This slick thriller by Paul Verhoeven provides Sharon Stone with arguably her best, and definitely her most memorable, role as a manipulative sex fiend.

Basic Instinct, USA, 1992. Written by Joe Eszterhas. Directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Starring: Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas.

Plot: A cop searching for a killer is led to a wealthy and seductive author. He becomes obsessed with her, trying his best to manage the affair while evidence mounts that she is the killer. An excellent representative of the erotic thriller genre.

Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, 1992

Critic's view: Peter Travers writes in The Rolling Stone, Verhoeven's cinematic wet dream delivers the goods, especially when Sharon Stone struts on with enough come-on carnality to singe the screen.

Critic's view: Shannon J. Harvey, Sunday Times of Australia, writes: One of the best films of the early 90s, doing more for female empowerment than any feminist rally. Stone -- in her star-making performance -- is as hot and sexy as she is ice-pick cold.

Buy Basic Instinct - Director's Cut (Ultimate Edition).

Runners-up: The End of the Affair (1999); Romance (1999); Eyes Wide Shut (1999).

By Athina Simonidou

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