies in separate diaries to revive their sex lives after 20 years of marriage; Nino discovered that Teresa was secretly attracted to their daughter Lisa's (Barbara Cupisti) fiancee, Laszlo (Franco Branciaroli), and so schemed to push his wife slowly into an affair with their future son-in-law to sexually liberate her and reignite her (and his) libido - resulting ultimately in his stroke from over-indulgence

One Deadly Summer (aka Été Meurtrier, L') (1983, Fr.)

Risky Business (1983)

Director Paul Brickman's effective and well-received teen sex comedy equated the rewards of sexuality and successful capitalistic enterprise; it opened with a fantasy-dream sequence in which affluent college-bound, high-school senior Joel Goodsen (Tom Cruise) saw a strange young girl (Francine Locke credited as "Shower Girl") soaping up in a steamy shower in his neighbor's house (and non-chalantly requesting: "I want you to wash my back") while he was three hours late to his college board SAT exam; other sexy scenes included his first steamy encounter with heart-of-gold Hollywood hooker Lana (Rebecca DeMornay) when she entered his living room and enticingly asked: "Are you ready for me...?" - he helped remove her dress from the bottom up and revealed she was naked underneath - and as they kissed, the wind blew the patio doors open (a fantasy masturbatory dream sequence gone awry) and they made love on the stairs; also sexy was the scene of their daringly-exhibitionist (and risky) late-night, elevated CTA subway ride in an empty car while seated and making love to the tune of electronic music provided by Tangerine Dream; in the film's most famous exhibitionist-karaoke scene, Joel made a floor-sliding entrance into his living room where he danced in his tight white cotton underwear and long-sleeved pink-striped shirt and lip-synched to the tune of Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock & Roll" with an air-guitar; the film was also noted for Miles' (Curtis Armstrong) repeated advice to Joel when his parents were away: "Every now and then say, 'What the f--k.' 'What the f--k' gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future"; Joel proved his business prowess by film's end by both coming-of-age and by setting up a successful brothel in his parent's home, aided by Lana

Star 80 (1983)

Trading Places (1983)

John Landis' popular nature vs. nurture lampooning comedy told about a homeless con artist Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) who 'traded places' with Wall Street commodity broker Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) as part of a bet; the film was best remembered for the topless nudity displayed by young Jamie Lee Curtis as a sympathetic hooker with a heart of gold named Ophelia - she befriended the un-street-smart downcast loser and unsuspecting victim, and allowed him to stay at her place

Videodrome (1983)

David Cronenberg's dark "body horror" (or bio-horror) film involved kinky sexuality, extreme S&M and orgiastic mutilation, and reality-manipulating TV; it had a memorable phrase: "Long live the new flesh" and contained many symbolic images of sexuality; the story told about sleazy cable TV programmer Max Renn (James Woods) of X-rated Channel 83 in Toronto, which aired soft-core pornography and violent content; the film's title was the title of a pirated film on a VCR cassette from the Pittsburgh underground - a depraved torture/snuff film that he acquired and wanted to broadcast; he also engaged in a torrid, S&M romance with self-help radio personality Nicki Brand (rock star Deborah Harry or Blondie) - their first encounter in Max's apartment revealed her interest in sadism and voyeurism when she encouraged him to play the cassette "Videodrome"; during this early encounter after she proposed: "Wanna try a few things?", they laid naked in bed (as the video played in the background), and he picked up a long needle and traced it along Nicki's legs and torso, and then pierced her earlobe with it; in another infamous scene in an act of protest against Max, she stubbed out Max's lighted cigarette on her bare breast, leaving a burn mark that looked like a third nipple; in the film's most notable scene, Max watched a videocassette of Videodrome's origins on his TV set (including the strangulation of Videodrome pioneer Brian O'Blivion (Jack Creley)), showing an image of executioner Nicki who beckoned Max with: "Come to me now. I'm Nicki. Don't keep me waiting" as her seductive red lips enlarged on his TV screen (the set itself undulated, pulsated, formed engorged veins, and moaned as if sexually-aroused) - he submissively fell to his knees and pushed his own lips into the enlarged and bulging image to kiss them -- a symbolic metaphor for oral sex (cunnilingus), as he was sucked into the image; exposure to the Videodrome film caused carcinogenic tumors that triggered hallucinations in Max - sexual imagery included a vaginal-like slit or womb-wound orifice that opened in his abdomen (into which he could insert his entire hand holding a gun) as he became an organic video-recorder; he could be both "raped" and "programmed" by the villains forcefully inserting videotapes inside his body to "play" him

Women's Prison Massacre (1983), aka Blade Violent, Emanuelle in Prison (UK), and Emanuelle Fuga Dall'Inferno (It.) (Emmanuelle Escapes From Hell)

Amadeus (1984)
and
Amadeus (2002)

Angel (1984)