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".
Seven Psychopaths (2012)
7.2/10
Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Christopher Walken, Harry Dean Stanton, Sam Rockwell, Tom Waits, Woody Harrelson...
A struggling screenwriter inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster's beloved... Read more
Mr and Mrs Smith (2005)
Director: Doug Liman
Starring: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Kerry Washington, Adam Brody
A first-rate Hollywood blockbuster, slick in all the right ways - snappy dialogue, good-looking actors and plenty of bare-knuckle action. Brad Pitt an... Read more
The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 2 (2007)
9.2/10
Director: Various
Starring: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chiane...
Seven years ago we were introduced to the man behind the crime and the fear, meeting the fragile and captivating Tony Soprano. The intervening years h... Read more
Angel Heart (1987)
7.3/10
Director: Alan Parker
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling
Mickey Rourke is thrown into a head-bending world of violence and voodoo that moves from the streets of New York to the swamps of Louisiana. Lisa Bone... Read more
Goldfinger (1964)
7.7/10
Director: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Honor Blackman, Sean Connery, Shirley Eaton, Gert Frobe, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwe...
In one of the most popular Bond adventures, 007 must foil Goldfinger - the man with the plan to irradiate Fort Knox and corner the world's gold market... Read more
Bridge of Spies (2015)
7.6/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda
A dramatic thriller set against the backdrop of a series of historic events, "Bridge of Spies" is directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Matt Cha... Read more
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
7.1/10
Director: Christophe Gans
Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Vincent Cassel, Emilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci...
This international box office hit from France is a real genre-buster, mixing up elements of period piece costume drama, horror films, melodrama, swash... Read more
Red Dawn (1984)
6.4/10
Director: John Milius
Starring: Patrick Swayze, C Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Ben Johnson, Harry Dean Stanton,...
It's gung-ho action all the way as a troop of small-town teenagers take on the Commies when the U.S. of A. gets invaded. Opening with a truly memorabl... Read more
Die Hard (1988)
8.2/10
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Alan Rickman
Terrorists seize an L.A. skyscraper and hold everyone inside prisoner...except for New York cop Bruce Willis, whose estranged wife is among the hostag... Read more
Victoria (2015)
7.7/10
Director: Sebastian Schipper
Starring: Frederick Lau, Laia Costa, Franz Rogowski, Burak Yigit, Max Mauff
An after-midnight flirtation on the streets of Berlin gets thrillingly side-tracked by another chase entirely. Filmed in a single real-time take, its... Read more