Greatest Thriller Films of All-Time

100 Greatest Thriller-Suspense Films of All-Time



The 100 Greatest Thriller-Suspense Films of All-Time

Thriller-Suspense Films are types of films known to promote intense excitement, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.

If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that rentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.

More About Thriller Films:

Thriller-Suspense Films
Introduction to Thriller-Suspense Films


Greatest Thriller-Suspense Films of All-Time
100 Greatest Thriller-Suspense Films of All-Time

Filmsite's 100 Greatest Thriller-Suspense Films
(chronological order, unranked)
The linked titles below refer to reviews (with screenshots) in the "Greatest Moments and Scenes" section of the site

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Germ.)

Battleship Potemkin (1925, Soviet Union) (aka Броненосец Потёмкин)

The Big House (1930)

M (1931, Germ.)

The 39 Steps (1935, UK)

The Petrified Forest (1936)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Cat People (1942)

Saboteur (1942)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Open City (1945, It.) (aka Roma, Citta Aperta)
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Dark Passage (1947)

High Noon (1952)

The War of the Worlds (1953)

On the Waterfront (1954)

Rear Window (1954)

The Bad Seed (1956)

3:10 To Yuma (1957)

Vertigo (1958)

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

Advise & Consent (1962)

Cape Fear (1962)

Dr. No (1962, UK/US)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

From Russia with Love (1963)

The Great Escape (1963)

Fail-Safe (1964)

Goldfinger (1964, UK)

Seven Days in May (1964)

Strait-Jacket (1964)

The Collector (1965)

Repulsion (1965, UK)

The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1965, UK)

Thunderball (1965)

The Chase (1966)

Persona (1966, Swe.)

Torn Curtain (1966)

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Wait Until Dark (1967)

Bullitt (1968)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Z (1969, Fr./Algeria)

Gimme Shelter (1970)

Klute (1971)

Deliverance (1972)

Enter the Dragon (1973, US/HK)

The Wicker Man (1973, UK)

Chinatown (1974)

The Conversation (1974)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

The Passenger (1975, It./Sp.) (aka Professione: Reporter)

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

All the President's Men (1976)

Marathon Man (1976)

Halloween (1978)

...And Justice For All (1979)

Blood Simple (1984)

Brazil (1985, UK)

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Witness (1985)

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Nuts (1987)

The Untouchables (1987)

Die Hard (1988)

The 'Burbs (1989)

The Grifters (1990)

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Miller's Crossing (1990)

Misery (1990)

Wild at Heart (1990)

JFK (1991)

A Few Good Men (1992)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Cliffhanger (1993)

Falling Down (1993)

The Firm (1993)

Malice (1993)

A Perfect World (1993)

True Lies (1994)

Get Shorty (1995)

Murder in the First (1995)

Outbreak (1995)

Twelve Monkeys (1995) (aka 12 Monkeys)

The Cable Guy (1996)

Eraser (1996)

Fargo (1996)

The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

Mission: Impossible (1996)

The Rock (1996)

Twister (1996)

Gattaca (1997)

The Game (1997)

Jackie Brown (1997)

The Rainmaker (1997)

Enemy of the State (1998)

Run Lola Run (1998, Germ.) (aka Lola Rennt)

Eyes Wide Shut (1999, UK)

Fight Club (1999)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Memento (2000)

Traffic (2000, Germ./US)

Mulholland Dr. (2001)

The Others (2001)

Insomnia (2002)

Munich (2005)

Syriana (2005)

Children of Men (2006)

The Departed (2006)

No Country For Old Men (2007)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

District 9 (2009, US/NZ/Can./S.Afr.)

Black Swan (2010)

Shutter Island (2010)

The Town (2010)

Skyfall (2012)

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Gravity (2013)

Gone Girl (2014)

The Imitation Game (2014, UK/US)

Ex Machina (2015, UK)

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Room (2015)

Get Out (2017)

Joker (2019)

Parasite (2019, S.Kor.)

Tenet (2020)

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Conclave (2024)


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