'Cuz This Is ThrillerSuspense. Excitement. Plot twists. Dim corridors. Flickering lights. Ringing phones. Speeding cars. Mysterious strangers? No, those are just mannequins.
Vote up the thriller movies that define the genre and should be required viewing for beginners in an Intro to Thrillers class.
Where would American cinema be without people like Alfred Hitchcock? Probably a lot less scared, but who wants to live in a world like that? Thrillers are a mix of adrenaline, suspense, and - most vital - contemplation on the human psyche. Anyone can scare someone, but making an audience think while they scream is an artistic acheivment. Only the truly essential thriller movies make us question all our preconceived notions about humanity while we try to solve a mystery or murder. If you're a fan of simultaneously philosophizing and wincing, these thriller movies for beginners will help!
Some of the most famous thriller films out there include commentary on human nature and contemporary society. While these films proved popular to mainstream audiences, they're not your average Hollywood blockbusters filled with cheap ploys and clichés to spark an easy emotional reaction. These thrillers really delve deep. The charming and ever-quotableHannibal Lecter makes us wonder if evil is born or made. Psycho's Norman Bates questions how responsbile an individual is for their wrongdoings when not in their right mind. American Psycho muses on how corporate greed and toxic masculinity impact American society. These are films everyone should watch, regardless of whether you're a fan of the morbid and macabre.
If you're new to the genre, you can consider this list an intro to thriller movies. Check out these must-see thrillers below and then vote your favorites to the top of the list.
Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
When retiring police Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) tackles a final case with the aid of newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), they discover a number of elaborate and grizzly murders. They soon realize they are dealing with a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who is targeting people he thinks represent one of the seven deadly sins. Somerset also befriends Mills' wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is pregnant and afraid to raise her child in the crime-riddled city.
A depressed man (Edward Norton) suffering from insomnia meets a strange soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and soon finds himself living in his squalid house after his perfect apartment is destroyed. The two bored men form an underground club with strict rules and fight other men who are fed up with their mundane lives. Their perfect partnership frays when Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), a fellow support group crasher, attracts Tyler's attention.
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.
Four city-dwelling friends (Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox) decide to get away from their jobs, wives and kids for a week of canoeing in rural Georgia. When the men arrive, they are not welcomed by the backwoods locals, who stalk the vacationers and savagely attack them in the woods. Reeling from the ambush, the friends attempt to return home but are surrounded by dangerous rapids and pursued by a madman. Soon, their canoe trip turns into a fight for survival.
This classic suspense film finds New York City ad executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) pursued by ruthless spy Phillip Vandamm (James Mason) after Thornhill is mistaken for a government agent. Hunted relentlessly by Vandamm's associates, the harried Thornhill ends up on a cross-country journey, meeting the beautiful and mysterious Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) along the way. Soon Vandamm's henchmen close in on Thornhill, resulting in a number of iconic action sequences.
1131 VOTESJodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
2123 VOTESWhen retiring police Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) tackles a final case with the aid of newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), they discover a number of elaborate and grizzly murders. They soon realize they are dealing with a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who is targeting people he thinks represent one of the seven deadly sins. Somerset also befriends Mills' wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is pregnant and afraid to raise her child in the crime-riddled city.
