Basic Instinct (1992)

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This November is “No Nut November” at Catching Up On Cinema!

All month long, we'll be reviewing erotic thrillers from the 80's and 90's!

This week on Catching Up On Cinema, Trevor does a solo review of Paul Verhoeven's, Basic Instinct (1992)!

Working from a script penned by genre stalwart Joe Esztherhas, Verhoeven's Basic Instinct (1992) represents an acceleration in the ongoing evolution of the then booming erotic thriller subgenre.

Starring Michael Douglas and an up-and-coming Sharon Stone, Basic Instinct is a raunchy neo-noir whodunit.

Profane, explicit, and positively dripping with body fluids at every turn, Basic Instinct is thankfully more than just an expensive fuck film from the 90's.

Brilliantly shot and scored by Jan De Bont and Jerry Goldsmith respectively, and performed with intensity and verve by a who's who of recognizable names and faces, Basic Instinct's only true liability is its (reportedly) $3 million screenplay.

Robbed of momentum in its later stages by the necessity of the whodunit aspect of the narrative taking precedence over the fucking and fighting, Basic Instinct unfortunately allows itself to get bogged down with too many repetitive interrogation sequences in the lead up to its resolution.

A sexy, fun watch, Basic Instinct is not as consistently entertaining or as layered as many of Verhoeven's best mainstream American efforts, however it is effortlessly memorable, and easily a standout among the subgenre.

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