Body Heat Knows Classic Film Noirs Well But It Also Knows How To Subvert Their Norms

Though the classic film noirs of the 1940s were known for their grim nature, the Hayes Code that ruled American cinema with an iron fist prevented the genre from embracing its darkest tendencies in several departments. For one thing, nudity was out of the question as was language harsher than the occasional "damn!" But the time 1981 rolled around, the Hayes Code had been abolished for sixteen years and features nudity and strong language were now commonplace in then-modern-day R-rated fare. Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat, released in that exact year, decided to take a classic film noir set-up and wrap it up in a screenplay that fully embraced all the raunchy elements Hayes Code era noirs could never even dream of touching.

Double Indemnity Provides So Many Engrossing Thrills It's Practically A Crime!

I always try to reiterate my feelings that no cliche is inherently bad, it's the way it's presented that makes all the difference in the world. Perhaps no better example of this phenomenon exists than the world of noir thrillers. We all know the trappings of noir cinema, maybe from seeing plenty of noir movies or maybe even just from seeing one of the countless parodies of this subgenre, the omnipresent narration, the black-and-white color scheme, the dames and femme fatales, the steel-jawed detective, all of those are recurring factors in many entries in this subgenre. And let me tell you, I love those recurring traits of noir filmmaking, I really do. When they're done right, they can create a storytelling atmosphere like no other that merges intrigue with a bleak tone.