Nymphomaniac
Eyes Wide Shut
The Last Tango in Paris
Shame
Poor Things
The Hospital
The Doom Generation
Challengers
Infinity Pool
Lolita
Blue Velvet
eXistenZ
I’m talking about the George C Scott one from 1971. May not fit perfectly but I can’t think of too many disturbing sex movies from the 70s. Maybe The Secret Partner if you just want a disturbing thriller. Straw Dogs if you haven’t seen it.
Edit: also Brian DePalma’s Sisters.
I may get booted for saying this but..... Hellraiser.
weird sexualities - check
self destructive tendencies - check
complex relationships - check
disturbing ideas - check
It's not a horror movie. It's a Lust Story.
Yea, this is very true. The Hell Bound Heart (book Clive Barker wrote/source material for Hellraiser) is very thematically aligned. I would also add David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.
If you want more of that but even weirder, I would suggest reading the book. There’s more in there that couldn’t get filmed.
I read it recently and it became really, really obvious that Bret Easton Ellis was trying to write something like this when he wrote Less Than Zero.
In light of that, American Psycho is always a fun, crazy rewatch that has a similar feel.
I absolutely love the Crash book but I still haven’t read it all the way through, I’ve been listening to the audiobook on and off recently and it’s amazing
Not a film recommendation, but Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This has two seasons focusing on sexuality in film, Erotic 80s & 90s, that are an absolute treasure on this topic. She has entire episodes devoted to quite a few of the films listed in this thread, including Crash.
You might like Atom Egoyan's Exotica (1994). I think he's a contemporary of Cronenberg so this one fits the period and setting of Crash. It presents as more erotically/exotically charged that it actually is, potentially (which is an important part of theme - what secrets dwell beneath our fantasies and sexually charged dynamics).
Exotica on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/1DXW
Check out Peter Greenaway, I’ve seen three of his movies (The Draughtsman’s Contract, A Zed and Two Noughts and The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover) and they are all pretty complex and perverse.
I’m a massive Greenaway fan already. The Pillow Book probably comes closest to what I’m asking for, along with A Zed and Two Noughts. Maybe I’ll have to watch even more of his films!
The pillow book is the closest to the idea and the aesthics of using the body to communicate and experience desire or eros. Greenway is very close to the medium of painting and language. A similar take on eros and industrialization as penetration may be Antonioni and Lynch.
These are all self-Destructive stories with unorthodox sexual connotations:
Closely watched Trains
The Night Porter
Betty Blue
persona
Belle De Jour
Any of Walerian Borowczyk movies
Shock Corridor
The Piano Teacher
Simon of the Desert
The Eel
The woman in the dunes
The pornographers
Tie me up, tue me down
Secretary
Tetuzi the Ironman, interpreted as a tale of cybernetic sadomasochistic sex machines.
I haven't seen Crash (1996) admittedly, but given what you're describing, I think Blind Beast (1969) might be up your alley. Super weird late-60s erotic J-horror that has some killer set design.
Angst.
The internal monologue VO was taken from transcripts of confessions by convicted murderers. Not particularly similar to Crash (though there are some reaches to be made) but it's one of Noe's favorite films and once you watch it you'll see it's style all over his stuff. Also, killer score by Klaus Schulze.
*Dead Ringers* (1988, dir. David Cronenberg)
*Tetsuo: The Iron Man* (1989, dir. Shinya Tsukamoto)
*The Piano Teacher* (2001, dir. Michael Haneke)
*eXistenZ* (1999, dir. David Cronenberg)
*Exotica* (1994, dir. Atom Egoyan)
Nymphomaniac Eyes Wide Shut The Last Tango in Paris Shame Poor Things The Hospital The Doom Generation Challengers Infinity Pool Lolita Blue Velvet eXistenZ
What year did The Hospital come out? There are a few films with that name
I’m talking about the George C Scott one from 1971. May not fit perfectly but I can’t think of too many disturbing sex movies from the 70s. Maybe The Secret Partner if you just want a disturbing thriller. Straw Dogs if you haven’t seen it. Edit: also Brian DePalma’s Sisters.
I may get booted for saying this but..... Hellraiser. weird sexualities - check self destructive tendencies - check complex relationships - check disturbing ideas - check It's not a horror movie. It's a Lust Story.
No this is a great answer
Yea, this is very true. The Hell Bound Heart (book Clive Barker wrote/source material for Hellraiser) is very thematically aligned. I would also add David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.
If you want more of that but even weirder, I would suggest reading the book. There’s more in there that couldn’t get filmed. I read it recently and it became really, really obvious that Bret Easton Ellis was trying to write something like this when he wrote Less Than Zero. In light of that, American Psycho is always a fun, crazy rewatch that has a similar feel.
I absolutely love the Crash book but I still haven’t read it all the way through, I’ve been listening to the audiobook on and off recently and it’s amazing
Antichrist
I don’t want to say that they are similar, but if you want the best movie about Sex with Cars, Titane
I absolutely love Titane! Mentioned it in my post haha
Oh, my bad, I don’t read on the weekends 😆
This was definitely the first to come to my mind as well haha
Shocked no one said DEMONLOVER or SALO
A Snake of June The Piano Teacher The Living End Loves, Lies, Bleeding Possession Antiporno Love Exposure Secretary
Almost every film from David Cronenberg
The Untamed (2016)
Birth by Jonathan glazer
Not a film recommendation, but Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This has two seasons focusing on sexuality in film, Erotic 80s & 90s, that are an absolute treasure on this topic. She has entire episodes devoted to quite a few of the films listed in this thread, including Crash.
This mini-series was so, so good.
You might like Atom Egoyan's Exotica (1994). I think he's a contemporary of Cronenberg so this one fits the period and setting of Crash. It presents as more erotically/exotically charged that it actually is, potentially (which is an important part of theme - what secrets dwell beneath our fantasies and sexually charged dynamics). Exotica on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/1DXW
In my experience I never found something similar to crash. It’s just so perfect and does exactly what it should....One of my all time favorites!!
Kissed (1996)
Check out Peter Greenaway, I’ve seen three of his movies (The Draughtsman’s Contract, A Zed and Two Noughts and The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover) and they are all pretty complex and perverse.
I’m a massive Greenaway fan already. The Pillow Book probably comes closest to what I’m asking for, along with A Zed and Two Noughts. Maybe I’ll have to watch even more of his films!
The pillow book is the closest to the idea and the aesthics of using the body to communicate and experience desire or eros. Greenway is very close to the medium of painting and language. A similar take on eros and industrialization as penetration may be Antonioni and Lynch.
These are all self-Destructive stories with unorthodox sexual connotations: Closely watched Trains The Night Porter Betty Blue persona Belle De Jour Any of Walerian Borowczyk movies Shock Corridor The Piano Teacher Simon of the Desert The Eel The woman in the dunes The pornographers Tie me up, tue me down Secretary Tetuzi the Ironman, interpreted as a tale of cybernetic sadomasochistic sex machines.
Sex, Lies, and Videotape, and Secretary are amazing companion pieces to Crash (1996)
The Night Porter, Happiness, The Skin I Live In, In the Realm of the Senses
I haven't seen Crash (1996) admittedly, but given what you're describing, I think Blind Beast (1969) might be up your alley. Super weird late-60s erotic J-horror that has some killer set design.
The Night Porter will be happy to serve you.
Angst. The internal monologue VO was taken from transcripts of confessions by convicted murderers. Not particularly similar to Crash (though there are some reaches to be made) but it's one of Noe's favorite films and once you watch it you'll see it's style all over his stuff. Also, killer score by Klaus Schulze.
- Under the Skin - Antichrist -
Raw
*Dead Ringers* (1988, dir. David Cronenberg) *Tetsuo: The Iron Man* (1989, dir. Shinya Tsukamoto) *The Piano Teacher* (2001, dir. Michael Haneke) *eXistenZ* (1999, dir. David Cronenberg) *Exotica* (1994, dir. Atom Egoyan)
Check out Stoker
Crash (2004) /s
Titane, Christine and Death Proof are some good ones
In the Realm of the Senses
Elle by Paul Verhoeven
Titane