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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".

Predestination (2014)

7.5/10
Director: The Spierig Brothers, Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Noah Taylor, Sarah Snook

Ethan Hawke plays a temporal agent leaping back and forth through time to prevent the murder of thousands in a very Oroboros-type narrative. During on... Read more

The Bone Collector (1999)

6.7/10
Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker, Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie

A dark, moody, serial killer thriller in the tradition of "Seven" and "The Silence of the Lambs". Denzel Washington plays a quadraplegic homicide dete... Read more

Matchstick Men (2003)

7.3/10
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman, Bruce McGill

Obsessive-compulsive con artist Nicolas Cage and partner Sam Rockwell make good livings with slick scams in the Los Angeles area. Cage believes he has... Read more

From Russia with Love (1963)

7.5/10
Director: Terence Young
Starring: Pedro Armendariz, Daniela Bianchi, Sean Connery, Bernard Lee, Lotte Lenya, Rober...

The second Bond film is one of the best, with 007 going up against the evil SPECTRE organisation in a race to sieze a Soviet decoding machine. His ene... Read more

Jaws (1975)

8/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider

A relentless, 25-foot-long "killing machine" is on the prowl off the coast of a New England resort town, and no one in the water is safe. Roy Scheider... Read more

36 Quai des Orfevres (2004)

7.6/10
Director: Olivier Marchal
Starring: Gerard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Andre Dussollier, Valeria Golino, Roschdy Zem

Two of France's most charismatic and enduring actors, Gerard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil face off as cops competing for the same promotion, using all... Read more

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

7.8/10
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Starring: Ewa Froling, Marika Lagercrantz, Michael Nyqvist, Ingvar Hirdwall, Noomi Rapace,...

Aka "Men Who Hate Women". Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger... 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

Paradise Now (2005)

7.5/10
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Starring: Kais Nashef, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azabal, Amer Hlehel, Hiam Abbass

Golden Globe's Best Foreign Film is this taut drama concerning two Palestinian friends who have signed up to become suicide bombers. They are assigne... Read more

Glorious 39 (2009)

6.5/10
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Starring: Christopher Lee, Hugh Bonneville, Jeremy Northam, Julie Christie, Bill Nighy, Da...

This provocative historical thriller from acclaimed writer/director Stephen Poliakoff is set against the idyllic British countryside during the glorio... Read more