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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The 12 Best Sleazy Movies We've Ever Seen
Who says a sleazy movie can't also be a great movie? Here are some examples of great sleazy movies. They aren't guilty pleasures, they're just pleasures. Related Headlines Lisa Dahl: Blessed by Grace Recounts a Mother's Journey From Tragedy to Nourishing Others To Make 'Toots,' My Sensitive Film About Aging, I Needed the Perfect Fart Noise Sean Connery as 007: 12 Behind the Scenes Images of Bond at His Best Last House on the Left (1972) Wes Craven's debut has a scuzzy unfinished quality that lend a documentary quality to its violence and cruelty, which makes it difficult to watch – but also hard to tear yourself away from. It has a car-crash voyeurism that makes you complicit in its nastiness. A story of abduction, brutality and vengeance, scored by eerie hippie music, Last House on the Left is a time capsule of burned-out idealism but a harbinger of Craven's incredible horror career, which includes the classic Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream horror franchises. And producer Sean S. Cunningham would go on to direct the first film in the Friday the 13th franchise, which will turn up soon on this list. Freeway (1996) Writer-director Matthew Bright's very '90s update on Little Red Riding Hood stars a very young Reese Witherspoon as Vanessa, an illiterate teenager living in Southern California with her sex worker mom (Amanda Plummer) and evil, predatory stepfather (Michael T. Weiss). Then things get worse. When her mom is arrested, Vanessa tries to trek north to Grandma's house, but she's picked up by modern-day big bad wolf Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland.) Everything about this movie feels wrong, and it's intoxicating. We love all the acting — Witherspoon is spectacular — as well as the surprise appearances of stars like Brooke Shields and stars-to-be like Bokeem Woodbine and Brittany Murphy. Best of all, we saw this for free, via the Kanopy app. And it's also on our list of '90s Comedies That Just Don't Care If You're Offended. Body Double (1984) The gold standard of sleazy '80s movie, this Brian De Palma neo-noir imagines a Hitchcock movie in the era of VHS adult home movies. It stars Craig Wasson as a struggling actor named Jake Scully who gets a housesitting gig that includes a creepy side bonus — he gets to watch a neighbor seductively undress and dance around each night. (The movie assumes that this is totally cool, despite her apparent lack of awareness that he's watching.) But then things get even weirder, as a home invader with a drill breaks into the woman's home, and Jake's search for answers links him up with adult actress Holly Body, played by a terrifically game Melanie Griffith. It's great sleazy fun that will keep you guessing. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) A movie that makes you want to take a shower afterwards, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a relentlessly sleazy movie that uses sleaze to its great advantage. It's one of the most effective and captivating horror movies ever made thanks to its hardcore, disquieting atmosphere, oozing with sex and the constant threat of violence. Filled with the sounds of animals and buzzing flies, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre makes clear from the start that it has no limits, even before we hear the first rev of Leatherface's chainsaw. It's also on our list of the 11 Scariest Horror Movies of the '70s. Natural Born Killers (1994) Oliver Stone tried to have it both ways in this ultraviolent killer-couple movie that tries to high-mindedly denounce sleazy tabloid TV while also being quite sleazy itself. We're meant to at least begrudgingly like — if not outright root for — serial killers Mickey and Mallory, played by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis. (Stone is quoted saying in the 2016 book The Oliver Stone Experience that he cast the actors because he thought they could look trashy.) It's also fun to watch Robert Downey Jr. as a sanctimonious sleaze. The film was based on a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino that was so thoroughly changed that Tarantino has distanced himself from the film. (Not because it was a sleazy movie, mind you, but because Tarantino thinks the final film misunderstood his intentions.) Kids (1995) Kids, the directorial debut of Larry Clark and the screenwriting debut of Harmony Korine, was criticized at the time of its release for its blunt depiction of a hedonistic teen world filled with sex, drugs, and exploitation. The lead character, Telly (an excellent Leo Fitzpatrick) is an unrepentant 17-year-old predator who targets very young girls. As Roger Ebert noted, the film "doesn't tell us what it means." But that's not what makes Kids sleazy — depicting behavior isn't endorsing it, and Kids can be read as an important message movie about kids' need for attention and guidance. What's uncomfortable about the film, in retrospect, is its leering camerawork with young subjects. One could argue that its cinematography, while sleazy, serves the film by making viewers into bystanders who do nothing to intervene and save the kids onscreen. It's a fascinating, well-done film, notable for being the debut film of the great actresses Chloë Sevigny and Rosario Dawson. It also has one of the best soundtracks of the '90s. Lost Highway (1997) This David Lynch epic — released in a down cycle in his career between the success of Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive — tells a story of jealousy-driven murder from the perspective of the killer or killers, Fred and Pete, played by Bill Paxton and Balthazar Getty. It's all very intoxicatingly confusing — a recent episode of the outstanding You Must Remember This Podcast noted that Lynch was inspired in part by the O.J. Simpson case — and it's hard to put your finger on what's so sleazy about it. But sleazy hallmarks abound: Fred plays saxophone, the official woodwind of sleazy erotic thrillers; Robert Blake is a central figure; it's all driven by the death of an adult movie producer. Anyway, we love it. A sleazy movie that uses sleaze exquisitely. Saw (2004) Saw is one of those movies cited by people who say they hate horror movies, but the original, at least, is a very well-crafted thriller that relies on twists and solid performances more than shock value. There's something very sleazy about watching people suffer for entertainment, but Saw's unapologetic sleaziness makes its a very compelling watch. And before you say "Really? Saw is good?," let's please remember that is stars very legit actors Danny Glover (above) and Cary Elwes, and premiered at the prestigious Sundance film festival. Not bad for a sleazy movie. It has spawned nine sequels, including the recent Saw X. Wild Things (1998) Wild Things stars Neve Campbell and Denise Richards — who were 23 and 26 at the time, respectively — as two high schoolers who take part in a very twisty, very diabolical con. There's so, so, so much wrong with Wild Things — the dicey portrayal of high school girls, the narrative device of young women lying about assault, the murders — but it's willingness to ignore guardrails of good taste makes it a masterpiece of Gen X noir, pulling from the best elements of widely panned films like Showgirls. Campbell and Richards (above) are magnificent, as are Bill Murray as a delightfully sleazy lawyer, Matt Dillon as a morally corrupt guidance counselor, and Kevin Spacey as a mysterious cop. Bacon is also an executive producer of the film, and shows something in a shower scene that you didn't generally see in 1990s movies. In retrospect it seems like a great example of equal-opportunity gratuitous skin, and good for him. It makes it a slightly less sleazy movie. Hostel (2005 Hostel is kind of like Saw for people who thought Saw was too soft. Director Eli Roth is a student of horror and exploitation flicks, and enlists all of their best tricks while introducing several horrible ones of his own. What makes Hostel so good is the way it combines very dark social commentary with the nightmarish spectacles to make us rethink the way the world works. The Laughing Woman aka Femina Ridens (1969) One of the weirdest, wildest, and most gorgeous-looking sleazy movies we've ever seen, this very 1969 Italian film will be a good wakeup call for anyone who thinks 50 Shades of Grey kicked off that whole scene. The film is about a woman (Dagmar Lassander, above) who goes undercover in the lair of a possible serial killer who delights in degrading his victims. It's all so sleazy you can't believe you're watching it, but then there's a twist! It's actually... a romance? The film is very worth watching for set design that evokes the sleek, chic futurism of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, which came out two years later. Friday the 13th (1980) After the success of John Carpenter's relatively tasteful slasher film Halloween in 1978, studios sought to cash in with a slew of teen slasher movies — and Friday the 13th was one of the most grimly effective. The setup is simple and appealed to hormone-addled kids in drive-ins: A mystery killer (not wearing a hockey mask in this one) piles up sun-kissed camp-counselor bodies, dispatched in creative ways. It was the beginning of a sleazy formula that would serve the Friday the 13th franchise — and many others — very well. The film made more than 100 times its budget at the box office. Liked Our List of the Best Sleazy Movies We've Ever Seen? You might also like our list of Big Stars Who Started Out in Horror Movies. Main image: Denise Richards in Wild Things. Related Headlines Lisa Dahl: Blessed by Grace Recounts a Mother's Journey From Tragedy to Nourishing Others To Make 'Toots,' My Sensitive Film About Aging, I Needed the Perfect Fart Noise Sean Connery as 007: 12 Behind the Scenes Images of Bond at His Best Solve the daily Crossword
Digital Trends
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
This Cillian Murphy underrated thriller is your next movie to watch on Netflix (July 18-20)
Every time I open Netflix, I find myself spending more time looking at movies than I do actually watching something. Forcing myself to pick something is usually more than half the battle, and part of the issue is that I make assumptions about movies I haven't seen. With that in mind, I've pulled together three movies that I think are worth checking out this weekend, if you've got the time. They're definitely underrated but well worth your time: Recommended Videos We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on HBO Max, and the best movies on Disney+. Red Eye (2005) One of the great underseen thrillers of the 21st century, Red Eye tells the story of a terrorist who threatens a hotel manager as they fly across the country together. His ultimate goal is to assassinate the head of Homeland Security, but in order to accomplish that, she has to reassign his room at the hotel she manages. Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy are both excellent in this taut thriller, but what makes this movie work is Wes Craven's tight, succinct directorial instincts. This is a thriller with an electric pace, and it knows how to get you from incident to incident. You can watch Red Eye on Netflix. A Star Is Born (2018) Bradley Cooper was already a major movie star when he helmed A Star Is Born, but that didn't make the movie any less of a gamble. This was his directorial debut, a remake of a movie that had already been made perfectly on more than one occasion, and oh yeah, he was also going to play a rock star. If the movie was even sort of good, it would be an achievement, but A Star Is Born is genuinely great and features Cooper and Lady Gaga at their absolute best. The Shallow sequence is one of the great musical sequences ever put to film, and the film knows how to capitalize on that momentum. You can watch A Star Is Born on Netflix. Burn After Reading (2008) Every Coen Brothers movie is great, but Burn After Reading is among the more underrated. This satire of Washington, D.C., and specifically of the intelligence state, tells the story of two gym employees who find themselves in possession of classified materials and decide to use that information to try to make a quick buck. Predictably, though, these employees find themselves in way over their heads, and things quickly spiral out of control. Thanks to a cast filled with brilliant performances, including one of Brad Pitt's funniest ever roles, Burn After Reading is both hilarious and an exercise in genuine nihilism. You can watch Burn After Reading on Netflix.
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First Post
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- First Post
From 'Halloween' to 'Scream': Top 5 slashes movies that left a strong imprint on audiences
These aren't just horror movies — they're milestones that redefined the genre, launched careers, and made us sleep with the lights on. read more From masked killers to unforgettable final girls, slasher films have terrified, thrilled, and entertained audiences for decades. But only a few managed to break through the blood-soaked pack and leave a permanent scar on pop culture. These aren't just horror movies — they're milestones that redefined the genre, launched careers, and made us sleep with the lights on. Ahead of the release of I Know What You Did Last Summer, here's a look at top 5 slasher movies that have left an impact. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Halloween (1978) Directed by John Carpenter and starring Jamie Lee Curtis alongside Donald Pleasence, Halloween introduced audiences to Michael Myers — a silent, relentless killer stalking babysitters on Halloween night. With its haunting score, minimalist storytelling, and chilling suspense, this low-budget film became a genre-defining masterpiece and cemented Curtis as the original 'scream queen.' Scream (1996) Horror legend Wes Craven turned the slasher genre on its head with Scream, a clever, self-aware take on horror tropes. Starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette, the film delivered both satire and scares while introducing the iconic Ghostface killer. It revitalized the slasher genre for a new generation and made audiences suspicious of everyone. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Also directed by Wes Craven, this surreal horror classic starred Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund as the terrifying Freddy Krueger, and a young Johnny Depp in his film debut. With its dream-based concept and gruesome visuals, A Nightmare on Elm Street took slasher horror into the supernatural, giving us one of cinema's most unique and terrifying villains. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) Directed by Jim Gillespie and written by Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson, this glossy teen slasher featured a who's-who of '90s stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Ryan Phillippe. Following a group of friends haunted by a deadly secret and hunted by a hook-wielding killer, the film delivered suspense, stylish thrills, and one of horror's most iconic chase scenes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) Directed by Tobe Hooper, this gritty, relentless film introduced the world to Leatherface, played by Gunnar Hansen, and starred Marilyn Burns as the original final girl. Its grainy, documentary-style realism and raw terror made it feel disturbingly real — a landmark in horror cinema that continues to influence filmmakers to this day.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Red Eye' ending explained: Who wins Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams' face-off at 40,000 feet?
Red Eye, Wes Craven's 2005 thriller starring Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, is now streaming on Netflix. EW's critic previously praised the film as a "quick-and-dirty suspense corker." Brian Cox and Jayma Mays round out the Murphy and Rachel McAdams were both recent breakout stars when horror maestro Wes Craven cast the pair in Red Eye, a trim 2005 thriller that recently arrived at Netflix. The movie begins like a rom-com, with McAdams' high-strung Lisa and Murphy's charming Jackson meeting in line at the Dallas airport before sharing a drink and being seated side-by-side for their overnight flight to Miami. Once they're in the air, however, things get weird. And then they get scary. "A good measure of the movie's white-knuckle fun comes from Craven's old-hand familiarity with the way thrillers tick, predicated on the smallest and most banal of missed connections, the kind that get an audience to go crazy," Entertainment Weekly's critic wrote in their review, calling Red Eye a "quick-and-dirty suspense corker." Murphy, however, may disagree. "I don't think it's a good movie," the Oscar-winning actor told GQ last year. "It's a good B movie." C'mon, Murph, they can't all be Oppenheimer. Ahead of the film's 20th anniversary next month — and with the streaming generation discovering it for the first time — let's unpack Red Eye's ending, from the identity of Murphy's peculiar Jackson to that explosive assassination attempt. Lisa is a self-described "people pleaser," the manager of a luxe Miami hotel where she's routinely bulldozed by high-end clientele. Jackson is a handsome stranger she meets at the airport while traveling back home from Dallas after her grandmother's funeral. At first, it seems as if fate has brought the two together, with the pair sharing a drink after meeting in line and then serendipitously ending up seated next to each other. But his charm curdles once he reveals a deep knowledge of her life. He needs her help, and if she doesn't give it to him, her oblivious father, Joe (Brian Cox), will be killed by a hit man waiting outside his home. Jackson's plan involves Charles Keefe (Jack Scalia), the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, who recently made waves with aggressive rhetoric regarding the United States' war on terror. (Remember, Red Eye was filmed in the wake of 9/11 and amid the Iraq War.) Keefe booked a stay at Lisa's hotel, and Jackson wants her to move him (and his family) to a different room so his employers can more easily assassinate him. During the overnight flight, Lisa makes several efforts to alert the flight attendants and other passengers that she's in danger — including writing in soap on the bathroom mirror that Jackson has a bomb — but he remains a step ahead of her at every turn. Finally, Lisa relents and makes the call, ordering her employee, Cynthia (Jayma Mays), to change Keefe's room assignment, as mandated by Jackson. Jackson Rippner — never "Jack," lest his name echo the 19th-century serial killer "Jack the Ripper" — denies being a spy, hit man, CIA agent, or member of the mafia. While his occupation is never explicitly stated, he calls himself a "manager" and says he specializes in "government overthrows [and] flashy, high-profile assassinations." If taken at his word, Jackson is a hired gun to help facilitate acts of terrorism. After all, he doesn't seem personally invested in Keefe's murder. "Somebody wants to send a big, brash message, that's their business," he tells Lisa. No, Keefe and his family survive the assassination attempt — a missile fired from a nearby fishing boat. Luckily for him, Lisa manages to flee Jackson, call Cynthia, and alert Keefe's security detail (which is led, oddly enough, by Survivor alum Colby Donaldson in one of his few film performances). The missile, however, meets its target, igniting the upper floors of the hotel and throwing debris. As the plane touches down in Miami, Lisa tells Jackson about a scar he noticed on her chest. She got it, she explains, from a sexual assault that occurred two years previously. "Ever since, I've been trying to convince myself of one thing over and over," she says. "That it was beyond your control," Jackson replies. "No, that it would never happen again." With that, she wields a pen stolen from another passenger and jams it into his windpipe. In the ensuing chaos, she makes a break for the exit and sprints into the airport. She's chased first by security and then by Jackson, who wraps a scarf around his wound and wheezes onward. Lisa then manages to elude her pursuers by hopping on a shuttle and stealing a car. She immediately drives to her father's home. There, she spots the hit man outside Joe's apartment and slams into him with the car, sending him flying through the front of the building and killing him. Though still alive, Joe is soon knocked unconscious by a bloodthirsty Jackson, who's determined to kill Lisa. The pair fight throughout the apartment, and Jackson is finally bested by two gunshots from the hit man's silenced pistol — one fired by Lisa and one by Joe, who wakes up to find his daughter in danger. Red Eye ends with Lisa going to her hotel, where Keefe thanks her for saving his family's life. She's then approached by a pair of rude hotel guests we first glimpsed in the film's opening scene. After complaining about the explosion, they demand that Lisa fire Cynthia. Related: The 25 best thriller movies on Netflix right now Lisa, who was previously quick to acquiesce to customers like these, tells the couple to fill out a comment card and shove it up their ass, a sign that she's no longer a pushover. Red Eye is currently available to stream on the original article on Entertainment Weekly
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Intense Rachel McAdams Thriller Hits #8 on Netflix—and You're Not Gonna Wanna Watch This One on an Airplane
I'm always game for a Rachel McAdams movie—especially if it's a thriller. Next in my streaming lineup is her 2005 horror classic Red Eye, which is the latest throwback movie to land in Netflix's top ten streaming list, currently sitting at the eighth spot on the platform. Also starring Cillian Murphy and Brian Cox, the film centers around a hotel manager (McAdams) who meets a charming man (Murphy) at the airport while waiting to fly back home for her grandmother's funeral. At first, she believes their meeting is one of fate, especially after they are seated next to each other on the plane. She soon finds out, however, that the move was a calculated one, as the 'charming' gentleman has a more sinister plot at play that requires her assistance. Directed by Wes Craven, Red Eye was released in August 2005 to positive reviews from fans and critics alike, and twenty years after its debut, it's getting a resurgence in popularity with a flurry of new fans. Holding an 80 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 64 percent on the Popcornmeter, one recent reviewer raves, 'Brilliant and clever claustrophobic suspenseful thriller (just don't watch it if you're on a plane). Wes Craven does really incredible work, creating a different tone of horror and making a suspenseful thriller. Cillian Murphy's performance was outstanding and sinister.' Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images Another reviewer adds, 'Fantastic cast. The chemistry that leads to the drama between the two main characters is delightful. While there's certainly suspension of belief as events cascade and consequences unroll, I was fully engaged and genuinely enjoyed the experience.' Looks like I've got my next weekend watch lined up. You can stream Red Eye on Netflix now. Want all the latest entertainment news sent right to your inbox? Click here. Netflix's New Hit Show 'The Waterfront' Has Viewers Seriously Divided—Here Is My Honest Review PureWow's editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringer—all to help you determine which are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series (where we rank items on a 100-point scale) to our painstakingly curated lists of fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family picks, you can trust that our recommendations have been thoroughly vetted for function, aesthetics and innovation. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or women's walking shoes that won't hurt your feet, we've got you covered.
