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".
Bunny Lake is Missing (1965)
7.3/10
Director: Otto Preminger
Starring: Keir Dullea, Laurence Olivier, Noel Coward, Martita Hunt, Carol Lynley, The Zomb...
Director Otto Preminger's unusual psychological thriller stars Carol Lynley as an American woman living in London who drops her young daughter off at... Read more
Bunraku (2010)
6.2/10
Director: Guy Moshe
Starring: Demi Moore, Josh Hartnett, Kevin McKidd, Ron Perlman, Woody Harrelson
Stylish, audacious mash-up of spaghetti western, film noir, and samurai opus follows a mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett) and a sword-slinging ronin (... Read more
Buried (2010)
7/10
Director: Rodrigo Cortes
Starring: Ryan Reynolds
This intense suspenser stars Ryan Reynolds as an American contractor working in 2006 Iraq who awakens to find himself trapped in a coffin-like box. Ca... Read more
Buried (Blu-ray) (2010)
7/10
Director: Rodrigo Cortes
Starring: Ryan Reynolds
This intense suspenser stars Ryan Reynolds as an American contractor working in 2006 Iraq who awakens to find himself trapped in a coffin-like box. Ca... Read more
Burn After Reading (2008)
7/10
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt, Ric...
The Coen Brothers return to black comedy territory, spinning a yarn of espionage and intrigue populated chiefly by the functioning clueless. John Malk... Read more
Burn After Reading ( Blu-ray ) (2008)
7/10
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring: Brad Pitt, David Rasche, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Olek...
The Coen Brothers return to black comedy territory, spinning a yarn of espionage and intrigue populated chiefly by the functioning clueless. John Malk... Read more
Burt Lancaster: Local Hero / The Flame and the Arrow / Executive Action / Seven Days in May (1950)
5.5/10
Director: Bill Forsyth, David Miller, Jacques Tourneur, John Frankenheimer
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Fredric March, Kirk Douglas, Peter Riegert, Robert Ryan, Virgini...
Burt Lancaster Box Set. 'Local Hero' (1983) - Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert star in the wonderfully whimsical comedy of an oil company's planned bu... Read more
Butterfly on a Wheel (2007)
Director: Mike Barker
Starring: Callum Keith Rennie, Maria Bello, Pierce Brosnan, Gerard Butler
Neil and Abby have a worry-free life until their young daughter goes missing and a gunman named Ryan shows up at the house. Ryan insists the couple pe... Read more
C. B. Strike: Lethal White (2017)
Starring: Holliday Grainger, Christina Cole, Killian Scott, Tom Burke
War veteran turned private detective Cormoran Strike solves brutal murders with the help of his trusted partner Robin Ellacott. Read more
Calm With Horses (2019)
6.8/10
Director: Nick Rowland
Starring: Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, David Wilmot, Ned Dennehy
Douglas 'Arm' Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father. Torn between these... Read more