Erotic Cinema: An Intimate Conversation from the Preaching to the Perverted Podcast hosts

R.S. Benedict wrote in 2021 that ‘everyone is beautiful, but no one is horny’ – and we kind of take that personally. We are Rosemary Stillborn and AJ Bravo, perverts, thrill-seekers and hosts of ‘Preaching to the Perverted’, the podcast for freaks and filmophiles. We devote ourselves to not just finding the hottest, dirtiest, and nasties of video nasties, but also to present them to you as a beautiful, exciting aesthetic experience. Join us today as we explore our respective erotic cinematic universes in four acts – we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Act 1 – Origins & First Sparks

Q. What are your “big three” erotic cinema picks—the films that define your personal erotic universe?

AJ: I think ‘Wild Things’ (1998, John McNaughton) must be my first pick – I watched it when I was quite young and certain scenes (the lesbian tryst in the pool) are ingrained in my brain. It also sparked my interest in murderous women who use sex – so is it any wonder that my second pick is ‘Nurse 3D’? (2013, ​​Doug Aarniokoski) With Paz de la Huerta playing the titular character, this (nurs)exploitation film offers beautiful photography, sapphic obsession and very fulfilling scenes for fellow executrix aficionados. For my final pick, and carrying on with the theme of women who get their way using sex because men are stupid, I’m going to go with ‘The Handmaiden’ (2016, Park Chan-wook). It is tender, beautiful, sexy, and it features so many of my favourite things: lesbians, illuminated manuscripts, octopuses, smoking cyanide…

Q. What was the first erotic scene that rewired your brain?

AJ: To be perfectly frank, I have no idea how I even knew about Emmanuelle (1974, Just Jaeckin). But I managed to torrent a copy, and in my teenage angst and impatience started fast forwarding through – and arrived at the scene where a local teenager masturbates in front of Emmanuelle, whilst still wearing her denim shorts. It is not the most decadent shot, and when I watch it again now it no longer twists me in the same way… but it definitely set a standard for erotic films and what I expected out of them! 

Rosemary: The Angelina Jolie Dominatrix scene in ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ (2005). Also, Mystique in the X-Men franchise, Rebecca Romijin shape-shifting definitely stirred something inside of me! 

Q. Do you remember the first time you sought out something “forbidden” on your own?

AJ: After working my way through all the gothic literature I could put my greedy hands onto, I must have been looking for more historical reads. I landed on a website which contained the collected works of the Marquis de Sade. I was immediately taken by both Philosophy of the Boudoir and Juliette. And I remember trying to rent ‘Y tu mamá también’ (2001, Alfonso Cuarón) as well as ‘Secretary’ (2002, Steven Shainberg) at the VHS store! Also someone got me Videogirl Ai, by Masakatsu Katsura, when I was 11. After the machine bondage scene, I was just not the same girl.

Rosemary: I remember finding Death Proof (2007), the Quentin Tarantino addition to the Grindhouse double-bill during late-night TV broadcast in the US. I became obsessed & must have rewatched it at least 20 times on Starz TV. 

Act 2 – Taste, Trash & Treasure

Q. Porn recs—no shame. What titles, creators, or scenes deserve more love?

Rosemary: One of my all-time favourites is the indie porn site: ‘afourchamberedheart’. Spear headed with immaculate genius by Vex Ashley, she creates incredible cinematic porn, which pays tribute to many of my favourite films such as Crash or Pagan Woodland Films.  

AJ: ‘Dracula Sucks’ (1978, Philip Marshak) and ‘The Opening of Misty Beethoven’ (1976, Radley Metzger billed as Henry Paris), I think they are both such gems! Then again, Jamie Gillis does something to me in his late 70s era. I obviously second Rosemary’s rec of anything that Vex has ever made. I particularly love ‘Birth of Venus’, being a painter myself.

Q. One erotic film you think is painfully overrated? And one you consider criminally overlooked?

Rosemary: I think Just Jaekin’s Story of O is quite overrated. I don’t believe it does the source material justice. That being said there are some key erotically stimulating moments, but overall it just doesn’t deliver as powerfully as I would have hoped. Henry & June is also an honorary mention. On the other hand, I think Singarpore Sling (1990), directed by Nikos Nikolaidis  gets quite criminally overlooked, as I rarely see it on some of the erotic film listicles. It is DELIRIOUSLY DELICIOUS!

AJ: I wholeheartedly agree with ‘Story of O’ (1975, Just Jaeckin) but since I had to go watch ‘50 Shades of Grey’ (2015, Sam Taylor-Johnson) at the cinema (at the insistence of a fling), I must protest that this is what is being fed to the public as sexy, thrilling, erotic cinema. At least back in the day we had ‘9½ Weeks’ (1986, Adrian Lyne)! As far as overlooked films, too many to mention, but ‘Vulvine Reine d’Extase’ (2022, Gobelins) is possibly the most beautiful animated erotic film ever made. I believe you can still watch it in Catsuka Player, but it’s not indexed on their website.

Act 3 – Culture & Censorship

Q. Do you think part of the thrill comes from the hunt—tracking down films that are hard to find or censored?

AJ: I think it’s one thing to speak of the beautiful experience that is going somewhere with the explicit intention of watching a film – whether erotic, pornographic, or mainstream, as well as sharing that experience with the other people in the cinema. A propos, Ingrid Ryberg has a great article on the queer collective experience of watching porn at porn festivals (Ryberg, I. (2015). Carnal fantasizing: embodied spectatorship of queer, feminist and lesbian pornography. Porn Studies, 2(2-3), 161–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2015.1059012) But no, I don’t think that having to hunt down material because its access is censored is particularly thrilling. Nor do I think that the lack of support and increased difficulties faced by creatives who work with or around sex make for better or more interesting art. Free the nipple and let people watch whatever they want to watch. 

Rosemary: There is a bit of a thrill, yes, especially trying to track down English subs to mainly non English erotic films. But, I do wish it was easier to access many of these beautiful and sublime pieces of work. I do worry also that I am not seeing the proper subtitling to a film and missing key parts of the dialogue.

Q. What’s your take on the current climate—are we in an erotic cinema drought, a renaissance, or just moving the erotic conversation elsewhere?

AJ: I think we are in a marsh – there is plenty of incredible stuff coming out (Fucktoys (2025, Annapurna Sriram)!? Thanks Rosemary for finding this incredible film!) but sometimes it feels like it’s all isolated and difficult to get to. Navigating the plethora of new releases, streaming services, and censorship is very taxing and I believe that it results in viewer fatigue. A lot of the films that we watch for the podcast I end up finding in porn sites, which probably means that no one in that team is getting any royalties anymore. I want my money to go straight to the people making the art, not to Netflix obviously, but it is becoming almost impossible to ethically stream erotic and pornographic content with the Online Safety Bill as well as the censorship from Visa and Mastercard hampering creatives’ ability to get paid for their work.

Rosemary: We are in no drought! I am very excited by some of the films entering the mainstream. My current obsession are the films coming from Greek director: Yorgos Lanthimos, British director: Peter Stickland & French director: Julia Ducournau. 

That being said, censorship is definitely still ever present. It is quite interesting that we have erotic films once banned in the 80s during the Video Nasties Era available now on streaming services, whilst we are having a huge wave of censorship in digital pornography. The Online Safety Bill, which went into effect all of three weeks ago, is already impacting our ability to watch certain titles in the UK, not to speak of our ability to discover new films or how dangerous it is to have to give over our ID information to third party companies. We went from prohibiting violent films with the concern of the impact they have on the youth committing crimes, to prohibiting types of pornography under a similar guise of concern. What is clear is that censorship does not work – to lessen crime or to protect anyone. 
In fact, the film that is our podcast’s namesake, Preaching to the Perverted, was banned in Ireland on its release in 1997.

Act 4 – Sensual Hypotheticals & Deep Cuts

Q. Sexiest film score of all time? A piece of music that still makes your pulse race?

AJ: Anything by Morricone, but I think Goblin’s Suspiria (1977, Dario Argento) is the horniest Original Soundtrack ever conceived.

Rosemary: I am a sucker for Tangerine Dream scoring, I have quite a love for the ‘Thief’ soundtrack. 

Q. If you could resurrect one out-of-print erotic film for a pristine 4K release, what would it be and why?

AJ: I’m going to go a bit gonzo on this because it’s not an erotic film per se, but ‘Bad Biology’ (2008, Frank Henenlotter) because it’s fucking bonkers. If you enjoyed the brand of body horror in ‘Titane’ (2021, Julia Ducornau), maybe give it a go.

Rosemary: Ooh! So hard to choose. I would probably opt for Ryū Murakami’s Tokyo Decadence (1992, JP). It is quite a challenge to get a hold of the full film, even to this day. His widely known J-Horror text, Audition, is also a personal favourite. 

Lightning Provocation Round — Quick & Filthy

Q. Most erotic food scene ever?

AJ: These are not from films, but there is an episode of CSI New York (Fare Game, 2006) where the victim is fed a live octopus and chokes on it. So hot. Also there is another CSI episode (Grand Master, 2004) where they do body sushi and I remember it being very eye opening to me. But more to the point, the pot roast scene in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith) – their sexual tension in that scene is unmatched. And overall, food and murder is such a winning combination for me! Just murder me over food.

Rosemary: The egg laying scene in ‘In The Realm of the Senses’. Honourable mentions to Tampopo & Sweet Movie.

Q. One actor whose mere voice could make a scene erotic?

AJ: Too many to mention, but Christian Bale had no right to make Howl that horny (‘Howl’s Moving Castle’, 2004, Hayao Miyazaki).
Rosemary: Jeremy Irons

Q. If you could make one PG-rated film instantly R-rated for erotic reasons, what would it be and why?

AJ: I think anything by Tarantino, he should just get into porn and stop pretending that his feet scenes are justified. Also, in honor of Mr. Xtoon passing away and making our Disney sexual fantasies come true, I want to watch the BDSM version of ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (1996, Gary Trousdale). Make my Catholic fantasies come to the fore!

Rosemary: The Company of Wolves, wished there were more adult themes to explore in a more adult focused adaptation.

Q. The kinkiest scene you’ve seen in a completely non-erotic film?

AJ: In ‘The Mask of Zorro’ (1998, Martin Campbell) there is an incredibly horny dance scene between Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones. There is also a fight scene with some swords that is the stuff my dreams are made of! All in all, if you enjoy trick riding and stunt fighting, this is the movie for you.

Rosemary: The bathroom scene in ‘Red Eye’. Peak sexual tension! 

Q. If you could choose one historical figure to direct an erotic short, who would it be?

What are your ‘Big Three’ Astrological Signs? 

AJ: Leo sun, Pisces moon, Virgo rising – and it’s as chaotic as you think.

Rosemary: Aries Sun 🐏, Aquarius Moon ♒, & Scorpio Rising🦂 ( great film🖤)

And with that, our time together has come to a close. Hopefully, now you know us a bit better – maybe even better than you could have bargained for! However, if you are ready for more (or perhaps, for your own little happy ending), you can find our second episode, ‘Corrupted Fairytales’ on Spotify and Youtube. Joyous watching!