MY FAVORITE THRILLERS EVER MADE
THRILLERS THAT HAVE LEFT THE MOST IMPRESSION ON ME
Log in to copy items to your own lists.
1.
Se7en
(1995)
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. (127 mins.)
Director: David Fincher
2.
Black Swan
(2010)
A committed dancer wins the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" only to find herself struggling to maintain her sanity. (108 mins.)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
3.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
(2009)
A journalist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing -- or dead -- for forty years by a young female hacker. (152 mins.)
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
4.
The Silence of the Lambs
(1991)
A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims. (118 mins.)
Director: Jonathan Demme
5.
The Girl Who Played with Fire
(2009)
As computer hacker Lisbeth and journalist Mikael investigate a sex-trafficking ring, Lisbeth is accused of three murders, causing her to go on the run while Mikael works to clear her name. (129 mins.)
Director: Daniel Alfredson
6.
The Game
(1997)
Nicholas Van Orton is a very wealthy San Francisco banker, but he is an absolute loner, even spending his birthday alone... (129 mins.)
Director: David Fincher
7.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
(2009)
Lisbeth is recovering in a hospital and awaiting trial for three murders when she is released. Mikael must prove her innocence, but Lisbeth must be willing to share the details of her sordid experiences with the court. (147 mins.)
Director: Daniel Alfredson
8.
Mulholland Dr.
(2001)
After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality. (147 mins.)
Director: David Lynch
9.
Repulsion
(1965)
A sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence. (105 mins.)
Director: Roman Polanski
10.
The Departed
(2006)
An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston. (151 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
11.
The Prestige
(2006)
Two stage magicians engage in competitive one-upmanship in an attempt to create the ultimate stage illusion. (130 mins.)
Director: Christopher Nolan
12.
Heat
(1995)
A group of professional bank robbers start to feel the heat from police when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist. (170 mins.)
Director: Michael Mann
13.
Insomnia
(2002)
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen. (118 mins.)
Director: Christopher Nolan
14.
Memento
(2000)
A man juggles searching for his wife's murderer and keeping his short-term memory loss from being an obstacle. (113 mins.)
Director: Christopher Nolan
15.
The Sixth Sense
(1999)
A boy who communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist. (107 mins.)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
16.
The Usual Suspects
(1995)
A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which begin when five criminals meet at a seemingly random police lineup. (106 mins.)
Director: Bryan Singer
17.
Unbreakable
(2000)
A man learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident. (106 mins.)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
18.
Dressed to Kill
(1980)
A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder. (105 mins.)
Director: Brian De Palma
19.
Body Double
(1984)
A young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences. (114 mins.)
Director: Brian De Palma
20.
1408
(2007)
A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror. (104 mins.)
Director: Mikael Håfström
21.
Body Heat
(1981)
In the midst of a searing Florida heat wave, a woman convinces her lover, a small-town lawyer, to murder her rich husband. (113 mins.)
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
22.
The Fugitive
(1993)
Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt. (130 mins.)
Director: Andrew Davis
23.
All the President's Men
(1976)
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation. (138 mins.)
Director: Alan J. Pakula
24.
North by Northwest
(1959)
A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive. (136 mins.)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
25.
Fight Club
(1999)
An insomniac office worker, looking for a way to change his life, crosses paths with a devil-may-care soap maker, forming an underground fight club that evolves into something much, much more. (139 mins.)
Director: David Fincher
26.
The Recruit
(2003)
A brilliant young CIA trainee is asked by his mentor to help find a mole in the Agency. (115 mins.)
Director: Roger Donaldson
27.
Rear Window
(1954)
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. (112 mins.)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
28.
In Bruges
(2008)
Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be. (107 mins.)
Director: Martin McDonagh
29.
Charade
(1963)
Romance and suspense ensue in Paris as a woman is pursued by several men who want a fortune her murdered husband had stolen. Who can she trust? (113 mins.)
Director: Stanley Donen
30.
The Devil's Advocate
(1997)
An exceptionally adept Florida lawyer is offered a job to work in New York City for a high-end law firm with a high-end boss - the biggest opportunity of his career to date. (144 mins.)
Director: Taylor Hackford
31.
Donnie Brasco
(1997)
An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the mafia life, at the expense of his regular one. (127 mins.)
Director: Mike Newell
32.
Zodiac
(2007)
A San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer. (157 mins.)
Director: David Fincher
33.
Prisoners
(2013)
When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family? (153 mins.)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
34.
Panic Room
(2002)
A divorced woman and her diabetic daughter take refuge in their newly-purchased house's safe room, when three men break-in, searching for a missing fortune. (112 mins.)
Director: David Fincher
35.
The Ghost Writer
(2010)
A ghostwriter hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy. (128 mins.)
Director: Roman Polanski
36.
Phone Booth
(2002)
Stuart Shepard finds himself trapped in a phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist's sniper rifle. (81 mins.)
Director: Joel Schumacher
37.
Basic Instinct
(1992)
A violent, suspended police detective investigates a brutal murder, in which a manipulative and seductive woman could be involved. (127 mins.)
Director: Paul Verhoeven
38.
Fatal Attraction
(1987)
A married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family. (119 mins.)
Director: Adrian Lyne
39.
Hannibal
(2001)
Living in exile, Hannibal Lecter tries to reconnect with now disgraced FBI agent Clarice Starling and finds himself a target for revenge from a powerful victim. (131 mins.)
Director: Ridley Scott
40.
Donnie Darko
(2001)
A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident. (113 mins.)
Director: Richard Kelly
41.
L.A. Confidential
(1997)
As corruption grows in 1950s LA, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice. (138 mins.)
Director: Curtis Hanson
42.
The Maltese Falcon
(1941)
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette. (100 mins.)
Director: John Huston
43.
Chinatown
(1974)
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption and murder. (130 mins.)
Director: Roman Polanski
44.
Shutter Island
(2010)
In 1954, a U.S. marshal investigates the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane. (138 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
45.
Jacob's Ladder
(1990)
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to discover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusion, and perception of death. (113 mins.)
Director: Adrian Lyne
46.
Angel Heart
(1987)
Harry Angel is a private investigator. He is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer called Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn. (113 mins.)
Director: Alan Parker
47.
The Vanishing
(1988)
Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor. (107 mins.)
Director: George Sluizer
48.
Misery
(1990)
After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse. (107 mins.)
Director: Rob Reiner
49.
Death and the Maiden
(1994)
A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government. (103 mins.)
Director: Roman Polanski
50.
Copycat
(1995)
An agoraphobic psychologist and a female detective must work together to take down a serial killer who copies serial killers from the past. (123 mins.)
Director: Jon Amiel
51.
Dial M for Murder
(1954)
An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to murder his wife. When things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B. (105 mins.)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
52.
The French Connection
(1971)
A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection. (104 mins.)
Director: William Friedkin
53.
Marathon Man
(1976)
A graduate history student is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal, and a rogue government agent. (125 mins.)
Director: John Schlesinger
54.
Frailty
(2001)
A man confesses to an FBI agent his family's story of how his religious fanatic father's visions lead to a series of murders to destroy supposed "demons." (100 mins.)
Director: Bill Paxton
55.
Murder on the Orient Express
(1974)
In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before. (128 mins.)
Director: Sidney Lumet
56.
Death on the Nile
(1978)
As Hercule Poirot enjoys a luxurious cruise down the Nile, a newlywed heiress is found murdered on board. Can Poirot identify the killer before the ship reaches the end of its journey? (140 mins.)
Director: John Guillermin
57.
Red Eye
(2005)
A woman is kidnapped by a stranger on a routine flight. Threatened by the potential murder of her father, she is pulled into a plot to assist her captor in offing a politician. (85 mins.)
Director: Wes Craven
58.
Double Indemnity
(1944)
An insurance representative lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions. (107 mins.)
Director: Billy Wilder
59.
The Big Sleep
(1946)
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love. (114 mins.)
Director: Howard Hawks
60.
The Interpreter
(2005)
Political intrigue and deception unfold inside the United Nations, where a U.S. Secret Service agent is assigned to investigate an interpreter who overhears an assassination plot. (128 mins.)
Director: Sydney Pollack
61.
Black Book
(2006)
In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance. (145 mins.)
Director: Paul Verhoeven
62.
Breakdown
(1997)
A man searches for his missing wife after his car breaks down in the middle of the desert. (93 mins.)
Director: Jonathan Mostow
63.
Fracture
(2007)
An attorney, intent on climbing the career ladder toward success, finds an unlikely opponent in a manipulative criminal he is trying to prosecute. (113 mins.)
Director: Gregory Hoblit
64.
Wicker Park
(2004)
A young Chicago advertising executive believes a woman he sees in a café is his long-lost love. His belief leads to obsession, as he puts his life on hold in order to trail her. (114 mins.)
Director: Paul McGuigan
65.
The Tenant
(1976)
A bureaucrat rents a Paris apartment where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia. (126 mins.)
Director: Roman Polanski