Were you having fun? Because time has flown. 1975 was 50 years ago,and many great thrillershave been made since then. Of course, a ton came out before then, but they don’t get time in the sun here. So, sorry to the likes ofM,Vertigo,The Wages of Fear,The Third Man, andHigh and Low. Right now, it’s only 1975 releases and later.
Also, thrillers can be hard to define or pin down sometimes, since lots of action movies, horror films, and even crime flicks also function as thrillers.If something feels most easily definable as a thriller, or is noticeably thrilling/intense, then it’s able to qualify here. But if you’re confused about thrilling movies that more belong to other genres not being here, well, maybe that’s why. Orsome poopy headjust forgot to put something here. Hopefully, said poopy head is very sorry about that.
10’Nightcrawler' (2014)
Nightcrawleris, to put it one way, about a rather dedicated man. He’s someone who’s willing to cross an increasing number of lines in his pursuit of covering and filming various crimes that happen in Los Angeles. Things get more dangerous, naturally, the closer he comes to certain things, and then further dangers come about from him starting to take a more active role in the stories he wants to document.
It’s a movie that does a great job at consistently building dread throughout, asNightcrawlerstarts out feeling uneasy and then dips into borderline-nightmarish territory by the time it starts wrapping up.Tocall it a dark psychological thrillerand leave it at that would be a big old understatement, since it digs deep and gets exceptionally bleak, but watching it progress in that direction is undeniably captivating and emotionally involving, too.
9’The Man Who Stole the Sun' (1979)
Probably the most obscure movie to be mentioned here,The Man Who Stole the Sunis super underrated, as far as thrillers go. Further, it’s a satirical film, a crime movie, and also something of an action flick, being about a high school teacher who’s trying to build his own atomic bomb. Once he does, he uses the threat of detonating it to get what he wants from the government.
And there are, naturally, people out to stop him, but it’s the kind of filmwhereit feels like anything could happen, so you’ll probably be on edge the whole time, having no idea where it’s all going to end up.The Man Who Stole the Sunis a weird amount of fun, andit’s also persistently paranoid, doing so much all at once and being wonderfully offbeat in the process.
8’Fight Club' (1999)
It’s abit hard to callFight Cluba thriller and just leave it at that, even if you’re okay with breaking the first rule of Fight Club to describe it as anything in the first place. It’s a psychological drama/thriller, in some ways, but it still feels wrong to go into detail as to why that’s the case, owing to the various twists and turns this film takes on a narrative front.
Fight Clubis also darkly funny, so if you want to call it something ofa comedy (or at least a satire), then that also feels fitting. Whatever it is, or whatever you want to call it,Fight Clubis great. Maybe that’s the main thing.You’ve got some great performanceshere alongside stylish visuals and a message that still hits home more than a quarter of a century later. It’s a movie with a lot on its mind, and just about all of what’s on its mind is still incredibly interesting.
7’The Lives of Others' (2006)
Set some years before the fall of the Berlin Wall,The Lives of Othersis, as you might’ve been able to guess from the title, about surveillance. It’s potentially definable as a spy movie, but not of the usual kind by any means, instead being a little more about obsession, loneliness, and longing, with the person doing the spying here becoming dangerously drawn into the lives of the people he’s monitoring.
The Lives of Othersunfolds quite slowly, and it’s a pretty long film for something that’s really just centered on a handful of characters, given it’s not far off from being two and a half hours long.But it’s the right kind of slow burn, given it builds to something immense, and because it keeps finding ways to hold your attention. It remainsgripping, moving, and subtly suspenseful, ultimately proving to be something rather incredible.
6’The Departed' (2006)
Another thriller besidesThe Lives of Othersthat also happened to come out in 2006,The Departedis one of manygreat moviesMartin Scorsesehas directed. It might not be his very best, but it could well be his most thrilling, standing as a remake (and expansion, in a few ways) of the already extremely thrilling 2002 film,Infernal Affairs, about two people undercover on opposite sides of the law.
They both want to out the other, and chaos unfolds, with the narrative here (and inInfernal Affairs) beingcomplex, in some ways, but also riveting. And sure,The Departedis also a crime movie, andperhapseven something of a gangster film, but it does put its thriller elements first and foremost a great deal of the time, and so calling it a thriller feels appropriate.
5’The Fugitive' (1993)
One of the hardest things when it comes to talking about thrillers exclusively from the past half century is the fact that doing so means excludingAlfred Hitchcock. He was perhaps the #1 director of thrillers whenhe was at his creative peak, but onlyFamily Plotcame out in the last 50 years, and that movie did not represent Hitchcock at his creative peak.
The Fugitive is non-stop from start to finish, features a great Harrison Ford performance, and also has a very memorable turn from Tommy Lee Jones.
But the sorts of “man on the run having to prove his innocence” movies Hitchcock liked have remained popular after his death, andThe Fugitivemight well be one of the best non-Hitchcock movies to ever involve that kind of premise (it also stands as a great update to the 1960s TV series of the same name).It’s non-stop from start to finish, featuresa great Harrison Ford performance, and also has a verymemorable turn from Tommy Lee Jones; just really good stuff all around.
4’Parasite' (2019)
Parasitetakes a little time before it starts feeling like a thriller, seeing as it’s a socially conscious comedy/drama film for about the first half of its runtime. One family infiltrates the house – and lifestyle – of another wealthier family, but then they make a certain discovery about where that family lives, and things suddenly change, getting a whole lot more intense in the process.
And thenParasitemight well pivot again after that point, but saying anymore is saying too much. What’s important is thatParasiteisone of the best international films ever, and also might well just beone of the best movies ever, regardless of genre or country of origin.It’s well-controlled, suspenseful, and very easy to revisit, so long as you don’t mind a heightened heart rate and palms being sweaty. Knees might get weak, too.Spaghetti à la mom.
3’No Country for Old Men' (2007)
Based on aCormac McCarthynovel, and pulling as few punches as its source material,No Country for Old Menis very dark, very intense, and very much hard to forget, once seen. The premise is simple, but the filmmaking is anything but, with theCoen brothersgoing above and beyond in adaptingthe story of an unstoppable assassintargeting a man who thought he got lucky by stumbling across a large amount of cash at the site of a drug deal gone wrong.
It’s very much a thriller, but it also works as a crime film andsomething of a (particularly brutal) Western, too, albeit one set closer to contemporary times than most Westerns out there.No Country for Old Menhas one hell of a reputation, owing to its cultural significance, Oscar wins, and high level of critical acclaim, but it does ultimately live up to the hype surrounding it.
2’Uncut Gems' (2019)
Generally, if a thriller has a high level of tension, it’s a sign it’s doing something right. As such,Uncut Gems, by this metric, is an all-timer, since it’s one of themost nail-biting movies released in recent memory, or maybe even ever. It is about addiction and one man’s inability to ever accept his losses and stop chasing the highs that come with hustling, swindling, gambling, and continually risking pretty much everything.
It’s all so effectively stomach-churning that some might well feelUncut Gemsto bea difficult movie to finish, butcriticizing it for this reason can feel a little like saying, “Oh no, this thriller is too intense,” which isa very Moleman thing to do. Also,Adam Sandleris phenomenal in this movie. Like, he’d been surprisingly good in some less-than-expected roles beforeUncut Gems, but this is, to date, his single most impressive performance.
1’Jaws' (1975)
Sinceit’s the definitive shark movie, and is probably a little more thrilling than it is scary (though it does also qualify as a horror film), it feels fitting to putJawsin the #1 spot. It’s a movie that’s seen its fair share of placements at the top of many rankings over the past 50 years, but it deserves it. It’sanother one of those “somehow lives up to all the crazy hype” kind of movies.
Also, it’s technically only just a movie that fits the boundaries of a movie from the last 50 years, so why not take this opportunity to shout it out before that’s no longer a possibility? It’s probablythe best thrillerSteven Spielbergever directed, and it’s one of those untouchable classics that’sdifficult to imagine anyone disliking.
NEXT:Sci-Fi Performances That Should Have Been Oscar-Nominated, but Weren’t
