There's a newer trailer that can't be embedded here on the
official website (http://wekillforlove.com/)A documentary that goes in search of the forgotten world of the direct-to-video erotic thriller, an American film genre that once dominated late night cable television and the shelves of neighborhood video stores.Directed by Anthony Penta
VOD on September 1, 2023
Updates about the production are posted to
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/wekillforlove/)QuoteIn 1999 the most significant American film movement since film noir disappeared without a trace.
Throughout the 1990s the erotic thriller, a volatile mixture of danger and romance, quietly dominated late-night cable TV and the shelves of neighborhood video stores.
Unlike the grimy, realistic crime films of the 1970s, erotic thrillers were set in Malibu beach houses, pool-side resorts, and upscale Los Angeles night clubs. The world of the erotic thriller was an aspirational world of adult fantasy. These films pushed boundaries and ignited protest by provocatively mixing voyeurism, sex, and violence into dark parables for mainstream society. A few of these films -- Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Body of Evidence -- were Hollywood blockbusters. Most were independently financed films that bypassed theaters and went straight to home video. These direct-to-video, or "DTV" erotic thrillers, far outnumbered the studio films. The VHS tape, now unplayable in most homes, was for many the only official release.
Like noir films of the 1940s, the erotic thriller had a signature style, stock characters, and recurring themes that reflected the culture of its time. The old story tropes of the Great Depression -- organized crime, masculinity under duress, the fear of female independence -- were amplified in erotic thrillers by the conservative culture of the 80s and 90s, the looming threat of AIDS, and new technologies for surveillance and video recording in the home.
Erotic thrillers also featured women in starring roles. Single or married, women in these films explored boundaries like men had been doing in film since the 1940s; and they clashed with men for power at work and in the bedroom!
Then cable TV expanded and diversified, the Internet arrived, and Blockbuster Video closed it doors. Like footprints in the sand that suddenly disappear, many icons of the genre faded from public view. The era of the sexy late-night thriller ended and it took a certain kind of story with it -- the kind of story that is difficult to find in this era of superheroes and giant robots. For a long time the genre has been dormant. But within the past decade, a new audience for these films has begun to emerge, and the true size and importance of the genre is taking shape. It has since been discovered that between 1985-2005, over 500 erotic thrillers were made for the direct-to-video market, making the genre easily comparable to film noir. Yet today, like the legendary city Atlantis, most of these films are lost in time.
Combining interviews with major figures in the genre and writers from around the world who are now re-discovering these forgotten films, We Kill for Love is a journey into the lost world...of the erotic thriller!
Director Anthony Penta interviewed @ Diabolique (https://diaboliquemagazine.com/illicit-desires-an-interview-with-we-kill-for-love-director-anthony-penta-on-dtv-erotic-thrillers/)
I'M HYPE
A new series of articles written by Anthony Penta for Diabolique Magazine:
Sex & Death on the Cheap, Pt. 1 (https://diaboliquemagazine.com/sex-death-on-the-cheap-pt-1-the-lost-world-of-the-erotic-thriller/)
Sex & Death on the Cheap, Pt. 2 (https://diaboliquemagazine.com/sex-death-on-the-cheap-pt-2/)
Sex & Death on the Cheap, Pt. 3 (https://diaboliquemagazine.com/sex-death-on-the-cheap-pt-3/)
Erotic Thriller Documentary 'We Kill For Love' Boarded by Yellow Veil Pictures
Variety
Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the erotic thriller documentary "We Kill For Love" ahead of its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival.
The company is planning a domestic release later this year and will represent the film for international sales with a launch at the upcoming Marche Du Film in Cannes.
Written, produced, and directed by Anthony Penta, "We Kill for Love" depicts the long-gone world of direct-to-video erotic thriller, an American film genre that once dominated late night cable television and the shelves of neighborhood video stores.
"'We Kill For Love' is a home run for erotic thriller fans," said Joe Yanick, co-founder of Yellow Veil Pictures. "It's one of the most in-depth looks at genre cinema and serves as more than just a love letter but pushes the conversation and spotlights films that have often often lost out to their more glamorous theatrical counterparts," Yanick continued.
"We Kill For Love" stars filmmakers Andrew Stevens, Jim Wynorski, Fred Olen Ray; film stars Monique Parent, Amy Lindsay, Kira Reed Lorsch; film scholars Linda Ruth Williams and Abbey Bender, among others.
Yellow Veil Pictures is a New York City and Los Angeles-based film sales and distribution company founded in 2018. The banner has released movies by Gaspar Noé ("Lux Æterna") and Frida Kempff ("Knocking"), among others. The outfit's slate includes Tilman Singer's debut feature "Luz," The Adams Family's "Hellbender," George A. Romero's "The Amusement Park" and Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King's "The Spine of Night."
VOD on September 1, 2023
Blu-ray (https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage-partner-labels/products/we-kill-for-love) from Yellow Veil Pictures later this month
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