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 Story of Marie and Julien (2003)
7/10
Director: Jacques Rivette
Starring: Emmanuelle Beart, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Anne Brochet, Nicole Garcia
Marie (Emmanuelle Beart), a beautiful woman with a mysterious past, is reunited with Julien (Jerzy Radziwilowicz), a shy clockmaker she met one year e... Read more
The Strangers (2008)
6.2/10
Director: Bryan Bertino
Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks, Laura Margolis
Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman are a couple who return to their semi-secluded house after a wedding, only to find their lives thrown into chaos with the... Read more
The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)
5.2/10
Director: Johannes Roberts
Starring: Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, Christina Hendricks
Mike and his wife Cindy take their son and daughter on a road trip that becomes their worst nightmare. The family members soon find themselves in a de... Read more
The Streets of San Francisco: Season 1, Volume 1 (1972)
7.3/10
Starring: Karl Malden, Michael Douglas
This action-packed series made a star of the then up-and-coming actor Michael Douglas, who, along with Karl Malden, played a father-and-son-like duo o... Read more
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
6.4/10
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Starring: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Liev Schreiber, Bridget Moynahan
Ben Affleck inherits the role of Jack Ryan in this action-packed adaptation of Tom Clancy's novel. When a group of neo-Nazis steals a nuclear bomb, i... Read more
The Survivalist (2015)
6.4/10
Director: Stephen Fingleton
Starring: Martin McCann, Mia Goth, Barry Ward, Andrew Simpson
During a food shortage a survivalist lives off of a small plot of land in the forest. When two women show up looking for food and shelter, his existen... Read more
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (2011)
8.1/10
Director: James Hawes, Geoffrey Sax, David Blair, Christopher Menaul
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tim Pigott-Smith, Tom Georgeson, Paddy Considine, Emma Fielding,...
In the early days of criminal investigation, before guilt and innocence were determined by forensic science, there was a detective, “ a man of mystery... Read more
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: The Murder at Road Hill House (2011)
6.6/10
Director: James Hawes
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tim Pigott-Smith, Tom Georgeson, Paddy Considine, Emma Fielding,...
Adapted from Kate Summerscale's best-selling book, this gripping true story of murder, psychological suspense and courtroom drama has all the hallmark... Read more
The Swarm (1978)
4.4/10
Director: Irwin Allen
Starring: Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia de H...
This cliche-ridden effort is about an unstoppable swarm of killer bees invading the USA from South America and stinging all and sundry. The talented a... Read more
The Sweeney (2012)
6.1/10
Director: Nick Love
Starring: Ray Winstone, Steven Mackintosh, Damian Lewis, Hayley Atwell, Ben Drew, Alan For...
A big screen modern-day revamp of the gritty 70s TV series. Ray Winstone and Ben Drew (aka Plan B) star as Regan and Carter, the cop duo played by Joh... Read more