100 essential thrillers

The 20 Best Thriller Movies of All Time

It’s easy to understand why every generation of cinemagoers shells out for thriller movies that will get their hearts racing. This catchall term encompasses a great variety of subgenres, from sweeping crime epics to suspenseful psychodramas, which makes it hard to pin down what exactly falls under its vast umbrella, and even harder to round up the cream of the crop in one curated list.

First and foremost, a good thriller should always prompt a visceral response from its audience and keep them glued to their seats. Some of the most acclaimed directors in cinema history have earned their stripes in this particular genre, pushing all sorts of boundaries and spiking the viewer’s heart rate manyfold with their films. In the interest of fairness, however, we have decided that each could only be represented once in the present list, in an attempt to fully capture the entire breadth of the genre. Not all the entries abide by its traditional norms, but all 20 are guaranteed to send shivers down your spine.

Without further ado, below are the best thriller movies of all time.

20. Le Cercle Rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1970)

The codes of loyalty, honor, and taciturn masculinity are captured with mighty rapture in this elegant and tightly constructed French thriller, in which the fates of three social outcasts — a notorious escapee, an alcoholic ex-cop, and a recently released ex-con — collide during a daring jewel heist.

Legendary director Jean-Pierre Melville carved a cool niche for himself with explosive cinematic cocktails that blended postwar American noir with French New Wave’s stylistic flourishes. The results here are nothing short of astounding — yielding an ice-cold thriller that takes its sweet time getting going but ratchets up the tension without a hitch. Not to be missed.

19. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)

Before becoming synonymous with puzzle-box narratives, crisscrossing timelines, and the biggest brainteasers in all Hollywood, British director Christopher Nolan earned his stripes with ‘Memento’, a cleverly constructed and inventive neo-noir in which a vengeful Guy Pearce tries to hunt down his wife’s murderer while dealing with short-term memory loss.

Although the mastermind behind ‘Inception’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ often bites off more than he can chew in his work, Nolan hit the mark with his breakthrough 2000 film. And even though his later ventures have certainly grown bigger in scale, budget, and scope, few — if any at all — have aged better than the taut thriller that first launched him onto the world stage.

18. Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)

Over roughly 24 hours during a hot summer day, simmering tensions begin to boil over on Prospect Park West between 17th and 18th Street in Brooklyn, where a bungled bank robbery quickly turns sour, resulting in a tense hostage situation and drawn-out stand-off with the police.

A certified provocateur whose credentials include such socially-charged titles as ’12 Angry Men’, ‘Prince of the City’ and ‘Serpico’, renowned director Sidney Lumet uncorked one of the defining movies of the New Hollywood Wave and 1970s-era sweat-soaked guerrilla filmmaking — one that feels at once an oblique mirror of its time and well ahead of it. Packed with iconic scenes, astute social commentary, and Al Pacino’s finest hour, ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ stands tall as a milestone in the genre that only grows more resonant with each passing year.

17. M (Fritz Lang, 1931)

Often hailed as the film that kickstarted the psychothriller and crime procedural as we know it, Fritz Lang’s groundbreaking ‘M’ is all but impossible to discuss without acknowledging the unrivaled influence it has wielded on almost every modern nail-biter that followed.

The predator becomes the prey in this watershed monochromatic stunner, which plunges viewers into a citywide manhunt across postwar Berlin, where an insidious child murderer (Peter Lorre) plants the seeds of mistrust and paranoia among its inhabitants while trying to escape justice. Lang’s seminal opus is both a chilling portrait of the banality of evil and a sad-eyed lament on the dangers of herd mentality and mob rule that laces its critical jabs with genuine menace. Don’t be fooled by its almost centenarian status — by the time the screen fades to black, you’ll have a hard time shaking the whole experience out of your system.

16. The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)

Much of the discourse on this slice of fatalistic European noir hones in on its many stylistic flourishes, most notably its stark black-and-white cinematography of post-World War II Vienna. And although cameraman Robert Krasker’s discerning eye for detail warrants the highest of praises, the true driving force behind ‘The Third Man’ lies in the tangled relationship between two men: a pulp novelist (Joseph Cotten) and his long-lost childhood friend (Orson Welles), who is presumed dead.

In the tradition of Curtiz’s ‘Casablanca’, the evil specters of the war continue to haunt and ripple through every shadowy street and smoked-choked alleyway of occupied Vienna, providing British director Carol Reed with a war-torn urban milieu perfectly suited for his ghoulish story. Almost 75 years on, much of the film’s imagery — including one of the greatest entrances in cinema history — are still impossible to shake.

15. No Country for Old Men (Coen Brothers, 2007)

By virtue of being the most versatile storytellers in recent memory, Joel and Ethan Coen might not exactly be the first two names that come to mind when discussing the annals of the thriller genre. Sure, even their most light-hearted entries in their sundry catalog had come with a healthy dose of existential dread, but never had it been manifested more transparently than in this Cormac McCarthy adaptation.

Anton Chigurn (Javier Bardem), the sociopathic force of nature at the crux of the 2007 Best Picture winner, left a lasting impression among moviegoers and instantly bled into the zeitgeist to become the Villain with capital-V for an entire generation. Though it takes its time implanting itself in your mind, many of the sickening underpinnings in this neo-western will linger with you for long after the credits roll.

14. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)

Moral ambiguity fogs over yet another cynical thriller set in the U.S./Mexico border, a heralded masterpiece that has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance lately, in no small part thanks to a brand-new director’s re-edit that improved in spades upon Universal’s botched theatrical cut that heavily compromised its creator’s vision.

The idea of Orson Welles playing a sleazy, cigar-smoking, corrupt sheriff playing opposite Charlton Heston as a righteous narcotics officer is a fundamentally delightful prospect, one made all the more satisfying by having the former’s skill and unique vision behind the camera. ‘Touch of Evil’ makes good on that lofty promise, delivering a seedy, pitch-black film noir full of virtuosic sequences that pulls no punches and leaves the viewer with a lot to chew on.

13. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)

The off-screen drama and enigmatic circumstances surrounding Stanley Kubrick’s psychosexual swan song have taken a life of their own in the past two decades — shrouding the film even further in mystery and triggering tabloid and online chatter up to a nauseating degree. Yet, whether or not you put a lot of stock in alleged cover-ups, marital break-ups, hidden symbolism or Illuminati conspiracy theories, there’s no denying Eyes Wide Shut’s enduring magnetism.

Anchored by the once marquee Hollywood power couple in Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, the 1999 film remains a titillating peer into the abyss that puts warped masculinity, sexual promiscuity, and bourgeois conformity all under the microscope. Reality and fantasy muddle together, revealing pent-up desires, repressed guilts, and sexual obsessions, as the reputable Dr. Bill Harford gets more than what he bargains for during one of his nocturnal escapades. Unpredictable, delectably provocative, and endlessly elusive, ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ continues to inspire rarefied passions today.

12. Z (Costa-Gavras, 1969)

Government corruption, bureaucratic inertia, and totalitarian oppression rear their ugly head in Costa-Gavras’ bracingly urgent and ferocious political thriller. Based on the 1963 Lambrakis affair, ‘Z’ centers around the true story where the supposedly accidental death of a leftist Greek activist amid a peace demonstration triggers a nation-wide investigation incriminating the powers-that-be, prompting a righteous Magistrate to unravel the pieces of the conspiracy.

At the intersection between gripping conspiracy thriller and no-holds-barred political statement, Greek expatriate director Costa Gavras makes his anti-establishment tenor clear; bluntly illustrating how public servants wield their power in order to evade justice and callously push their personal agendas. All in all, you will rarely encounter a bigger gut-punch of an ending than the one bookending ‘Z’.

11. The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973)

Elliot Gould gives an iconic performance as Philip Marlowe, a wisecracking and effortlessly cool private eye who gets roped into a seemingly labyrinthine mystery full of twists and dead-ends, and where there’s always more than meets the eye.

Not so much a direct translation of Raymond Carver’s Bogart-era source material as it is a tongue-in-cheek spoof, Robert Altman’s ‘The Long Goodbye’ essentially paved the way for a plethora of languidly-paced, brisk-toned dramas that survey Los Angeles’ seedy underworld through the eyes of an unconventional white knight — think ‘The Big Lebowski’, ’Inherent Vice’ or ‘Under the Silver Lake’. Much like the aforementioned titles, strictly following the narrative breadcrumbs or taking this Pynchonesque conspiracy at face value is a sure way to miss all the fun in between.

45 Best Thriller Movies Of All Time

Best Thriller Movies

The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock once said “Mystery is when the spectator knows less than the characters in the movie. Suspense is when the spectator knows more than the characters in the movie.” Films that delve into feelings of suspense have captivated movie-goers since we could make pictures move across a silver screen. Thrillers are defined by the mood they set, giving audiences a heightened feeling of excitement, surprise, anticipation, and anxiety. Some of the best thriller movies of all time master this in their storytelling and can orchestrate our emotions like a symphony.

Directors and writers press their keys to make us sweat, curl back, and leave us wondering what will ever happen next! Thrillers are a powerful genre of filmmaking and they borderline on horrific with the utmost restraint. Today we wanted to recommend some of our favorite thrillers of all time. From elusive serial killers, bank robbers on the verge of being caught, and altruistic citizens just trying to do their part in a crooked world, we’ve got a film for everyone. Please note, that this list is in no particular order. With all that being said, go ahead and sit back, grab the popcorn and enjoy forty-five of the greatest thriller movies of all time!

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The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Ted Tally, The Silence of the Lambs follows a promising F.B.I. cadet who must accept the help of a conniving cannibal killer in order to catch another killer, a villain who skins his victims. The Silence of the Lambs stars Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, and Lawrence A. Bonney. The film won five Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Director, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.

The Silence of the Lambs became a contemporary classic in so many ways. Anthony Hopkins’ performance as Hannibal Lecter has gone down in movie history as one of the greatest villain performances ever. This brilliant thriller needs no further introduction and its legacy speaks for itself.

Psycho

Psycho (1960)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Joseph Stefano, Psycho follows an office secretary who embezzles money from her employer’s client. After leaving town she checks into a secluded motel run by an eccentric young man under the thumb of his mother. Psycho stars Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, and Vera Miles. Adding Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho to the list of best thrillers was an easy decision. The film was nominated for four Oscars including Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.

One of my favorite films of all time, Psycho captures what’s so great about thriller and horror movies. Anthony Perkins is charming, sinister, and meticulous. Janet Leigh is anxiety-inducing and just steals the show instantaneously. It’ll be hard to find anyone who would argue against Psycho as one of the best thrillers ever made.

Jaws

Jaws (1975)

Directed by Stephen Spielberg and written by Peter Benchley as well as Carl Gottlieb, Jaws follows a killer shark unleashing chaos on a small beach community off Cape Cod. It’s up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down whatever the cost. The film stars Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss. Jaws won three Oscars including Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.

Jaws is one of the very few thrillers with a whimsical and spirited finale. Only Spielberg could make a film about a killer shark leave you wanting to be better to your fellow man. The classic dolly zoom, brilliant score, and fantastic performances have kept Jaws in the hearts of movie-goes everywhere.

North by Northwest

North by Northwest (1959)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Ernest Lehman, North by Northwest follows a New York ad executive who goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt. The film stars Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. North by Northwest was nominated for three Oscars including Best Writing, Best Art Direction, and Best Film Editing.

You’ll find Alfred Hitchcock’s name a lot on this list but not without goos reason. He was truly the master of suspense and helped bring thrillers into the modern era of movies. North by Northwest is one of the best and articulate works from Hitchcock and it continues to hold up to this day.

Collateral

Collateral (2004)

Directed by Michael Mann and written by Stuart Beattie, Collateral follows a cab driver who finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles. The film stars Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Collateral was nominated for the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Achievement in Film Editing.

Collateral is probably my favorite performance from Tom Cruise, it’s one of the few times we get to see him play a villain and with all his charm he absolutely owns it. It’s a little jarring and almost funny to see Jamie Foxx hold back from being the most charming guy in the room. Michael Mann brings some of the best action stars together (yet again) for a phenomenal crime-thriller.

Prisoners

Prisoners (2013)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Aaron Guzikowski, Prisoners follows the Dover family when their daughter and her best friend go missing. Keller Dover takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Viola Davis, and Terrence Howard. Prisoners was nominated for the Oscar for Best Achievement in Cinematography.

Prisoners is brutal, anxiety-inducing, and thought-provoking to say the least. It’s a masterful work of building suspense while weaving an intricate spiderweb of narratives. Denis Villeneuve has slowly become one of my favorite storytellers and Prisoners was the film that truly helped him earn that spot in my eyes.

Infernal Affairs

Infernal Affairs (2002)

Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak with additional writing by Felix Chong, Infernal Affairs follows the story between a mole in the police department and an undercover cop. Their objectives are the same: to find out who is the mole, and who is the cop. The film stars Andy Lau, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, and Anthony Chau-Sang Wong.

Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver (1976)

Directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver follows a mentally ill veteran who works as a graveyard shift taxi driver in New York, where the perceived luxury and sleaze fuel his urge for violence. The film stars Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, and Cybill Shepherd. Taxi Driver was nominated for four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Best Music, Original Score.

Taxi Driver has become the twisted anti-hero so much of current audiences love to hate. Robert De Niro’s performance as Travis is warped, cynical, and absolutely captivating. What happens when the loner doesn’t get the support system he needs and how far will he go till it all collapses?

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Directed by David Fincher and written by Steven Zaillian, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo follows journalist Mikael Blomkvist who is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for 40 years by young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. The film stars Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, and Christopher Plummer. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo won the Oscar for Best Achievement in Film Editing.

The French Connection

The French Connection (1971)

Directed by William Friedkin and written by Ernest Tidyman, The French Connection follows a pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau who stop a heroin smuggling ring but capturing its leaders proves an elusive goal. The film stars Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, and Fernando Rey. The French Connection won five Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Writing, and Best Film Editing.

The French Connection was groundbreaking for thrillers because of its pure intensity. It redefined the genre in a lot of ways and is herald by audiences. It’s focus on realisim, violence, and what life was really like in cities transformed a lot of the cleanliness of common films about crime. It’s sleazey and in a lot of ways transparent about its subject.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl (2014)

Directed by David Fincher and written by Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl follows the disappearance of a man’s wife. After news of her disappearance has become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent. The film stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, and Neil Patrick Harris. Gone Girl was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards in 2015.

Gone Girl sets up a lot of genre expectations and subverts every single one in a third act that is absolutely insane. Rosamund Pike nails her role as Amy and plays such a phenomenal character. Without spoiling anything, Gone Girl is one of the best thriller movies ever made and you need to watch it.

Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet (1986)

Directed and written by David Lynch, Blue Velvet follows the discovery of a severed human ear found in a field that leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child. The film stars Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, and Dennis Hopper. The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Director.

What can we say about Blue Velvet that hasn’t been said already? It’s an eccentric film that snowballs into a very peculiar mystery. The film operates (as most David Lynch films do) on its own sort of internal logic. It’s a movie that requires a couple of viewings to really take it in for what it’s worth.

Dirty Harry

Dirty Harry (1971)

Directed by Don Siegel and written by Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, and Dean Riesner. Dirty Harry follows a madman calling himself “the Scorpio Killer” who menaces a city, tough-as-nails San Francisco Police Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan is assigned to track down and ferret out the crazed psychopath. The film stars Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson, and Harry Guardino.

With all his all-American scowl, Clint Eastwood powers through Dirty Harry with conviction and speed. It’s an all-time performance that can’t be beaten. Inspired by the Zodiac murders in San Francisco, this is an alternative story where the cops win. The writing is a bit dated and unfortunately timely but the performances from the entire cast throughout, knock it out of the park.

Rear Window

Rear Window (1954)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes, Rear Window follows a wheelchair-bound photographer spying on his neighbors from his apartment window. He becomes convinced one of them has committed murder, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend. Rear Window stars Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Wendell Corey. The film was nominated for four Oscars including Best Director, Best Writing, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.

Rear Window continues to age like a fine mysterious wine. Its messages still hold true and its thrilling story is just as brilliant as it was in 1954. It’s a simple premise with a very complex and entertaining delivery. Jimmy Stewart really hones a familiar type of role that makes you easily settle in with his character. If you’re new to this film, please go in blind!

Tenet

Tenet (2020)

Directed and written by Christopher Nolan, Tenet follows a man armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real-time. The film stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Elizabeth Debicki. Tenet won the Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

Tenet came in went but I think it continues to utilize visual effects to tell one of the most compelling thrillers Christopher Nolan has ever orchestrated. It’s not a single man or team of men at risk anymore – but the entire world. It’s a fast-paced, intelligent, and absolutely mind-boggling thriller for the ages.

The Third Man

The Third Man (1949)

Directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene as well as Orson Welles, The Third Man follows a pulp novelist who travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend. The film stars Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Alida Valli. The Third Man won the Oscar for Best Cinematography.

The Third Man continues to be one of the most perfectly thrilling films ever made. Its phenomenal cast of characters, beautiful score, and stellar cinematography truly build this film’s legacy. Orson Welles as Harry Lime is just so fun to watch on screen as well. With several bombastic sequences, this is truly one of the best thriller movies ever made.

Blue Ruin

Blue Ruin (2013)

Directed and written by Jeremy Saulnier, Blue Ruin follows a mysterious outsider’s quiet life turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. The film stars Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, and Amy Hargreaves.

Green Room is one of my favorite horror/thrillers of all time but I felt Blue Ruin would be more apt for this list. This film is sad and hits home the themes of trauma and grief. What do we do when we can’t forgive? Macon Blair plays an unlikely protagonist with heart, grief, and rage. Blue Ruin is probably one of the lesser-known films on our list of best thrillers but it truly earns its space.

The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Directed and written by John Huston, The Maltese Falcon follows San Francisco private detective Sam Spade when he takes on a case that involves three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Gladys George. The Maltese Falcon was nominated for three Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Writing.

It would be hard to argue that The Maltese Falcon was at least partially responsible for kicking off the noir crime genre of movies during the 1940s. Regardless of its somewhat dated dialogue, the picture continues to ensnare viewers with its dazzling story. Humphrey Bogart just absolutely chews the scenery and gives it his all. It’s a phenomenal mystery that continues to thrill.

The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Directed by Dough Liman and written by Tony Gilroy and W. Blake Herron, The Bourne Identity follows a man who is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory. The film stars Matt Damon, Franka Potente, and Chris Cooper.

The Night of the Hunter

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Directed and written by Charles Laughton as well as additional writing from James Agee, The Night of the Hunter follows a religious fanatic who marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid the $10,000 he’d stolen in a robbery. The film stars Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish. In 1992 The Night of the Hunter was added to the National Film Registry.

This film is really an expression of duality in so many ways. The Night of the Hunter is truly a mesmerizing thriller in only it could be. This film carries a type of sentiment that feels so rare these days; from start to finish you won’t be able to look away.

Witness

Witness (1985)

Directed by Peter Weir, Witness follows a young Amish boy who is the sole witness to a murder while visiting Philadelphia with his mother, police detective John Book tries to protect the boy until an attempt on Book’s life forces him into hiding in Amish country. The film stars Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, and Lukas Haas. Witness won two Oscars for Best Writing and Best Film Editing.

Notorious

Notorious (1946)

Directed and written by Alfred Hitchcock as well as Ben Hect, Notorius follows the daughter of a convicted Nazi spy who is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of Nazi scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them? The film stars Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains. Notorious was nominated for two Oscars including Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Writing.

The chemistry in Notorius is unparalleled! This was made in an era of strict censorship but despite that, the romantic tension is palpable. This is somewhat of a subdued picture (in terms of thrills) but you’ll thoroughly enjoy Ben Hect’s writing.

Uncut Gems

Uncut Gems (2019)

Directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie with additional writing by Ron Bronstein. Uncut Gems follows a fast-talking New York City jeweler with his debts mounting and angry collectors closing in, he risks everything in hope of staying alive. The film stars Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, and Idina Menzel.

The Shining

The Shining (1980)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by Diane Johnson, The Shining follows a splintered family who travels to an isolated lodge for the Winter. A spiritual presence influences the father into acts of violence, while his psychic son envisions horrors from both the past and future. The Shining stars Jack Nicolson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. In 2018 the film was added National Film Preservation Board for its importance to cinema.

The Shining is surreal, cynical, violent, and absolutely brimming over with tension. In classic Kubrick fashion, all of our characters are almost cutouts of actual people – this makes the viewer feel uneasy in so many ways. Jack Nicholson is a complete monster in this picture, giving a completely unhinged approach. Shelley Duvall encapsulates pure fear in so many ways that put other horror film actors to shame. Its narrative is fairly loose but if a great thriller is what you’re looking for, you won’t be disappointed.

Argo

Argo (2012)

Directed by Ben Affleck and written by Chris Terrio, Argo follows a CIA agent who launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979 under the guise of a Hollywood movie producer. The film stars Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, and John Goodman. Argo won three Oscars including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Writing, and Best Achievement in Film Editing.

Vertigo

Vertigo (1958)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Alec Coppel as well as Samuel A. Taylor. Vertigo follows a former San Francisco police detective juggling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed. The film stars Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. Vertigo was nominated for two Oscars which included Best Art Direction and Best Sound.

Vertigo is a Technicolor dream (or nightmare) that demands to be seen! So much of the color in this film really sets the viewer up for its intense atmosphere throughout. It’s perhaps the most lush and saturated Hitchcock film ever made. Vertigo has gone on to be one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most tantalizing and thrilling movies ever made, it’s easy to see why.

Oldboy

Oldboy (2003)

Directed by Park Chan-wook, Oldboy follows Oh Dae-Su follows after being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years is released, only to find that he must find his captor in five days. The film stars Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, and Kang Hye-jeong.

Heat

Heat (1995)

Directed and written by Michael Mann, Heat follows a group of professional thieves who start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist. The film stars Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Val Kilmer.

Michael Mann orchestrates one of the best crime-thrillers ever put to screen in Heat. This is probably the coldest and most calculated role De Niro has ever been in and going head to head with Pacino makes for a battle of the ages. At three hours in length, Heat will never bore. You’ll be too busy wondering what the hell is going to happen next.

Memories of Murder

Memories of Murder (2003)

Directed by Bong Joon Ho with additional writing by Kwang-rim Kim and Sung-bo Shim, Memories of Murder follows two detectives struggling with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit. The film stars Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, and Roe-ha Kim.

Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Raymond Chandler as well as Czenzi Ormonde. Strangers on a Train follows a psychopath who forces a tennis star to comply with his theory that two strangers can get away with murder. The film stars Farley Granger, Robert Walker, and Ruth Roman. Strangers on a Train was nominated for Best Cinematography at the Academy Awards in 1952.

Strangers on a Train is yet another exciting exploit from the master of suspense. It’s an interesting premise taken to new heights. Based on the popular novel, Hitchcock picks the best aspects of the stories and expands on the material the only way he knows how… with thrills!

The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Directed by John Frankenheimer and written by George Axelrod, The Manchurian Candidate follows an American POW in the Korean War who is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy. The film stars Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, and Janet Leigh. The Manchurian Candidate was nominated for two Oscars; Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Film Editing.

Zodiac

Zodiac (2007)

Directed by David Fincher and written by James Vanderbilt, Zodiac follows a San Francisco cartoonist who becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo.

Unlike a lot of other thrillers out there, David Fincher’s Zodiac never really concludes. There’s no big reveal, no bad guy caught, and all the evidence is circumstantial. It shows the cyclical nature of crime and that eventually people just move on to something else. It’s a thrilling story that spiderwebs across the California state. It’s a thriller movie unlike any other and definitely one of my all-time favorites.

Knives Out

Knives Out (2019)

Directed and written by Rian Johnson, Knives Out follows a detective investigating the death of the patriarch of an eccentric, combative family. The film stars Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, and Daniel Craig. Knives Out was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards in 2020.

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men (2007)

Directed and written by Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country For Old Men follows a hunter who stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande. The film stars Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and Tommy Lee Jones. No Country For Old Men won four Oscars including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Achievement in Directing, and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay.

The Coen brothers paint a picture of pure evil and how no one (not even men of the law) can prevent random acts of villainy. On its surface, No Country For Old Men is a paint by numbers Western that completely transforms under the direction of the Coens. Similar to Zodiac, it seems to be pretty nihilistic with its messages.

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The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight (2008)

Directed and written by Christopher Nolan with additional writing by Jonathan Nolan and David Goyer. The Dark Knight follows the Joker who wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice. The film stars Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Aaron Eckhart. The Dark Knight won two Oscars; Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Achievement in Sound Editing.

There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood follows the story of family, religion, hatred, oil, and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business. The film stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, and Ciarán Hinds. There Will Be Blood won two Oscars: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role and Best Achievement in Cinematography.

Daniel Day-Lewis portrays what I would argue cinema’s greatest villain. As a sociopathic oil barren at the height of his career, Day-Lewis stops at nothing to eliminate his competition. There Will Be Blood, in my opinion, is Paul Thomas Anderson’s magnum opus. In 2007 There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, and Zodiac all came out – what a year for some of the best thriller movies ever made.

Blow Out

Blow Out (1981)

Directed and written by Brian De Palma with additional writing by Bill Mesce Jr., Blow Out follows a movie sound recordist who accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger. The film stars John Travolta, Nancy Allen, and John Lithgow.

Good Time

Good Time (2017)

Directed by Benny and Josh Safdie, written by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, Good Time follows Connie Nikas after a botched bank robbery that lands his younger brother in prison, he must embark on a twisted odyssey through New York’s underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail. The film stars Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

There is nothing quite like a Safdie brothers film. Good Time perpetuates bad character decisions which only leads to the utmost amount of anxiety. It’s a truly pulse-pounding and thrilling piece of cinema. I highly recommend clearing your schedule for the rest of the day to decompress after viewing Good Time.

From Russia With Love

From Russia With Love (1963)

Directed by Terrence Young and written by Richard Maibaum, From Russia With Love follows James Bond who willingly falls into an assassination plot involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. The film stars Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, and Lotte Lenya. From Russia With Love won the BAFTA award for Best Cinematography.

Peeping Tom

Peeping Tom (1960)

Directed by Michael Powell and written by Leo Marks, Peeping Tom follows a young man who murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror. The film stars Karlheinz Böhm, Moira Shearer, and Anna Massey.

Peeping Tom was a prototype of sorts to Psycho, a godfather if you will to the slasher subgenre. While it leans more on its thriller genre roots, it’s still a spectacular piece of filmmaking. From the claustrophobic cinematography to the performances throughout, you will leave thoroughly unnerved.

The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps (1935)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Buchan, The 39 Steps follows a man in London who tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information. The film stars Robert Donat, Madeleine Caroll, and Lucie Mannheim.

Se7en

Se7en (1995)

Directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker, Se7en follows two detectives, a rookie, and a veteran, hunting a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives. The film stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Spacey. Se7en was nominated for the Oscar for Best Film Editing.

David Fincher’s Se7en is brutal, sick, and thrilling for all the right reasons. It’s an ending you’ll never see coming and will leave you speechless. Se7en truly borderlines on being a horror film, so with those with queasy stomachs, I’d give this film a second thought.

Chinatown

Chinatown (1974)

Directed by Roman Polanski and Robert Towne, Chinatown follows a private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles who finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston. Chinatown won the Oscar for Best Writing.

Parasite

Parasite (2019)

Directed and written by Bong Joon Ho with additional writing by Han Jin-won, Parasite follows the destitute Kim clan as they form a secret symbiotic relationship with the wealthy Park family. The film stars Song Kang-ho, Sun-kyun Lee, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik, and So-dam Park. Parasite won four Oscars, including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film.

Parasite swept the Academy Awards and audiences across the world. The film is a masterful commentary on classism and the overall inequality so many people face. This has to be one of the highest recommended films on our list of the best thrillers of all time.

M (1931)

Directed and written by Fritz Lang with additional writing by Thea von Harbou, M follows the police in a German city who are unable to catch a child murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt. The film stars Peter Lorre, Ellen Widman, and Inge Landgut.

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What Do You Think Is The Best Thriller Movie Of All Time?

Maybe we missed your favorite thriller movie on our list? Let us know what you think is the greatest thriller movie of all time on social media!

100 essential thrillers

About Elly (2009)

Director: Asghar Farhadi

About Elly (2009)

As in his better-known A Separation (2011), Asghar Farhadi renders moral questions as nail-biting as a Fast and Furious car chase. Here, a law graduate’s white lies about the friend she invites on holiday open up divisions in a group of supposedly liberal Tehranis. Pivoting among a large ensemble of characters, Farhadi retains absolute command of his inquest into sexual repression and social conformity. PHo

See also: Killing Mad Dogs (2001); The Salesman (2016)

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Director: John Sturges

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

The train hasn’t stopped in Black Rock for four years, but it does this time. A one-armed stranger gets off. He’s looking for a Japanese-American man named Komoko, but the residents of this lonesome desert town don’t want to know. They clam up, or else things get violent – you can usually depend on Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Ernest Borgnine for that. Spencer Tracy plays the stranger in this key ’50s thriller about festering racism in America’s lonely outposts. SW

See also: Violent Saturday (1955); In the Heat of the Night (1967)

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Basic Instinct (1992)

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Basic Instinct (1992)

Paul Verhoeven’s gloriously OTT erotic neo-noir caused a sensation on its release. Sharon Stone’s bisexual novelist is a controversial femme fatale for the ages, while Michael Douglas is the troubled homicide cop tasked with investigating the murder-by-icepick she may have committed. A pulsating and memorably sleazy blockbuster, packed with sex and violence. LT

See also: Jagged Edge (1985); Fatal Attraction (1988)

The Big Heat (1953)

Director: Fritz Lang

The Big Heat (1953)

As brutal as a Michael Mann thriller, without a drop of blood spilt. Written by former crime reporter Sydney Boehm, Fritz Lang’s revenge tale follows a cop (Glenn Ford) uncovering a plot between the police, politicians and crime boss Vince Stone, played with relish by Lee Marvin. Gloria Grahame is Debby Marsh, the mobster’s girl and his victim — most famously in a scene in which Stone throws hot coffee in her face. Lang holds the shot on the hob as the boiling pot is removed. It’s thrown, off-screen, over Debby. Explicit, no. Disturbing? Terribly. HB

See also: Kiss of Death (1947); The Big Combo (1955)

Blow Out (1981)

Director: Brian De Palma

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Brian De Palma’s gorgeously expressive style reaches its peak in this perfectly articulated murder mystery. A diffident sound-recording man (John Travolta) unwittingly records evidence of a politically motivated murder, and falls into harm’s way when he begins to investigate. Set against the patriotic American bicentennial, it builds to a memorably tragic conclusion and folds into itself with a startling sense of self-awareness. CN

See also: Dressed to Kill (1980); Body Double (1984)

Blue Steel (1989)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Blue Steel (1990)

In this early Kathryn Bigelow thriller, Jamie Lee Curtis is NYPD cop Megan Turner, who becomes the object of obsession for new lover Ron Silver (Eugene Hunt). Initially ignorant of Ron’s dark motives, Megan comes to realise that she will have to save her own life, in an explosive ending reminiscent of Curtis’s breakthrough film, Halloween (1978). NB

See also: Point Break (1991); Copycat (1995)

Le Boucher (1970)

Director: Claude Chabrol

Le Boucher (1970)

The most famous of a string of ice-cool thrillers that ‘French Hitchcock’ Claude Chabrol made with his wife Stéphane Audran. Here she stars as a provincial schoolteacher who befriends the local butcher (Jean Yanne) but begins to wonder if he’s behind a spate of brutal murders in the village. Among the subtlest of great thrillers, Le Boucher is meticulous, psychologically probing and deeply suspenseful. SW

See also: This Man Must Die (1969), La Rupture (1970)

Bound (1996)

Directors: Lana and Lilly Wachowski

Bound (1996)

The only film on our list with a sex educator on set (probably). The Wachowskis’ Bound is an erotic, violent directorial debut in which the romantic union between an ex-con (Gina Gershon) and a gangster’s girl (Jennifer Tilly) develops into a twisty plot to rob the mob. Joe Pantoliano, who the Wachowskis would later plug into The Matrix (1999), is on top form as the pair’s mafioso mark, while Bill Pope’s cinematography wears the influence of Sin City artist Frank Miller well. Best of all, the gay relationship is part of the film, not the whole film. And it feels genuinely sexy. Sex education money well spent. HB

See also: Blood Simple (1984); Wild Things (1998)

Breakdown (1997)

Director: Jonathan Mostow

Breakdown (1997)

Central to Jonathan Mostow’s thriller is Kurt Russell’s performance as a man driven by desperation as he tries to find his wife, who has disappeared after their car broke down on a desert road. Characters may be thinly sketched, but the scenario is effectively nightmarish, and Russell drives the narrative through raw emotion alone. NB

See also: Switchback (1997); Joy Ride (2001)

Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)

Director: Otto Preminger

Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)

Atmospherically set in 1960s London (watch out for a cameo from The Zombies), this unsettling missing-toddler case sees thriller master Otto Preminger experiment with lacing psychological thrills and social realism. The result is a tense, twisting tale, full of sinister suspects, unreliable witnesses and superb performances by an estimable supporting cast led by Laurence Olivier and Noël Coward. DP

See also: The Collector (1965); Gone Girl (2014)

Cairo Station (1958)

Director: Youssef Chahine

Cairo Station (1958)

Two years before Psycho ripped open film grammar, this layered masterpiece pored over similar psychosexual fissures – shockingly for an Egyptian film in 1958. But where Hitchcock crept into interior recesses, Youssef Chahine – who also plays a lame, tormented newspaper seller – made his film a communal trauma echoing with the tumult of newly republican Egypt. PHo

See also: Psycho (1960); Land of Fear (1999)

Cape Fear (1962)

Director: J. Lee Thompson

Cape Fear (1962)

Robert Mitchum plays a force of brute evil in this disturbing family-in-peril chiller. His lecherous ex-con Max Cady begins a campaign of terror on the household of the lawyer (Gregory Peck) whose testimony sent him down. With a threatening score by Bernard Herrmann and a sustained finale of onslaught in the Georgian backwaters, it out-thrills even Martin Scorsese’s superb remake. SW

See also: The Night of the Hunter (1955); Cape Fear (1991)

Cash on Demand (1961)

Director: Quentin Lawrence

Cash on Demand (1961)

A Christmas Carol reworked as a heist thriller. Peter Cushing stars as Harry Fordyce, the uptight manager of the Haversham branch of the City and Colonial Bank. Having humbugged the office Christmas party, Fordyce has his Marley moment when a suave conman (André Morell), posing as the bank’s security consultant, uses the threat of violence against Fordyce’s wife and child as leverage to rob the bank. The irony, of course, is that the sinner – charming to the staff, brutally honest with Fordyce – offers salvation. A stylish two-hander, simmering with tension. HB

See also: Hell Is a City (1960); The League of Gentlemen (1960)

La Cérémonie (1995)

Director: Claude Chabrol

La Cérémonie (1995)

The inexplicable nature of evil pervades this adaptation of Ruth Rendell’s A Judgement in Stone. Adding a dash of psychosis to his social satire, Claude Chabrol’s celebrated chiller details a creepy pact between gregarious Breton postmistress Isabelle Huppert and illiterate maid Sandrine Bonnaire, as they ritualistically prey upon an insufferably complacent bourgeois family. DP

See also: The Colour of Lies (1999); Merci pour le chocolat (2001)

The Conversation (1974)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

The Conversation (1974)

Multi-layered and enthralling, Francis Ford Coppola’s follow up to The Godfather (1972) eschews that film’s explicit violence to concentrate on the secrets and lies that can be equally as devastating. Gene Hackman is exceptional as a paranoid surveillance expert, while Walter Murch and Art Rochester were Oscar-nominated for the evocative sound design. NB

See also: Three Days of the Condor (1975); All the President’s Men (1976)

The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Director: Fred Zinnemann

The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Fred Zinnemann was likely more famous for his westerns and romantic dramas than his thrillers, but he tackled big material in this 1973 political drama: the attempted assassination of French president Charles De Gaulle. With a lean, shifty-eyed Edward Fox as the anonymous hired gun (‘the jackal’), Zinnemann’s thriller marks itself with both psychological realism and exacting temporal construction. CN

See also: Suddenly (1954); The Parallax View (1974)

Dead Calm (1989)

Director: Phillip Noyce

Dead Calm (1989)

“High seas, deep terror,” promised the poster, and this Australian nailbiter more than delivers. Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill play the grieving couple whose recuperative sailing trip takes a deadly turn after they rescue a marooned man. Orson Welles never finished his own adaptation of Charles Williams’ 1963 novel, but Phillip Noyce’s version sets sail with a nervy energy all its own. SW

See also: Malice (1993); The Shallows (2016)

Deadly Pursuit (aka Shoot to Kill, 1988)

Director: Roger Spottiswoode

Shoot to Kill (1988)

This now largely forgotten 1980s thriller throws together FBI agent Sidney Poitier and gruff wilderness scout Tom Berenger on the trail of a killer who’s escaping to the Canadian border via the Cascade mountains. Full of vertiginous peril, guess-the-psycho gameplay and fish-out-of-water fun, Deadly Pursuit was once the stuff that video-rental dreams were made of. SW

See also: Cliffhanger (1993); The River Wild (1994)

Deliverance (1972)

Director: John Boorman

Deliverance (1972)

The daddy of all weekend-gone-wrong survival thrillers stars Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds as Atlanta businessmen who get more than they bargained for on a canoe trip through the wilderness. John Boorman’s brutal, banjo-scored nightmare weaponises the great American outdoors, pitting man against nature and (infamously) city boys against backwoods yokels. Harrowing stuff, and a haunting film about our desecration of the land. SW

See also: Long Weekend (1978); Southern Comfort (1981)

Les Diaboliques (1955)

Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot

Les Diaboliques (1955)

A compelling, grisly thriller, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Les Diaboliques is capped by an unforgettable twist ending. The wife and mistress of a repulsive man team up to remove their mutual problem, but disposing of the corpse is more difficult than they anticipate. A crime movie that encourages the audience to side with the murderers. PHu

See also: The Murderer Who Lives at Number 21 (1942); Le Corbeau (1943)

D.O.A. (1949)

Director: Rudolph Maté

D.O.A. (1949)

“I want to report a murder.” “Who was murdered?” “I was.” A killer opener and a concise introduction to a smart conceit. Frank Bigelow (Edmond O’Brien) has been poisoned. He’s had only days to find out who by, and now has mere hours to tell the police about it. Told in flashback, Rudolph Maté’s race-against-time thriller incorporates LA gangsters, stolen iridium and, during the scene in a jazz club where Frank is poisoned, one of the first on-screen depictions of Beat culture. HB

See also: White Heat (1949); Union Station (1950)

Double Indemnity (1944)

Director: Billy Wilder

Double Indemnity (1944)

Famed for its audacious, rapid dialogue, dripping with sexual innuendo, Double Indemnity places insurance salesman Fred MacMurray in the path of ice-blonde aspiring widow Barbara Stanwyck. Directed by Billy Wilder as a series of confessional flashbacks, from a script co-written by Raymond Chandler and adapted from a James M. Cain story, this is film noir at its finest. PHu

See also: Body Heat (1981); The Last Seduction (1994)

Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922)

Director: Fritz Lang

Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922)

A crime movie on an epic scale, Fritz Lang’s first Dr Mabuse film twists its way through myriad plot turns. Rudolf Klein-Rogge is the mad Mabuse — known to the public as a psychoanalyst, but also a hypnotist, a gambler and an arch-criminal. Nothing can be trusted and nothing stays still for long in this slick, excessive and hugely influential paranoid thriller. PHu

See also: Spies (1928); The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)

Duel (1971)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Duel (1971)

Not, in fact, Steven Spielberg’s debut feature — that being 1964’s homemade sci-fi Firelight — this road-to-hell movie is still a striking calling card for the prolific filmmaker. As commuter David Mann (Dennis Weaver) is randomly targeted by an unseen trucker, Spielberg utilises the isolated location and universal fear of the unknown to deliver a tense David and Goliath-esque thriller. NB

See also: Jaws (1975); Road Games (1981)

Fail-Safe (1964)

Director: Sidney Lumet

Fail-Safe (1964)

Escalating tensions over North Korea have given Sidney Lumet’s damning Cold War indictment of diplomatic sabre-rattling a chilling new relevance. Somewhat overshadowed on its release by Dr Strangelove’s darkly satirical depiction of our self-inflicted apocalypse, Fail-Safe remains a terrifyingly tense and authentic speculation on how the White House might react to a nuclear crisis. DP

See also: Seven Days in May (1964); Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977)

Fight Club (1999)

Director: David Fincher

Fight Club (1999)

“A thrill ride masquerading as philosophy”, wrote Roger Ebert. Sniffy, but – with hindsight – dead right. There’s not much depth to angry men battering each other, even coupled with an anti-consumerism spiel. The politics of David Fincher’s film, lifted from Chuck Palahniuk’s book of the same name, have become overwhelmed in our age of hyper-convenience (What would Tyler Durden make of the gig economy?). Still, Fincher’s film is as distinctive as Durden’s abs. The thrill of his revolution, however phony, endures. HB

See also: The Game (1997); American Psycho (2000)

The French Connection (1971)

Director: William Friedkin

The French Connection (1971)

William Friedkin’s Oscar-winning cat-and-mouse tale of cop and criminal is as economical and taut as thrillers come. Not a second is wasted in the director’s construction of action sequences, and the legendary car-chase scene feels as contemporary and hard-bitten as ever. Gene Hackman became an A-lister after his turn as the morally questionable NYPD officer Popeye Doyle – and deservedly so. CN

See also: Dirty Harry (1971); Serpico (1973)

The Fugitive (1993)

Director: Andrew Davis

The Fugitive (1993)

A critical and commercial hit in 1993, Andrew Davis’s chase movie endures because of the two names that were plastered in massive point across the marketing: “HARRISON FORD, TOMMY LEE JONES”. Jones, playing the dogged Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard, took the best supporting actor gong at the Oscars. But it’s Ford, as the doctor on the run after being wrongly convicted of killing his wife, who’s responsible for the film’s zip. Amazingly, this came just a year after Davis’s previous film, Under Siege. One is one of the best thrillers of all time, the other stars Steven Seagal. HB

See also: The Package (1989); Patriot Games (1992)

Gaslight (1940)

Director: Thorold Dickinson

Gaslight (1940)

“Gaslight: to manipulate someone by psychological means into doubting their own sanity.” The term has been ushered back into popular usage during the Trump era, but its origins lie in the 1938 play Gas Light, on which Thorold Dickinson’s fine, creepy film was based. Paul (Anton Walbrook) is putting his wife, Bella (Diana Wynyard), through hell. He’s convinced her that she’s mad, that the noises she hears, the dimming of the lights, are in her head. Startling in its raw portrayal of abuse (“When I married you I thought you were a normal woman”), Gaslight lit the way for Darren Aronofsky’s tales of women pushed to the brink by men. HB

See also: Suspicion (1941); Gaslight (1944)

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

Director: Curtis Hanson

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

One of a clutch of schlocky early 1990s thrillers, Curtis Hanson’s chiller effectively plays on themes of parental anxiety and home invasion. Rebecca De Mornay is suitably unhinged as the nanny wreaking bloody havoc on the family she believes responsible for the death of her husband and unborn child. Mary Poppins, she ain’t. NB

See also: Pacific Heights (1990); Single White Female (1992)

Harry, He’s Here to Help (2000)

Director: Dominik Moll

Harry, He’s Here to Help (2000)

There’s a touch of Tom Ripley to Harry (Sergi López), the supposed old school friend who insidiously soft-soaps his way into the lives of a young married couple during their holiday in the French countryside. Blackly comic, with a full serving of Hitchcockian thrills, this one’s like a Gallic answer to the ’90s Hollywood cycle of friendly psycho movies. With Lemming (2005) to follow, director Dominik Moll looked peerless for a brief spell in the early 2000s. SW

See also: Lemming (2005); Tell No One (2006)

The Headless Woman (2008)

Director: Lucrecia Martel

The Headless Woman (2008)

No cliffhangers or races-against-the-clock here. No beheadings either. Instead, the tension in Lucrecia Martel’s disconcerting drama comes from the unnervingly framed images and the detailed ambience of the soundtrack. Both seem to promise a clue to what’s happened. Was it a dog that Véronica (María Onetto) hit in the road? If so, why is there a child’s handprint on her driver’s-side window? The Headless Woman unfolds in a state of foggy concussion, with the facts hanging tantalisingly out of reach. SW

See also: Death of a Cyclist (1955); Under the Sand (2000)

Hell Drivers (1957)

Director: Cy Endfield

Hell Drivers (1957)

Echoes of They Drive by Night (1940) and The Wages of Fear (1953) reverberate around this testosterone-fuelled study of the risks taken by pittance-paid truckers. Seething with macho resentment, Stanley Baker leads an exceptional cast of British acting stalwarts (including Sean Connery and Patrick McGoohan) who ably square up to the reckless action sequences and no-nonsense realism. DP

See also: Thieves’ Highway (1949); The Long Haul (1957)

Hidden (2005)

Director: Michael Haneke

Hidden (2005)

The Laurents (Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil) are being watched. Someone is sending them surveillance videos of their Paris apartment. Who, and why, is the conundrum at the heart of Michael Haneke’s anxiety-inducing arthouse brainteaser. Shifting and ambiguous, Hidden is a movie that forces us to distrust even its own shots — and a whodunit that draws an entire society into the frame. SW

See also: Funny Games (1996); Lost Highway (1997)

High and Low (1963)

Director: Akira Kurosawa

High and Low (1963)

Honour is all in Kurosawa’s samurai stories, where morality was codified by the times. High and Low, set in 1960s Yokohama, offers a true test of nobility. Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), a wealthy executive at a shoe company, is forced to take on a series of moral challenges, from the day-to-day (whether to cheapen his product for greater returns) to the life-threatening (whether to pay the ransom for his chauffeur’s kidnapped son). The adventure lies in seeing which way a good man will turn, and whether he can retain his goodness, despite its absence around him. HB

See also: Stray Dog (1949); Ransom (1996)

High Noon (1952)

Director: Fred Zinnemann

High Noon (1952)

A race against the clock. Shot almost in real-time, Fred Zinnemann’s extraordinary western follows Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) in a futile attempt to rally a posse to defend his town from a gang of outlaws arriving on the midday train. Written by Carl Foreman, who was blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the film’s production, it’s often seen as an allegory for McCarthyism, which was why John Wayne, a supporter of the blacklist, turned down the lead role. The final shootout romps through the town, leaving a trail of burned out barns and panicked horses in its wake. But it’s the spectacle of one man against the crowd that sticks. HB

See also: Rawhide (1951); 3:10 to Yuma (1957)

The Hitch-hiker (1953)

Director: Ida Lupino

The Hitch-hiker (1953)

A psychopath takes two friends captive after they offer him a ride, tormenting them mentally and turning them against each other, on a trip across the Mexican border. Inspired by the story of spree killer Billy Cook, The Hitch-hiker is a brutally chilling movie, and the first film noir to be directed by a woman, former actor Ida Lupino. PHu

See also: The Bigamist (1953); The Hitcher (1986)

The Hunt (2012)

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

The Hunt (2012)

A fib grows fat on hysteria in Thomas Vinterberg’s story of Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), a kindergarten teacher falsely accused of sexual assault by a female pupil. The thrill – horror, really – lies in the skill with which Vinterberg and his co-writer Tobias Lindholm develop each character’s rationale for their dizzying fall into group insanity. Lucas doesn’t have a chance. The girl cried wolf, the pack turned on its own. HB

See also: It Happened in Broad Daylight (1958); Prisoners (2013)

Illustrious Corpses (1976)

Director: Francesco Rosi

Illustrious Corpses (1976)

Keeping its secrets closely guarded between the eerie catacomb opening and shocking museum finale, Francesco Rosi’s adaptation of Sicilian Leonardo Sciascia’s novel slows the pace of the conventional ‘poliziotteschi’ to examine the corrupt establishment connections hampering world-weary cop Lino Ventura’s investigation into a spate of judge murders. A textbook example of the all-star conspiracy thriller. DP

See also: Army of Shadows (1969); The Mattei Affair (1972)

In the Cut (2003)

Director: Jane Campion

In the Cut (2003)

Notable for casting America’s girl-next-door Meg Ryan as a sexually adventurous writer who begins a steamy affair with Mark Ruffalo’s NYPD cop, Jane Campion’s beguiling film draws on intertwining themes of sex and murder to weave an intricate psychological web of lust, carnality and dangerous animal instincts. NB

See also: Eyes of Laura Mars (1978); Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Insomnia (1997)

Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg

Insomnia (1997)

Director and co-writer Erik Skjoldbjaerg expertly utilises his atmospheric Norwegian location for this tense murder mystery. Stellan Skarsgard is Swedish murder investigator Jonas Engstrom, who, struggling to cope with the 24 hours of daylight, makes a terrible mistake that has dramatic implications on the case. Christopher Nolan helmed an English language remake in 2002. NB

See also: Zodiac (2007); Mother (2009)

Ministry of Fear (1944)

Director: Fritz Lang

Ministry of Fear (1944)

Ray Milland steps out of an asylum and into a whole heap of trouble in this delirious espionage thriller. In the topsy-turvy setting of London during the Blitz (completely imagined on Hollywood soundstages), cakes conceal microfilm, suitcases conceal bombs, and doorframes and windows constrain the characters in a dread world where nothing is as it seems. Peak Lang, with a spring in its step and little regard for sticking to Graham Greene’s original novel. SW

See also: Man Hunt (1941); Cloak and Dagger (1946)

Miracle Mile (1988)

Director: Steve De Jarnatt

Miracle Mile (1988)

Any number of quirky ’80s movies set a boy and a girl off on an uncertain route to romance. One of them made the end of the road the end of the world. Harry (Anthony Edwards) falls for Julie (Mare Winningham) at an exhibition about the extinction of the dinosaurs. Then, as suddenly as it might happen in real life, nuclear war breaks out. The bombs start falling. Another extinction begins. Harry and Julie try to outrun the inevitable. HB

See also: Seven Days to Noon (1950); WarGames (1983)

Miss Bala (2011)

Director: Gerardo Naranjo

Miss Bala (2011)

Catherine Hardwicke has been linked with a remake of Gerardo Naranjo’s loosely fact-based account of a Tijuana twentysomething getting caught up with crooked cops and vicious cartel thugs after entering a beauty contest. Combining searing social realism, melodrama and explosive set-pieces, this is a giddying snapshot of the poverty, crime, corruption and violence debilitating Mexican society. DP

See also: Traffic (2000); Sin nombre (2009)

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

The most dangerous game is man, as heinous huntsman Count Zaroff discovers when he sets his sights upon island castaways Joel McCrea and Fay Wray. Using the same jungle sets built for King Kong (1933), this man-as-prey marvel forged the template for films including The Naked Prey (1965), Punishment Park (1971), Turkey Shoot (1982), The Running Man (1987), Battle Royale (2000) and The Hunger Games (2012). JS

See also: Terror Aboard (1933); And Then There Were None (1945)

Nightcrawler (2014)

Director: Dan Gilroy

Nightcrawler (2014)

Writer-director Dan Gilroy’s murky look at the LA news machine is bleak but extremely entertaining. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom like a malignant, more damaged version of the obsessive cartoonist he portrayed in Zodiac (2007). Bloom is a thief, a morally questionable opportunist and a shrewd camera op with a nose for what the TV stations require to really excite – and scare – their viewers. LT

See also: Drive (2011); Nocturnal Animals (2016)

The Night of the Sunflowers (2006)

Director: Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo

The Night of the Sunflowers (2006)

Set in a remote region of western Spain, The Night of the Sunflowers adopts a Rashomon-like structure to unravel its story of a rape and the complicated aftermath from various perspectives. Sadly the sole feature to date by Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo, who’s since settled in TV, it’s a slippery, sun-baked noir with disturbing implications. SW

See also: Jindabyne (2006); Once upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)

Night Train (1959)

Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz

Night Train (1959)

On a crowded sleeper train to Hel (the Baltic resort, not the hot place), two strangers – one of whom may be a murderer – are forced to share a compartment. It’s a Hitchcockian set-up, but suspense takes the lower bunk in this Polish classic, which plays like an atmospheric, cool jazz riff on the train thriller. SW

See also: Strangers on a Train (1951); Trans-Europ-Express (1966)

Nine Queens (2000)

Director: Fabián Bielinsky

Nine Queens (2000)

At times making David Mamet’s House of Games (1987) look like a cheap three-card trick, Fabián Bielinsky’s debut feature is a masterclass in cinematic sleight-of-hand. It dares the audience to spot the scam as Buenos Aires small-timer Gastón Pauls teams up with ruthless hustler Ricardo Darín to make a quick killing on some counterfeit Weimar stamps. DP

See also: House of Games (1987); The Spanish Prisoner (1997)

North by Northwest (1959)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Cary Grant stars in Hitchcock’s outlandish chase thriller, which hinges on a case of deliberately mistaken identity. Grant’s innocent ad man is pursued across country by a sinister, criminal outfit. Beaten, arrested and targeted by a low-flying crop-duster plane, he finds comfort only in the arms of Eva-Marie Saint, a characteristically cool Hitchcock blonde. PHu

See also: Charade (1963); Family Plot (1976)

Obsession (1949)

Director: Edward Dmytryk

Obsession (1949)

Screenwriter Alec Coppel (Vertigo) adapts his play A Man about a Dog into this effective postwar thriller, directed by Edward Dmytryk. Robert Newton stars as Dr Clive Riordan, whose discovery that his wife is cheating on him pushes him to extreme action. Though tame by modern standards, excellent performances and a chilling atmosphere ensure this still packs a punch. NB

See also: Murder, My Sweet (1944); Dear Murderer (1947)

Oldboy (2003)

Director: Park Chan-wook

Oldboy (2003)

Grisly and fantastic, Park Chan-wook’s film writhes across genres. The plot – a drunken businessman is kidnapped, locked in a room for 15 years and released to track down his tormentor – betrays the film’s manga roots, but there are elements of Greek tragedy, Sam Peckinpah and Deadliest Catch in there too. The big scenes – the hammer fight, the octopus gobble – have become iconic. The rest is a horrific fable about violent trauma and its fallout. HB

See also: Lady Vengeance (2005); The Handmaiden (2016)

Omar (2013)

Director: Hany Abu-Assad

Omar (2013)

Hany Abu-Assad’s gripping second feature is as nimble as its young Palestinian protagonist. A rare blend of immersive action, intriguing deception and romantic tribulations combine in striking fashion as the eponymous baker tries to stay one step ahead of the Israeli security services. Essential viewing for fans of pugnacious, politically charged cinema. LT

See also: The Battle of Algiers (1966); Paradise Now (2005)

On Dangerous Ground (1951)

Director: Nicholas Ray

On Dangerous Ground (1951)

Nicholas Ray’s frigid noir doubles as a fable of moral redemption, as roughhouse NYC cop Robert Ryan is sent upstate to cool off on a wintry manhunt for the killer of a local schoolgirl. Shot through with Ray’s trademark feeling for life’s loners, the results are moving and exciting in equal measure, with footsteps in this snow leading to later white-out thrillers Fargo (1996) and A Simple Plan (1998). SW

See also: In a Lonely Place (1950); Nightfall (1957)

One False Move (1992)

Director: Carl Franklin

One False Move (1992)

Co-written by and starring Billy Bob Thornton, alongside Bill Paxton, this neatly packaged thriller from director Carl Franklin transplants western sensibilities into a modern American small town. Paxton is the ambitious young sheriff preparing to head off a gang of violent criminals on the run from the LAPD. Events unfold as a masterclass in slow-burning tension. NB

See also: Red Rock West (1993); Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

The Passenger (1975)

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

The Passenger (1975)

While his arthouse milestone L’avventura (1960) presents a missing-person scenario in which the mystery simply gets forgotten, this later Antonioni classic offers an antihero (Jack Nicholson) who – by switching identities with a dead man in the Sahara – similarly slips between the cracks of his own story. After stops in Bloomsbury and Barcelona, the globe-trotting intrigue culminates in a devastating endgame in Andalusia. SW

See also: Blowup (1966); Catch Me if You Can (2002)

Plein Soleil (1960)

Director: René Clément

Plein Soleil (1960)

Loosely adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, and directed by René Clement, Plein Soleil is a sadistic, slow-burn psychological thriller. In his breakthrough role, Alain Delon is Tom Ripley, an American in Italy, sponging off his wealthy friend Philippe. Philippe bullies Tom, and in return Tom plots to kill him and steal his identity. PHu

See also: La Piscine (1969); The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Rear Window (1954)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Rear Window (1954)

Hitchcock’s seductive classic is a thriller about the pleasure of watching thrillers, and the excitement of decoding meaning and motive from a drama playing out in front of your eyes. James Stewart plays the convalescent with a broken leg who, in his boredom, takes to spying on his neighbours across the way. Before long he uncovers a murder – the ultimate gift for any curtain twitcher. SW

See also: The Window (1949); Monsieur Hire (1989)

The Reckless Moment (1949)

Director: Max Ophüls

The Reckless Moment (1949)

In this peerless, female-led film noir, a California housewife (Joan Bennett) is forced to hide a dead body for her troubled teen daughter – and then defend her family from the blackmail threats of a sinister stranger (James Mason). One of the handful of American releases by the German-born Max Ophüls, it’s a film that continues his fascination with quietly fearsome women protagonists. CN

See also: Leave Her to Heaven (1945); Mildred Pierce (1945)

Rififi (1955)

Director: Jules Dassin

Rififi (1955)

This impeccable heist movie, directed by American Jules Dassin on a tiny budget, is an enjoyably gritty French film noir in which four audacious criminals break into a high-end Paris jewellery store. Rififi’s undoubted highlight is a nail-biting, near-silent sequence, half an hour long, which details the intricate manoeuvres of the heist itself. PHu

See also: The Asphalt Jungle (1950); The Red Circle (1970)

Runaway Train (1985)

Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy

Runaway Train (1985)

This could easily have been another thick-eared Cannon Films actioner. But, drawing inspiration from a screenplay originally drafted by Akira Kurosawa, director Andrei Konchalovsky uses the locomotive hurtling through the frozen Alaskan wastes to intensify the battle of wits between escaped prisoners Jon Voight and Eric Roberts and sadistic warden John P. Ryan. DT

See also: Narrow Margin (1990); Transsiberian (2008)

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

In only his second US-set thriller, Hitchcock took evident glee in bringing a sociopath into the heart of a sweet-as-pie family home. Fleeing police out east, ‘Merry Widow’ killer Joseph Cotten comes to California to stay with his unsuspecting sister and her family, including his doting niece and namesake, Charlie (Teresa Wright). The ensuing clash between light and darkness foreshadows David Lynch’s later intrusions into small-town life. SW

See also: The Stranger (1946); The Trouble with Harry (1955)

Sicario (2015)

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Sicario (2015)

Emily Blunt is on superb form as a steely FBI agent fighting the war on drugs in Denis Villeneuve’s stylish narco-thriller. Roger Deakins’ stunning US-Mexico borderlands cinematography provides the aesthetic ballast, while an ominous Jóhann Jóhannson score evokes a dread atmosphere across a succession of pulse-quickening set-pieces. LT

See also: Border Incident (1949); Hell or High Water (2016)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Director: Jonathan Demme

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

One of only three films to win the big five Oscars, Jonathan Demme’s riveting adaptation of Thomas Harris’s novel is justifiably acclaimed. Jodie Foster’s turn as FBI cadet Clarice Starling is an understated masterclass, while Anthony Hopkins is pumped up and utterly unforgettable as cannibal psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter. Chilling, dark and a ’90s cultural touchstone. LT

See also: Manhunter (1986); Se7en (1995)

The Spiral Staircase (1946)

Director: Robert Siodmak

The Spiral Staircase (1946)

Stepping in for Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak casts a noirish pall over Ethel Lina White’s tale of a bedridden widow and her mute companion being stalked by a serial killer who preys on the disabled. Ethel Barrymore and Dorothy McGuire excel, while Siodmak uses shadows, canted angles and thunder-cracks to send gothic chills through the deep-focus visuals. DP

See also: The Leopard Man (1943); Secret beyond the Door (1948)

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965)

Director: Martin Ritt

Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965)

John Le Carré’s book revealed the realities of espionage. Ritt’s film adds layers of what the trailer called “dirt and dazzle”. Richard Burton played Alec Leamas, a British spy looking to devastate the East German intelligence services while pretending to defect. Screenwriters Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper catch Le Carré’s tone perfectly. People are assets, running through a game-plan drawn up by anonymous men in high places. “We have to live without sympathy. You can’t do that forever,” Leamas is told. Human beings weren’t made for this work. HB

See also: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011); A Most Wanted Man (2014)

Stranger by the Lake (2013)

Director: Alain Guiraudie

Stranger by the Lake (2013)

Under blue skies and beside a glistening lake, gay men meet for casual sex over a long, idle summer. Befriending Henri, Franck is meanwhile blindsided with desire for handsome Michel, but there are signs of trouble in paradise: talk of a killer on the loose, or something in the water. As subtle in mood and character as it is sexually frank, Stranger by the Lake makes most Tinseltown erotic thrillers look prehistoric by comparison. SW

See also: Cruising (1980); Swimming Pool (2003)

Suspense (1913)

Directors: Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber

Suspense (1913)

In this taut, short and inventive early home-invasion thriller, Lois Weber masterfully juggles three planes of action. A woman (played by Weber herself) and her baby are trapped in a lonely house as a menacing tramp circles the property, brandishing a knife. As the woman’s husband races to the rescue, a car chase augments the action. PHu

See also: The Lonely Villa (1909); Sparrows (1926)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Director: Joseph Sargent

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Grimy, profane, sour on authority, Joseph Sargent’s crime thriller could only come out of 1970s New York. A gang of four men – Mr Blue, Mr Green, Mr Grey and Mr Brown – have taken the passengers of the 1:23 from Pelham station hostage and are holding the city to ransom. With the mayor’s office broke and ineffectual (“We’re trying to run a city here, not a democracy”), it falls on Transit Authority police lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) to handle the crisis. A thrill ride, a period piece and a showcase for the spirit of a city. HB

See also: Juggernaut (1974); Black Sunday (1977)

The Tall Target (1951)

Director: Anthony Mann

The Tall Target (1951)

In Anthony Mann’s 1951 historical thriller, a New York police sergeant (Dick Powell) gets wind of a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln and takes a tension-filled train trip to Baltimore to foil the conspirators. Lady Vanishes-worthy intrigue ensues, amid a thrifty depiction of a nation on the verge of civil war. Oh, and the sergeant’s name? John Kennedy. SW

See also: The Narrow Margin (1952); In the Line of Fire (1993)

Tesis (1996)

Director: Alejandro Amenábar

Tesis (1996)

Alejandro Amenábar’s assured debut, though not without its contrivances, is a grisly white-knuckle ride as Ana Torrent’s bookish film student teams up with a prickly porn- and horror-loving classmate while working on her thesis about violence in the media. Together they make the shock discovery that their university campus is the epicentre of a snuff-movie ring. JS

See also: Live Flesh (1997); Open Your Eyes (1997)

They Drive by Night (1938)

Director: Arthur B. Woods

They Drive by Night (1938)

Shorty (Emlyn Williams) can’t catch a break. Released from prison, he goes to an ex-girlfriend’s to find her strangled in her bed. Off he goes on the run, fleeing into a shabby, brutal world where the real killer moves on with his plan to rid London of undesirables. James Curtis’s source novel included prostitution and gore, police corruption and class prejudice. Woods’ film tones it down, but a shabby world of skin-of-the-teeth existence remains. HB

See also: The Last Journey (1936); Young and Innocent (1937)

Thief (1981)

Director: Michael Mann

Thief (1981)

Unsurprisingly, a nocturnal crime thriller marked the beginning of Michael Mann’s film directing career. Featuring a gruff James Caan as a veteran safecracker, Thief is a twisty, stylish affair. With a soundtrack from Tangerine Dream and the rain-flecked, neon environs of Chicago as its setting, Mann’s debut is exciting, humane and beautifully rendered. CN

See also: The Driver (1978); To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

The Third Man (1949)

Director: Carol Reed

The Third Man (1949)

Everything in The Third Man – Orson Welles’ performance, Robert Krasker’s cinematography, the zither soundtrack – wobbles between the playful and the sinister. Welles plays Harry Lime, a crook who’s running a black market in dodgy penicillin amid the wreckage of postwar Vienna. Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli play the friend and former lover who believe he’s dead, moving through a world that’s had its order pulled away. The film twists and turns, yo-yos from the top of a ferris wheel to the sewers below. Graham Greene wrote the screenplay and a golden rule of the genre: the thriller thrives in a moral hinterland. HB

See also: Odd Man Out (1947); Touch of Evil (1958)

The 39 Steps (1935)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

The 39 Steps (1935)

Adapted from the novel by John Buchan, this black-and-white espionage thriller is an excellent example of the classic wrong-man scenario that director Alfred Hitchcock made his own. That man is Robert Donat as Londoner Richard Hannay, who goes on the run across the Scottish highlands when he is wrongly accused of murdering a spy. NB

See also: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934); Saboteur (1942)

Tsotsi (2005)

Director: Gavin Hood

Tsotsi (2005)

The slum-favela-township backdrop that added globalised flava in the 2000s to well-worn thriller tropes also grouts gritty imperfections on the redemptive arc of Gavin Hood’s 2005 Oscar-winner. The conceit is pure Hollywood – Soweto’s little Caesar is made human when he kidnaps a baby – but its abdication of thriller responsibilities in favour of a gentler path never feels like moral showboating. PHo

See also: Cry, the Beloved Country (1995); Stander (2003)

The Vanishing (1988)

Director: George Sluizer

The Vanishing (1988)

Infinitely superior to its 1993 American remake, also directed by George Sluizer, this Dutch thriller takes a straightforward premise – the abduction of a young woman, and her partner’s three-year search to find her – and kicks it up a gear with an intriguing structure. With the audience knowing more than the characters, this is a fascinating psychological puzzle with a terrifying twist. NB

See also: The Wicker Man (1973); The Fourth Man (1983)

Vertigo (1958)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Vertigo (1958)

Ditching the genre’s rulebook, Vertigo reveals its twist halfway through – and a mind-bogglingly convoluted one it is too. Yet Hitchcock’s masterpiece remains the most dizzyingly rich thriller ever made, its story of a heights-fearing detective (James Stewart) trailing an apparently possessed blonde (Kim Novak) inducing the same compulsive trance every time you watch it. SW

See also: Obsession (1976); Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Victoria (2015)

Director: Sebastian Schipper

A one-shot wonder filmed in a (genuine) continuous take. Victoria (Laia Costa), a Spanish café worker new to Berlin, meets a gang of Germans while clubbing in the Mitte district. She follows them from the club, to a rooftop, to her café, to a car, to their meeting with a mob boss, to a bank robbery, to a shootout. The dialogue is improvised; it’s shot by a single camera op. Can the crew pull off the robbery? Can the crew pull off the movie? The tension is unbearable. HB

See also: Rope (1948); Run Lola Run (1998)

Viva Riva! (2010)

Director: Djo Munga

Viva Riva! (2010)

Considering the Democratic Republic of Congo only made its first feature in 1987, there was no reason to expect such a slick and infectious first thriller. Where too many African-set western films flog dark continent miserablism, Djo Munga’s sally in search of contraband fuel and intrepid cunnilingus makes Kinshasa feel like the place to be. PHo

See also: City of God (2002); Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema (2008)

The Wages of Fear (1953)

Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot

For one of the most legendary suspense films of all time, The Wages of Fear takes its sweet time getting going. But having stretched the beginning to paint a trudgingly grim picture of expat existence in a dead-end Latin American village, this white-knuckle adventure then mercilessly turns the screws. As four desperate truckers take treacherous work delivering a highly volatile cargo of nitroglycerine to a blazing oil-field, Clouzot makes us feel every damned bump in the mountain road. SW

See also: Ice Cold in Alex (1958); Sorcerer (1977)

Wait until Dark (1967)

Director: Terence Young

Wait until Dark (1967)

Audrey Hepburn was Oscar-nominated for her role as Susy Hendrix, a blind woman terrorised by a trio of robbers (including a psychopathic Alan Arkin). As the men pretend to be various characters, including a cop and an old college pal, Susy’s slow realisation of the danger she’s in makes for a compelling, increasingly tense watch. NB

See also: Dial M for Murder (1954); See No Evil (1971)

Z (1969)

Director: Costa-Gavras

Z (1969)

A unique fictionalisation of real events, Z combines true Greek political intrigue (the assassination of politician Grigoris Lambrakis) with the talents of Greek-French director Costa-Gavras. Fast-paced and stylish, the film enters the divisive political terrain of a country embroiled by right-wing conspiracy. Z won best foreign language film at the Oscars in 1970. Watched today, it’s as rage-inducing as ever. CN

See also: Days of ‘36 (1972); Missing (1982)

Zero Focus (1961)

Director: Yoshitaro Nomura

Zero Focus (1961)

This compelling and beautifully shot mystery thriller centres around a missing person’s case, as a young newlywed sets out on the trail of her husband after he vanishes on a business trip barely a week into their marriage. Sadly, director Yoshitaro Nomura has been woefully overlooked in the west. Zero Focus is one of his best, and was remade by Isshin Inudo in 2009. JS

See also: Stakeout (1958); The Demon (1978)

HB = Henry Barnes

NB = Nikki Baughan

PHo = Phil Hoad

PHu = Pamela Hutchinson

CN = Christina Newland

DP = David Parkinson

JS = Jasper Sharp

LT = Lou Thomas

SW = Samuel Wigley