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 Day of the Dolphin (1973)
6.1/10
Director: Mike Nichols
Starring: Fritz Weaver, George C Scott, Paul Sorvino, Trish Van Devere
A researcher (George C. Scott) teaches the aquatic mammals to talk, then faces a crisis when he learns they are also being trained as assassins. Read more
The Day of the Jackal (1973)
7.8/10
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Edward Fox, Alan Badel, Tony Britton, Cyril Cusack, Michael Lonsdale, Eric Porte...
A rivetting thriller of an assassin hired to kill Charles De Gaulle, juxtaposing his calm preparation for the shooting against the tense international... Read more
Don't Look Now (1973)
7.3/10
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Hilary Mason
Excellent psychic thriller about a married couple who, just after the accidental drowning of their young daughter, start having strange occurences in... Read more
Live and Let Die (1973)
6.8/10
Director: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Roger Moore, Jane Seymour, Yaphet Kotto
James Bond battles the forces of black magic in this high-octane adventure that hurtles him from the streets of New York City to Louisiana's bayou cou... Read more
Sisters (1973)
6/10
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning
Director/co-writer Brian De Palma's first foray into Hitchcockian screen suspense in a bloody thriller. Reporter Jennifer Salt witnesses Margot Kidder... Read more
Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
7.2/10
Director: James William Guercio
Starring: Robert Blake, Billy Green Bush, Mitchell Ryan
The only thing good-hearted motorcycle cop John Wintergreen (Robert Blake) wants is to become a detective - to wear a big Stetson, smoke fancy cigars... Read more
Sisters (Blu-ray) (1973)
6/10
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning
Director/co-writer Brian De Palma's first foray into Hitchcockian screen suspense in a bloody thriller. Reporter Jennifer Salt witnesses Margot Kidder... Read more
You'll Like My Mother (1972)
6.6/10
Director: Lamont Johnson
Starring: Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy, Richard Thomas
Francesca Kinsolving, a very pregnant widow whose husband was recently killed in action in Vietnam, travels to visit her late husband's mother in a sn... Read more
Fear Is The Key (Blu-ray) (1972)
6.3/10
Director: Michael Tuchner
Starring: Barry Newman, Suzy Kendall, John Vernon, Ben Kingsley, Ray McAnally
A man is in radio contact with his family when their airplane is shot down. He wants those responsible and becomes a criminal to get a job as deep sea... Read more
The Valachi Papers (Blu-ray) (1972)
6.4/10
Director: Terence Young
Starring: Charles Bronson, Lino Ventura, Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman, Gera...
Gangster Joe Valachi is a marked man in the same joint where mob boss Don Vito Genovese is imprisoned and he's forced to co-operate with the DA in exc... Read more