I’ve been spending a bit of time catching up with some horror films I haven’t seen as yet and one thing that I found to be a common factor in many cases was the occasionally random use of nudity or sex scenes amidst the blood and gore; at first this seemed like a trivial occurrence but then I realised how well utilised it was in terms of creating a scarier setting.

Of course this isn’t a new idea, nudity is prevalent throughout the history of horror films from roughly the 80’s on (more commonly than previously), and while I spent years taking it for granted that the film-maker was using some t&a to give all those viewers a bit of eye candy before assaulting them with violent escapades I have come to believe that when used appropriately it can give a horror film a lot more depth.

Allow me to explain why I have come to this conclusion in just a little more depth. Horror films by nature are intended to thrill, excite and scare predominantly but some of the more memorable ones also make us think past the films end about certain subjects and situations; I can only assume that there are more than enough people who can’t do things like go camping in a reclusive spot or even visit the attic’s of their own homes after a good scare involving those actions; similar to the way IT made clowns a bigger phobia at the time.

When nudity is introduced into a film of any genre it tends to stimulate and titillate (hehe) the viewers base emotional response system and have the effect of ‘grabbing your attention’ as they say, this includes sex scenes which although rarer than the occasional bare breasts are still used often to entice a reaction from the viewer subconsciously and although I’m not a scientist I would be inclined to believe that some mild form of perverse endorphins are released giving the audience a little high.

Now the crux of my thoughts in relation to horror more specifically, when utilised properly, nudity and sex can create an emotional tipping point in the viewer and serves to almost sidetrack them into letting their guard down so that they experience more of a ‘hit’ when any violence, gore or basically crazy shit happens; just think about the number of times you’ve seen a woman about to jump in the shower then it cuts to the knife wielding mental patient in the garden bed outside the window, or the couple having pre-marital sex when all of a sudden a door slams with no influence other than some perverted poltergeist. When the film-maker draws your attention in with sex and nudity they have you in the perfect mental space to not be prepared for what happens next.

In conclusion I believe that not all films that use such ideas are using them that way on purpose but it tends to have that effect and for those who do it efficiently it can really give a movie that extra emotional response that creates memorable scenes.

Thank you for reading and I would love to hear any comments and thoughts on the subject.