The Sexy, Sultry (Possibly Biphobic) Controversy of ‘Basic Instinct’ [Horror Queers Podcast]

Magna Cum Laude Pussy.

We’re still recovering from the fact that we got to talk to Chucky creator Don Mancini for 90 minutes last week, so between that, The Lure, the OG Hellraiser and Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria remake, this Halloween season has been pretty wild!

So where are the Horror Queers headed next? Just in time for Spooky Season, we’re checking out a quintessential Erotic Thriller of the 90s: Paul Verhoeven and Joe Eszterhas‘ sexy, sultry, sleazy Basic Instinct (1992).

In the film, Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) – a recovering addict and womanizer – is tasked with investigating a grisly ice pick murder. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s entered into a deadly game of cat and mouse with provocative bisexual crime author Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone in a career defining role).

Despite the warnings of his therapist and on-again, off-again lover Dr. Beth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and possibly queer partner, Detective Gus Moran (George Dzundza), Nick can’t resist Catherine’s charms…even though his attraction to her could prove fatal.

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Episode 198 – Basic Instinct (1992) feat The Queer Quadrant

Check under the bed for ice picks because we’re tackling Paul Verhoeven and Joe Eszterhas’ notorious 1992 Erotic Thriller/neo-noir, Basic Instinct. Along for trips to the gay bar and the beach house are Brooke Solomon and Jordan Gustafson from The Queer Quadrant podcast, who provide a very welcome bisexual perspective in a film accused of biphobia and misogyny.

Plus: our obsession with the sequel Risk Addiction, ties to The Silence of the Lambs and Cruising, cocaine and cum, Catherine (and Sharon Stone) as a queer icon, a stacked cast of male character actors, and why you can’t wear a sweater to the gay bar!

Cross out Basic Instinct!

Coming up on Wednesday: Just in time for the final instalment of the new Halloween trilogy this week, we’re revisiting last year’s controversial Halloween Kills (2022).

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 203 hours of additional content! This month, we’ve got episodes on the film adaptation of My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Disney’s legacy sequel Hocus Pocus 2, Hulu’s Hellraiser reboot, the final(?) entry in David Gordon Green’s Halloween series Halloween Ends, and an audio commentary on Gore Verbinski’s The Ring, just in time for its 20th anniversary!