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".
Cutter's Way (1981)
6.9/10
Director: Ivan Passer
Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Heard, Lisa Eichhorn, Nina Van Pallandt, Stephen Elliott
One of the most original American films of the last decade. Alex Cutter (John Heard) is the Vietnam veteran disfigured in the war. When his best frien... Read more
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
6.8/10
Director: John Glen
Starring: Carole Bouquet, Roger Moore, Chaim Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Julian Glover, Des...
When a British spy ship is sunk, taking with it a high-tech encryption device, Agent 007 (Roger Moore) is sent to retrieve it. However, the Soviets a... Read more
Nighthawks (1981)
6.4/10
Director: Bruce Malmuth
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams
An exciting tale of two N.Y.C. street cops reassigned to a special unit that's tracking a ruthless international terrorist (Rutger Hauer). Sylvester S... Read more
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
6.6/10
Director: Bob Rafelson
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, John Colicos
Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson are the people involved in a torrid love affair that leads to a murder plot. Intense, erotic reworking of the John Ga... Read more
Southern Comfort (1981)
7.2/10
Director: Walter Hill
Starring: Peter Coyote, Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward
Weekend maneuvers for a group of National Guardsmen in Louisiana's bayou country turn into a violent fight for survival when they rouse the ire of loc... Read more
Dennis Potter: 3 To Remember (1980)
8.7/10
Director: Richard Loncraine, Alan Bridges, Gavin Millar
Starring: Cheryl Campbell, Michael Culver, Kika Markham, Phoebe Nicholls, Donald Pleasence...
Blade on the Feather: 1980. A reclusive, elderly author is visited by a young admirer...but both men are more than they claim to be. Rain On The Roof... Read more
Dressed to Kill (Blu-ray) (1980)
7.1/10
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen
A visit to the art museum leads to a fateful and fatal sexual encounter for bored housewife Angie Dickinson in this stylish, erotic suspenser from Bri... Read more
Dressed to Kill (1980)
7.1/10
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen
A visit to the art museum leads to a fateful and fatal sexual encounter for bored housewife Angie Dickinson in this stylish, erotic suspenser from Bri... Read more
Borderline (1980)
6.1/10
Director: Jerrold Freedman
Starring: Bruno Kirby, Charles Bronson, Ed Harris, Michael Lerner, Wilford Brimley, Enriqu...
The film follows a United States Border Patrol Agent in Charge, Jeb Maynard (Bronson), who is forced to track down the killers of a young Mexican boy... Read more
The Island (1980)
5.3/10
Director: Michael Ritchie
Starring: Michael Caine, David Warner, Angela Punch McGregor, Frank Middlemass
Based on the novel by "Jaws" author Peter Benchley, this action-packed, high-seas adventure stars Michael Caine, who plays a British reporter investig... Read more