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".
Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles (Rathbone) / Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1939)
7.6/10
Director: John Rawlins, Sidney Lanfield
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Lionel Atwill, Nigel Bruce, Richard Greene, Reginald Denny
Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are widely celebrated as cinema's perfect Homes and Watson, filming more than a dozen adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan D... Read more
Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes / Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1939)
7.6/10
Director: Alfred L Werker, Roy William Neill
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Ida Lupino, Nigel Bruce, Dennis Hoey, George Zucco
'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' (1939) - Evil mastermind Professor Moriarty (George Zucco) escapes a murder conviction when Holmes (Basil Rathbone... Read more
The Mystery of Mr Wong (1939)
6.4/10
Director: William Nigh
Starring: Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, Dorothy Tree
In the second instalment of the Mr Wong series Boris Karloff stars as the inscrutable detective, enlisted to solve another mystery. The largest star s... Read more
Mr Wong, Detective (1938)
6.2/10
Director: William Nigh
Starring: Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, Evelyn Brent
Following in the inscrutable footsteps of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, Boris Karloff portrayed Chinese-born crimefighter Mr Wong in a series of classic... Read more
The Lady Vanishes / Jamaica Inn (1938)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Dame May Whitty, Cecil Parker, Charles Laug...
An Alfred Hitchcock DVD double feature. 'The Lady Vanishes' (1938) - One of Hitchcock's best British films; Dame May Whitty stars as the kindly old wo... Read more
The Black Coin (1936)
6/10
Starring: Dave O'Brien
Federal agents and smugglers battle it out over lost secret papers. Read more
After the Thin Man (1936)
7.7/10
Director: W S Van Dyke
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart
William Powell and Myrna Loy are back as society sleuths Nick and Nora in this second entry in the 'Thin Man' series. When Nora's cousin is wrongly ac... Read more
The Secret Agent (1936)
5.8/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Peter Lorre
A week of murder and intrigue in which a spy accidentally kills an innocent man. The real villain is thus free to hunt down his pursuer and continue h... Read more
The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)
6.4/10
Director: Ernest B Schoedsack, Merian C Cooper
Starring: Preston Foster, Basil Rathbone, Alan Hale
In the doomed Roman city, a gentle blacksmith becomes a corrupt gladiator, while his son leans toward Christianity. Read more
The Thin Man (1934)
8.1/10
Director: W S Van Dyke
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan
This madcap blend of screwball comedy and murder mystery marked the first pairing of what was to become one of the movies great romantic teams, Willia... Read more