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 Hunt (Blu-ray) (2020)
8.3/10
Director: Craig Zobel
Starring: Hilary Swank, Ike Barinholtz, Ethan Suplee, Emma Roberts
Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are, or how they got there. They don't know they've been chosen - for a very specif... Read more
The Hunt For Red October (1990)
7.6/10
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill
An exciting, complex tale about a Soviet submarine captain who may (or may not) be planning to defect to the U.S. during the maiden voyage of a super... Read more
The Hunted (2003)
6/10
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen
Haunted by the nightmares of killing he experienced in Kosovo in the past, Aaron Hallam (Benicio Del Toro) has turned into a top special-forces assass... Read more
The Hunter (1980)
6.4/10
Director: Buzz Kulik
Starring: Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson
The true story of Ralph 'Papa' Thorson, a modern day bounty hunter, stars legendary actor Steve McQueen in his final screen role. Thorson's exploits a... Read more
The Hunting Party (2007)
6.9/10
Director: Richard Shepard
Starring: James Brolin, Jesse Eisenberg, Richard Gere, Ljubomir Kerekes, Terrence Howard
Hoping to make it back to the big time, a disgraced TV reporter (Richard Gere) recruits his old cameraman (Terrence Howard) and a naive young producer... Read more
The i Inside (2003)
6.1/10
Director: Roland Suso Richter
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Polley, Piper Perabo, Stephen Rea, Robert Sean Leonard, St...
A time-hopping, psychological thriller with Ryan Phillippe as Simon, who wakes up in hospital with no memory of the previous two years. When he discov... Read more
The Ice Road (2021)
5.6/10
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Starring: Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishburne
After a remote diamond mine collapses in far northern Canada, a ‘big-rig’ ice road driver must lead an impossible rescue mission over a frozen ocean t... Read more
The Ice Runner (1993)
5.6/10
Director: Barry Samson
Starring: Victor Wong, Edward Albert
A U.S. spy stationed in the Soviet Union is betrayed by the CIA and sent to a prison camp. After assuming the identity of a dead thief he's transferre... Read more
The Idealist (2015)
7.6/10
Director: Christina Rosendahl
Starring: Jens Albinus, Arly Jover, Soren Malling, Thomas Bo Larsen, Peter Plaugborg
In the vein of a classic investigative journalism thriller, Christina Rosendahls gripping drama The Idealist unravels the deeply compromised relation... Read more
The Illusionist (2006)
7.6/10
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell, Eddie Marsan
Edward Norton is the supernaturally talented magician, Eisenheim, who uses his skills to win the heart of the woman he loved as a child, the young duc... Read more