Is “Fatal Attraction” a queer horror film?

Let’s read the 1987 slasher with odd sex cues

Jonathan Poletti
Sex Stories

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Back in 1987, Fatal Attraction was the sex horror thriller that everyone wanted to see. As a remake is set to air on the Paramount+ network, I’m thinking about a villain named ‘Alex’ with wild hair, phallic cigarette, ravenous sexuality and a sailor’s mouth.

“Fatal Attraction” (publicity photo; 1987)

The script was in development for about a decade.

An original idea by James Dearden, based on his own fantasy of infidelity while his wife was away, just didn’t work. The man was the villain—and audiences didn’t want to watch the cheater being punished.

As developed by director Adrian Lyne, the story took on more interest as the woman was identified as the villain. At first she was ‘Eve Rubin’, the Jewish menace stalking Dan Gallagher, the American Protestant man.

Then she became ‘Alex Forrest’, a career woman with athletic, predatory sexuality. The evolution in the plot would lead to four distinct endings written, with two filmed—as ‘Alex’ became a legendary movie monster: a deranged blonde woman with an androgynous vibe.

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