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

Wild at Heart (1990)

Wild Orchid (1990)

Zalman King's soft-core (9 1/2 Weeks-style) steamy drama was noted for a very believable simulated (?) sex scene between ex-patriate American multi-millionaire James Wheeler (Mickey Rourke) and Kansas-born lawyer Emily Reed (Rourke's then-girlfriend Carre Otis) in Rio during Carnival time; the film was a hit, although it was forced to be drastically edited to receive an R-rating for US audiences; it was also extremely controversial since bad-boy Rourke was later arrested for spousal abuse in 1994 against wife Otis, and their stormy marriage ended in 1996

At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991)

La Belle Noiseuse (1991, Fr.) (aka The Beautiful Troublemaker)

Boyz 'N the Hood (1991)

Close My Eyes (1991, UK)

Writer/director Stephen Poliakoff's British drama about forbidden incestual love told about a recently-reunited brother - an architect named Richard (Clive Owen) and his sister Natalie Gillespie (Saskia Reeves) in adulthood, and their subsequent ill-fated love affair ("strange bond") in London during a sultry summer; although she was married to an older, affluent entrepreneur named Sinclair Bryant (Alan Rickman), the duo were overwhelmingly attracted to each other and engaged in a passionately physical, clandestine sexual encounter in his apartment; afterwards, Natalie became guilt-ridden and insisted that her brother find a more appropriate partner, but he forced her to continue their incestuous pairing - until the truth came out

Delicatessen (1991, Fr.)

Jungle Fever (1991)

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Writer/director Gus Van Sant's off-beat, buddy/road independent film was a modern reworking of William Shakespeare's Henry IV. It featured young male street hustler Mike Waters (River Phoenix) in the Pacific Northwest who suffered from narcolepsy. In a scene during the film's credits (with Tex Owens' Cattle Call cowboy song sung by Eddie Arnold in the background), he was apparently reclined backward in a chair as he received fellatio from a male client. As he strained - with the camera only showing his face - various surreal images were displayed from his mind: Mike in his mother's arms as she held his head in her lap and assured him ("Don't worry. Everything's gonna be alright"), clouds churning across the sky over a rural two-lane road as sunset approached, salmon leaping upstream to get back to their place of birth, and then a wooden barn crashing to the ground from the sky, signifying that he had orgasmed. As the camera panned down his body, two $10s were thrown as payment onto his bare chest by a john named Walt (Robert Lee Pitchlynn) - the bills slid down into his crotch area as he fastened his blue jeans. He was forced to beg for another $10 bill as he crouched outside the customer's toilet door. In another scene, the males (Mike and his friend Scott (Keanu Reeves) and others) displayed on the covers of porn magazines in an adult book store came to life and talked to each other

Poison (1991)

Prospero's Books (1991, UK/Fr.)

Rambling Rose (1991)

Martha Coolidge's coming-of-age dramatic tale (in flashback) told about a scandalous, sexually-precocious, troubled, love-seeking young woman - the sexually-uninhibited, overtly sexual, 19 year-old, free-spirited Rose (Oscar-nominated Laura Dern) - who was employed as a curly-haired maid in a mid-1930s Southern family's household, where she tempted or bewitched the proper head of household Mr. 'Daddy' Hillyer (Robert Duvall) who himself was trying to fend off her many suitors; in one realistic scene, she taught smitten 13 year-old Buddy Hillyer (Lukas Haas) about the facts of life by letting him touch her in bed

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Thelma & Louise (1991)

Ridley Scott's feminist road trip tale showcased the title characters Geena Davis (as unfulfilled Arkansas housewife Thelma) and Susan Sarandon (as waitress Louise Sawyer) in flight after an ugly threatened rape incident in the Silver Bullet roadhouse parking lot that led to a retaliatory killing; it featured a star-making role for Brad Pitt as good-looking hunk and redneck cowboy named J. D. who joined them in their T-Bird convertible while hitchhiking; during a motel fling in Room 133 with Thelma when he came in from a rainstorm, he told her he'd broken parole and had robbed a number of small businesses - he flaunted a hair dryer as a gun when he demonstrated his "gentlemanly" technique; the "outlaw" sweet-talked Thelma with "I may be an outlaw, darlin', but, uh, you're the one stealin'; my heart"; the camera panned up J.D.'s chiseled abs (shot from the female point of view) as he stood at the foot of the bed, pulled Thelma's bare legs toward him, kissed the sensitive area above her pantied crotch, and then proceeded to make passionate and energetic love to her on top of the room's dresser - to the sound of Chris Whitley singing Kick the Stones; the next morning in the motel's coffee shop, Thelma showed Louise her hickie and admitted to Louise that she had her first orgasm: "I finally understand what all the fuss is about now. It's just like a whole 'nother ballgame." Louise responded happily: "I'm so happy for you. That's great. I really am. You finally got laid properly. That's sweet." But on departing, they were shocked to discover that J.D. had stolen their "future" money that they had left on the nightstand next to the bed, forcing them into a life of crime. In the film's conclusion, before the two fugitives drove their convertible into the Grand Canyon after Thelma had urged: "Let's keep goin'", they kissed each other

Whore (1991) (aka If You're Afraid to Say It, Just See It)

Zandalee (1991)

Bad Lieutenant (1992)

Director Abel Ferrera's gritty, audacious and excessive NC-17 rated crime drama starred Harvey Keitel as the 'bad' title character in a tour de force performance; the reknowned actor played the part of an unnamed corrupt, alcoholic and debased NYC police detective with a reputation for womanizing with prostitutes (with blonde Bowtay (Victoria Bastel), and exhibiting full-frontal nudity himself), excessive compulsive gambling on baseball games, and alcohol and drug abuse (snorting and shooting heroin) with his nameless, red-haired junkie girl friend dealer (co-scriptwriter Zoë Lund/Zoe Tamerlis) (who delivered this foreshadowing soliloquy while helping him shoot up into his arm: ("Vampires are lucky. They can feed on others. We gotta eat away at ourselves. We gotta eat our legs to get the energy to walk. We gotta come, so we can go. We gotta suck ourselves off. We gotta eat away at ourselves 'til there's nothing left but appetite. We give and give and give crazy, 'cause a gift that makes sense ain't worth it. Jesus said seventy times seven. No one will ever understand why, why you did it. They'll just forget about you tomorrow, but you gotta do it"); the film was set in New York during the seven games of the World Series playoffs between the Dodgers and Mets as a religious structure for the infraction of the seven deadly sins; the film was noted for its pivotal scene - the notoriously graphic and brutal rape scene of a defenseless nun on a Spanish Harlem church altar by two neighborhood teens from the adjoining Catholic school, juxtaposed with the image of a suffering Christ on the cross; he glimpsed-peeped at the victimized nun (Frankie Thorn) during her naked medical exam in a hospital room (where he overheard the female doctor explaining how the virginal nun had been violently violated with a crucifix, causing trauma and multiple lacerations to her hymen and vagina) and couldn't understand her forgiving and contrite nature when she later refused to identify her attackers - and prayed for them, calling them "sad, raging boys...they are good boys" - and then intended on bearing the child from the rape ("turn bitter semen into fertile sperm"); in another vile and disturbing scene immediately afterwards, he sexually exploited (verbally raped) two teenaged New Jersey females that he stopped for a minor traffic violation (broken tail-light, and for driving without a license) during a rainy night by forcing them to provide sexual favors, including listening to his obscene questions ("Did you ever suck a guy's cock?"), and watching him masturbate alongside their car door while having the driver pantomime giving him fellatio (oral sex) ("Show me how you suck a guy's cock. Show me with your mouth") and the passenger showed her ass; the film ended with his spiritual breakdown at the church crime scene that still showed signs of desecration, his own forgiveness of the two boys ("you f--king scumbags") by putting them on a Port Authority bus (with a box containing $30K in cash), and afterwards his own redemptive drive-by shooting by the mob (for a $120,000 debt) as he was parked beneath a huge banner advertising Trump Palace with the slogan It All Happens Here

Basic Instinct (1992)

Director Paul Verhoeven's glossy erotic thriller (with a script by Joe Eszterhas) was typical of the 90s; troubled, burned-out SF police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) investigated seductive, bi-sexual mystery writer and brutal ice-pick murder suspect Catherine Tramell (a star-making and career-launching role for Sharon Stone) after a series of murders of males during intercourse and S&M sex; the film opened with views (from all angles, including a reflection in a ceiling mirror) of a couple making love - the unidentified female was atop rock star Johnny Boz (Bill Cable), and elements of S&M were revealed when she tied his arms to the bedpost - before stabbing him to death with an icepick; the sexually-charged film, featuring a taunting femme fatale predator with an insatiable sexual appetite and possibly homicidal tendencies included an infamous, sex-revealing leg-uncrossing/crossing scene (without panties) during interrogation in a police station room filled with middle-aged men (after she provocatively asked Curran: "Have you ever f--ked on cocaine, Nick?"), and a provocative three-some dance at a crowded nightclub disco (between lesbian lovers Catherine and Roxy (Leilani Sarelle)) - and an aroused Michael Douglas voyeuristically looking on as they French-kissed and then also watched them from outside the nightclub toilet stall; detective Curran reinforced the notion of his voyeuristic tendencies when he watched Catherine undress from a distance; another controversial scene was one of forceful, animalistic sex between Curran and girfriend/police psychiatrist Dr. Beth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn); womens' groups called the film misogynistic, and gay-rights groups in San Francisco called it stereotypically-homophobic and gay-bashing - they charged that the main murderess suspect in the film was a denegrating portrayal since she was a mentally-unstable, psychotic lesbian and bi-sexual; the film was also criticized for permissiveness, steamy content (scene of cunnilingus), exploitative nudity, its depiction of lesbian characters, and its scenes of bondage (especially with reversed roles); threatened with an NC-17 rating, and reduced to R rating (with cuts), this flashy film was then released with a more explicit 'Director's Cut' version for the video market, with the extra-steamy scenes

A sequel - Basic Instinct 2 (2006) - was released almost a decade and a half later with 47 year-old Sharon Stone reprising her sexy murderess role (see below)

Belle Epoque (1992, Sp.) (aka The Age of Beauty)

Bitter Moon (1992) (aka Lunes de Fiel)

In this ultra-kinky, voyeuristic drama/thriller from Roman Polanski, set on a Mediterranean ocean liner bound for Istanbul, crippled, sexually-deviant, wheelchair-bound, self-loathing writer Oscar (Peter Coyote) told up-tight and married British passenger Nigel (Hugh Grant) about the development of his own sado-masochistic, increasingly-torturous relationship with his sultry, mysterious French femme fatale wife Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner, the director's own 27 year-old wife), as Oscar explained: "I'm trying to expand your sexual horizons...Have you ever felt real overpowering passion? Have you ever truly idolized a woman? Nothing can be obscene in such a love. Everything that occurs between you becomes a sacrament"; as part of the bargain, if Nigel listened to his tale, Oscar promised him his wife - to fulfill his voyeuristic pleasure; Nigel was first attracted to the sight of Mimi in a red dress dancing solo in the ship's lounge to Peggy Lee's classic love song "Fever"; in a salacious yet mesmerizing story told through depraved flashbacks and voice-over narration, he recounted his relationship with her, including S&M bondage experiences (being tied up with tape over his mouth as she dominated him while wearing black latex), urophilia (urine-drinking, off-screen and in narration only) and the wearing of a pig mask during a whipping; in the film's most memorable scenes, Mimi licked blood from Oscar's face during a close shaving, and he licked creamy milk off her nude chest to the tune of George Michael's "Faith" while the toaster pops out a slice; in another remembered scene, Mimi performed a sexy dance in a thin nightgown in a candle-lit room; the film also featured a sexy dance and lesbian kiss during a shipboard party between exhibitionist Mimi and the previously-repressed and strait-laced Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas), Nigel's wife of seven years, as Oscar commented to Nigel: "Oh, stop sulking, man. You ought to be glad they're getting it on so well"; by film's conclusion, it was revealed that Mimi had sought revenge against an embittered, self-loathing Oscar (after a Parisian amour fou affair that disintegrated into kinky sex, torture, heartlessness, infidelity and abuse) by presenting Oscar with a birthday present of a gun, which he used to kill himself

Blown Away (1992)

This 'guilty-pleasure' Basic Instinct (1992)-like erotic thriller was advertised with the tagline: "She'll charm you. Seduce you. She might even kill you" - the direct-to-cable film was filled with numerous gratuitous nudity and sex scenes (and released as both an R-rated and unrated film); during one summer, Canadian ski resort worker Rich Gardner (Corey Haim) and his older brother Wes (Corey Feldman) (just released from prison) met up with snobby blonde, wild-living, pill-popping rich 17 year-old teenager and femme fatale Megan Bower (Nicole Eggert, pre-Baywatch); in the opening scene that occurred a year earlier, Megan's mother was mysteriously 'blown away' by a ticking car bomb planted under her gas tank that exploded and sent her car into a gas station causing another explosive fireball; soon enough, Rich and Megan were having sex repeatedly during a torrid affair - their first hot scene was in the hallway of her father's bedroom (during a Hawaiian-themed party she hosted at her mansion) after they first met; it involved oral sex against the wall - she purred to him in a skimpy white bikini: "I never properly thanked you" and told him to "rip it"; she later told him as they laid in bed: "Great sex is when you love someone so much, it's like you're addicted to the strongest drug in the world"; the next time they met, she apologized for not calling him with another extended bout of love-making (to the tune of "Hooked On You") - leading to a montage of sex between them (in the shower, and throughout the house, and later in front of a roaring fire); she kept urging him on with phrases such as: "Talking's not my best sport" but then abruptly dumped him - part of her conniving plan to have Rich want her even more and eventually to help her further her own ends - to kill her tyrannical, overprotective father Cy (Jean Le Clerc), the ski resort manager (with an explosive time-bomb in his motorbike's gas tank that exploded cliff-side, resulting in a fall to his death); her double-crossing plan was that Rich would be framed for the murder and she would receive the family inheritance; Rich's dumped ex-girlfriend Darla (Kathleen Robertson) (who ended up dead during a suspicious horse riding accident) knew the real truth about Megan: "She's a slut and you're f--king her father's bank book"

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

The Crying Game (1992, UK)

Damage (1992)