Really Makes You ThinkWant to feel smart, but don't want to read an actual book? Check out these lists of movies, TV shows, and other forms of entertainment that will get your mind wheels spinning.
Vote up the movies that define the genre and should be required viewing for beginners in an Intro to Psychological Thrillers class.
A lot of films can scare an audience. From slasher films to horror films filled with jump scares, it isn't that hard to make someone scream. However, psychological thrillers don't just terrify. They make us think with complex plots that often serve as metaphors for contemporary issues or human nature in general. The must-see psychological thrillers listed below are not the type of films that are easily forgotten. If you want a film you'll be pondering for months - possibly years - these famous films will meet that need.
Sure, many of the characters in these movies get hacked and slashed like the best of them, but the real torture is the psychological terror put upon them before they meet their ultimate demise. Many of the films that qualify as psychological thrillers can be slotted into other genres such as mystery, horror, and suspense. However, there are some essential psychological thrillers out there that deserve a list all their own! These are thought provoking films everyone should watch.
If you're new to the genre, you can consider this list an intro to psychological thrillers. These are popular thrillers for beginners, that will help you get accustomed to the world of psychological terror.
Check out the films below and be sure to vote your favorites to the top of the list! Then, check to see if these good thrillers are on Netflix.
Leonard (Guy Pearce) is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty, however, of locating his wife's killer is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer's block. He settles in along with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), who is plagued by psychic premonitions. As Jack's writing goes nowhere and Danny's visions become more disturbing, Jack discovers the hotel's dark secrets and begins to unravel into a homicidal maniac hell-bent on terrorizing his family.
A newspaper photographer with a broken leg passes time recuperating by observing his neighbors through his window. He sees what he believes to be a murder, and decides to solve the crime himself. With the help of his nurse and wife, he tries to catch the murderer without being killed himself.
Dae-Su is an obnoxious drunk bailed from the police station yet again by a friend. However, he's abducted from the street and wakes up in a cell, where he remains for the next 15 years, drugged unconscious when human contact is unavoidable, otherwise with only the television as company. And then, suddenly released, he is invited to track down his jailor with a denouement that is simply stunning.
Young Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) is haunted by a dark secret: he is visited by ghosts. Cole is frightened by visitations from those with unresolved problems who appear from the shadows. He is too afraid to tell anyone about his anguish, except child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis). As Dr. Crowe tries to uncover the truth about Cole's supernatural abilities, the consequences for client and therapist are a jolt that awakens them both to something unexplainable.
Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is hired by a mysterious client's brusque aide (Harrison Ford) to tail a young couple, Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann (Cindy Williams). Tracking the pair through San Francisco's Union Square, Caul and his associate Stan (John Cazale) manage to record a cryptic conversation between them. Tormented by memories of a previous case that ended badly, Caul becomes obsessed with the resulting tape, trying to determine if the couple are in danger.
239 VOTESJack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer's block. He settles in along with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), who is plagued by psychic premonitions. As Jack's writing goes nowhere and Danny's visions become more disturbing, Jack discovers the hotel's dark secrets and begins to unravel into a homicidal maniac hell-bent on terrorizing his family.
