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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 Runaway Bus (1954)

6.3/10
Director: Val Guest
Starring: Frankie Howerd, Margaret Rutherford, Petula Clark, George Coulouris

This offbeat British comedy/thriller features Frankie Howerd, in his first starring role, as Percy Lamb, a bus driver who finds himself in a difficult... Read more

The Running Man (1987)

6.7/10
Director: Paul Michael Glaser
Starring: Maria Conchita Alonso, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Jesse Ven...

In the year 2019 'The Running Man' is the most popular game show on TV. The premise is that contestants have to outrun a select group of heavily-armed... Read more

The Sacrament (2013)

6.1/10
Director: Ti West
Starring: AJ Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Joe Swanberg, Kentucker Audley, Gene Jones

Ti West's latest film is nothing short of terrifying. The Sacrament is about Eden Parish, a commune helmed by a very Jim-Jones-esque leader called onl... Read more

The Saint (1997)

6.2/10
Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue, Rade Serbedzija

Spy for hire and master of disguise Simon Templar agrees to steal a fusion formula for a controversial Russian leader - but falls in love with the bea... Read more

The Salamander (1981)

6.2/10
Director: Peter Zinner
Starring: Franco Nero, Anthony Quinn, Christopher Lee, Sybil Danning, Eli Wallach, Claudia...

Based on Morris West's best-selling novel, this tense political thriller explores the world of treasonous politics, love and high finance. In Italy's... Read more

The Salesman (2016)

7.8/10
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Babak Karimi, Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini

Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and his wife Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) are actors in an amateur Tehran production of Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman. When... Read more

The Salton Sea (2002)

7.2/10
Director: D J Caruso
Starring: Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Anthony LaPaglia, Adam Goldberg, Deborah Kara Ung...

In your face, modern film noir with Val Kilmer as a California speed freak and jazz musician with multiple indentities who recounts his sordid and fra... Read more

The Salzburg Connection (1972)

5.2/10
Director: Lee H Katzin
Starring: Anna Karina, Barry Newman, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Udo Kier

An American lawyer on vacation in Europe is asked by a book publisher to stop by the Austrian town of Salzburg to see a photographer who's taking pict... Read more

The Scarecrow (1982)

7.9/10
Director: Sam Pillsbury
Starring: John Carradine, Jonathan Smith, Tracy Mann, Bruce Allpress

Based on the novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson, the story centers around Ned Poindexter (Jonathan Smith) and his 16-year-old sister Prudence (Tracy Mann)... Read more

The Score (2001)

6.8/10
Director: Frank Oz
Starring: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Marlon Brando, Angela Bassett, Gary Farmer

Top-notch heist thriller finds Montreal jazz club owner and part-time thief Robert De Niro eyeing a $30 million, jewel-covered scepter locked away in... Read more