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".
See No Evil (1971)
6.6/10
Director: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Mia Farrow, Dorothy Alison, Robin Bailey, Brian Rawlinson, Norman Eshley
After being blinded in a horse-riding accident Sarah (Mia Farrow) goes to recuperate at her aunt's country estate. But her peaceful sojourn is interr... Read more
Klute (1971)
7.2/10
Director: Alan J Pakula
Starring: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Nathan George, Dorothy Tristan, R...
Jane Fonda deservedly won the Academy Award as the high priced call girl used as bait to lure a killer in this astutely written and powerfully directe... Read more
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
6.7/10
Director: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Sean Connery, Charles Gray, Jill St John, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Ma...
This seventh instalment of the Bond series sees the British Government become suspicious when large shipments of uncut diamonds begin disappearing dur... Read more
The French Connection (1971)
7.8/10
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey
Gene Hackman is an unorthodox New York narcotics cop in his Oscar winning performance. He and his partner (Roy Scheider) are investigating the flow of... Read more
Get Carter (1971)
7.5/10
Director: Mike Hodges
Starring: Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, John Osborne, Britt Ekland
A cheap hood returns home to investigate his brother's death. Capturing the dreary quality of life in the industrial North of England, this film is pr... Read more
Play Misty For Me (1971)
7/10
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Donna Mills, Jessica Walter, John Larch
Superb suspense story that was Clint Eastwood's directorial debut. Eastwood plays a late-night DJ who has a one-night stand with devoted listener Jess... Read more
Duel (1971)
7.7/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Dennis Weaver
Dennis Weaver stars as the travelling salesman driving through the American Southwest who wages a desperate battle for survival after he is mysterious... Read more
Manhunt (The complete series) (1970)
8.1/10
Starring: Alfred Lynch, Peter Barkworth, Robert Hardy, George Sewell
In 1942, British pilot Jimmy Briggs crashes his aeroplane in occupied France and immediately finds himself on the run from the Nazis. He meets a young... Read more
The Kremlin Letter (1970)
6.2/10
Director: John Huston
Starring: Bibi Andersson, Richard Boone, Nigel Green, Dean Jagger, Lila Kedrova, Max von S...
During the Cold War a Naval Intelligence officer endowed with a powerful photographic memory is transferred to the CIA to participate in a covert oper... Read more
Mister Jerico (1970)
6.2/10
Director: Sidney Hayers
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Connie Stevens, Herbert Lom
Dudley Jerico sets out to rob corrupt millionaire Victor Rosso of his legendary Gemini diamond. Read more