45 Years Later, The Seediest Noir Thriller Just Got A Huge Upgrade

Body Heat is a 1981 erotic thriller that models itself closely on classic noir, updating the genre with sleaze and sin. The film was Lawrence Kasdan’s first directorial effort, supported by George Lucas through Lucasfilm, and became a hit with strong box-office results. It centers on a criminally inclined man and a femme fatale dynamic, echoing noir themes of coaxing, backstabbing, and bitter endings. The story shares genre beats such as infidelity, conspiracy, seduction, blackmail, and murder, portraying a world of deception and escalating schemes. The film’s reissue highlights how deeply its noir roots run and how its lead performance defines the era’s femme fatale standard.

"Erotic thrillers share the most DNA with classic noir, where criminally-inclined men and femme fatales coax and backstab each other, often to bitter ends. But it's a long walk from Billy Wilder's acclaimed Double Indemnity to trashy fare like Wild Things. Halfway between the two is Body Heat, which led the first wave of erotic thrillers in 1981 by modeling itself closely on Wilder's film, updating it with as much sleaze and sin as writer-director Lawrence Kasdan and stars William Hurt and Kathleen Turner could muster."

"As Body Heat was Kasdan's first film as director, there were no real expectations. But thanks to a little company named Lucasfilm, his screenwriting career was going great - Kasdan co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark in collaboration with George Lucas, who helped Kasdan get Body Heat off the ground. The film was a hit, earning $24 million on a $9 million budget and mostly impressing critics, although critical giants Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert disagreed over the quality of Turner's femme fatale performance."

"With Body Heat just reissued by the Criterion Collection in a new 4K edition, you should learn how deep its classic noir roots go. 45 years on, it's clear that Ebert was right, and Kael was unfair to Turner: she's the best femme fatale of the '80s."

Read at Inverse