One of the most iconic thriller movies ever is on TV tonight

It was a massive box-office hit, a Best Picture Oscar nominee and even introduced a new term into the public lexicon.

Released in 1987, it centres around a man named Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) with a great life, a happy marriage to his wife Beth (Anne Archer) and a loving daughter.

However, after beginning a casual fling with a sultry book editor named Alex (Glenn Close), his life starts to fall apart.

"Jilted by Dan, Alex becomes unstable, her behaviour escalating from aggressive pursuit to obsessive stalking," the plot synopsis reads.

"Dan realises that his main problem is not hiding his affair, but rather saving himself and his family."

Directed by Adrian Lyne (who would go on to make the similar in theme marital dramas Indecent Proposal and Unfaithful), Fatal Attraction became the second highest-grossing film of its year in the US and was nominated for six Oscars - including Best Picture.

And thanks to its great performances, its stylish direction, and its darkly compelling and terrifying story, it is now considered one of the best and most defining thriller movies ever made.

Not only did it go on to inspire a ton of other great films - as well as a TV reboot in 2023 - but it even introduced the phrase 'bunny boiler' into the English vocabulary.

This is due to a particularly memorable and horrifying scene in the movie.

You can read a sample of some positive reviews for the 1987 thriller right here:

Empire: "Two absolutely riveting performances and a smart reversal of the usual male-female stalker scenario leave behind a nasty taste and an unforgettable cinema experience."

Reel Film Reviews: "A justifiably iconic '80s release that still holds up relatively all these years later."

Time Magazine: "[The film brings] horror home to a place where the grownup moviegoer actually lives."

Washington Post: "Fatal Attraction has an inescapable pull to it; it's suffocatingly exciting."

Fatal Attraction is on RTE One tonight at 12.45am.