Here we’ve preserved Eliza Janssen’s short reviews of awesome thriller films, removed at various points from different streaming platforms. Click on each title to check out where the films are available to stream right now.
Blow Out (1981)
Director Brian De Palma was at his voyeuristic best in this loose remake of Antonioni’s Blow Up, this time following a sound effects technician convinced he’s captured audio of something terrible. It’s one of those great, exploitative neo-noirs about how great and exploitative cinema itself is, and John Travolta wields his suave persona well as the nosy lead character.
Boiling Point (2021)
The customer is not always right in this nail-biting one-take drama, starring a frazzled Stephen Graham as a high-end restaurant chef facing a nightmare evening of service. Without any of the guns and car chases of other films on this list, Boiling Point still achieves the level of tension it suggests in the title, and it’ll hopefully make you that bit more appreciative of your waitstaff/servers the next time you fork out for a big fancy meal.
Blood Simple (1984)
A little rough around the edges, the Coen Brothers’ first film has plenty of the trademarks for which the bros would become so beloved: Frances McDormand as a damsel handling her distress, sour noir-western vibes, and a perfectly directed shoot-out scene between dank hotel walls.
The Card Counter (2021)
I’ll never forget the hellish, fish-eye-lens sequences of Abu Ghraib prisoners in this icy Paul Schrader drama. Oscar Isaac plays his cards right as a cerebral gambler with a hollow core, seemingly talked into getting revenge on a malicious old army contact. Tiffany Haddish provides a streak of optimism as Isaac’s backer and the potential object of his affection.
Children of Men (2006)
This dystopian vision of a post-fertility world still leaves viewers with a sick gut feeling of dread, using action and anxiety-inducing camera work to place us in a future we’d rather not live to see. Clive Owens plays the reluctant hero protecting one anomalous young refugee who’s able to give birth. There’s more than a little touch of the biblical here, but it’s also exceptionally modern and tense, with what Luke Buckmaster calls “big, bold, grim themes that burrow into the psyche and linger.”
Collateral (2004)
Boy this would’ve been a different film if Russell Crowe and Adam Sandler went ahead as its leads instead of a slickly sociopathic Tom Cruise and reluctant cab driver Jamie Foxx. Michael Mann keeps things feeling dangerous with unvarnished digital cinematography, and the LA car chase scenes maintain a pulse-pounding momentum as the story unravels.
Coming Home In The Dark (2021)
Kind of like a Kiwi Wake in Fright, this rural low-budget thriller sees a schoolteacher and his family threatened by aggro drifters. As with many of our most thought-provoking entries on this list, it turns out our victims have pasts that are equally as dark and traumatic as their uncertain presents. But really, nobody deserves the kind of terror this film’s vengeful baddies have in store.
Contagion (2011)
Steven Soderbergh’s pandemic drama found new attention during our IRL world-changing pandemic, but it’s more than just a trendy and topical watch. The film’s ensemble cast are uniformly believable, with Gwyneth Paltrow’s patient zero in the opening scenes acting as the shocker that welcomes us into a terrifying (or terrifyingly realistic) new world.
A Cure for Wellness (2016)
Common Disney director Gore Verbinski got back to his icky, sticky roots with this period psychological horror. It’s an original story, despite feeling plenty like a Thomas Mann or Edgar Allen Poe creepfest, about a sterile young executive whose body and mind get messed with at an eerie Swedish wellness retreat. Mia Goth is a perfect spooky waif, fashionably wearing eels like Britney accessorises with a snake.
The Departed (2006)
Nobody’s really sure which side they’re on in this epic Scorsese mob thriller—undercover as a cop, or undercover as a minion to Jack Nicholson’s loathsome crime boss. As long as you’re on the side of ingeniously-plotted storytelling, you’ll win when you rewatch the film that finally earned Marty an Oscar for Best Director.
Don’t Breathe (2016)
In this gnarly home invasion horror, you might initially be on the side of the impoverished intruders. Then you’ll kinda root for the grieving old blind man they’re trying to rob, even as he proves to be a deadly target. Buuuut then you see what’s in his basement…and that turkey baster: director Fede Alvarez keeps us guessing on the edge of our seats the whole time.
Fall (2022)
One to miss for those with vertigo, this single-location survival thriller plonks two very misguided adventurers atop a skinny, towering pole in the middle of nowhere. Their laughable reasoning for getting up there (umm, grief! Sure!) is just an entertaining as however they’re supposed to get down. It’s a great, knuckle-clenching watch that’ll have you and your mates arguing about what you would do in this unbelievable, dizzying situation.
The Fugitive (1993)
This is the type of role that Harrison Ford absolutely owned in the 90s: the hyper-competent wrong man type who’ll do any stunt or scheme in order to keep his family safe. Bit late in this one, though, as he’s been framed for his wife’s murder, and sinister US marshal Tommy Lee Jones is hot on his trail. It’s an enthralling modern update on the 1960s drama.
The Gift (2015)
Joel Edgerton has played plenty of grizzled types: Jason Bateman has not. Directing and starring in this bleak psychological thriller, Edgerton made the most of both men’s screen personae, throwing in Rebecca Hall’s talents too as a wife wondering why her husband is so suspicious of his old schoolmate, who’s resurfaced and wants to get creepily close to Bateman’s family.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
In 2011, David Fincher had another crack at the already-adapted Stieg Larsson crime bestseller, and we have to say that his slightly Americanized take is preferred. Right from its fierce Goth opening credits, this seedy but strangely romantic story follows a journalist (Daniel Craig) and a vengeful hacker (Rooney Mara) teaming up to solve a cold case.
Gone Girl (2013)
Poor Ben Affleck: saddled with a faintly punchable face, and enough dramatic high-profile romances that he’s the perfect casting choice for a dodgy husband caught up in his wife’s disappearance. Based on the literary sensation by Gillian Flynn, who worked on the bitter, brilliant screenplay too, this thriller is the ideal antidote to treacly big-screen romcoms, showing a couple whose resentment and entitlement makes them darkly perfect for one another.
Good Time (2017)
Robert Pattinson went blond and bad for this kinetic odyssey from the Safdie brothers. I remember the audience in my cinema screaming at several shocking plot points, where Pattinson’s hapless bank robber must do whatever it takes to evade capture and get his intellectually disabled brother (Benny Safdie) out of trouble too.
Happy Death Day (2017)
Groundhog Day, but if Bill Murray was being menaced by a baby-mask-wearing killer throughout each repeated day. Lead actress Jessica Rothe is hilarious as a hot mess sorority girl who, with each unending loop of the same hectic day, slowly becomes a better person. It’s a shame she gets violently slain so often, and has to wake up with a scream back in the same morning each time.
A History of Violence (2005)
David Cronenberg is best known for his fantastical body-horror—but in this more subdued thriller, his collaborator Viggo Mortenson’s body is weaponised as a crucible of terrible secrets, only exposed when his suburban family man snaps into action at a local diner. Besides being tense and revelatory, the movie also happens to feature a genuinely hot sex scene, which is rarer on this list than you might think (or hope—you sicko).
Jaws (1975)
The element that marks Jaws as a brilliant thriller, as opposed to just a nice gnarly creature feature, lies in one of Spielberg’s biggest production limitations. It was so damn difficult to get a convincing shark model working (one ended up at the bottom of the ocean!) that the film barely shows us the man-eating beastie, resulting in one of the very first blockbusters and a tense tale of survival that still terrifies us today.
Knock at the Cabin (2023)
The latest episode in M. Night Shyamalan’s renaissance operates on multiple tense levels: there’s the threat of four strangers, who intrude on a gay couple’s cabin holiday with their young daughter, and the terrible, global destruction that may be happening in the world outside. Led by a daunting yet warm Dave Bautista, the outsiders must convince the family to make a mortal sacrifice in order to stop this prophesied apocalypse—and we get the nasty treat of watching them work through the horrid duty.
Last Night in Soho (2020)
Many lonely teens have felt that they were born in the wrong generation: for this trippy drama’s protagonist (played by Thomas McKenzie), that ideal era is London in the 1960s, when Anya Taylor-Joy’s femme fatale painted the town red. The young women share a baffling psychic connection in this disorienting film from Edgar Wright. It’s perhaps his most straightforward attempt at making a giallo-esque thriller, without humour or action lightening the script.
Memento (2000)
Don’t forget to revisit this melancholic Christopher Nolan thriller: maybe write down a reminder on your skin somewhere? Guy Pearce is intimidating and sympathetic as a man seeking vengeance for his wife’s death, battling a very frustrating memory condition all along. The movie’s structure and twisty reveals place us right there with him.
The Neon Demon (2016)
Nicolas Winding Refn’s arty fashion-world thriller was criticised as vapid yet beautiful upon release…but what else would you expect from a horror film about evil, jealous supermodels? I think the luminous style and gory final moments have more than enough panache to carry the basic story of fledgling model Jessie (Elle Fanning), especially with quite silly supporting appearances from Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, and a pair of nasty Aussie glamazons (Abbie Lee Kershaw and Bella Heathcote).
The Nightingale (2018)
There were a decent amount of cinema walk-outs when I first watched this unforgettably grim Australian revenge tale on the big screen. If you can stomach it, though, Jennifer Kent’s barbaric colonial horror story is well worth your time. Both the titular Irish migrant and the fiery First Nations slave she takes as her guide have seen far too much tyranny and violence. Their struggle across glorious rainforests and country trails to seek vengeance is fuelled by our country’s true, awful history.
Old (2021)
A toddler getting instantly pregnant, a supermodel whose bones crack into tortured new shapes, and a rapper named Midsize Sedan: we hope that M. Night Shyamalan never, ever changes. The laughably high concept of this thriller, set on a beach that makes you—you guessed it—Less Young, results in ridiculous and yet sometimes truly disturbing sequences, as parents Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps witness their kids coming of age in the blink of an eye.
Pi (1998)
If you hated maths in school, this brain-busting black-and-white debut from Darren Aronofsky will only deepen those feelings of numeric dread. Compared to some of the shoot-outs and cops-and-robbers action of other entries on this list, Pi keeps its thrills very internal, driving viewers nuts just as our brainy protagonist begins to lose his grip on reality too. Wears its low-budget boldly on its sleeve, almost feeling like a messed-up student film or some freak’s video diary.
The Prestige (2007)
I always prefer Christopher Nolan’s period pieces to his speculative, sci-fi films: with this 2007 gem, we get a bit of both, in a lush Victorian setting. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are duelling magicians, each pushing the other closer to the brink of self-destruction in their quests for professional greatness. And frick, David Bowie shows up as Nikola Tesla!
Primal Fear (1996)
Dissociative Identity Disorder has been misunderstood and exploited by plenty of crime thrillers, but Edward Norton’s split turn in this legal drama is one of the better ones, at least. Richard Gere plays the defence attorney trying to reconcile Norton’s meek altar boy Aaron with “Roy”, the malevolent personality within him who apparently killed an abusive archbishop.
Prisoners (2013)
You won’t find any grand cathartic conclusion at the end of this abduction thriller, directed with dark precision by Denis Villeneuve. Both the dad of a missing girl and the dogged cop trying to find her captor (Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal) are as emotionally complex as any potential suspect. Do violent, inhumane means ever justify their valorous ends?
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Quentin Tarantino’s big breakout exhibits everything college film-nerds would go on to worship him for: too-cool dialogue, sickening violence, and a slick regurgitation of plots and themes from crime movies of the 1960s and 70s. Tim Roth still breaks our hearts as a rat slowly bleeding out, and Michael Madsen’s groovy torture scene is unforgettable.
Romper Stomper (1992)
The kind of gritty, unpolished Australian thriller that used to escape from our film industry to freak out the rest of the world, Romper Stomper still has a muscular power 30 years on. Geoffrey Wright’s directorial debut took verbatim details from the murder trial of an actual Australian Neo-Nazi, and has continued to be accused of dangerous negative influence.
The Rover (2014)
I love a sunburnt country, but the place is looking a bit too toasty in David Michôd’s dystopian western. Set in a dark vision of Australia post-economic collapse and desperate new gold rush, it sees Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson as unlikely road trip companions heading through an ambiguous wasteland. The reason for Pearce’s voyage is cleverly kept secret until the final tragic moments.
Psycho (1960)
The shower scene. The reveal of Norman Bates’ skeletons in the basement. That chilling final monologue. Any single moment from Hitchcock’s nastiest movie would make it one of the greatest horror stories of all time, but together they form an unforgettably thrilling and Freudian tale of trust and subverted expectations.
Scarface (1983)
Lurid Florida colours and substance-addled characters breathe new life into Brian De Palma’s adaptation of a 1930s gangster flick, with Al Pacino’s uncontrollable performance still what he’s probably best remembered for. Its dark depiction of the American dream is all the more sordid for the fact that Tony Montana ended up being worshipped on so many teen boy’s walls.
Shutter Island (2009)
Not the finest Scorsese film, but perhaps one of his scariest. Marty’s frequent muse Leo DiCaprio plays an embittered cop sent to an island asylum in search of a missing inmate, but warden Ben Kingsley’s obtuse interrogations instead send him into an investigation of his own mind, where visions of holocaust emancipations and his dark family story whorl.
Spree (2020)
Steve as a murderous Uber-driver turned wannabe-influencer? Stranger Things have happened. Joe Keery makes us laugh and cringe as he knocks off his rideshare customers one by one, steadily gaining a viral audience of viewers as the bloody night of driving plays out. Director Eugene Kotylyarenko keeps the memes and pinging notifications coming non-stop.
The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)
Tom Ripley can mimic anybody, meaning he’s really nobody—so the depths of his ambition and cruelty are unknown. A star-studded cast brings that sociopathic blankness to life with glamorous flair. Matt Damon is uncharacteristically creepy as Patricia Highsmith’s most chilling character, while Jude Law and Gwen Paltrow play the pretty objects of his envy.
Taxi Driver (1976)
Whether he really dies at the end or not, Travis Bickle lives on well into the 21st century: his toxic, barely-repressed rage and self-delusion is likely seen as heroic by many a modern-day incel. Martin Scorsese’s breakout feature doesn’t let him off the hook nor glamorise him, merely letting us get uncomfortably close as “god’s lonely man” spirals towards a red-drenched, infernal finale.
Training Day (2001)
We love a thriller that contains all of its chaos and violence to the structure of a single day. Especially when that day begins with Denzel Washington’s bad cop forcing newbie Ethan Hawke to smoke weed laced with PCP. Antoine Fuqua had actual LA gang members and former cops help out behind the scenes to make this tale of corruption as real as possible.
Upgrade (2018)
Watch on StanIn this explosive sci-fi actioner, a grieving man (in a futuristic-y lookin’ version of Melbourne) finds himself controlled by a powerful gadget implanted in his brain. Luckily for us viewers, it leads to awesome bare-knuckle action sequences, directed with an 80s flair by horror screenwriter Leigh Whannell.
Zodiac (2007)
David Fincher really seems a bit hung up on serial killers. His 2007 investigation into the hunt for the San Francisco murderer has a stomach-wrenching realness in its futility and fear. It’s hard to decide which scene is worse: the daytime slaying of lovers by a lake, or when he tells a terrified woman that he’s going to throw her baby out a car window.
