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 Onion Field (1979)
6.9/10
Director: Harold Becker
Starring: John Savage, James Woods, Ted Danson, Ronny Cox
Powerful film version of Joseph Wambaugh's fact-based novel about the killing of a policeman and his partner's eventual breakdown. James Wood's electr... Read more
The Orphanage (2007)
7.5/10
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Starring: Belen Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin, Roger Princep, Mabel Rivera
A gothic chiller featuring a woman returning to the now-closed orphanage where she was raised. Laura and her husband plan to reopen it as a home for d... Read more
The Osterman Weekend (1983)
5.9/10
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Starring: Meg Foster, Rutger Hauer, Dennis Hopper, John Hurt, Craig T Nelson, Chris Sarand...
Sam Peckinpah's last film is based on Robert Ludlum's novel and tells a complicated story of espionage, revenge and duplicity. Stars Rutger Hauer, Bur... Read more
The Other (1972)
7/10
Director: Robert Mulligan
Starring: Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, Chris Udvarnoky, Martin Udvarnoky, Norma Connolly, Vic...
An eerie occult horror set on a an idyllic farm in 1930s New England, where twin brothers Holland and Niles live with their family. Niles is outgoing... Read more
The Other (Blu-ray) (1972)
6.9/10
Director: Robert Mulligan
Starring: Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, Chris Udvarnoky, Martin Udvarnoky, Norma Connolly, Vic...
An eerie occult horror set on a an idyllic farm in 1930s New England, where twin brothers Holland and Niles live with their family. Niles is outgoing... Read more
The Other Side of Midnight (Blu-ray) (1977)
6.1/10
Director: Charles Jarrott
Starring: Marie-France Pisier, John Beck, Susan Sarandon, Raf Vallone, Clu Gulager, Christ...
During WWII, beautiful Noelle meets dashing American pilot Larry in France and falls in love. She expects him to marry her, but instead he abandons he... Read more
The Others (2001)
7.6/10
Director: Alejandro Amenabar
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Elaine Cassidy, Eric Sy...
In a remote mansion on the British isle of Jersey during World War II, soldier's widow Nicole Kidman lives in darkened isolation with her two children... Read more
the Otto Preminger Collection (1991)
Director: Otto Preminger
Starring: Richard Todd, Anton Walbrook, William Holden, David Niven, Franchot Tone, Lew Ay...
'Anatomy Of A Filmmaker' 199. The life and films of iconic producer. director, and actor Otto Preminger are depicted through clips from his films and... Read more
The Out-Laws (AKA Clan) (2012)
Starring: Barbara Sarafian
Clan draws you into the lives of the Goethals sisters, tied together by the premature death of their parents, they've clung to each other like a real... Read more
The Pack (Blu-ray) (2015)
5/10
Director: Nick Robertson
Starring: Anna Lise Phillips
A farmer and his family must fight for survival after a ferocious pack of wild dogs infiltrates their isolated farmhouse. Through a series of frighten... Read more