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 Great Train Robbery (1978)
7/10
Director: Michael Crichton
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Sean Connery, Lesley-Anne Down
Aka "The First Great Train Robbery". Based-on-fact tale of the world's first moving train heist, this stylish thriller, written and directed by Michae... Read more
Murder By Decree (1978)
7/10
Director: Bob Clark
Starring: Christopher Plummer, James Mason, Donald Sutherland, Genevieve Bujold, David Hem...
Christoper Plummer and James Mason take on the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in this entertaining mystery-thriller (which would later influen... Read more
The Shout (1978)
6.8/10
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Starring: Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt, Tim Curry
Starring Alan Bates, Susannah York and John Hurt, this unusual film explores the meaning of reality in the setting of an insane asylum. A cricket matc... Read more
Never Give Up (1978)
6.3/10
Director: Junya Sato
Starring: Ken Takakura, Isao Natsuyagi, Ryoko Nakano
Believing he can leave his dangerous life in the special forces behind, Ajisawa (Ken Takakura) abandons his job as a soldier and adopts Yoriko (Hiroko... Read more
The Thirty-Nine Steps ( The 39 Steps ) (1978)
6.6/10
Director: Don Sharp
Starring: Robert Powell, David Warner, Eric Porter, Karen Dotrice, John Mills
This suspenseful thriller is much closer to John Buchan's original novel than has been filmed before. With a fine cast of British character actors inc... Read more
Gray Lady Down (1978)
6.2/10
Director: David Greene
Starring: Charlton Heston, Christopher Reeve, David Carradine, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Rose...
With time ticking away and their oxygen supply depleting, the crew of a nuclear submarine trapped on the ocean floor relies on an experimental diving... Read more
The Medusa Touch (1978)
7/10
Director: Jack Gold
Starring: Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick, Harry Andrews, Marie-Christine Barraul...
Lino Ventura is a French detective, Brunel, on loan to Scotland Yard investigating a mysterious series of uncanny disasters. They begin happening afte... Read more
The Cat and the Canary (1978)
5.7/10
Director: Radley Metzger
Starring: Wilfrid Hyde-White, Edward Fox, Honor Blackman, Olivia Hussey, Carol Lynley, Wen...
"A dangerous criminal has escaped. He is described as a man with sharp teeth, nails resembling claws, who imagines himself to be a cat and tears his v... Read more
The Driver (1978)
7.2/10
Director: Walter Hill
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani
Ryan O'Neal is The Driver, Bruce Dern is The Detective and Isabelle Adjani is The Player in this minamalist noir-inspired offering. O'Neal is an ice-c... Read more
The Big Sleep (1978)
5.9/10
Director: Michael Winner
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Candy Clark
Gumshoe Philip Marlow (Robert Mitchum) is hired by elderly recluse James Stewart to learn who's been blackmailing his daughters, but soon finds the en... Read more