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".
Sudden Fear (1952)
7.5/10
Director: David Miller
Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame
Joan Crawford and Jack Palance star in this tightly-wound thriller, oozing with noir style and a jazzy Elmer Bernstein score. As the actor fired by hi... Read more
Don't Bother To Knock (1952)
6.9/10
Director: Roy Baker
Starring: Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Bancroft
One of Marilyn's best performances, as a mentally disturbed babysitter, is the highlight of this often gripping 'Film Noir'. Also Richard Widmark, Ann... Read more
The Magic Carpet (1951)
5.3/10
Director: Lew Landers
Starring: Lucille Ball, John Agar, Patricia Medina
Using a magic flying carpet and a handful of friends, the son of a murdered Caliph must fight the usurper in order to win the throne of the Caliphate. Read more
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
7.9/10
Director: John Huston
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Marilyn Monroe
One of director Huston's most memorable efforts, this taut drama is a brilliantly stylized crime story about a group of hoods plotting a major heist.... Read more
Burt Lancaster: Local Hero / The Flame and the Arrow / Executive Action / Seven Days in May (1950)
5.5/10
Director: Bill Forsyth, David Miller, Jacques Tourneur, John Frankenheimer
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Fredric March, Kirk Douglas, Peter Riegert, Robert Ryan, Virgini...
Burt Lancaster Box Set. 'Local Hero' (1983) - Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert star in the wonderfully whimsical comedy of an oil company's planned bu... Read more
The Clouded Yellow (1950)
7/10
Director: Ralph Thomas
Starring: Andre Morell, Jean Simmons, Kenneth More, Trevor Howard, Sonia Dresdel, Barry Jo...
When ex-spy David Somers (Trevor Howard) takes a low-profile job in the country cataloguing a butterfly collection, he finds that dangerous work conti... Read more
Act of Violence / Mystery Street (1950)
Director: Fred Zinnemann, John Sturges
Starring: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Elsa Lanchester
This film noir double feature includes Fred Zinnemann's dark drama about a crippled G.I. stalking the commander that betrayed him in 'Act of Violence'... Read more
Where Danger Lives / Tension (1950)
Director: John Farrow, John Berry
Starring: Richard Basehart, Faith Domergue, Robert Mitchum, Barry Sullivan, Audrey Trotter
This film noir double feature from the Warner Bros. classic collection includes 'Where Danger Lives' (1950), with Robert Mitchum playing a doctor who... Read more
The Third Man ( Blu-ray ) (1949)
8.2/10
Director: Carol Reed
Starring: Alida Valli, Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard
Joseph Cotten is pulp fiction writer Holly Matins, who arrives in Vienna to work for his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), only to be told that Lime h... Read more
Criss Cross (1949)
7.6/10
Director: Robert Siodmak
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Dan Duryea, Tony Curtis, Yvonne De Carlo, Stephen McNally
Perennial drifter Steve returns home and quickly gets involved with his old flame Anna - even though she is shacked up with seedy gangster Slim Dundee... Read more