A well-made film can easily shatter all the walls of possibilities you’ve created for yourself and a well-crafted thriller can leave you biting your nails, at the edge of your seat and riddled with anxiety.
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Best Suspense Movies From Hollywood
Hollywood has produced a number of great suspense movies and we’ve listed down our ultimate faves:
1. Psycho
Image Source: Shamley Productions
The 1960 thriller film, Psycho tops our list as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest works and is based on a novel with the same name by Robert Bloch. The Bates Motel where the series of events takes place is one heck of a creepy place. Also, watch out for one of the most twisted endings in film histories ever!
2. Gone Girl
Amy Dunne goes missing and the entire media and the nation thinks Nick has killed his wife. However, has he really? One of the most well-made thrillers to come out in the past few years, Gone Girl is a masterpiece by David Flincher starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. The film is based on a novel by Gillian Flynn, a must-read if you’re just as addicted to reading thrillers.
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3. Memento
A man suffering from short term memory loss uses tattoos and pictures to avenge the death of his wife. The 2000 movie, Memento revolves around this theme and Christopher Nolan is at his very best neo-noir level with this iconic film that should be on everyone’s must-watch list.
4. Rear Window
Who do thriller and suspense better than Hitchcock? Another masterpiece by the genius, Rear Window follows the life of Jeff, a New York-based photographer who stays cooped up in his apartment. He becomes obsessed with watching what’s happening at his neighbor’s place peeking through their window when he witnesses a murder and takes justice into his own hands. Also, you can’t miss a gorgeous Grace Kelly through the movie!
5. Blood Simple
Another American neo-noir film released in 1984, Blood Simple follows the life of a bartender who starts having an affair with his boss’ wife. It ends in gunshots and bloodshed but this directorial debut by the Coen Brothers is one for the ages.
6. Zodiac
Image Source: Phoenix Pictures
An American thriller film follows the Zodiac serial killer who called himself Zodiac and killed around the San Francisco area in the 1960s and 70s. He gave the police cryptic clues, taunting them with blood-stained clothes, letters and cyphers mailed to newspapers. Based on true events, the 2007 movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr.
7. Silence Of The Lambs
The iconic 1991 film is still a fan favourite all around the world. It was the film that launched the 90s cinematic obsession with psychopathic killers as well as one of the most unforgettable negative characters to ever be shown on the big screen. Directed by Jonathan Demme, the screenplay was adapted from a book of the same name. In the movie, a young FBI trainee seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer to catch another serial killer known only as ‘Buffalo Bill’ who skins his female victims’ corpses. It cleanly swept away all the major Oscars and was one of the most successful films of the decade.
8. Prisoners
The 2013 film focuses on the abduction of two girls in Pennsylvania and the search for the suspected abductor by the police. After the police arrest one suspect and then release him, the father of one of the daughters takes matters into his own hands. Starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano the gritty story of desperation and revenge is one that cannot be missed.
9. Se7ven
There are only a few thriller directors who can be compared to David Fincher and his dark, grimy places and Se7ven is up there with them all. A pair of detectives portrayed by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman investigate a series of gruesome murders each one somehow symbolic of the seven sins: pride, lust, gluttony, envy, sloth, greed, and wrath. The film is brutal, brilliant and seedy and the twist at the end will still get you even more than twenty years after its release.
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10. Vertigo
Image Source: Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
Another Hitchcock masterpiece, it is about a man who is placed against forces that are way beyond his control. But the twist here is that these forces are in his own mind and that’s what entraps him. James Stewart’s traumatized detective Scottie must track a friend’s wife who is in grave danger. However, she vanishes leaving him chasing shadows and questioning his own sanity. There are action and plot twists that leave the audience’s stomachs in knots. The disorienting camerawork makes it a terrific psychopathic thriller.
11. Shutter Island
Directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Laeta Kalogridis and based on Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same name, Shutter Island is a neo-noir psychological thriller film released in 2010. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the US Marshal Teddy who is investigating a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island after a patient goes missing. Along with Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley, this one is one for the ages. Also, watch out for the plot twist at the end. We bet you would not have expected that!
12. The Prestige
Christopher Nolan weaves a complex tale of emotions, passion and drama about two magicians who were once friends but are now competing against each other to one-up the other and prove that he is the smarter one. The film takes you on a journey about magic, the truth behind it and human feelings. One of Nolan’s finest, this one has to make it to your must-watch list.
13. The Usual Suspects
Image Source: Bad Hat Harry Productions
Five criminals are brought together for a police line-up and these people had planned a heist at the end of the day and it is up to the police to stop them. Kevin Spacey’s acting and a plot unlike any other, you’ll be biting your nails and be kept at the edge of your seat as one twist after another shakes you.
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