Thrillers & Suspense
Thriller and Suspense Films promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension.
A genuine thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single-minded goal, to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging on the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. Plots of thrillers often involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.
Below is a grand line-up of the best in contemporary Thrillers & Suspense made since 1965. Following a similar theme, with generally a darker look is the "Film Noir" feature, well worth checking out. The exploits of "James Bond 007" may also be accessed stage left.
Right: Frances McDormand makes an arrest in the Coen Bros "Fargo".
The Chain Reaction (1980)
5.5/10
Director: Ian Barry
Starring: Steve Bisley, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Mel Gibson
AKA "Nuclear Run" Stylish Aussie thriller about a nuclear scientist who, after being exposed to radiation, attempts to blow the whistle on a power pla... Read more
The Chairman (1969)
5.6/10
Director: J Lee Thompson
Starring: Gregory Peck, Anne Heywood, Arthur Hill
During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the US government sends a scientist to China to steal the formula for a new agricultural enzyme developed by t... Read more
The Champagne Murders (1967)
6/10
Director: Claude Chabrol
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Henry Jones, Maurice Ronet, Stephane Audran, Yvonne Furneaux
This stylish psychological thriller from Claude Chabrol has such labyrinthine plotting that some critics called it too confusing. Christine Balling (Y... Read more
The Changeover (2017)
5.4/10
Director: Stuart McKenzie, Miranda Harcourt
Starring: Melanie Lynskey, Timothy Spall, Lucy Lawless, Nicholas Galitzine
Based on the Carnegie Medal winning novel by Margeret Mahy. Sixteen year-old Laura Chant lives with her mother and four-year-old brother Jacko in a po... Read more
The Chase (1966)
7.3/10
Director: Arthur Penn
Starring: Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall
A prisoner (Robert Redford) escapes and is rumored to be back in his hometown, setting everyone on edge. Marlon Brando is the sheriff who must make th... Read more
The Chaser (2008)
7.9/10
Director: Hong-jin Na
Starring: Yun-seok Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Yeong-hie Seo, In-gi Jung, Hyo-ju Park
Jung-ho is a former cop turned pimp. He is a foul-tempered, hard-talking man driven by the pursuit of easy money. So when some of his girls start goin... Read more
The Chelsea Detective. Series 1 (2022)
7.4/10
Starring: Adrian Scarborough
Arnold, whose lifestyle on a battered houseboat in Chelsea's Cheyne Walk contrasts sharply with the affluent elite whose crimes he helps solve alongsi... Read more
The China Syndrome (1979)
7.4/10
Director: James Bridges
Starring: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas
The title infers a total atomic meltdown that would bore a hole through the Earth all the way to China. Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas and Jack Lemmon st... Read more
The Circle (2017)
5.3/10
Director: James Ponsoldt
Starring: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Bill Paxton, Karen Gillan, Ellar Coltrane,...
A woman lands a dream job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, only to uncover an agenda that will affect the lives of all of humanity. Read more
The City of Violence (2006)
6.7/10
Director: Seung-wan Ryoo
Starring: Doo-hong Jung, Seung-wan Ryoo, Beom-su Lee
A Seoul cop learns that an old friend, and ex-gangster, has been murdered and returns to his hometown for the funeral, only to find that something eve... Read more