Others, like Body Heat and Mulholland Dr., feature sequences of such exquisite and tantalizing carnality that they’ve come to define all that we think a sex scene should be.

Some movies-like In the Mood for Love and Before Sunrise-are more noteworthy for their ambient erotic charge than for outright graphic sexiness. But survey any moderately sized group of individuals (or TIME’s culture staff) and certain titles come up again and again. Pulling together a wholly objective list of the sexiest movies ever made is impossible: One person’s erotic fever dream is bound to be another’s snoozefest, and vice-versa.