We Kill for Love

2023

2h 43m

Documentary

List

88%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

We Kill for Love goes in search of the forgotten world of the direct-to-video erotic thriller, an American film genre that once dominated late night cable television and the shelves of neighborhood video stores. Through interviews with the many directors, writers, and actors who fanned the flames of this sexy subgenre, to academics and film historians whose books have explored its mysteries, this documentary explores the erotic thriller from its origins in film noir to its heyday during the 1980s and 90s home video explosion. Told with humor and tact and accompanied by hundreds of illustrative clips from DTV erotic thrillers, We Kill for Love balances film art with film scholarship as it pulls back the curtain to reveal the heart and soul of a forgotten and often maligned film movement.

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Ben Kenigsberg

New York Times

There’s something tough to resist about how “We Kill for Love” rescues works from the shadows.

Aug 31, 2023

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

It takes an extraordinarily long amount of time to say very little that’s incisive about a genre that cries to be addressed as a guilty pleasure—or not addressed at all.

Sep 19, 2023

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

'We Kill for Love' has found uncharted territory in film criticism and proved that, even though this genre has been seen as trash, it actually has merit.

Rated: 4/4

Sep 16, 2023

Full Review

Dan Tabor

Cinapse

We Kill for Love is a masterclass in the sub-genre that is as much a languished love letter, as it is a dissertation on what made the erotic thriller the juggernaut it once was.

Sep 10, 2023

Full Review

Stephen Silver

The SS Ben Hecht

There are some fascinating insights shared, although I'd say the subject was much better explored elsewhere.

Rated: 2.5/5

Sep 7, 2023

Full Review

Sean Burns

North Shore Movies

Enjoyable, if egregiously overlong.

Sep 6, 2023

Full Review

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Anthony Penta

Director

Andrew Stevens

Self

Jim Wynorski

Self

Fred Olen Ray

Self

Monique Parent

Self

Amy Lindsay

Self

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So Unreal

88%

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So Unreal

Hysterical

90%

73%

Hysterical

TRAILER

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Fragments of Paradise

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Fragments of Paradise

Merchant Ivory

100%

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Merchant Ivory

My Name is Alfred Hitchcock

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My Name is Alfred Hitchcock

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Synopsis

We Kill for Love goes in search of the forgotten world of the direct-to-video erotic thriller, an American film genre that once dominated late night cable television and the shelves of neighborhood video stores. Through interviews with the many directors, writers, and actors who fanned the flames of this sexy subgenre, to academics and film historians whose books have explored its mysteries, this documentary explores the erotic thriller from its origins in film noir to its heyday during the 1980s and 90s home video explosion. Told with humor and tact and accompanied by hundreds of illustrative clips from DTV erotic thrillers, We Kill for Love balances film art with film scholarship as it pulls back the curtain to reveal the heart and soul of a forgotten and often maligned film movement.

Director: Anthony Penta
Producer: Anthony Penta
Screenwriter: Anthony Penta
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Runtime: 2h 43m