10 Movies To Watch If You Love Gerald’s Game

Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game mixed horror with sexuality to tell a tale of eroticism and death.  Mike Flanagan’s Netflix original adaption stands as one of the most effective adaptations of King’s work.

The story has a dark subtext where eroticism and death walk the same path and affect the lives of its characters. Many movies throughout the years have examined these themes, here are 10 examples to look out for if you loved Gerald’s Game.

10 Stoker (2013)

In 2013’s Stoker, a creepy uncle moves in with the grieving widow of his brother and her emotionally scarred daughter. All is not as it seems as the uncle sets his sights on the mother while both the daughter and her mother become infatuated with him.

A dark game of sexual deviance plays out in Park Chan-wook’s unsettling film where teen angst and the loss of a parent manifests itself into something twisted and disturbing.

9 Thelma (2017)

In the twisted Norwegian horror tale Thelma, the teenage girl of the title is taken aback by her feelings towards her female friend who is in love with her. Thelma is in a very religious family and when her feelings for her friend (both sexual and of the heart) begin to confuse her, dangerous psychokinetic powers are unleashed.

This is a horror film that balances themes of teenage love and budding sexuality with dangerous terror. The filmmakers tip their hat to Stephen King’s Carrie and to many coming of age horror films.

8 Hush (2016)

2016’s Hush is a claustrophobic horror film about a deaf and mute woman who lives alone in a house deep in the woods and is stalked by a masked killer.

The way the killer taunts and stalks the woman is a kind of sexual dominance of man over a helpless woman that is perceived in the killer’s mind. Mike Flanagan creates a riveting and unnerving film that doesn’t allow the audience to feel safe for one second.

7 Allure (2017)

Evan Rachel Wood stars as a young emotionally disturbed house cleaner who falls for a depressed teenager from an oppressive home. Wood’s character has the girl move in with her but her mental issues cause her to become as dominating as the girl’s mother.

Allure is a disturbing relationship film with a fantastic lead performance from Wood. The themes of sexual attraction become something darker as Wood’s character begins to unravel.

6 Passion (2012)

Passion is Brian De Palma’s remake of the French thriller Crime d’amour tells of the rivalry between an advertising boss and her protegee. Nomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams play the two women whose rivalry becomes a dangerous sexual attraction that leads to murder.

A student of Hitchcock, De Palma knows his way around a sexually charged thriller. The director uses his penchant for long takes to give a visual tone to the two main character’s web of deceit, infusing many scenes with a chilling atmosphere. This is a high-class erotic thriller with undertones of horror.

5 The Housemaid (2010)

In the South Korean film The Housemaid, a house maiden has an affair with the man of the household causing dire consequences that become murderous, unleashing pure evil. The film is a morality piece/horror film that takes on the entitlement of the wealthy.

The director finds the right blend of sexuality and horror. When resentment and disgust bubble to the surface, the film takes an eerie turn toward darker subtext regarding the consequences of infidelity.

4 Alone (2020)

A widow is kidnapped by a serial killer and held in a basement until she escapes into the woods and he comes after her.

John Hyams plays on the aggressive male psyche and the false sense of sexual empowerment while giving his lead actress the strength to survive and outthink her oppressor. The scenes of captivity have an eerie quality while the escape and pursuit build extreme tension and keeps the audience frozen with nail-baiting terror. The massive critical success has made this one of 2020’s best horror films.

3 Body Double (1984)

Sex and murder strike again in the world of Brian De Palma with 1984’s violent Hitchcockian infused horror/thriller Body Double. Craig Wasson stars as a man who housesits for a friend in the hills of Hollywood. One night while peeping in on the beautiful woman across the road, he witnesses her murder and the killer begins to stalk him.

De Palma blends gripping tension and bloody horror with eroticism. The film is a unique homage to Rear Window and updates it by setting it in the world of low budget horror films and the L.A. porn scene of the 1980s. De Palma’s film has scenes of disturbing horror but the director balances them with good characterizations, a smart screenplay, and an artfully playful demeanor.

2 Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut is a film where Tom Cruise’s lead character is constantly lured by the promise of sex but saved from its grasp after teetering on the edge of danger and death. Nicole Kidman is his wife who represents the safety of never straying from your partner.

Kubrick gives the film a dreamlike quality where Cruise’s real-world becomes confused with an eerie nighttime world of orgies, cults, and danger. In what was to be Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut is a world where sex and danger are one and the same when infidelity plays a part.

1 Dressed To Kill (1980)

A blonde woman in a leather trenchcoat is killing the patients of a sexually frustrated doctor and the son of one of the victims pairs up with a prostitute to stop the murderer. Dressed To Kill is one of Brian De Palma’s most respected films and one of the finest erotic horror films of its decade.

Filled with jaw-dropping visual flourishes that we expect from the director, the film is a jarring and spine-tingling work that tantalizes and shocks in equal measure. It is in this film where De Palma goes full speed ahead in his homages to Alfred Hitchcock but also gives the film the feel of an Italian Giallo horror.