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".
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
7.2/10
Director: Joseph Sargent
Starring: Gordon Pinsent, Susan Clark, Eric Braeden
The granddaddy of all "computer run amok" films, 'Colossus: The Forbin Project' concerns a huge electronic brain designed to control the American miss... Read more
The Beguiled (1970)
6.3/10
Director: Don Siegel
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman
A rewarding, off-beat tale set in the Civil War about a wounded soldier (Clint Eastwood) bought to a girls' school to recuperate but becomes the catal... Read more
Die Screaming, Marianne (1970)
5/10
Director: Pete Walker
Starring: Susan George, Barry Evans, Leo Genn
In this British psycho-thriller from director Pete Walker, Susan George ('Straw Dogs') stars as Marianne, a nightclub dancer desperately running from... Read more
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
7.2/10
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi, Umberto Raho
After witnessing an attempted murder, American writer Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante) decides to stay in Italy to help the police with their enquiries. He... Read more
Yakuza Deka 1: Secret Police (1970)
Director: Yukio Noda
Starring: Sonny Chiba, Tetsuro Tanpa
Sonny Chiba plays a hard-bitten undercover cop trying to win the confidence of two rival yakuza gangs in order to bust their illegal drugs operations.... Read more
Yakuza Deka 2: The Assassin (1970)
Director: Yukio Noda
Starring: Sonny Chiba, Ryohei Uchida, Fumio Watanabe, Osman Yusuf, Giant Baba
Sonny Chiba returns as undercover cop Hayata. This time he's after a marijuana syndicate, and he's going to have to go very undercover to net these g... Read more
Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
8.1/10
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Starring: Alain Delon, Yves Montand, Francois Perier, Gian Maria Volonte, Andre Bourvil
This heist classic from Jean-Pierre Melville ("Le Samourai") features Alain Delon as a crook just out of the slammer who joins forces with suspect-on-... Read more
Cat O' Nine Tails (1970)
6.7/10
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Karl Malden, James Franciscus, Catherine Spaak
About an investigative reporter who teams up with a blind newspaperman to find out who is killing all the people associated with a genetic laboratory.... Read more
The Chairman (1969)
5.6/10
Director: J Lee Thompson
Starring: Gregory Peck, Anne Heywood, Arthur Hill
During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the US government sends a scientist to China to steal the formula for a new agricultural enzyme developed by t... Read more
La Piscine (The Swimming Pool) (Blu-ray) (1969)
7/10
Director: Jacques Deray
Starring: Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Jane Birkin
Lovers Marianne and Jean-Paul spend their vacation in a villa near St.-Tropez. The main feature of the villa is a swimming pool, stage for most of the... Read more