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 Pelican Brief (1994)
6.6/10
Director: Alan J Pakula
Starring: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard, John Heard, Tony Goldwyn, James B...
Well-crafted thriller based on John Grisham's best-selling book about a law student whose theory (or brief) about the conspiracy behind the assassinat... Read more
The Perfect Host (2010)
6.8/10
Director: Nick Tomnay
Starring: Helen Reddy, Nathaniel Parker, David Hyde Pierce, Clayne Crawford, Megahn Perry
John Taylor (Clayne Crawford) is a merciless criminal who has just robbed a bank. On the run and in desperate need of a hideout, he accosts the polite... Read more
The Perfect Score (2004)
5.7/10
Director: Brian Robbins
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Erika Christensen, Chris Evans
Six high school seniors decide to break into the Princeton Testing Center so they can steal the answers to their upcoming SAT tests and all get perfec... Read more
The Phantom (2009)
5.9/10
Director: Paolo Barzman
Starring: Isabella Rossellini, Sandrine Holt, Ryan Carnes, Cameron Goodman
Before Superman, Spiderman and Batman there was... The Ghost Who Walks. Young urban daredevil Kit Walker (Ryan Carnes) finds himself recruited by a se... Read more
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
6.1/10
Director: Stewart Raffill
Starring: Michael Pare, Nancy Allen, Eric Christmas
An intriguing sci-fi thriller about two W.W. II sailors who are catapulted into the 1980s. Nancy Allen brings a nice no-nonsense sensibility to the mo... Read more
The Piano Player (2002)
4.4/10
Starring: Christopher Lambert, Dennis Hopper, Diane Kruger, James Faulkner
Alex, a piano playing assassin, gets a job as bodyguard in Capetown for Robert and his cute daughter, Erika. When Alex saves Robert 2nd time, they hea... Read more
The Pledge (2001)
6.8/10
Director: Sean Penn
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright, Benicio Del Toro, Sam Shepard, Vanessa Redgrave, H...
On his final day on the job, Reno police detective Jack Nicholson vows to find the person who raped and killed an 8 year old girl. But when police clo... Read more
The Pope's Exorcist (2023)
6.1/10
Director: Julius Avery
Starring: Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto, Franco Nero
Follow Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's leading exorcist, as he investigates the possession of a child and uncovers a conspiracy the Vatican has tried t... Read more
The Postcard Killings (2020)
5.8/10
Director: Danis Tanovic
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Famke Janssen, Joachim Krol, Steven Mackintosh, Denis O'Har...
A New York detective investigates the death of his daughter who was murdered while on her honeymoon in London; he recruits the help of a Scandinavian... Read more
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
6.6/10
Director: Bob Rafelson
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, John Colicos
Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson are the people involved in a torrid love affair that leads to a murder plot. Intense, erotic reworking of the John Ga... Read more