Even with the emergence of blockbusters, multi-billion franchises, and feel-good romantic comedies, the thriller genre remained a steadfast force throughout the 1980s decade. From “Die Hard” and “Fatal Attraction” to “Blood Simple” and “Blue Velvet”, moviegoers were treated with a chock-full of delectable cinematic offerings to choose from that kept them on the edge of their seats and still hold up today.

To whittle down this list, however, we’re digging a little deeper to focus on underseen gems that either bombed at the box office, were initially panned by critics, or simply slipped under the radar at the time of the release but are begging for reappraisal. From an American journalist caught in the crosshairs of an armed conflict in South America to a romantic Euro-sleazefest set in the North Sea — here are ten ’80s thrillers that some may have yet to discover at all but should come in handy for when you’re in need of an adrenaline rush.

1. Cutter’s Way (1981)

This off-kilter California neo-noir starring Jeff “the Dude” Bridges in the role of a 30-something layabout-turned-amateur gumshoe who is buddies with a nutjob Vietnam vet (a never-better John Heard) and unexpectedly gets roped into a big murder conspiracy is a title worth tracking down if you’re looking to go beyond the basics after your annual rewatch of “The Big Lebowski”.

Given the sheer number of twists and turns that “Cutter’s Way” throws at the viewer, it isn’t hard to see why the film was once dismissed as an absolute head-scratcher by the general public (in fact, Roger Ebert gave it one of his notorious thumbs-down ratings, stating that it lacked suspense and characterization). As long as you don’t go in expecting any straitlaced resolution that will conveniently tie it all together, however, Czech filmmaker Ivan Passer’s knotty genre pastiche is a welcomed alternative to the classic whodunit that should particularly appeal to Coen geeks and stoner-noir aficionados alike who have seen “The Long Goodbye” and “Inherent Vice” too many times to count.

2. Salvador (1986)

Anyone familiar with Oliver Stone’s personal brand of filmmaking knows he’s never been afraid of ruffling feathers. The 1980s decade saw the controversial director hit a creative peak with a highly productive directorial run, ranging from time-tested critical darlings (“Platoon”, “Born in the Fourth of July”) to endlessly quoted pop-cultural juggernauts (“Scarface”, “Wall Street”), that sparked heated discourse stateside and cemented his then-burgeoning reputation as America’s provocateur par excellence.

Sadly, not enough attention has been paid to “Salvador”, a less refined but no less incisive effort than Stone’s Oscar-winning heavy-hitters that belongs squarely within the director’s agitating canon. The 1986 political thriller finds king of sleaze James Woods in top form as a too-clever-by-half American photojournalist who becomes entangled with both the leftist guerrilla groups and the US-backed military dictatorship while covering the Salvadoran Civil War. Simmering tension builds to a fever pitch as the nationwide armed conflict escalates, with our truth-seeking white knight frantically trying to keep his head above water while batting heads with US officials, bribing local authorities and smuggling his Salvadorian girlfriend into the United States.

3. Gloria (1980)

Though rarely associated with pulpy studio actioners, John Cassavetes — better known around hardcore cinephile circles as the patron saint of indie American cinema and purveyor of fiery character-driven dramas — found a sublime new expression to his signature cinéma-vérité style in his first and only foray into genre filmmaking.

“Gloria” marked the director’s eighth collaboration with his wife and regular leading lady Gena Rowlands, who deservedly garnered multiple awards including an Oscar nod for her steely performance in the title role, a former showgirl-turned-outlaw-on-the-run who is tipped over the edge after being persecuted by local gangsters and taking care of a seven-year-old orphan boy who tragically lost his family against the Italian mob.

In typical Cassavetes fashion, the film draws its primary weight less from conventional narrative hijinks than from the live-wire performance anchoring it, though the splattery final showdown alone is enough to give first-time viewers a head-rush. Just remember: You want the original version of this movie, not the 1999 remake starring Sharon Stone.

4. Prison on Fire (1987)

Shortly after breaking into the mainstream, Hong Kong screen legend Chow Yun-fat would leverage his newfound status as one of the most charismatic and effortlessly cool A-listers in recent memory into a successful acting career overseas. More than any glossy Hollywood studio blockbuster, though, it was the movie star’s previous collaborations with directors John Woo and Ringo Lam that enshrined him forever in the pantheon of ’80s action movie icons.

Nestled between the bombastic shoot-em-ups where he earned his reputation (“A Better Tomorrow”, “The Killer” and “Hard Boiled”, just to name a few), the 1987s “Prison on Fire” provides a stunning showcase for the scenery-chewing charms and soulful presence of Chow, who manages to pull the spotlight toward him in a supporting role as a veteran convict currently serving time in prison who takes the new inmate under his wing and shows him the ropes. It’s Chow at the top of his game, threading the needle between friendly mentor and cold-blooded criminal that makes his character both virtually impossible not to root for right off the bat and reasonably menacing once all hell inevitably breaks loose.

5. Prince of the City (1981)

Ask ten cinephiles to name their favorite Sidney Lumet movie, and chances are you will well get ten different answers. With an extensive film catalog that spans half a century and about a handful of cinema studies standards such as “12 Angry Men”, “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Network”, it’s hardly surprising that this lesser-known gem often gets lost in the shuffle, though in a just world, “Prince of the City” would absolutely belong among the canonized ’80s classics we revisit every so often.

Lumet never settled for less than exceptional, and here, the late maestro used the real-life story of a New York narcotics officer (Treat Williams) who agreed to help the US Department of Justice and blow the whistle on his corruptive partners within the police department to cast a defiant eye on the powers-that-be. Sadly, things have stayed relatively the same, which also means that the incisive political commentary of this 1981 thriller remains, for better or worse, as essential today as ever.

With now a dozen movies to his name, David Fincher has etched a permanent place in cinema history as one of the most talented directors of his generation. After cutting his teeth making TV commercials and music videos, the maverick auteur quickly established himself as a singular voice in American cinema with one of the highest career batting averages of any director working today. Precisely that consistent excellence and unflinching dedication to his craft has also, somewhat unfairly, earned him an industry-wide reputation as an obsessive control freak behind the camera.

After a recent stab at serialized television, we’re happy to report that one of the figureheads of the thriller genre is back in his element doing what he does best. Based on a graphic novel by the same name, “The Killer”, about a nameless contract assassin (Michael Fassbender) who becomes a target himself after his last hit job goes awry, is being touted as a return to form by the same creative team behind “Se7en”.

To mark the arrival of Fincher’s new offering — now in theaters and streaming on Netflix — we’re counting down each of the dozen feature films in a groundbreaking career that now spans over 30 years. So how does his latest stack up against the rest of his blood-soaked thrillers? Does one really have to choose between “The Social Network” and “Fight Club”? Read on to find out.

12. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

In following up his big “Zodiac” triumph, Fincher left his comfort zone and tried to muscle his way into the Oscar race by joining forces with “Forrest Gump” screenwriter Eric Roth to adapt the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story about a man born under unusual circumstances who miraculously becomes younger with the passage of time.

Taking exactly the sort of stab at schmaltzy prestige fare that is catnip for Academy voters was widely regarded at the time as a major career heel turn from a bad-boy provocateur who came to be known for gruesome tales of deranged serial killers and snake-oil salesmen. Alas, constant exposure to this film via cable television has done nothing if not validate the early critical consensus that suggested the director was way out of his depth here. That said, Fincher-heads and “Forrest Gump” aficionados alike should still be able to find a reason or two to add this tearjerker to their personal Netflix queues.

11. Alien³ (1992)

Fincher’s first foray into filmmaking is more fun to read about than to actually watch. The movie’s notoriously messy production, which saw 20th Century Fox shuffle between several screenplays and directors before settling on a then-unknown, 27-year-old music video producer at last minute to hopefully steer a sinking ship in the right direction, warrants its own film adaptation. The resulting sci-fi blockbuster, which shockingly kills off two of Ellen Ripley’s beloved sidekicks within the first ten minutes, would alienate a large portion of the series’ fanbase and do little to suggest that David Fincher was the real deal.

Given the way the director’s whole career has worked out and the very fact that he’s disowned the movie many times over, it’s tempting to just shrug “Alien³” off as lightweight work that, though not without spurts of brilliance, is for hardcore completists only. A director’s cut, a significant improvement on the theatrical version that restored the infamous sequel into something closer to Fincher’s original vision, was later to redeem some of its reputation.

10. Mank (2020)

Fincher’s deep-rooted disdain for Hollywood’s studio system and everything it stands for comes out loud and clear in this unsavory portrait of Tinseltown and the power struggle that ensued after the Great Depression, which shook the entire entertainment business to its foundations throughout the 1930s and early ’40s.

Written by his late father Jack and based on a much-disputed essay by Pauline Kael, Fincher’s first project after signing an exclusive 4-year deal with Netflix traces the off-screen drama behind “Citizen Kane” through the lens of Jewish co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz, who sparred with Orson Welles, studio heads, politicians, and media tycoons like William Randolph Hearst and whose real authorship of the Kane screenplay is still subject to debate today. Despite getting a shoulder rug of a reception during the pandemic, Gary Oldman’s shaggy-dog performance is enough to make “Mank” a welcomed addition to the Fincher canon, even though as a whole, the 10-time Oscar-nominated period drama never really elevates beyond standard movie-biopic tropes.

9. Panic Room (2002)

After blowing through the 1990s decade with a hell of a run and stirring up controversy with his searing anti-capitalist satire, Fincher kept things considerably more grounded with this stripped-down home-invasion thriller about a newly divorced mum (Jodie Foster) and her diabetic daughter (Kristen Stewart) who overcome their personal hang-ups while fending off a volatile trio of intruders in their four-story Manhattan penthouse.

It’s tempting to lump “Panic Room” into the lowest tier of Fincher’s back catalog on the grounds that it comes off as a slightly formulaic, R-rated riff on “Home Alone”. But even if the script feels too conventional by his usual standards, Fincher can’t resist pulling every last trick up his cinematic sleeve with a barrage of bravura sequences and virtuoso tracking shots that easily outbalances the occasionally dull stretches of the story.

8. The Killer (2023)

Throughout the years, Fincher has cultivated an ironclad reputation as a highly competent professional with a painstaking attention to detail and near-sociopathic obsession for perfection. The same can be said of his latest subject, a calculated contract killer (played with dry wit by Michael Fassbender) who finds himself between a rock and a hard place after getting himself a target on his back because he killed the wrong person on his last paid gig.

Fincher is obviously nowhere near the end of his career, but his second feature film under the Netflix banner nevertheless feels like a sort of thesis statement on a 30-year career spent deconstructing the psychology of deranged serial killers. It is perhaps his most self-aware and wickedly funny offering to date, a tragicomic genre pastiche that expertly fuses popcorn thrills with shrewd social commentary and should particularly appeal to viewers who have seen Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samouraï” too many times to count.

7. The Game (1997)

Michael Douglas virtually disappears into the role of Nicholas Van Orton, a careworn San Francisco banker who gets a hell of a lot more than what he bargained for after reluctantly partaking in a wicked mystery game for his forty-eighth birthday. Ultimately, whether or not you enjoy this Hitchcockian brainteaser will likely depend on your capacity to occasionally suspend your disbelief and look past outlandish narrative hijinks.

From a pure entertainment standpoint, however, “The Game” remains one of Fincher’s greatest magic tricks — a masterclass in sustained tension that repays close attention and keeps throwing us off the scent at every turn as we watch Douglas’ character at his wits’ end desperately trying to figure out exactly what kind of a wild-goose chase his younger brother has gotten him into. Some argue the movie’s memorable rug-pull moment negates any of the tension that was built up to that point — granted, it makes less and less sense the more you think about it — but don’t be too surprised if you feel tempted to hit the replay button by the time the credits start rolling.

In a groundbreaking career that now spans over 30 years, David Fincher has etched a permanent place in movie history as one of the most talented directors of his generation. Ever since bursting onto the scene in the early 1990s, the former visual effects producer and music video director has cultivated a reputation as a notoriously obsessive and demanding craftsman with a meticulous attention to detail.

Fincher’s new thriller finds the American director teaming up with “Se7en” screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker and returning to what is still considered to be his trademark genre that first put him on the map. Based on a graphic novel series of the same name, “The Killer” follows the exploits of a nameless professional assassin (played by Michael Fassbender) who must deal with the bloody aftermath of a botched hit job in Paris.

To celebrate his latest offering — now available on Netflix — we have scoured through interviews to round up ten thrillers, with an emphasis on those of the hitman variety, that the mastermind behind “Zodiac” and “Fight Club” has singled out as noteworthy for one reason or another. From classic French cinema to obscure 1970s gems, take a look at 10 favorites from the esteemed auteur that you should add to your queue after “The Killer”.

1. Le Samouraï (1967)

David Fincher had a brief chat with the British Film Institute while attending The Killer’s world premiere, during which he revealed a short list of titles that served as a jumping board for what he tried to achieve with his latest Netflix movie. And it’s only fitting that legendary French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville, often called the godfather of the modern crime thriller as a kind of shorthand for a cinematic giant who breathed new life into the genre and inspired an entire generation of directors across the pond, would crop up at least once.

Much like Fincher, Melville made his name and reputation with razor-sharp thrillers about ice-cold professional assassins — perhaps none better or as foundational as “Le Samouraï”, about a trench coat and fedora-wearing freelance killer (played with a steely edge by Alain Delon) who finds himself between a rock and a hard place after his last hit goes awry. Leisurely paced and unflappably cool, this Parisian nail-bitter recalls Fincher’s latest in how each deliberately puts the audience in the shoes of a highly competent hitman by carefully detailing their obsessive daily routines and samurai-like code. “I mean, you can’t make a killer movie without at least referencing it,” Fincher told BFI.

2. Get Carter (1971)

It’s a minor tragedy that an entire generation of moviegoers have seemingly grown up knowing Michael Caine as the affable, well-mannered fellow who used to keep popping up from time to time in Christopher Nolan movies instead of the ice-cool, all-around badass on-screen persona he cultivated earlier in his prolific career. To anyone who’d like to see the now-retired silver screen icon at his true apex mountain, though, we suggest you turn to this benchmark of British cinema, another recommendation pulled from Fincher’s BFI interview that served as a key point of reference for this year’s “The Killer”.

“Get Carter” finds Caine in full movie-star mode chewing up the scenery in one of his single best and flat-out enjoyable career turns as Jack Carter, a two-bit London hood who returns to his hometown of Newcastle dead-set on avenging his brother’s murder after refusing to believe the official police report, which claims he died by alcohol poisoning. You never know what’s lurking under the surface in this oft-forgotten man-on-a-mission classic that although rarely mentioned in the same breath as cinema studies standards like “Dirty Harry”, continues to be a guidepost for how to create a solid crime caper.

3. Charley Varrick (1973)

Another underseen gem from the 1970s ripe for rediscovery that Fincher likes and named as influential during his recent press tour interview with the BFI is Don Siegel’s wildly unpredictable, ruthlessly irreverent, and darkly funny “Charley Varrick”.

A heist-gone-wrong shoot-em-up that suggests a cross between “Bonnie and Clyde”, “The Getaway”, and “Reservoir Dogs”, “Varrick” finds Hollywood stalwart Walter Matthau ascend to new heights of performance in the title role as a short-fused and irredeemably self-serving career criminal on the run from the law who robs a small-town bank and must not only evade the cops but the mob and his former associates as well.

Fincher identified the movie as a personal favorite that left a lasting impression when he first saw it as a kid and one that he especially kept in mind during the early production stages of “The Killer”. And if you somehow need even more reason to track down “Charley Varrick”, rest assured — even by modern standards, the drum-tight script, heart-racing chase sequences, and tough-as-nails performances ensure the film still packs a mighty punch.

4. Miller’s Crossing (1990)

Perhaps more than any other contemporary American director besides Fincher himself, the Coen brothers have managed to writhe across genres while always playing by their own rules. Loosely adapted from Dashiell Hammett’s hard-boiled novels, this Prohibition-era gangster saga about two warring mobs established the Coens as a major creative force in Hollywood and introduced audiences to their tragi-comic sense of the absurd by fusing well-trodden noir tropes with healthy doses of self-awareness and dry wit.

Bullets, fedoras, double-crosses, snappy one-liners and top-caliber performances abound as we watch Gabriel Byrne’s too-clever-by-half henchman try to stay one step ahead after getting caught in a whirlwind of conflicting loyalties and breaking ties with his powerful crime boss. A high-water mark in Nineties American cinema that marked a stride forward in the Coens’ filmmaking craft, “Miller’s Crossing” was recently singled out by Fincher during a post-screening Q&A at LA. The director had nothing but glowing praise for the 1990 thriller, drawing attention to one of its most memorable scenes, in which John Turturro’s slippery bookie begs for his life after being taken to the woods, and remarking that it actually served as a key inspirational touchstone in terms of devising the overall tone for “The Killer”.

5. Notorious (1946)

In this globe-trotting Hitchcock spy thriller Fincher once referred to as a “magic trick of epic proportions”, Ingrid Bergman delights playing against type as the disgraced American daughter of a convicted German war criminal who’s recruited by a suave U.S. intelligence agent (Cary Grant) to seduce a Nazi industrialist hiding out in Brazil.

In Taste of Cinema, we’ll be the first to admit that comparisons between Fincher and Hitchcock, though not entirely without merit, are a bit overblown these days. Film critics and fans are all partially to blame, but it also must be noted that the “Fight Club” director has never tried to hide his admiration for the Master of Suspense and has repeatedly acknowledged the great artistic debt he owes to “Vertigo” among many other Hitchcock genre milestones. After all, Fincher famously credits being taken by his father to see a re-release of “Rear Window” at the tender age of 7 as a formative experience that forever sealed his love for cinema (and perhaps ignited his interest in voyeurism too).

The thinly-veiled Hitchcockian references and stylistic nods littered all over his filmography — including a point-of-view shot in 1997s “The Game” entirely lifted from “Notorious” in which a character blacks out and collapses after drinking covertly spiked coffee — have done nothing if not fuel the comparisons between both.

People love thriller movies. And last decade gave us plenty of reasons to believe the genre is still alive and well, with word-of-mouth sensations like “Get Out”, “Prisoners” and “Gone Girl” taking on a life of their own and carving out an audience despite the alarming dominance of multi-billion franchises at the box office and the emergence of streaming giants.

However, finding a genuinely great thriller that will get your blood pumping and keep you on the edge of your seat becomes increasingly hard once you’ve blazed through all the classic titles that routinely pop up on decade-end roundups. This is a list that aims just at fixing that; plucking out 10 underseen thriller movies that went largely unnoticed at the time of the release and you may not have heard much about but deserve a second look. From kidnappers and global hackers to deranged serial killers — keep reading for our selection of 2010s underseen gems worth your time.

1. Lost River (2014)

Ryan Gosling spent most of the past decade collecting accolades and seven-figure checks while shuffling between roles in all kinds of prestige studio tentpoles, from “Drive” and “La La Land” to “Blade Runner 2049”. But it’s a crying shame that while the perennial A-lister was being courted by the entire industry, his first big swing at directing didn’t make a significantly bigger splash after getting completely trashed at the 2014 Cannes festival.

Thinly-veiled nods to brand-name filmmakers (including David Lynch, Harmony Korine, Terrence Malick and Gosling’s three-time collaborator Nicolas Winding Refn) abound in this unorthodox thriller about a single mother and part-time hooker and his teenage son living in a decaying Detroit neighborhood who are swept into a dark underworld in order to make ends meet.

Buoyed by top-caliber performances by Ben Mendelsohn, Matt Smith and Saoirse Ronan, “Lost River” suggests something of a cross between “Mulholland Drive”, “The Tree of Life” and “Only God Forgives”, which on paper sounds like cinematic nirvana for a particular brand of movie junkie. Even if that might not sound like the kind of thing that floats your boat, Benoit Debie’s dazzling cinematography and Johnny Jewel’s dreamy score alone are enough to give you a head-rush on your first go-round.

2. Forgotten (2017)

Even in a decade capped off by Parasite’s groundbreaking sweep at the 2019 Oscars and an ever-increasing global appetite for Korean cinema, it’s unfortunate that not enough attention has been paid to this underrated 2017 mystery thriller by Jang Hang-jun, a must-see gem cut from the same cloth as “Oldboy” that offers rewards galore for anyone looking for some edge-of-your-seat thrills.

It’s hard to wax lyrical about “Forgotten” without delving too deep into spoiler territory. But suffice it to say that this gruesome tale about a young student whose sense of identity begins to unravel shortly after moving into a new house with his family will keep you hooked throughout. A masterclass in sustained tension that folds the story on itself many times over, Jang’s gnarly thriller remained in relative obscurity through no fault of its own before coming to Netflix, where it finally began to find the cult audience it always deserved. If nothing else, more so than any of the other movies on this list, “Forgotten” is ideally suited to reward multiple viewings, each more engrossing than the last.

3. Killing Them Softly (2012)

Aussie director Andrew Dominik has fallen out of favor with pundits and movie junkies alike following the disastrous “Blonde” press tour. And while he earned every ounce of scorn he received last awards season, we retain a lot of appreciation for his unfairly maligned second collaboration with Brad Pitt — a cold, clinical crime caper about trigger-friendly mob assassins, two-bit bookies and petty thieves all paddling frantically to keep their head above the water in the run-up to the 2008 US presidential election.

What starts as a Coen-esque comedy of errors triggered by a heist-gone-wrong slowly settles into a scathing indictment on corporate America that suggests that bureaucratic inertia and corruption ripples through every existing structure of power, regardless of which side of the law it may stand on. Subtlety isn’t really in Dominik’s wheelhouse, and the way he fits in some wry commentary about the 2008 market crash and financial crisis by bluntly juxtaposing it to the collapse of a local criminal underworld after three guys rob a high-stakes Mob card game may be challenging to swallow for certain viewers. But if the events of the past 11 years are anything to go by, we’d all be wise to take the film’s pointed message seriously.

4. Wild Tales (2014)

A wedding quickly turning sour after ugly secrets come to light, a food poisoning revenge plot gone awry at an abandoned restaurant, a car being towed triggering one man’s downfall, and a gardener pleading guilty to a crime committed by the son of his wealthy employer are all par for the course in this wildly unpredictable six-part anthology written and directed by Damián Szifron.

At once absurdly funny and deeply unsettling in its offhand brutality, this landmark of New Argentine cinema feels somewhat slept-on these days, even though it did heap near-universal praise and nabbed an Oscar nomination during its initial release. A movie ostensibly about revenge that concerns ordinary people under extraordinary pressure, “Wild Tales” might veer into more pitch-black comedy territory at times — it’s hard not to think of the Coen Brothers during certain segments — but will knock your wind out by switching gears and swerving to full-blown horror within a moment’s notice. All in all, this is a good title to add to your Netflix queue that should appeal to viewers who have seen “Fargo”, “In Bruges” and “Uncut Gems” too many times to count.

5. Blackhat (2015)

Michael Mann made his name and reputation with lean, mean shoot-em-ups that delved into the minds of unrepentant criminals and morally astray everymen. The director’s running fascination carried over from his highly productive ’90s run into the new millennium, which saw the mastermind behind “Thief” and “Heat” hit a second creative peak, first by moving from celluloid to digital (“Collateral” and “Miami Vice”) and later by transplanting the preoccupations of his early work into the realm of 21st-century cyber-terrorism with “Blackhat”.

Reviled by critics and unceremoniously pulled from most North American theaters by Universal only two weeks after its release, Mann’s techno-thriller finds Chris Hemsworth (at the peak of his movie-star celebrity) play against type as a professional hacker and convicted bank robber who’s released from prison in order to help Chinese and American authorities find the culprit behind a cyber-attack of a Hong Kong nuclear plant.

Forget “Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning” — if you’re ever looking for a pulse-pounding cautionary tale about the looming threat of AI and the scary geopolitical risks of cybercrime writ large featuring an implausibly-competent secret agent that is also built like a Norse god, look no further.

By 1990, westerns were few and far between. When Kevin Costner starred, directed and produced Dances With Wolves in 1990 and then Clint Eastwood starred, directed and produced Unforgiven in 1992, a western resurgence would occur. Both were hits at the box office and earned multiple Academy Awards.

Now Hollywood would get to work on making more westerns because when Hollywood sees success and money, they want more of what made it. Fortunately, the westerns to be made had skillful directors, strong actors and solid screenplays. The western was no longer thought of as a dying genre. It was born again.

1. The Quick And The Dead (1995)

Working primarily in horror beforehand, Director Sam Raimi moves away from the grotesque and focuses on the wild west. Throughout the western genre, there are hundreds of films that all star men. But in 1995 comes one that stars a woman. After acting in films for a decade, the talented Sharon Stone had her breakthrough performance in the hit 1992 film Basic Instinct. Now a part of superstardom, Stone selects ambitious projects to star in moving forward. The first was Sliver which kept the sexiness of Basic Instinct going.

Here she abandons sexy for tough as a gunslinger who holds her own in a cast of men that includes the incredible Gene Hackman, a pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio, and in his American film debut, Russell Crowe. Rounding out the cast is Gary Sinise, Lance Henrikson, and Pat Hingle who was cinema’s first Commissioner Gordon in Tim Burton’s Batman.

The acting along with the cinematography is worth the watch. Close-ups, fast zooms and oblique framing present a showdown between two gunslingers that puts us right next to the tumbleweeds. With a cinematic style that blends well with the unpredictable west, Raimi exhibits a western film that we haven’t seen before.

2. Far And Away (1992)

After years of directing comedies and dramas, Ron Howard steps into his first epic film. Starring real-life couple at the time Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman who both play Irish immigrants in America during the 1890s. With dreams of owning their own land, they travel to America to take part in the Land Run of 1893 – the largest land run in history. In an amazing cinematic sequence, several potential settlers race on horses to claim their land.

Cruise has always been the consummate movie star and the physicality of this role proves that. Along with Kidman who’s as great as always, the duo show charisma in their second film together following the 1990 hit Days Of Thunder. Seven years later they would star in their third and last film together, Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.

Director Ron Howard always has big stories in mind and in three years directs one of his best films, Apollo 13. With Far And Away being the first film of its scope for Howard, he would later take on major films of the 2000’s such as A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code. While this film started a multitude of projects for Howard that are a far cry from the comedies and dramas before them, every one of them maintains a high caliber of entertainment.

3. El Mariachi (1992)

Independent films were reaching their annex in the early 90s. Richard Linklater came out with his first film Slacker which he made for $23,000. Quentin Tarantino made waves with Reservoir Dogs. Robert Rodriguez made his mark too but not on purpose. Made with a budget of $7,000 for the purpose of being distributed on Mexican home video, El Mariachi became an indie darling and took the cinematic world by storm. It got the attention of Columbia Pictures who financed its post-production and spent a great deal more on marketing and distribution.

The story is unique – a criminal who carries a guitar case full of weapons and seeks revenge on a drug lord. Rodriquez became a made man in Hollywood and continues to make successful franchises like Spy Kids and Machete. He even owns his own cable network El Rey. Two sequels and a television series were created in the years to follow El Mariachi. There’s no doubt that Rodriguez would become successful, but the fact that it all came from a little action film with no names and a shoestring budget makes this film stand out in cinema history.

4. Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)

Directed by the accomplished Walter Hill, best known for The Warriors and 48 Hours, this film gives us an honest portrayal of the Apache Leader Geronimo. This is less of a history lesson and more of an entertaining story about the Apache Wars and his surrender to U.S Government Troops. Geronimo is played brilliantly by Wes Studi who previously appeared in Dances With Wolves and The Last Of The Mohicans. Starring alongside him is the compelling Jason Patric as well as a very young Matt Damon in one of his earliest roles. Also in the cast are two bona fide screen legends – Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall.

Even with a cast like that and a top-notch director, the film was not a success. Hill attributes its failure to the broadcast of the Geronimo TV Movie which aired on the cable network TNT less than a week before his film was released in theaters. In the 30 years since its release, no film or TV Movie about Geronimo has been made. It’s a fascinating story with a strong cast that deserves to be seen.

5. Ravenous (1999)

Ravenous is by far the oddest film on this list as it’s one of the few westerns made that features cannibalism. Guy Pearce, fresh off his breakthrough role in L.A. Confidential, plays a US Army Lieutenant during the Mexican-American War. He’s sent into exile at a remote military outpost that’s populated by a group of misfits that include David Arquette and Jeremy Davies. Eventually a stranger comes along played by Robert Carlyle who turns out to be trouble for the group.

Being set in California in the 1840s only makes the subject of the film more outlandish. In fact, it was too weird for audiences and bombed in its theatrical run. However, the film has gone on to earn cult status over the years. The film warrants an audience because of its entertaining nature. No film in history is similar which begs the question, how did this story about cannibalism ever make it to the big screen?

The Nineties decade produced a bounty of stand-out thrillers that ruled the box office, stood the test of time and are now regarded as timeless masterpieces. David Fincher, Michael Mann, the Coens, David Lynch, among many others put their personal stamp on the genre and did their part to keep its essence alive into the new millennium. But perhaps you’ve blazed through all the usual suspects — “Se7en”, “Heat”, “The Silence of the Lambs”, just to name a few — and are looking for something that will scratch that itch. Or maybe you’ve grown tired of doom-scrolling through Netflix looking for some edge-of-the-seat thrills to no avail. If that’s the case, we’ve got you covered.

For the purpose of this list, we’re digging a little deeper to focus on masterpieces hidden in plain sight that slipped under the radar but deserve a second look. From neo-noir to erotic potboilers, from slow-burner chillers to over-the-top guns blazing extravaganzas, keep reading for ten ’90s gems you may not have heard much about but won’t want to miss.

1. Red Rock West (1993)

John Dahl’s shadowy neo-Western about a down-on-his-luck drifter who ends up caught between a rock and a hard place after being mistaken by a hitman is worth watching if for no other reason than to see prime Nic Cage and Dennis Hopper (in full Frank Booth mode) hamming it up together for 98 glorious minutes.

And if the prospect of watching this high-wattage Hollywood dream pairing pitted against each other in an intricate game of cat and mouse across rural Wyoming somehow isn’t enticing enough to get your adrenaline pumping, it’s worth noting that this curious case of mistaken identity combines the black-comic sensibility of early Coen brothers and the narrative hijinks of David Lynch with enough twists and double-crosses to make Alfred Hitchcock’s head spin. Okay, maybe we are overselling it a bit, but that’s only because if you haven’t watched “Red Rock West” yet, you’re legitimately missing out on one of the most woefully overlooked ’90s thrillers.

2. Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

As Easy Rawlins, a careworn WWII vet-turned-self-styled gumshoe who is hired to track down the missing lover of a wealthy mayoral candidate in late-1940s Los Angeles, Denzel Washington delivers a tour de force performance for the ages.

One of the countless titles to hit the multiplex in the 1990s that freely updated the classic noir template by retooling its timeworn genre tropes with striking visuals and pointed social commentary, Carl Franklin’s big-screen adaptation of the hard-boiled novel by Walter Mosley offers rewards galore for fans of stylish, intricately woven whodunits.

The film might draw its primary weight from Denzel’s ice-cool charisma — the actor sure seems to be having a blast as Rawlins’ perpetually out-of-his-depth amateur sleuth — but “Devil in a Blue Dress” works just as well as a saw-edged parable for post-war America that effectively plays on themes of racial prejudice and political corruption. Tom Sizemore and Don Cheadle set the screen aflame in small but memorable supporting roles.

3. Bullet in the Head (1990)

No one provided ’90s moviegoers with more bang for their buck than John Woo, the trailblazing Hong Kong auteur who made his name and reputation with explosive cocktails of gun-fu action ecstasy before leveraging his newfound international clout into a successful career stateside.

As much as we enjoy watching Chow Yun-Fat fight back a horde of enemies with a baby in his arms in “Hard Boiled” — let’s be honest here, cinema doesn’t get any cooler than that — it’s a crying shame that not enough attention has been paid to this epically engineered bullet ballad about three longtime friends who find their bond tested after being caught up in the thick of the Vietnam War.

Bouncing from one high-octane set piece to another, each more exhilarating than the last, “Bullet in the Head” is a blast of unadulterated thrills and soap melodrama that keeps you on the edge of your seat before slowly opening into a genuinely moving and ultimately profound study of camaraderie and loyalty. Seriously, any diehard fan of the John Wick series out there who hasn’t seen this unsung gem yet has some serious homework to do.

4. Bound (1996)

Before they announced themselves on the world stage and set the standard for modern Hollywood blockbusters at the century’s close with an inventive fusion of cyberpunk sci-fi, martial arts and cutting-edge VFX, the Wachowskis kept things a bit more grounded with this stripped-down, ultra lo-fi nail-bitter about a hard-edged female ex-con (Gina Gershon) who plans to steal $2 million from the mob with the help of her seductive neighbor, the ex-girlfriend of a local gangster (Jennifer Tilly).

When talking about the plethora of assured directorial debuts that played like gangbusters during the Nineties, conversations usually begin with Quentin Tarantino’s 1992s “Reservoir Dogs” and end with Spike Jonze’s 1999s “Being John Malkovich”. Sandwiched between both is this sensual, smart and provocative slice of gangster-noir, which may get a little lost in the shuffle but endures as a masterclass in suspense that ratchets up the erotic tension until it seeps from every frame. If you ever need proof that the Wachowskis’ directorial bravura existed long before “The Matrix”, we suggest you keep this one on your radar.

5. Miami Blues (1990)

Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh star respectively as a recently released ex-con prone to violent outbursts and a gullible part-time hooker who shack up and embark on a wild crime spree across South Beach in this gonzo urban caper that channels the cocksure irreverence of Quentin Tarantino, the urban grit of Abel Ferrara, and the postmodern self-awareness of the Coen brothers.

The bristling chemistry between Baldwin and Leigh alone elevates George Armitage’s scuzzy cult favorite above its crowded competition, especially in the 1990s’ slate of shockingly violent, dirt-cheap genre pastiches that would become hard currency in American indie cinema in the wake of “Pulp Fiction”. Throw in a whip-smart screenplay and an outrageously funny, career-best turn by Fred Ward as a world-weary Miami cop at his wits’ end desperately trying to retrieve his stolen badge and gun, and you have a cracked-up vision of Americana that doesn’t let up till the final frame.

It’s crazy to think that Leonardo DiCaprio has been one of our biggest movie stars for three decades already. Over the course of his career, the 48-year-old actor has reinvented himself many times over — stretching back to his early days as a teen heartthrob and perennial Oscar contender to his newfound role as a high-profile activist — all while being courted by the entire industry as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.

Ever since he was speed-injected into the mainstream with 1993s “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”, DiCaprio has established himself as a one-man brand with enough pull to put asses in seats and turn movies into global events on his name alone without ever having to don a cape, suit up in spandex, or do crazy stunts. Despite turning down too many lucrative roles to name, he’s crafted the most consistent and diverse resume of all his peers by opting to work almost exclusively alongside Hollywood’s finest directors, including Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and Clint Eastwood, to name a few.

DiCaprio’s latest film, “Killers of the Flower Moon”, marks the sixth time the actor has teamed up with Martin Scorsese. An adaptation of David Grann’s non-fiction bestseller of the same name, the star-studded crime epic depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation in early-1920s Oklahoma. So, in light of the much-anticipated movie finally hitting theaters before its arrival on Apple TV+ this fall, we’re looking back on one of Hollywood’s defining creative partnerships since the turn of the century.

6. Gangs of New York (2002)

The Scorsese-DiCaprio axis got off to a shaky start with this richly detailed but bloated 19th century period epic, a long-gestating passion project based on a book by Herbert Asbury that the director had kept on the back burner since the seventies before a troubled production saw him go over budget and wage war against Miramax honcho Harvey Weinstein.

DiCaprio, perhaps a bit too eager here to shed his Titanic-era matinee idol status, wasn’t afraid of stretching himself as an actor taking on the role of revenge-seeking Irish immigrant Amsterdam Valley, who returns to the gang-ridden intersection of lower Manhattan known as the Five Points to avenge the murder of his father at the hands of Daniel-Day-Lewis’ Bill the Butcher.

Though the film pivots around DiCaprio’s nominal lead character, “Gangs of New York” so often belongs to the second-billed Day-Lewis, who carries the entire movie on his shoulders going from friendly to sinister within a moment’s notice as the mustachioed Bowery Boy gang leader — an electrifying turn that would land him his third Oscar nomination.

5. The Aviator (2004)

DiCaprio fared much better in his second go-round with Scorsese, which found the former teen heartthrob stepping into the shoes of Howard Hughes in this lavish, star-packed tentpole. The then-29-year-old star excels at compartmentalizing the eponymous character’s inner turmoil and sense of solitude, as we watch the same man who once became a larger-than-life celebrity, billionaire mogul, eccentric film producer, and aviation magnate during the 1930s decade slowly succumb to his demons and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

It’s a delicate balancing act to pull off, but Leo channels Hughes’ many contradictions and layers, skillfully transitioning from baby-faced all-American genius with boundless ambition and indefatigable charisma to paranoid recluse spiraling into madness. It’s tempting to bump this film up a few spots solely on the basis of DiCaprio’s Oscar-nominated turn — some would argue he’s never been better under Scorsese’s stewardship — but that isn’t enough to overlook the bloated runtime and rather dull stretches of the story, both of which make “The Aviator” stick out like a sore thumb within the director’s own back catalog.

4. Shutter Island (2010)

Scorsese surprised many when he leveraged his Hollywood clout after storming the festival circuit with “The Departed” into shooting this pulpy Hitchcockian mystery based on a potboiler novel by Dennis Lehane, which went on to rack up nearly $300 million worldwide to become his highest-grossing project to date.

Though nowadays widely regarded as a “one for them” genre fare constructed for mass appeal, “Shutter Island” is a brilliant showcase for DiCaprio to flex his acting chops as Edward “Teddy” Daniels, a U.S. Marshal who comes home from serving in WWII only to plummet down the rabbit hole of self-deception after being charged with investigating the disappearance of a patient from a mental asylum in a secluded island.

Ambiguity is the name of the game in this neo-noir-esque exercise in genre filmmaking that thrives in building tension and manages to keep the viewer guessing at every turn. DiCaprio, who dominated the 2010 blockbuster scene by also starring in “Inception” later that summer, proves particularly adept at playing a deluded man hopelessly haunted by his past. One can debate whether the film’s last-minute rug-pull moment works or not, but it does make it the least rewatchable of the bunch.

When we think of Westerns, cowboys often come to mind. A showdown in the street. Tumbleweeds blow by as everyone from a little stretch of town stares to see who walks away. Truth is Westerns aren’t about who’s in it. It’s about where it’s located. As long as it takes place in the American West, you got yourself a Western. Here are ten that are worth checking out.

1. Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)

Westerns always star a tough guy like Clint Eastwood or John Wayne – the type of men who never back down. However, in this film the lead is Spencer Tracy. Yes, the guy who co-starred in all those comedies with Katherine Hepburn who were together in real life too. He’s short, in his mid-50s and to make matters more complicated, he only has one arm. So how the hell is he going to stand up to a group of bullies who don’t want him in their town?

In a durable performance, Tracy shows machismo in a way you wouldn’t expect. At first, he does everything to avoid a dilemma and gets physical only when he must. In a fight scene against the versatile Ernest Borgnine, Tracy gets pushed to the brink and retaliates with a few moves that knock him down harder than any single punch. Borgnine gave an Oscar-Winning performance in Marty which was released three months later to show he could play a nice, shy character in addition to this rugged fellow.

Filling out the cast are the great Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Walter Brennan as some of the town folk. With all the remakes made in recent decades, this film certainly deserves one. The themes hold up very well today and there would definitely be an actor or actress who could fill the role that Tracy does so masterfully.

2. Seraphim Falls (2006)

Good guys and bad guys make up just about every movie out there. But in this film, which is which? It stars Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan. Two great actors who famously played good guys. Liam Neeson was Oscar Schindler for Pete’s sake! In the past fifteen years, he’s often been the good guy in a string of action movies like Taken. Pierce Brosnan was freakin’ James Bond! And while he was the bad guy to Robin Williams’ Mrs. Doubtfire, he was a still good guy in the end.

The filmmakers do something very interesting here. They neither tell us who the good guy nor the bad guy is. We’re left to make that decision for ourselves. It’s done through fantastic storytelling that is rarely seen in film, but has been seen in a few television series like Breaking Bad and Mad Men. The reason why it’s a rarity is audiences like to know who to root for and who to root against. Once in a while, a story needs to mix things up to test moviegoers. Here audiences are certainly tested and at the end, the film is a satisfying experience.

3. Maverick (1994)

Based on the television series of the same name, the film is directed by the legendary Richard Donner. With a screenplay written by the great William Goldman (Marathon Man and The Princess Bride), the film reaches a silliness often not seen in this genre. Heading the cast is Mel Gibson who has never been funnier. Jodie Foster shows her comedic side which she doesn’t show enough in films. And popping up from time to time is the accomplished James Garner who played Maverick in the series.

There’s no shortage of great talent in the supporting cast which is filled to the brim – Alfred Molina, James Coburn and Graham Greene. Keep on the lookout for a hilarious cameo by Gibson’s partner from Lethal Weapon, Danny Glover. At times, the movie is so absurd that it feels like a parody of westerns, but there’s enough gunplay and ethos to ground it in the genre. It’s entertaining all the way thorough with a rewarding finale that is absolutely earned.

4. Quigley Down Under (1990)

More the traditional western, this selection has a star you wouldn’t expect to see in one – Tom Selleck. Why he never took off as a movie star should bewilder people. Great on Magnum P.I. and Blue Bloods, he was just as great on the big screen. Whether it was comedy in Three Men And A Baby or drama in An Innocent Man, he delivered in spades.

Just as he did in this enjoyable western that co-stars Alan Rickman as the evil to Selleck’s righteousness. This would be part of a trilogy of bad guy roles for Rickman aside from Die Hard and Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. This the lesser-known villain doesn’t pale in comparison to Hans Gruber or the Sheriff Of Nottingham. All three are equally wicked and amusing to watch. Also to be mentioned is the heart of the film, Laura San Giacomo who rounds out the cast. With a solid cast, this is a damn good western that gives you what you’d expect and then some.

5. Little Big Man (1970)

How many films can take place over one man’s life that lasts 121 years? Benjamin Button only had 85 with the benefit of aging backwards. This story is about Jack Crabb which starts when he’s ten years old and takes us through many aspects of the West. Crabb even meets some famous people along the way including Wild Bill Hickok and George Custer.

It’s the Forrest Gump of the West, but instead of a bench, he’s telling his story from a wheelchair in a hospice. And instead of telling whoever was sitting beside him, Crabb tells an interested historian played by the one-of-a-kind character actor William Hickey. Crabb is played by Dustin Hoffman who was only 33 when the movie was made. His performance as the 121 year old Jack Crabb is more convincing than the usual young actor with old age make-up. This was very early in Hoffman’s career so it says a lot that he can successfully play a character in many different eras of his life. It shows why he’s one of the greats.

Any discussion of the greatest actor-director team-ups in cinema history must include Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. Starting with “Mean Streets” in 1973, the duo has been working together for half a century now, giving audiences a slew of timeless masterpieces and knockout performances that have established them both as living legends within their respective fields.

These two titans of American cinema reunite once again this year with “Killers of the Flower Moon”, a sweeping tale of love, blood, and betrayal set on the western frontier that rolls back the clock to one of the darkest chapters in American history. Also featuring another frequent Scorsese screen muse in Leonardo DiCaprio, the much anticipated true-crime epic recounts the suspicious series of murders of members of the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight after oil was discovered underneath their land.

Based on David Grann’s gripping nonfiction book of the same name, “Killers of the Flower Moon” marks the latest chapter in one of the most fruitful artistic partnerships in the history of American cinema. As the film prepares to hit theaters before dropping on Apple TV+ later this fall, we have set ourselves the impossible task of scanning through their list of shared credits and ranking their ten features to date.

10. New York, New York (1977)

How do you follow up on a masterpiece? That was the challenge Scorsese and De Niro faced after their “Taxi Driver” triumph. The result — a major heel turn from a guy who up that point was mostly known for gritty character studies — was this old-fashioned tribute to MGM musicals that attempted to fuse Scorsese’s fascination for the high-gloss artifice of Golden Age Hollywood with the grungy cinéma-verité realism he inherited from his mentor John Cassavetes.

A massive critical and commercial flop that almost derailed Scorsese’s career, “New York, New York” finds De Niro playing against type as a jazz saxophone player who comes home from serving in WWII and strikes an on-again, off-again relationship with an aspiring singer (Liza Minnelli). Though not without spurts of Scorsese’s patented craftsmanship, which yield a few show-stopping sequences scattered in between, “New York, New York” is the sort of swing-for-the-fences oddity that feels more fascinating to read about than to actually sit through. We’ll treasure Minnelli’s iconic rendition of the title song and move along.

9. Cape Fear (1991)

Most of us would agree that De Niro has taken on weightier roles throughout his career, but for sheer fun and flavor, you have to admire his commitment to the bit while playing Max Caddy — a tattooed, cigar-chomping ex-convict fresh out of jail who raises hell and terrorizes the family of the defense lawyer who helped put him behind bars 14 years ago.

There’s a strong case to be made that the actor has never been as hilarious, creepy, or flat-out, top-to-bottom entertaining as here, and despite having very big shoes to fill (Robert Mitchum had previously played Caddy in the 1962 original), he somehow makes the character his own. Steven Spielberg was initially attached to helm this remake based on J. Lee Thompson’s potboiler of the same name, but decided to swap projects with Scorsese, who was tied up with a little adaptation of his own called “Schindler’s List”. The rest, as the old adage goes, is history — Spielberg’s Holocaust drama would be nominated for a whopping 12 Academy Awards, winning seven; meanwhile, “Cape Fear” became the biggest commercial splash in Scorsese’s career to date, later serving as the basis for one of the funniest Simpsons’ episodes.

8. The Irishman (2019)

Much ink has been spilled over the not-entirely-convincing de-aging technology and gargantuan runtime of “The Irishman”, which stretches past the three-and-a-half-hour mark and spans the 1950s to the early 2000s. In retrospect, how could anyone blame Scorsese for pulling out all stops after rounding up some of his prized collaborators (plus Al Pacino!) and getting Netflix to bankroll the expensive coda to his signature genre?

We retain a lot of residual love for this elegiac and bittersweet tale of brotherhood, betrayal, and the ruthless passage of time based on the memoirs of Frank Sheeran, a former union truck driver turned mob hitman who rose through the ranks of the Bufalino crime family during the 1960s. “The Irishman” certainly works on its own merits, but its slow-brewed portrayal of organized crime benefits from some familiarity with Scorsese’s early stabs at the genre. In fact, in some ways it retroactively relays new meaning and depth to something like “Goodfellas” or “Casino”. That it is nowhere near as flashy, glamorous or frantically paced as the aforementioned two titles is not a bug, but a deliberate choice that actually makes total sense when you realize this is a film made by an old man looking back at his legacy and confronting his own mortality.

7. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

It would be a disservice to the complexity of “Killers of the Flower Moon” to describe it as a western. Scorsese’s adaptation of David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction book is many things at once — a true-life crime tale, a perverse love story, an all-encompassing anthropological study, a chilling dismantling of the American dream, you name it — that only reveals its true theme as it progresses. Greed and murder, the twin poles upon which America was founded and key leitmotifs of Scorsese’s career, get restaged once again as we bear witness the systematic killing of members of the oil-rich Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma.

The film may pivot around Gladstone and DiCaprio’s performances, but De Niro sets the screen aflame as William ‘King’ Hale, a silver-tongued cattle baron with an unquenchable desire for wealth who convinces his dim-witted nephew into marrying an Osage tribe member as part of his sinister scheme to seize her family’s oil headrights. De Niro nails the perfect balance of friendly elderly neighbor and cold-blooded manipulator that gives Hale his singular presence, as we watch this wolf in sheep’s clothing — a man who’s consciously buried his humanity for the sake of money — pull the strings behind the curtain while the members of the Osage family begin to drop like flies.

In expanding his career-long exploration of the corrupting influence of capitalism on the human spirit by looking backwards to one of the darkest chapters of early 20th-century US history, Scorsese fashions a movie that couldn’t be more timely or timeless.

6. Casino (1995)

Almost thirty years later, it’s still hard to sort out how well does “Casino” stack up within Scorsese’s own back catalog. It’s no backhanded compliment to say it’s always felt like a minor retread of “Goodfellas” (a similarly structured look at organized crime that also happened to be based on a Nicholas Pileggi memoir) that falls short of its predecessor’s uncanny brilliance. One hardly needs to peer too closely to spot the similarities between the two — Rolling Stones needle drops, snappy voiceovers, propulsive editing rhythms, and De Niro and Pesci tag-teaming up as fellow hoodlums is all par for the course, which explains why some viewers might have been left with a feeling of deja-vu-like familiarity.

“Casino” was penalized at the time because it had the bad fortune of arriving on the heels of what is likely the greatest gangster movie ever, but the sheer craft on display is unimpeachable, and the whole thing whips by at such clip you might feel tempted to hit the replay button as soon as the screen fades to black. De Niro anchors the story as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a shady casino manager vying for power in 1970s Las Vegas, but the movie really belongs to Sharon Stone, who steals the show on the strength of her fearless turn as Sam’s two-timing trophy wife Ginger.

Dark Comedies, or Black Comedies as they are sometimes called, are a unique genre that manages to blend comedy with darker elements, think Heathers (1988) or Jojo Rabbit (2019). Usually the subject matter of Dark Comedies circles topics such as death, mental health decline, murder, and societal injustice, with movies like Parasite (2019) and Ready or Not (2017) fitting that trope perfectly.

The previous decades have seen great variety in the kind of dark comedies that are being released, one only has to recall movies such as Lars and the Real Girl (2007) and The Lobster (2015), to see how diverse movies in this category can be.

1. Promising Young Woman (2020)

Writer-director Emerald Fennell’s first feature film grossed $19 million worldwide and was nominated in several categories including in the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress etc., taking home the prize for Best Original Screenplay. Fennell also managed to nab the Best Original Screenplay at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Writers’ Guild Awards, and British Academy Film Awards.

Promising Young Woman is a rare movie that manages to subvert genres seamlessly, with the movie dappling in dark comedy, revenge thriller, mystery, and just the right amount of a rom-com, giving the audience a little bit of everything and appealing to a wider demographic. At the heart of it, Promising Young Woman is a take on rape culture, trauma and revenge, and the movie doesn’t let you forget that with its take on a likable, but unpredictable protagonist played by Carey Mulligan (Cassandra).

Cassandra is a 30 something med-school dropout with a tortured past who lives with her parents and works at a coffee shop by day, and spends her nights pretending to be drunk, hunting for ‘nice guys’ who might try to take advantage of her, and if they do, she exacts her own form of revenge on them. When she re-connects with Ryan (Bo Burnham), a former classmate, her life takes a turn, and she begins to seek closure for what happened in the past.

Mulligan and Burnham’s chemistry is sugary sweet, tying in the pastel color scheme and neons the movie is famous for, add to that, Fennell’s focus on visual symmetry makes some of the shots in this movie reminiscent of work by Wes Anderson. The further artful use of symbolism and the overall emphasis on the disturbing subject matter being balanced with dark humor, makes the impact of this movie unsettling and lasting.

2. Fresh (2022)

Directed by Mimi Cave, Fresh is an interesting take on the modern day horrors that come with dating and stars Sebastian Stan (Steve) and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Noa). After running into each other in a grocery store and exchanging numbers, the pair go on a date and soon hit it off. After a weekend getaway, Noa soon realizes Steve may not be the man he claims to be.

Fresh takes—for lack of a better word—a fresh take on social commentary, life as a woman, and the dangers of online dating in the 21st century. Fresh has an unassuming beginning, setting the scene for the textbook modern day romance starting off with the perfect meet cute, till it flips the narrative completely. Sebastian Stan delivers some of the best acting of his career, his ability to turn on his charm and then leave the audience wholly frightened in the very next scene makes the movie all the more layered. With gory scenes and uncanny scenarios to show Noa’s spiraling mental health, the humor in this movie serves two purposes, as a comic relief taking some weight off the distressing events that unfold, and as sarcastic jabs as social commentary surrounding modern day dating culture.

Daisy Edgar-Jones embodies the role of Noa to such a believable extent, making her experience, or rather failure, in the dating scene, extremely relatable. She’s funny, without having to try too hard and her bond with her best friend Mollie (Jonica “Jojo” T. Gibbs) serves as a surprisingly good and hilarious arc in the movie. All in all, Fresh is a great late night movie if you need something witty and fast paced, that actually stands out from the hoard of thrillers released every year.

3. Ingrid Goes West (2017)

One of Aubrey Plaza’s lesser known works, Ingrid Goes West, sees her take on the role of a social media obsessed stalker, Ingrid Thorburn, who becomes infatuated with an Instagram influencer, Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). From the start of the movie, it is clear that Ingrid is a troubled woman, and her ways of interacting with Taylor are proof enough of that, as she relocates to a place in LA to be closer to her, mimics her fashion style and hair, frequents the same stores as hers, going as far as kidnapping her dog and returning it, so she has a chance to speak to her.

Matt Spicer, expertly balances humor with an unstable protagonist at the helm of it, Plaza’s acting outstanding even in the most bizarre of situations. On top of that, Olsen plays the pretentious trope of what we expect lifestyle influencers to be like in person, in their full avocado toast for breakfast eating glory.

Ingrid’s fixation with Taylor becomes more extreme as the movie progresses, and her attempts to keep up with her fabricated lifestyle become harder to maintain. The movie is a satirical take on a perfectly curated (and superficial) lifestyle and doesn’t shy away from pointing out all the many pitfalls of having a social media persona and how perceptions of influencers and looking up to them as role models can be so flawed.

4. 8 Women (2002)

A French dark comedy musical set in the 1950s in the remote countryside, 8 Women is based off the play by Robert Thomas and stars an impressive ensemble cast including Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart, Isabelle Huppert, Danielle Darrieux, Fanny Ardant, Firmine Richard, Ludivine Sagnier and Virginie Ledoyen, so it’s no surprise that the movie is considered a cult classic and managed to make over $42 million worldwide.

The movie revolves around the 8 women who find themselves suspects in the murder of the Master of the house, after they had all gathered to spend Christmas together at his estate. In this whodunit, to matters more complex, each of the eight women have their set of motives and mountain of secrets they are hiding. Unable to call for help, the women find themselves trying to figure out who the murderer amongst themselves is.

The movie does a great job showcasing the absurdity of the unfortunate situation they are in with increasingly chaotic scenes and revelations of family secrets and resentments. All the women possess very distinct personalities and their interactions with each other are a delight to watch, not to mention the share of physical comedy the movie utilizes too. The flick employs some similar tactics to 1985’s Clue, especially in its comedic approach and whodunit style, but 8 Women manages to mix drama and focus on character growth, whilst also being surprisingly very hilarious.

5. Game Night (2018)

Despite being a success on the box office, Game Night is an often forgotten dark comedy starring Jason Bateman (Max Davis) and Rachel McAdams (Annie Davis). The story follows a group of friends who get together frequently for game nights but when one of their friend, Brooke (Kyle Chandler), gets brutally kidnapped in front of them, they set out to rescue him.

The movie focuses on developing healthy a banter between the friends and the humor, intermixed with suspense, makes the movie all the more enjoyable. One particular scene where Rachel McAdams bursts into song, singing Third Blind Eye’s Semi-Charmed Life is one of the most hilarious scenes in the movie. Indeed, Rachel McAdams shines as the star in this movie, her ability to be the comic relief, while still balancing some of the darker elements of the movie, displays her range like never before, and is a welcome surprise in the movie. Bateman’s chemistry with McAdams and his deadpan humor and dry wit, ends up making even the simplest scenes in the movies funnier than one would expect.

The 1990s was an excellent time for thrillers, sometimes erotic: Basic Instinct, Wild Things, sometimes action-orientated: Breakdown, Mercury Rising, and sometimes forgotten…So, let’s look at ten thrillers from the 1990s that deserve a little more love.

1. Snake Eyes (1998)

Nicolas Cage plays a shady Atlantic City cop who must piece together murderous events in Brian De Palma’s highly stylised labyrinthine 90s thriller. It’s fight night in Atlantic City. Detective Rick Santoro (Nicolas Cage) is with his old friend, Commander Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise), who is head of security in protecting the U.S. Secretary of Defence.

A boxing match begins between heavyweight champion Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw) and challenger Jose Pacifico (Ruiz Adam Flores). During the fight, Commander Dunne is distracted by a mysterious redhead and follows her away from the fight. Another woman, Julia Costello (Carla Gugino), dressed in a white suit with a platinum blonde wig, sits beside Rick and confronts the Secretary of Defence about a government cover-up. In a tour-de-force sequence, a gunshot rings out, and the Secretary of Defence is shot; Rick pulls Julia to safety, with her wig falling to the ground. There’s pandemonium in the arena as everyone runs for the exit, leaving Rick searching for the truth.

The film begins with one of those long Steadicam tracking shots that tell you that Brian De Palma is making a ‘Brian De Palma film.’ The opening shot follows Cages’ tainted Detective through the Atlantic City arena, revealing an inner world away from the storm brewing outside. He proclaims to his buddy Commander Dunne, “It’s my sewer… Everybody knows me…I was made for this sewer baby, and I am the king.” So, with this baseline in the real-time narrative of Snake Eyes, we witness the detective’s worldview change as he gets closer to the truth – and becomes a better man by the final reel.

De Palma utilises Kurosawa’s ‘Rashomon effect’ with a series of inventive flashbacks and points of view as Cage’s Rick Santoro puts the pieces back in De Palma’s jigsaw narrative. De Palma deploys all his film grammar arsenal – spectacular overhead tracking shots, complex Steadicam shots, swish-pans and split diopter compositions, culminating in a stylish, well-paced thriller from the modern master of suspense.

2. Extreme Measures (1996)

A patient arrives in the emergency room at a New York hospital; he’s bald, in his forties, naked and has convulsions. Dr Guy Luthan (Hugh Grant) examines the patient and learns he’s called Claude Minkins (Shaun Austin-Olsen); distressed, Claude tells Guy to go to “the room”. Unable to save him, let alone understand him, Claude dies, and when Guy goes looking for the autopsy report, he discovers that the patient’s records are missing and that Claude’s body has also disappeared.

Even though everyone writes Claude off as just another homeless guy who died, Guy becomes obsessed with finding the truth about him. Did he escape from another hospital? Why did his records disappear? And why does everyone want him to forget Claude and move on?

Guy finds himself going further down the rabbit hole; his boss warns him off, no one believes him and his career as a doctor lies in ruins as a couple of dodgy cops plant drugs in his apartment. Grant turns Cary Grant à la Hitchcock, becoming an innocent man wrongly accused, dodging bullets, and discovering a secret organisation where Dr. Lawrence Myrick (Gene Hackman) plays God—finding a hidden world where homeless people, healthy subjects that “won’t be missed”, can be used as test subjects.

Playing against type, Hugh Grant plays a convincing doctor who ponders the American healthcare culture and medical ethics. Hackman, as a Dr. Frankenstein-styled humanitarian, has little to do besides confronting the good doctor on moral principles: “If you could cure cancer by killing one person, wouldn’t you have to do that?

Extreme Measures raises some thought-provoking questions on how far a doctor should go if he can cure paralysis, help patients with spinal injuries and change lives. With assured direction by Michael Apted (Gorky Park), it hasn’t got the wham-bam explosions of contemporary thrillers like Chain Reaction or Ransom, settling for a more calculated pace, with the medical dilemma of doctors playing Gods at the centre of the action.

Based on Michael Palmer’s 1991 novel, Extreme Measures was Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley’s first foray into film production with their company Simian, and the result is an entertaining thriller which is much better than it should be.

3. Rear Window (1998)

A woman driving at night crashes into another car, leaving her dead. An effective zoom shot reveals the person in the other vehicle as we are transported to a rehabilitation centre and meet Jason Kemp (Christopher Reeve). A former architect, Jason survives the crash but must live the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

We see Jason’s new life in a fancy apartment equipped with voice-activated computers and light sensors in the elevator. Living his life as a person with quadriplegia, Jason spends most of his days staring out the window at his neighbours. Luckily, everyone has their blinds and curtains open, and Jason has free access to the private worlds of his neighbours: the love affairs, the sexual encounters, the relationship problems.

Jason steps up his voyeuristic obsession with the neighbours, installing cameras and proclaiming himself a “citizen voyeur”. His primary focus is the relationship problems between Julian and Ilene Thorpe (Ritchie Coster, Allison Mackie); having already reported the husband’s spousal abuse to the police, Jason now believes that the husband has murdered his wife and seemingly replaced his wife with another woman.

Jason calls in Detective Charlie Moore (Robert Forster), who naturally doesn’t believe him. So, Jason turns into Ironside, convincing a work colleague, Claudia (Daryl Hannah), to search Thorpe’s apartment and finally discover the truth.

Unsurprisingly, this 1998 T.V. movie never gets near the level of Hitchcock’s 1954 masterpiece. But then, only a few thrillers have. Starring Christopher Reeve, his first film since his devasting fall in 1995 left him paralysed from the shoulders down. This small but ambitious thriller works for the most part, with some nice interplay between Reeve and Daryl Hannah and some excellent use of shadows and jump scares.

Although never reaching the heights of Hitchcock’s ‘pure cinema’ in the original fifties classic, Reeve’s performance is where this television adaptation hangs its cinematic hat. It’s a masterful performance by Reeve, with director Jeff Bleckner offering up enough shocks along the way – a lost film in many ways due to its more famous namesake, but well worth checking out, if only for a notable performance by Christopher Reeve in his final lead role.

4. The Maddening (1995)

Smackdown in the middle between a career nadir with Cop and a Half and a career-high with Boogie Nights, Burt Reynolds made the crazy thriller The Maddening.

A massive star in the 1970s with Hooper, Smokey and the Bandit, etc., by the time he made The Maddening in the 1990s, Reynolds was in direct-to-VHS territory and cast as a disturbed kidnapper in a forgotten 90s shocker.

Mia Sara plays Cassie, a devoted mother who feels let down by her husband, David (Brian Wimmer), believing he spends too much time away from his family. On the open road with her young daughter Samantha (Kayla Buglewicz), Cassie has a spot of car trouble and who else, but a deranged Burt Reynolds offers to help. They head back to dear old Burt’s house so Burt can supposedly work on the car.

Once there, Angie Dickinson appears as Burt’s equally deranged wife, who shares their home with their daughter, Jill (Candace Hutson). As Burt’s disturbed wife believes Cassie and Samantha are her sister and niece, the screw gets turned, and the madness in The Maddening becomes even more perverted and dark.

Directed by Danny Huston, the son of legendary director John Huston, The Maddening is tonally all over the place, much like the performances. Despite this, even though it’s pretty much by the numbers, there are some disturbing scenes and imagery, mostly involving rape and a baby being suffocated, with Reynolds uttering the line “no more pain. You’re going to heaven.”

You’ll notice how I have yet to have much use for the character names of Burt Reynolds and Angie Dickinson. That’s because you spend much of the film thinking, why are these two fine actors in such a strange film? They had nothing to prove. Perhaps there were no more B.L. Stryker movies on the horizon or no proposed revival of Police Woman. Whatever the case, The Maddening is a strange, odd film – partly horrific and partly ludicrous- a film nevertheless to look out for.

5. Twilight (1998)

Paul Newman plays Harry, a retired private eye who lives on the grounds of an estate owned by his old friends Jack (Gene Hackman) and Catherine Ames (Susan Sarandon). A pre-title sequence tells us that Harry is working in Mexico, retrieving Jack and Catherine’s runway daughter, Mel (Reese Witherspoon), who is south of the border shacked up with a sleazy boyfriend (Liev Schreiber).

On his way home with Mel, Harry is accidentally shot in the thigh during an altercation, with the action then moving forward two years and changing location to Los Angeles. Over a game of cards, Jack, dying of cancer, asks Harry for one last favour, leading Harry down a path littered with dead bodies and double-crosses, with the plot never leaving the milieu of a small group of friends.

Released in the wake of L.A. Confidential and Kiss the Girls, director Robert Benton approaches Twilight differently- this isn’t a sweeping tale of police corruption or a police detective chasing down a killer. It’s a smaller, even gentler take on the detective genre, with the plot’s mechanics driven around the cast’s advanced age, as Twilight is a subtle character study peppered with old-age feelings of regret and deceit.

The narrative focuses on the strained relationships between the characters, and any gunplay and bits of action are punctuated before the film moves on to another more subtle, low-key moment between one of the characters.

It’s by no means dull; it’s just a film which has set its time at the pace of its cast. And that’s the central reason to watch Twilight: the cast—the leading trio of Newman, Hackman and Sarandon. Newman perfectly plays a washed-up private eye turned bagman for his wealthy friends, a nuanced and memorable performance with real star power.

Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon are just as good, and like Newman, both play characters with their best days behind them. Stockard Channing, James Garner and Reese Witherspoon pop up, offering solid performances, with the film never straying from its sombre and haunting setting. Twilight a hazy, mature crime film with a stellar cast – is a thriller with hidden depths, well worth checking out.

Martin Scorsese has been a singular presence and voice in cinema for more than half a century. Throughout his career, the filmmaker has put his personal stamp on about every major genre he’s tackled: from crime epics, thrillers, and sports biopics to period dramas, romance, and even musicals. Now, with his 26th feature, the greatest living American director is finally dipping his toes in the most all-American of film genres: the western.

“Killers of the Flower Moon”, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone, details a series of murders that took place in 1920s Oklahoma after oil was found on land owned by the Osage Nation. It might be Scorsese’s first foray into the genre, but the Queens native has passionately acknowledged the great debt he owes to the westerns of old. And though Scorsese’s formative experiences watching John Ford movies as a kid are well-noted, we’ve omitted genre monoliths like “The Searchers” and “Stagecoach” on the grounds of over-familiarity.

In fact, the westerns the director has publicly championed over the years and through his work at The Film Foundation are as wide-ranging as his cinematic taste. They run the gamut from golden age staples that established national myths and glorified the expansion westward to revisionist westerns that questioned past assumptions, reinvented the formula, and made it their own. To celebrate the release of “The Killers of the Flower Moon” (in theaters October 20), here are 10 westerns that have earned Scorsese’s stamp of approval, listed in no particular order.

1. One-Eyed Jacks (1961)

Stanley Kubrick was originally on board to direct this Marlon Brando-led star vehicle, about a hard-edged outlaw who vows to take revenge after being double-crossed and left for dead by his former associate during one of their bank heists. However, after six months of troubled production, the director decided to pull out of the project, with Brando having no alternative but to step up and fill the position himself.

Scorsese presented a screening of the early-sixties film he considers to be “unlike any other Western around” during the 2016 New York Film Festival, in a new restoration he recently oversaw with fellow board member Steven Spielberg. The director told the audience that when it came out, everyone expected the unexpected from Brando’s sole directorial effort. “And that’s exactly what we got.” For the Queens native, this underlooked gem represents a bridge between two different eras of filmmaking, combining the production values of the old Hollywood with the emotional values of the new Hollywood. “It’s visually stunning. The intensity and the energy of the actors just burst out of the edges of the screen,” he said.

In what may very well be the single most intriguing unrealized project of his lengthy career, Scorsese was approached by Brando in 1976 to direct a film about the Lakota Indian massacre at Wounded Knee and the systematic destruction of American Indians during the 19th century. Though the film ultimately did not come to be, many of the ideas that came up during their meetings found their way into “Killers of the Flower Moon”.

2. Johnny Guitar (1954)

Joan Crawford stars as a resilient Arizona saloon owner in Nicholas Ray’s candy-colored psychological western, a boldly feminist spin on the genre that finds the feisty heroine fend off a rival gang led by Mercedes McCambridge after her former lover (Sterling Hayden) becomes the prime murder suspect.

“American audiences expected a western and didn’t know what to make of it. In Europe, they saw “Johnny Guitar” for what it was — an intense, unconventional, stylized picture full of ambiguities that rendered it extremely modern,” Scorsese said of the 1954 film. One of the many titles mentioned in his documentary “A Personal Journey Through American Movies”, “Johnny Guitar” earned glowing praise for its “bold stylistic strokes”, which the filmmaker argues deviate from the genre’s norm and have helped it grow to achieve the status of a classic. While introducing the movie for its home release, the “Killers of the Flower Moon” director added that the film induces many readings and characterizes the paranoia and witch-hunt of the McCarthy era.

3. The Hired Hand (1971)

Encouraged by the success of 1969 “Easy Rider”, a $400,000 B-movie that unexpectedly became a pop-culture sensation and “busted everything wide open in Hollywood” according to Scorsese, Universal rolled the dice on this esoteric acid western directed by Peter Fonda. The counterculture icon stars alongside Warren Oates as Harry Collings, a cowboy drifter who decides to go back to his estranged wife after six tough years on the road in hopes of settling down, taking care of his family and leaving his troubled past behind.

Scorsese decided to oversee the restoration of this oft-misunderstood revisionist western after getting in touch with Henry Fonda during the production of “Bringing Out the Dead” in 1999. While presenting the film’s new print, the director confessed that he still finds the haunting relationship between Harry and his estranged wife (played by Verna Bloom, who would later collaborate with Scorsese during the eighties in “After Hours” and “The Last Temptation of Christ”) the most effective aspect of the story. “It’s an extraordinarily delicate picture with a very moody, impressionistic tone — like something out of 19th century literature.”

4. Forty Guns (1957)

Scorsese has repeatedly acknowledged the great debt he owes to Sam Fuller, a former NYC crime reporter who always marched to the beat of his own drum and left an inimitable stamp on American cinema during the ’50s and ’60s.

One of the many movies he directed that shaped Scorsese’s critical voice and has been singled out for praise, “Forty Guns” stars Barbara Stanwyck as a ruthless Arizona cattle rancher and leader of a forty-strong posse of hired guns who comes to blows with a righteous U.S. Marshall determined to set things straight. “‘Forty Guns” is not even really a Western. I don’t know what it is. It’s pure emotion… “Forty Guns” doesn’t care. It’s just what it is,” argues Scorsese.

The Italian American holds the Hollywood iconoclast in such high esteem that he agreed to write a foreword to his biography, where he boldly stated that “if you don’t like the films of Sam Fuller, then you just don’t like cinema.” In the same piece, Scorsese relayed the story of how he met Fuller for the first time in LA during a screening of this black-and-white western organized by himself in the early 1970s. “When the picture was over, we started talking, and we couldn’t stop. We talked for hours, but it seemed like a matter of minutes.” It’s safe to say the respect went both ways, as Fuller offered Scorsese an acting part in his WWII drama “The Big Red One” in 1980, a role the latter would cordially turn down due to scheduling conflicts.

5. Giant (1956)

It would be an understatement to say that “Giant”, an expansive, jumbo-sized western littered with A-listers that provides an uncompromising snapshot of race relations, discrimination, and oil greed in mid-twentieth century America, feels quite analogous to Scorsese’s latest.

Boasting red-hot performances by Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean (who tragically died mid-production), George Stevens’ decade-spanning epic traces a pivotal time for the entire nation through the lives of a Texas ranching family, observing the interplay between wealth, privilege and race in a way that directly defied the flawed mythology of the genre.

Scorsese claims to have seen the film over forty times and collaborated closely with Warner Bros for over a year in order to restore it. In 2008, the Oscar-winning director sat down with Paul Thomas Anderson to discuss the movie, noting how it depicts a lifestyle through the passage of so many years. “I don’t like the obvious romanticism, but there’s more here than people have seen. You see people grow,” said Scorsese. “As far as filmmaking goes, “Giant” is an inspiring film.” There’s an intermission built in right in the middle of the film’s 200-minute mark, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself so invested in the story you end up tackling it all in one sitting.

With Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” around the corner, we’re looking at a rundown of films that the beloved filmmaker has singled out for praise throughout his 50-plus-year career. Having grown up as an asthmatic kid who spent most of his childhood binge-watching movies at the local movie theater while the other kids were playing sports outside, the Queens native has repeatedly acknowledged the great debt he owes to his cinematic heroes, crediting the influence of the many movies that shaped his critical voice while championing up-and-coming directors who are still in the midst of finding their own.

At the age of 80, the legendary director shows no signs of slowing down and already has a number of future projects lined up, including a Jerry Garcia biopic, an adaptation of Marilynne Robinson’s novel “Home”, and a movie about the life of Jesus Christ. To mark the release of Scorsese’s latest (in theaters October 20), we have rounded up ten favorites from the bushy-eye-browed director — from classic detective stories to gritty crime thrillers — that you should add to your watch list ahead of “Killers of the Flower Moon”.

1. Sudden Fear (1952)

Scorsese has made no secret of his love for classic film noir, noting in his documentary “A Personal Journey Through American Movies” how crime was a source of fascination for many filmmakers in post-war Hollywood that “allowed them to probe the nature of evil and reveal the dark underbelly of American urban life.”

Joan Crawford earned an Academy Award nomination for her gripping performance in this 1950s movie as successful New York playwright Myra Hudson, who falls in love with a budding actor she just recently turned down for the lead part in her new play. Not long after the two get married in San Francisco, however, Myra begins to suspect her husband might be after her wealth and plotting to murder her.

Not only has this nail-bitter been identified as a personal favorite of Scorsese, landing on his best film noir of all-time list, but the director also likened Margot Robbie’s breakout performance in “The Wolf of Wall Street” to Crawford’s all-bets-off feistiness, raving how both actresses “instantly command your attention any time they enter the frame”.

2. Retribution (2006)

Kiyoshi Kurosawa carved a nice niche for himself at the turn of the millennium with slow-burn psychological thrillers that implant themselves in the mind of the observer, taking real estate there and spreading like a virus long after the credits roll. Though the Japanese director is finally getting his dues overseas, the most glowing praise of all came from Scorsese, who championed him as “an absolute master of light, framing and pacing” all the way back in 2006.

In a piece published for DirectTV, the American auteur geeked out over several films from Kurosawa. Among them is “Retribution”, a murder mystery “filled with a strange dread” in which a careworn homicide detective begins to lose his grip on reality while scouring for clues on his latest case. Scorsese further discussed Kurosawa’s trademark style and pet themes, noting how his films seem to exist in the trenches between the thriller and horror genre. “Something has arrived, no one knows exactly what or how, or for what purpose: Reality is untouched except for a small, unsettling detail or two, which mutates into violence and irrationality.”

3. Wake in Fright (1971)

In this cornerstone of Australian cinema, a young school teacher gets more than he bargained for during his one-night stay on the desolated outback town of Bundanyabba, which stretches into a seemingly endless self-destructive bender after he becomes stranded having lost all his money in a gambling game with no means of resuming his travel.

Scorsese, who vividly recalls being left speechless by Ted Kotcheff’s gnarly thriller when he first watched it when it first premiered at Cannes in 1971, most recently introduced the film in a 2009 screening, describing it as a “deeply unsettling and disturbing movie that gets under your skin one encounter at a time, right along with its protagonist.”

You don’t have to peer too closely at “Wake in Fright” to spot the similarities with Scorsese’s darkly comic Soho fever-dream “After Hours”, which was released 14 years later. The fact that the memorable overhead shot of a coin being tossed in the air featured in Kotcheff’s film was lifted in its entirety in the De Niro-led crime saga “Casino” wasn’t exactly lost on savvy audiences either.

4. Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

Scorsese holds Hollywood stalwart Robert Wise in such high esteem that he agreed to take part in a special commentary feature for the home release of his 1949 boxing drama “The Set-Up”. During the conversation, he generously credited the influence of that film on “Raging Bull” and acknowledged working with production designer Boris Leven hoping that some of the man’s experience with Wise would rub off on him.

However, it was this trailblazing crime caper — about three debt-ridden crooks who team up for a big-time heist — that was singled out for praise and hand-picked by Scorsese himself in 2019 when asked to curate a program of films for the New York-based Film Forum. “Film noir was not a specific genre like gangster films, but a mood,” he said in an interview. “These filmmakers were smugglers, transforming routine material into personal expression, bypassing the censors and the strictures of the Production Code whenever they could.”

The obvious draw here is watching Robert Ryan, Harry Belafonte and Gloria Grahame spew venom all over the screen, but don’t sleep on the film’s surprisingly nonconforming commentary on race relations in America.

5. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)

Any fan of “The Departed” looking for another hyper-realistic, gritty portrait of the seedy Boston criminal underworld centered around police informants should seriously consider giving this underlooked Seventies gem a watch. A title in Robert Mitchum’s personal catalog still not nearly as appreciated as it deserves, “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” nevertheless features one of the actor’s best late-career performances as a hard-edged, two-bit crook who barely manages to make ends meet and decides to snitch on his criminal colleagues and supply the feds with inside intel to avoid another extended jail sentence.

Martin Scorsese has been an outspoken fan of Mitchum for decades, so much that one of his first creative decisions once he took directing duties to remake J. Lee Thompson’s “Cape Fear” in 1991 was to tip his hat to RKO’s former leading tough guy by bringing him back into the fold in a small supporting role.

The 1970s is a revered period in the canon of cinema. It is an era defined by auteurs having complete control of their artistic craft. ‘70s cinema, often cited as New Hollywood, shaped the collective consciousness of the power and role of a film director.

Not only are there undeniable works of art across the decade, countless films remain classics today watched by a mass audience. Under the shadow of the titanic crowning achievements is a plethora of underrated gems by prominent voices featuring the staples of New Hollywood text.

1. Brewster McCloud (1971)

In the same year as M*A*S*H, Robert Altman established himself as a maverick filmmaking voice that could be equally populous and creatively ambitious. In a bizarre pivot, Altman directed a film that is a little bit of everything but manages to act as a unique whole piece. The director flexed his off-beat sensibilities even further with Brewster McCloud, a film undefinable and eternally curious, but an essential text to the director’s style.

The 1971 film follows timid loner Brewster (Bud Cort) living inside the Astrodome who plans to develop a pair of wings that will help him fly. Throughout his career, Altman viewed the plot as frivolous and focused his efforts on peculiar character studies and showing humanity at its most minimalist and overwhelming simultaneously, constantly blending realism and formalism. Brewster McCloud is quite comfortable in this sphere–appearing like a complete farce but supported by grounded and relatable emotions. The director is emphatic in his vision of his quirky titular character. This allows the elements of spontaneous screwball comedy to flourish, even if it is purposefully restrained through Altman’s methodical pacing.

The director is quite expressive with the camera, especially when it tracks the air travel of all breeds. The sprawling nature of Brewster McCloud could be a turn-off for some viewers, but its magnitude is certainly accessible. Similar to all Altman films, it is interested in subversion and lonely figures grappling with their plight. With this fascination comes the chance for a variety of sentiments about U.S. culture that Altman and the titular lead express: wonder, contempt, hope, and nihilism.

2. Carnal Knowledge (1971)

At the dawn of New Hollywood in the late ‘60s, Mike Nichols announced himself as a premiere voice of a new generation with the revolutionary and boundary-pushing coming-of-age film, The Graduate. The director could take any direction he desired thanks to the film’s success. He continued his path in engaging with the complexities of human relationships and the murky desires of individuals in Carnal Knowledge.

The film centers around the lifelong relationship between two men, Jonathan (Jack Nicholson) and Sandy (Art Garfunkel) who meet in college and their respective development in sexuality in romantic relationships. At opposite ends of the spectrum, the leads of Carnal Knowledge strive to alter their livelihood, for better or worse. The film is fascinated by empty people attempting to conform to societal norms, only to have their woes counter their efforts.

Presented as a benign drama about romance and friendship, Nichols’ film is perverse and daring but not gratuitous. Anxieties surrounding sexuality are omnipresent throughout the story, clashing primal and intellectual instincts. The cutting nature of the film exploits the unflinching reality of these complicated men. Nichols expanded upon his vision of The Graduate by exhibiting the idealistic masculine figure, particularly in Jonathan, as a ne’er-do-well whose inability to grow causes him to be a toxic figure. Carnal Knowledge is pure ‘70s text, but Nichols’ direction is restrained and devoid of athletic filmmaking to fit the mold of classically gripping character dramas.

3. The Candidate (1972)

One of the premiere movie stars of the decade, Robert Redford, was certainly aided by his picturesque appearance. However, he was always subverting his beauty by tackling challenging and daring projects. His bids to be taken seriously were just as contemplative as his films driven by him as a matinee idol. An underrated star vehicle for him, The Candidate, is the ultimate Redford movie and performance of his.

In this political dramedy by ‘70s journeyman director Michael Ritchie, an idealist, liberal lawyer, Bill McKay (Redford) is recruited by campaign managers to run for U.S. Senate in California against a Republican favorite. Unlike most films of today concerning political satire, there is no sense of overwrought handwringing about the issue at hand. The Candidate is humble and nuanced in its dissection of the machinations behind political campaigning and government bureaucracy. Ritchie was a sturdy hand throughout the decade–always extracting great performances and layered his films with just enough weight to elevate the drama and levity to cement a groundedness.

The comedy in the film derives from the bizarre, yet plausible circumstances of gaming the political system. Viewers are designed to simultaneously root for McKay and be weary of his naivety. This is why the role is perfect for Redford, as the wunderkind senator candidate is playing off of good looks and hoping to prove himself as a smart and component political maverick. The Candidate is in-tone with New Hollywood’s evergrowing panic surrounding the political system and domestic state of affairs–effectively colliding this apprehensiveness with the remaining strands of hope in the American government complex. In McKay’s case, power can be a wonderful prospect, but the system stands as the definitive suppressor of the American spirit.

4. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Of the core of the New Hollywood pack of filmmakers, Brian De Palma is perhaps the most visually intuitive and daring director. While never receiving the same reverence and populous recognition as his counterparts such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas, De Palma was an expert mechanical and emotionally vibrant storyteller, constantly bending genre and formal expectations. Nowhere is this more indicative than in Phantom of the Paradise.

In this twisted riff on the legendary theater production, Phantom of the Opera, the film follows a disfigured composer, Winslow (William Finley), who sells his soul for the woman he loves so that in return, she performs his music, while greedy record tycoon, Swan (Paul Williams) betrays him by stealing his music to open a rock palace, which ensues the composer to terrorize the establishment. The weighty pathos of Phantom of the Paradise naturally lends itself to a postmodern operatic text, but De Palma’s frenzy direction of farce and black humor spins the film into an uncontainable scope.

The film is maximalist in every sense of the word. The director is unafraid to play for laughs in the most perverse settings and feed into the melodramatic tragedy of the story, all in all, executing an impressive juggling act of tone. Stylistically, Phantom of the Paradise is pure De Palma. The slick production design, camera work, and editing are a perfect symphony to the grand scale of the dramatic arc. De Palma’s fixation on manipulating the medium of film and its potential is at its proudest on this bizarre and entrancing stage. The film is a mesmerizing interpretation of a rock opera envisioned on the big screen helmed by a distinct filmmaking voice.

5. Lenny (1974)

In the world of theater and choreography, Bob Fosse is an incredibly influential figure. He also has quite the foothold in cinema–telling stories of disconcerting artists under the mold of subverted Hollywood films. Fosse, a deeply cynical artist, infused his downbeat attitude into the rudimentary celebrity biopic, Lenny.

Based on the rise and fall of maverick stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman), the film depicts his evolution from a hacky joke-teller to a social critic, elevating him to the status of a cult-like hero. Fosse’s portrayal of a comedian is telling that Hoffman’s performance as Bruce is stripped of any traditional humor. From the beginning, the comic is emotionally bruised and disgruntled at the world. The director sympathizes with him as an outcast, even when viewers are inclined to think the comedian’s self-destruction bears more guilt than his persecution. The film’s black-and-white photography is purposeful, but it effectively conveys a somber tone.

Lenny is committed to validating the subject’s role as a catalyst to the social upheaval that would arise at the time of the film’s release in 1974. The post-mortem dissection of Bruce in the film glorifies his impact from one perspective, but it simultaneously adds to the unknowable quality that Fosse depicts surrounding him. While his passion is applaudable, his enforcement of Bruce as an important man to the fabric of American counterculture is didactic. The director’s lack of interest in allowing Bruce to be funny on stage restricts the characterization to show his importance, rather than Fosse outright pushing for his recognition. Nonetheless, the bleak tone is captivating, especially when Lenny operates as a text of societal hypocrisy and extreme moral uprightness.

Thrillers come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from films like Shadow of a Doubt to The Silence of the Lambs. Thrillers are interchangeable, sometimes dipping their toes in other genres such as action, horror, mystery, fantasy and western. But one thing any great thriller should have, is the audience’s attention. An effective thriller needs to be able to grab the audience from the get go, then it can decide whether to put the viewer through a two-hour nightmare or let it burn slowly until it’s climactic final scenes.

This list focuses on thrillers that perhaps the neutral occasional film viewer may never have come across. These films are rarely in the conversation of “best thrillers”, let alone be anybody’s favourite films as they get lost and forgotten the moment the words “The Godfather” or Kubrick are brought into conversation.

Whether the films on this list had poor marketing, or were released in the shadow of a heavy hitter, or for some reason (blame the uncertainty of film fate) just didn’t hit audiences as intended, they still remain great thrillers and deserve attention.

1. Breakdown (Jonathan Mostow, 1997)

Kurt Russel stars as Jeff Taylor, a man from Boston who’s travelling to California with his wife Amy (Kathleen Quinlan), in their new Jeep Grand Cherokee. Somewhere in New Mexico, they almost collide with a rough pickup truck driven by an equally rough driver. Later, at a gas station, the driver of the same pickup truck confronts Jeff, who although attempts to remain cool, retaliates with hostile words. The couple then resume their journey until their Jeep breaks down on a vacant road. Amy accepts a ride from a passing trailer truck to a nearby diner to call for help as Jeff stays with the Jeep. With closer inspection, Jeff discovers that someone (most probably the angered truck driver) has tampered with the car’s battery. Upon fixing them, Jeff drives to the diner, only to discover that Amy is in fact not there, and not only that, but no one has seen her…That is when the film truly begins its crazy course.

The film was co-written by Sam Montgomery and Jonathon Mostow, as well as being directed by Mostow. From the moment that Jeff arrives at the diner and discovers Amy’s disappearance, an imaginary countdown begins as the film becomes tenser, more uncomfortable and twisted. Like a true nightmare, it unfolds in ways you don’t expect and just keeps going until the very end. Not only that, but it’s filled with flawless acting from Russel himself, J.T Walsh, M.C Gainey, Jack Noseworthy and Kathleen Quinlan.

2. A Perfect Murder (Andrew Davis, 1998)

Michael Douglas stars as Steven Taylor, successful Wall Street financier who discovers that his wife is having an affair with David, an artist (Viggo Mortensen). After investigating him and following him around, Steven offers David a large amount of money to kill her in a perfectly planned revenge scheme…But if you’ve watched Hitchcock’s 1954 Dial M for Murder, which this film is based on, then you know it’s not going to be perfect.

The screenplay was written by Patrick Smith Kelly, based off Frederick Knott’s play Dial M for Murder. The film was directed by Andrew Davis who also directed the hit film, The Fugitive 5 years prior. Much like its predecessor, the film excels through its twists and turns caused by its incredibly well written characters. Michael Douglas shines as he always does, but its villainous roles like this that really show audiences how great of an actor he is. With films such as Wall Street and Falling Down, he’s no stranger to throwing away his good guy face and putting on his equally charming yet deadly mask.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen both alert the audience that they’re part of the new face of Hollywood actors that are going to rule cinema in the upcoming years. With Great Expectations and Shakespeare in Love being released in the same year as A Perfect Murder, Paltrow was rapidly moving up to stardom, ultimately winning an Oscar in the following year. Mortensen had a similar situation to Paltrow, in the 90’s he had solid roles in equally solid films such as Boiling Point, Carlito’s Way and Crimson Tide, and eventually reach stardom with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings in 2001.

3. A Perfect World (Clint Eastwood, 1993)

Set in 1963, Texas, Robert “butch” Haynes (Kevin Costner) escapes prison with Terry Pugh (Keith Szarabajka) and they both break into a suburban house ala The Desperate Hours. The house they break into belongs to a devout Jehovah’s Witness woman with three children. As things get heated, mainly due to Terry’s animalistic and violent urges, the two prisoners flee the house after taking one of the young children, the eight-year-old Phillip (T.J Lowther) with them to aid their escape. The trio soon becomes a duo when Butch kills Terry after attempting to harm the boy. With the dead weight gone, Butch and the young boy hit the road.

The film was written by screenwriter/director John Lee Hancock and directed by the great Clint Eastwood who also stars as Texas Ranger Red Garnett who attempts to hunt Butch down. The film excels in everything that ultimately makes a great thriller drama: It has a range of excellent performances, from Eastwood himself to Costner, to Laura Dern and even the young T.J Lowther.

It also has many greatly written set pieces and scenes full of tension and drama. But what really makes it special, is that it has heart…Something that some filmmakers are weary of adding to their thrillers. But it doesn’t deviate the tension or the lower the stakes or make the action scenes any less exciting. Instead, it makes you care about the characters, even when you shouldn’t. Not only it makes you care, but it makes you remember them.

The tender friendship that Butch has with Phillip is so beautiful and delicate that it’s contrasted with the thriller and at times violent surrounding. The film ultimately projects a cycle of love and father figures (or lack of). Garnett cares for Butch, just like he cared for him years before when he arrested him for petty theft, he doesn’t want to see Butch dead or behind bars, and Butch cares for this fatherless boy he’s gotten to know.

4. Revenge (Tony Scott, 1990)

Revenge is one of Tony Scott’s films that stand out in his filmography. The film is one of his most violent, dirty yet sexy, and at times, very Peckinpah influenced. Scott takes away the glam from previous films like Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop 2 and True Romance, and leaves us with a gritty sun soaked but blood-stained thriller. The film follows retired US Navy pilot, Jay Cochran (Kevin Costner), who travels to Mexico to hang out with his successful yet corrupt businessman friend, Tibey Mendez (Anthony Quinn). That’s where he meets the beautiful Miryea (Madeleine Stowe), Tibey’s wife. As the two begin an affair, Tibey discovers this and sets out to get revenge on both of them.

The film has many plot points and turns, and much like most of Scott’s films, they never have a dull moment. The film feels sweaty, it makes the viewer anxious and the scenes unravel in the most entertaining ways. The film almost feels like a mix of Sam Peckinpah and Walter Hill, in the best of ways.

5. Cop Land (James Mangold, 1997)

Sylvester Stallone stars as Freddy Heflin, the Sheriff of Garrison, New Jersey, a town populated by New York City police officers, mainly led by Lt. Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel). But when he discovers exactly how corrupt the town is, he forms a plan to expose the very people you’re supposed to trust. The film is written and directed by James Mangold, being one of his most personal films as he based the location on his own hometown of Washingtonville, New York, a town which most of its residents were retired or current working police officers.

The film is filled with great actors and equally great performances from Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport, Frank Vincent, Peter Berg, John Spencer, Cathy Moriarty and many, many more. But if there is a shining star in the film, it has to be Stallone, and not only due to his performance, but due to the fact he needed a role like this desperately. The 90’s were proving difficult for him, and with flop after flop, he needed a hit as bad as his character needed justice. It’s clear in the film, that struggle, that motivation in the third act, it’s the character but it’s also Stallone fighting back, letting the world know he’s back.

The film unfolds in exciting ways, never having a dull moment as its laced in thrilling action set pieces just as much as cleverly written dialogue heavy scenes. One of the most interesting aspects of the film is how much backstory and baggage the characters in the film not only have, but drag with them in every scene. In some scenes, the tension is so thick, it’s so awkward that its uncomfortable to watch…And that’s what makes it stand out.

There’s a reason why the 1970s continues to be regarded as one of the greatest eras for cinema. This transformative decade witnessed a seismic shift in the Hollywood ecosystem, marked by the rise of auteur-driven independent cinema and the dawn of multi-billion-dollar blockbuster franchises that still permeate our pop-culture 50 years on.

In compiling this round-up list, we have decided to gauge the essence of the thriller from 1970-1979 with a robust selection of titles that kept audiences on the edge of their seats, helped define the decade and forever altered the landscape of the genre. From canonical classics that have stood the test of time to a few lost gems in between — here are our picks for the very best the genre had to offer from that glorious 10-year span, ranked from worst to best.

20. Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Simmering tension and paranoia build to a fever pitch in this heart-racing political thriller starring Robert Redford as meek CIA researcher Joe Turner, an average government employee who suddenly finds himself embroiled in a tangled web of lies and conspiracy after realizing he’s being framed for the cold-blooded murder of his co-workers.

While rarely mentioned in the same breath as Watergate-era cinema studies standards like the 1976s “All the President’s Men”, Sidney Pollack’s hard-edged nail-biter based on James Grady’s bestselling novel provides a fascinating window into a turbulent time for American politics with no shortage of twists and turns to get your adrenaline juices pumping. Watch out for solid supporting parts by Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robinson and Max von Sydow.

19. The Day of the Jackal (1973)

In following up the 1966 Best Picture winner “A Man for All Seasons”, Hollywood veteran Fred Zinnemann chose to adapt Frederick Forsyth’s bestselling novel, a nerve-racking cat-and-mouse thriller that traces the efforts of French authorities to uncover the plot to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle by tracking down the British hitman (Edward Fox) known as the “Jackal” who was hired to carry out his deadly mission.

One of the favorite movies of Steven Spielberg, this tale of international espionage and political intrigue fills every last frame with simmering tension before sliding off into a showstopping climactic sequence that would make the “Jaws” director himself proud. This landmark British film went on to win a BAFTA Award and nab an Oscar nomination, continuing to be a guidepost for how to create a tightly constructed thriller.

18. The Parallax View (1974)

Arguably no director in America tapped into the unerring sense of paranoia and public mistrust that pervaded the Watergate-era more consistently or succinctly than Alan J. Pakula.

Though it gets a little overshadowed in the director’s personal canon, nestled right between the Jane Fonda-led “Klute” and the Best Picture-winning “All the President’s Men” (more on that film down below), we retain a lot of residual love for the middle entry in Pakula’s paranoia trilogy, which places Warren Beatty’s assertive reporter in the middle of a hazy conspiracy concerning the assassination of a U.S. senator and a shady multi-million dollar corporation serving as a front for the recruitment of political assassins. Captivating from first frame to last, “The Parallax View” is one of the defining thrillers of the 1970s.

17. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

Though rarely associated with the thriller genre, John Cassavetes — better known around these parts as the patron saint of American independent cinema — found a sublime expression to his career-long obsessions and cinéma-vérité style in this gritty New York thriller.

Starring his loyal stalwart Ben Gazzara as a sleazy gentleman’s club owner dangling on the edge of oblivion who must carry out a hit for the mob to pay back his ever-growing black hole of mounting debts, “The Killers of a Chinese Bookie” grounds its thrills in watching its erratic protagonist paddle frantically to keep his head above water only to end up caught between a rock and a hard place. If you’re a fan of the movies of the Safdie brothers, we suggest you keep this one on your radar.

16. The Driver (1978)

Nicolas Winding Refn took a page out of this classic 1978 movie when he reworked it and ripped it off wholesale in the 2011s “Drive”, which stars Ryan Gosling as a taciturn loner who earns a buck carrying off jobs as a getaway driver in Los Angeles. You can see the fingerprints of this hyper-stylized crime caper on a swathe of modern-day films (“Baby Driver”, just to name another one), but it’s the lean, deliberately stripped-down narrative that makes Walter Hill’s classic stick to the memory and remain rewatchable well into the double digits.

Granted, the characters may be thinly sketched, but Ryan O’Neal uncorks a stand-out performance in the titular role as a cold-blooded professional driven by his own confidence in his skills who must chase off a resourceful detective hard on his heels. Not to be missed.

15. Deliverance (1972)

In John Boorman’s gnarly wilderness thriller, long-time best buds Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox embark on a weekend getaway out in the Georgia countryside to rekindle their bond, only to find themselves in a gripping battle of man against nature that challenges their sanity and resolve.

What at first is intended to be a tranquil rafting trip along the Cahulawassee River takes a dark turn, pitting the civility of these four middle-aged men against the treacherous forces of the wild. Notorious for a soul-stirring sequence that spares the viewer no gruesome detail, this 1970s classic stands as a powerful testament to the human spirit in the face of relentless adversity.

14. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

Government corruption and bureaucratic incompetence rear their ugly head in Elio Petri’s Oscar-winning thriller — part whodunit, part big-time farce in which a homicide police inspector purposefully leaves a trail of clues after murdering his mistress in cold blood to prove he can get away with it.

The daddy of all Poliziotteschi thrillers, a particular subgenre of Italian crime movies that emerged in the late sixties and peaked in popularity during the politically turbulent 1970s, “Investigation” makes its anti-establishment tenor clear: driving a stake through the heart of the Italian criminal system and lacing its jabs in the powers-that-be by bluntly displaying how they wield their power in order to evade justice. At once startling in its matter-of-fact bluntness and morbidly funny at times, “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion” has lost none of its power to enthrall.

13. Wake in Fright (1971)

Not a movie you recommend to someone so much as one you inflict on them, this cornerstone of Aussie cinema roots itself under the viewer’s skin at every moment’s notice by putting us in the shoes of middle-aged schoolteacher John Grant, who makes a quick stop on the outback town of Bundanyabba on his way to a summer vacation in Sydney fully unaware of the debauchery that awaits him.

From all-day drinking sessions and gambling sprees to vicious nocturnal kangaroo hunts, suffice to say, that Grant gets more than he bargained for during his one-night stay, which stretches into a seemingly endless self-destructive bender that throws our tortured character into impossibly dire situations, each worse than the last. You never quite know what’s lurking under the surface, which, depending on your mileage, makes this an off-the-rails fever dream worth clearing your schedule for.

12. Night Moves (1975)

The 1970s marked a significant resurgence of interest in film noir, with many directors revamping a long-extinct genre that had been sidelined since the late fifties for a whole new generation of moviegoers. Characterized by dark themes that burrowed deep into the dark recesses of the human psyche, this particular subset of noir titles that thrived during the seventies borrowed and upended tired tropes in equal measure — blurring the lines of good and evil and reflecting the disillusionment and cynicism of the times.

Ambiguity is the name of the game in Arthur Penn’s “Night Moves”, in which Gene Hackman’s sleazy private eye gets lured into a web of lies and deception after traveling to Florida in hopes of tracking down the runaway teenage daughter of a former Hollywood starlet. Even in a decade where Hackman had solid performances in “The French Connection” and “The Conversation”, this was his personal best.

11. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

John Carpenter is undoubtedly more renowned for his indelible contributions to the horror genre than those in the thriller, but years before he staked his claim at the top of slasher hill during the 1980s, the mastermind behind “Halloween”, “The Fog” and “The Thing” cemented his place among the very highest stratum of Hollywood’s directors with this visceral L.A.-set thriller.

Gone are the atmospheric dread, stomach-churning practical effects and blood-curdling body horror, but first-time viewers will still find themselves catching their breath throughout the riveting and politically charged splatterfest that Carpenter masterfully builds over the course of 91 minutes, as an abandoned LAPD office is laid siege by a revenge-thirsty street gang. Though not for the faint of heart, Carpenter’s underground hit continues to rise in estimation as an early sign that the New York director was always destined for greatness.

By 1957, Life magazine called the 1950’s “the horrible decade” for Hollywood. This didn’t change for the first part of the 1960s. Major studios were pumping millions into aging historical epics and musicals such as Hello Dolly! Cleopatra and King of Kings. With the rise of the French New Wave, Japanese cinema and Spaghetti Westerns making a splash in the US, audience members (mainly the youth) were demanding something new from Hollywood. Something they could find meaning, something that had artistic value, something like Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow Up, a film with full-frontal nudity and distorted narrative structure. Or something like Bonnie and Clyde…

Arthur Penn’s crime film was the one that really knocked on Hollywood’s door step to say “out with the old, in with the new”. Soon, films like Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate, The Wild Bunch, Faces, The Trip and Easy Rider weren’t just filling movie theatres, but they were making money, creating a whole new brand of stardom, but also winning Oscars…New Hollywood was born.

The 1960’s remains one of, if not, the most important and significant decade of film history. This list explores 10 great films from 60s that are sometimes overlooked or underrated compared to heavy hitters.

1. The Swimmer (Frank Perry, 1968)

Burt Lancaster stars as Ned Merrill, a successful ad man who visits his friend in suburban Connecticut. When he notices the large amounts of backyard swimming pools in the area, Ned decides that he’d like to make his way back home by swimming across every pool in town. As Ned swims in each pool, he’s confronted with a reminder of his failures. The story was based on the 1964 short story of the same name by John Cheever, which appeared in the July 18, ’64 issue of The New Yorker. The screenplay was written by Eleanor Perry and directed by her husband, Frank Perry.

Although not smashing any box office records, or gaining any memorable praise from critics from the time, in recent years the film has gained cult film status. Roger Ebert described the film as “a strange, stylized work, a brilliant and disturbing one”. Vincent Canby in The New York Times wrote: “although literal in style, the film has the shape of an open-ended hallucination. It is a grim, disturbing and sometimes funny view of a very small, very special segment of upper-middle-class American life”.

Burt Lancaster is no stranger to great performances, but his portrayal of Ned, a man who attempts to keep a smile on his face, no matter how many times he’s reminded of his regrets and failures, is truly breath-taking. His large, broad, manly appearance, his charismatic manners and speech, is all just a mirage leading to the final devastating scene. The Swimmer is one of those films where the premise seems quite simple yet you stay for the character, and then you’re truly starstruck by its climax.

2. Two Thousand Maniacs! (Herschell Gordon Lewis, 1964)

Three Yankee couples are lured into the small Southern town of Pleasant Valley for a Centennial celebration. The trip takes a dark bloody turn when the residents begin killing the tourists one by one, as revenge for the town’s destruction during the Civil War. The film was written and directed by “The Godfather of Gore”, Herschell Gordon Lewis, a term given to him due to his ruthless exploitation films. The film stars 1963 Playboy Playmate Connie Mason, who also starred in another one of Lewis’ bloody horrors, Blood Feast, the year before.

The film was one of the first to introduce audiences to the “Southern Gore” and “Hicksploitation” sub-genres of films: the device which saw Northern outsiders stranded in the rural South who are then violently murdered by malignant, backwoods Southerners. The film was incredibly influential on Tobe Hooper’s classic horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as well other films such as Deliverance, Eaten Alive and The Hills Have Eyes.

What makes the film quite special is that they shot it in the small town of St. Cloud, Florida, and had the entire town’s residents participate in the film as actors and extras. This gave the film that extra authenticity which added to the “fish out of water” storyline that the characters from up North were experiencing.

The film was heavily cut by the MPAA for its release which resulted in it hardly being screened across the country. Instead, the film mostly played at drive-in theatres and did considerably well, especially in the Southern states. The crude, gory violence is what makes the film special. It starts off as a positive trip, full of laughter, fun, celebration and that stereotypical Southern hospitality. Then, it soon turns into a violent nightmare of vengeance. What really makes the film horrifying, is the way the Southern characters act. They’re rarely angry, or show their emotions of revenge. Instead, they follow out their violent plan with a smile, containing their hospitality.

3. Point Blank (John Boorman, 1967)

After being double-crossed and left for dead, a ruthless gangster named Walker (Lee Marvin), swears revenge as he goes on a violent journey to retrieve the money that was taken from him. The script was written by Alexander Jacobs, David Newhouse and Rafe Newhouse, and was based on the 1963 crime noir pulp novel The Hunter by Donald E. Westlake (as Richard Stark).

The film was met with good reviews upon its release. Legendary film critic, Pauline Kael, wrote “A brutal new melodrama is called Point Blank, and it is…intermittently dazzling”. Roger Ebert also praised the film, giving it three out of four stars and said “as suspense thrillers go, Point Blank is pretty good”.

The film stood out in 1967 as it experimented with various styles and techniques. It blended film styles such as film noir and French New Wave as well as having a broken time-line due to the novel having a non-linear structure. The film also plays with narrative rhythm as it has long quiet scenes suddenly juxtaposed with bursts of violence. Boorman and Marvin worked very closely on the film, with equal parties coming up with ideas on how to shoot scenes and which visual metaphors to use.

The film has been an inspiration for many other movies and filmmakers, most notably Steven Soderbergh, who did the commentary on the DVD release of Point Blank. You can see many similarities in style, character and use of Los Angeles with Point Blank and Soderbergh’s The Limey. Brian Helgeland’s Payback, starring Mel Gibson was also based on the novel, The Hunter, although wasn’t as ground-breaking or critically acclaimed as Point Blank.

4. The Big Gundown (Sergio Sollima, 1966)

Lee Van Cleef stars in this Spaghetti Western as retired bounty hunter, Jonathan “Colorado” Corbett, on the hunt for a ruthless Mexican peasant, Cuchillo (Tomas Milian), who is accused of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl. Thinking it’s going to be an easy task; Corbett finds himself in more of a struggle than he thought as Cuchillo seems to be one step ahead of him. As the story progresses, Corbett discovers certain truths and revelations that change the motivation of his journey.

The film was directed by Italian exploitation director, Sergio Sollima, known for films such as the mafia flick The Family starring Charles Bronson, police thriller Revolver starring Oliver Reed, and Spaghetti Western Face to Face starring Tomas Millian and Gian Maria Volontè. The script was penned by Sollima and Sergio Donati, who wrote the Sergio Leone films For a Few Dollars More, Once Upon a Time in the West and A Fistful of Dynamite. He then went on to write and work on some heavy hitters in the 80s such as Raw Deal, Renegade and Man on Fire.

The film’s twists and turns are satisfying yet expected with both the genre and the filmmakers, but what really makes the film special is the on-screen relationship Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Millian have. Millian’s juvenile and despicable behaviour matched with Cleef’s strict, straight faced, determination creates a two-man brand that could have worked wonders in comedies similar to that of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer’s.

The film’s secret sauce that really makes it stand out is its score, composed by the great and irreplaceable, Ennio Morricone. The score is emotional, yet grand and thrilling. Morricone’s contribution to not only westerns but films of all genres, was and will be forever unmatched. He could boost a film’s quality up to ten just by simply adding some of his masterful themes into a scene.

Although The Big Gundown isn’t the greatest Spaghetti Western ever made, it sure is one of the most entertaining and satisfying to watch, especially when you have Lee Van Cleef at the top of his game, dominating the screen.

5. Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (Paul Mazursky, 1969)

Bob (Robert Culp) and Carol (Natalie Wood) are a trendy hip Los Angeles couple who begin having an open relationship due to them both having affairs. Attempting to take it further, they try to involve their uptight friends Ted (Elliot Gould) and Alice (Dyan Cannon) into their relationship. The film was penned by Larry Tucker, known for Alex in Wonderland and I Love you, Alice B. Toklas! As well as Paul Mazursky who also directed the film.

Mazursky is one of the crucial directors that led the New Hollywood movement with films such as Alex in Wonderland, Blume in Love, Harry and Tonto, Next Stop Greenwich Village and An Unmarried Woman. In both his writing and directing, Mazursky marvelled in capturing the late 60s, early 70’s hippie rebellion as well as the opposite side who didn’t understand it, which is exactly what the characters in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice share. Bob and Carol are open to the hippie movement, open to trying new things and exploring the new age of meditation and mindset. Yet, Ted and Alice have a minor stiff upper lip that prevents them from doing the same.

Like most of Mazursky’s work, the film has a good amount of humour which works in most of the actor’s favour, such as Gould who would act in the ground-breaking, Oscar worthy comedy M.A.S.H the following year. Although criticised at the time, the film’s ending is really what ties the film together. The audience gets to a place near the end of the film where it’s expecting the obvious outcome, yet it doesn’t deliver, but deep down, the audience is glad it doesn’t. With a nod to Fellini’s 8 ½, the film’s ending uses Jackie DeShannon performing Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love”, in the most elegant way.

What makes Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice a uniquely great film, and especially that of the 60s, is it understands the complex moral confrontation that Americans in the age group of the film’s characters have. Similarly, to The Graduate, the film decides to show this in a comedy, which deep down dramatizes it in a way far more superior than if you were to strip the humour away.

It’s Barbie’s world, we’re just living in it. After an ingenious marketing campaign that turned it into an instantly meme-able cultural sensation that inspired parties, special events and fashion trends, the Greta Gerwig-directed comedy-drama starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling finally hit cinemas on July 21.

Millions around the globe are trekking to theaters with “Barbie” tickets in hand, dressed in hot pink from head to toe, anxious to experience what’s shaping up to be the biggest movie event in recent memory. To honor a tectonic-plate moving force at the box office that already raced past the 1.4 billion US dollar mark globally and continues to outperform expectations, here are ten undeniable reasons why “Barbie” is the defining movie of 2023.

1. It’s the most subversive big studio tentpole in recent memory

Throughout the seemingly inescapable Barbie press cycle, many skeptics questioned whether a $150 million-budget summer blockbuster based on a massive 64-year-old intellectual property could genuinely end up being anything other than a sanitized Mattel-approved toy commercial. Perhaps adding fuel to the fire of doubts was the ever-polarizing stature of the fashion doll in the pop-cultural imagination as both an empowering feminist icon for girls of every age and a hyper-corporate product that promotes unattainable beauty standards and rampant materialism.

In-your-face product placement notwithstanding, Greta Gerwig has managed to dissipate such concerns with the cinematic equivalent to the Trojan Horse: a glossy blockbuster that takes several big swings in acknowledging the thorny contradictions that defines its own corporate subject matter under the guise of another populist, PG-13 summer spectacle. “Barbie” doesn’t take much time to show its true colors as a joke-fueled romp steeped in deeper meaning that doubles as a surprisingly tactile cross-section of toxic gender norms, capitalism, and self-worth — a winning formula that makes it the rare kind of crowd-pleaser that is at once laugh-out-loud funny, poignant and surprisingly insightful.

2. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s sharp script

Gerwig’s lovingly-crafted spin on Mattel’s doll plunges viewers into an idyllic feminist utopia known as Barbieland, a bubble-gum fantasy world filled with countless Barbies who run all aspects of life while Kens are treated like second-class citizens. Life in plastic is indeed fantastic until Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) starts to question her own mortality, prompting her to venture into our own human world with the aid of her starry-eyed suitor (a scene-stealing Ryan Gosling) to find out what’s causing her existential crisis and better understand herself.

Real-life power couple Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, who co-wrote the script after previously collaborating in mumblecore standouts like “Frances Ha” and “Mistress America”, use this intriguing set-up as a baseline to wrestle with the doll’s flawed purpose as a feminist cultural object and illustrate the hilarious gender role reversals between Barbieland’s matriarchy and our own male-centric social hierarchy. The genius of Gerwig’s laser-sharp script lies in that it manages to navigate seemingly heady themes and shed light on a plethora of modern issues without pulling any punches or ever losing sight of its pulpy, low-brow pleasures. In fact, the whole thing whips by at such a clip that you’ll need repeated viewings to catch every pun and witty reference scattered throughout.

3. It’s a box-office sensation with universal appeal

A lot was riding on the so-called Barbenheimer double-feature showdown to give a much-needed jolt to the box office after years of uncertainty with the pandemic and in a dire moment for the film industry where streaming platforms, AI and the ongoing writers and actor’s strike threaten to dismantle Hollywood’s ecosystem altogether. The odd but inextricably linked same-day pairing of Christopher Nolan’s WWII biopic and Greta Gerwig’s female-coded fantasia flooded social media as an instantly meme-able pop culture craze, entering the zeitgeist in a way that unquestionably fueled interest for both summer releases.

As a meta comedy-musical with intergenerational appeal and timely themes everyone can appreciate, “Barbie” blew away forecasts, scoring the highest opening of the year ($337 million worldwide) and the most ever for a comedy and a female director. Though hardly a barometer of quality, the fact that it has handedly beaten its ticket sales projections to become the biggest crowd-pleaser in a year riddled with flailing big-budget releases is concrete proof that audiences will show up for unique, compelling stories featuring fresh characters. Whether you end up loving or hating either of these unlikely release-day siblings, the fact that the Barbenheimer phenomenon has single-handedly rekindled a love for moviegoing should be cause for celebration.

4. It’s a major breakthrough for one of the leading creators in today’s scene

Not everyone was thrilled when news broke out that beloved indie cinema darling Greta Gerwig, a former thespian who learned her trade starring in micro-budget mumblecore films before moving into the director’s chair for the Oscar-nominated “Lady Bird”, was chosen to helm a triple-digit IP-driven cash grab based on a mass-produced children’s toy. In lieu of the industry-wide trend that has become endemic in recent years, she was accused in some quarters of being the latest in a line of talented young directors to swerve into the mainstream and sell out in hopes of securing a big paycheck (a list that now includes such names as Barry Jenkins, Chloé Zhao, and David Lowery).

However, in hindsight, the latest and most critical step in Gerwig’s career yet proved to be more of a major creative breakthrough than a shameless cash grab. Rather than compromising her artistic integrity, the filmmaker seized the opportunity to make a piece of populist entertainment that not only takes a big jab at Mattel, but fearlessly challenges conventional viewpoints and encourages dialogue on real-life feminist issues, thus fitting in nicely with her earlier, lower-budgeted work.

5. Ryan Gosling’s Ken-Tastic performance is one of 2023’s best

It might sound hasty to claim that an über-talented two-time Oscar nominee with such a stacked résumé as Ryan Gosling might have possibly given us his best performance to date as a lovestruck beach-loving doll, but the balancing act of over-the-top theatricality and straight-faced frailty he pulls off as Barbie’s perpetual suitor is unlike anything we’ve seen him do in his career.

Contrary to what his reputation as a handsome Hollywood leading man may suggest, Gosling has shown a natural gift for slapstick and is never afraid of committing to the bit (again, any “The Nice Guys” truther worth their salt will vouch for his comedic chops). Right off the bat, you can tell the Canadian actor is having the time of his life playing Ken, whether it’s desperately trying to catch Barbie’s attention, igniting a Kensurrection in Barbieland, putting together his dream “Mojo Dojo Casa House”, or doing Gene Kelly-style dance routines. These sorts of uproariously wacky comedic performances seldom get recognized on the biggest stages, but in the off chance it doesn’t yield any accolades this fall, Gosling’s Ken has carved a permanent place for himself in the all-time pantheon of cinematic himbos.

The 1980s was an excellent time for thrillers; Blow Out, Gorky Park, Frantic, the list goes on and on. We all know them, and some of us love them. But some films, although just as good, can get left behind.

Due to little or no exposure on streaming sites or never getting that fancy Blu-ray release, some movies can get lost on YouTube, sometimes popping up in the wee small hours, helping to fill up a television schedule. So, let’s begin by looking at ten thrillers, all from the 1980s, some more famous than others, but all deserving a little more exposure and a little more love.

1. The Jigsaw Man (1983)

Directed by Bond director Terence Young, The Jigsaw Man marks the onscreen reunion of Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier from more than ten years earlier in Sleuth, where both actors received Academy Award nominations. Although there is little chance of Academy Award nominations here, The Jigsaw Man still has something to offer – I’m just wondering what it is.

It’s the Cold War, and after some nifty plastic surgery, Michael Caine’s Soviet defector returns to England to play a tense cat-and-mouse game with British spymasters. Okay, the plot may be your average Cold War thriller. Yet, the onscreen presence of Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier, supported by a stream of British acting talent, including Susan George, Robert Powell and Charles Gray, keeps The Jigsaw Man ticking over.

Loosely, based on the Cambridge Five, The Jigsaw Man is neither John le Carré, James Bond, nor Harry Palmer. There is a car chase, some shootouts, albeit brief and plenty of Cold War shenanigans. It plays like a TV movie with too many plot threads and a director past his best, with some scenes appearing rushed and poorly lit.

The Jigsaw Man offers up a retirement home for actors who couldn’t find bit parts on Minder or Tales of the Unexpected, as director Terence Young litters the film with past collaborators Vladek Sheybal, Anthony Dawson and Sabine Sun. Yet just the sight of Michael Caine lurking around a church, pocketing some hidden microfilm, gladdens the heart. His Russian and American accents are also fun, as Caine helps dignify the familiar dialogue and sequences.

The Jigsaw Man had a troubled shoot, where the production ran out of money, and the film probably could have done with a memorable set piece. However, these shortcomings are what make The Jigsaw Man so appealing. It’s no Ipcress File, but it has a good cast, a decent story and a strangeness, a puzzle of why it even exists.

2. Target (1985)

Gene Hackman reunites with director Arthur Penn in this excellent spy thriller from 1985. Hackman plays Walter Lloyd and seemingly leads a simple life, working in a lumber business in Dallas, Texas.

Walter and his son Chris (Matt Dillon) have a strained relationship, with Chris, a college dropout and race-car driver, believing his Dad to be a dull old oaf. A generation gap narrative continues for about fifteen minutes as father and son go fishing as mom Donna (Gayle Hunnicutt) heads off to Europe on holiday.

Suddenly, the story steps up a gear when Walter gets a phone call in the middle of the night, informing him that his wife has gone missing whilst on holiday. Father and son decide to travel to Paris to find Mom, and soon Chris finds out that his mum was kidnapped, and that dear old Dad speaks fluent French, is ex-CIA, has a different identity and knows how to handle a gun.

Via an effective car chase, the pair travel to Hamburg, where Walter (or Duke as he was formerly known) becomes a mixture of George Smiley and Jason Bourne. There’s another car chase in Hamburg, a better one, as Walter dodges bullets and meets an old flame (Victoria Fyodorova) and an old Colonel (Richard Münch), with the Cold War plot unfolding, revealing double agents and secret code names.

Target is a compelling Cold War thriller with Gene Hackman grounding the plot in reality with a believable performance. Matt Dillion, a teen heartthrob in 1985, offers a solid performance as a kid who slowly learns that his Dad is James Bond with a receding hairline.

Although not the box office smash it needed to be for director Arthur Penn, after the failure of Four Friends in 1981. Target is a top-notch thriller, with a great score by Michael Small, who had scored such seminal seventies thrillers as The Parallax View and Marathon Man—all in all, a fast-paced thriller that undoubtedly hits the target.

3. North Sea Hijack (1980)

By the late 1970s, Roger Moore had starred in four Bond films and several potboilers like Gold, Shout at the Devil, and The Wild Geese. Partnering up for a second time with Wild Geese director Andrew V. McLaglen, Moore starred in the ambitious thriller North Sea Hijack (also known as ffolkes), in which he gave one of his best performances as Rufus Excalibur ffolkes, a whisky-drinking counter-terrorism specialist with a love for cats.

The plot concerns ffolkes and his crack team trying to stop a group of bad guys and their plan to blow up oil rigs in the North Sea. The main bad guy, Kramer, is played by Anthony Perkins, who adds a steely and captivating presence. Moore, sporting a full beard, has some great dialogue and witty exchanges with Jennifer Hilary and James Mason. Mason, a massive star on both sides of the Atlantic since the late 1940s, plays Admiral Sir Francis Brinsden, who, as well as giving the film a bit of gravitas, becomes Moore’s sparring partner in a war of words.

The story bounces between the crew of the stolen ship and the discussions between the British government on when to involve ffolkes and his team in resolving the situation, with ffolkes suggesting that “Kramer and his odious colleagues will be dead or disabled” before any bombs went off.

North Sea Hijack is a tense thriller, perhaps dated in parts, but a terrific film, nonetheless. Andrew V. McLaglen was best known as an action director, typically featuring an ageing John Wayne in a string of cowboy films. Yet North Sea Hijack is surprisingly short on action sequences, with McLaglen successfully relying on suspense, solid performances and a convincing plot, all slowly ticking towards a crowd-pleasing finale.

4. Thompson’s Last Run (1986)

It’s the mid-1980s, and screen icon Robert Mitchum has a lead role in a low-key thriller. Okay, this is straight to television fare, but it’s Mitchum as a safe cracker on the run from a lawman (Wilford Brimley); what’s not to like?

Mitchum is John Thompson, a career criminal who has spent much of his life behind bars. Thompson gets a visitor, his niece Louise (Kathleen York), who is desperate for her Uncle to become a much closer family member. Yet, Louise learns that Thompson will remain in prison for life due to the “habitual criminal act,” and her dream of a happy family is short-lived.

Wilford Brimley is Red Haines, a soon-to-be-retired lawman, an old friend and adversary of Thompson’s who asks his superiors for one last job. Red’s job is to transport his old friend to another prison, and the story moves along at a leisurely pace as both men reminisce about their shared history, lived on both sides of the law.

Thompson’s niece Louise -re-enters the story, and the film steps up the pace as the gun-toting Louise forces her Uncle John to make a run for it, with the old lawman promising, “I’ll be coming for ye.”

Thompson and Louise get on the road, with Thompson coming to terms with his life as a fugitive from justice. While Red is not exactly in hot pursuit, Thompson has time for a spot of fishing, and the film returns to its leisurely pace as the pair turn to robbery and family dilemmas.

It’s hardly The Getaway, but Thompson’s Last Run is a slow burn, with a typically charismatic performance by Robert Mitchum. Robert Mitchum’s career by the 1980s had chugged along nicely with a string of television spots and character roles in TV movies before Martin Scorsese plucked Mitchum from the television schedules for an extended cameo in his remake of Cape Fear. Yet, in Thompson’s Last Run, much like his role in the earlier TV movie A Killer in the Family, Mitchum proved he was still a formidable presence onscreen.

Let’s face it: Mitchum is excellent with his bit part in Scrooged and good value in War and Remembrance if you can stick to the protracted running time. But in the twilight days of his career, with Thompson’s Last Run, Mitchum, once more in a leading role, proves he’s still the coolest anti-hero in cinema.

5. Tightrope (1984)

It’s New Orleans, and a killer in town enjoys murdering sex workers in the neon-lit French Quarter of New Orleans. Clint Eastwood is Wes Block, a police detective, in another cop film that will please most Dirty Harry fans with its suspense, sex and violence. Yet, Eastwoods’ Wes Block is no Harry Callahan. Wes Block is a family man with two devoted daughters, but he’s also a cop who enjoys the same erotic side of town as the killer, as each time another dead body turns up, it’s clear that Block knows each victim intimately.

With the mud-wrestling women and kinky sex scenes, director Richard Tuggle not only ties sex and violence together in Tightrope, but in Eastwoods’ introduction into the film, Tuggle connects Eastwood’s homicide detective with the killer with a simple ‘match shot’ of a pair of shoes. The film pulls cop and killer together, as a criminal psychologist tells Wes, “There’s a darkness inside all of us…Some have it under control. Others act it out; the rest of us try to walk a tightrope between the two.” While juxtaposing Block’s cosy homelife with his daughters (one of which is Eastwood’s actual daughter, Alison Eastwood), Block enters the seedy underbelly of New Orleans while interviewing sex workers and wrestling with his own sexual obsessions.

It’s a dangerous psychological tightrope where Block must walk the fine line between his sexual demons and his life as a police detective and father. Geneviève Bujold plays Beryl Thibodeaux, who runs a rape crisis centre and challenges Block’s thought processes and notions about women. In a way, she becomes Block’s moral compass and confidant as Block grows concerned about how “close” the killer is getting to him.

Released a few years before Hollywood spewed out 9½ Weeks and Fatal Attraction, Tightrope offers an erotic thriller with an engaging performance by Clint Eastwood, exploring his onscreen masculinity as an icon in American cinema.

In Tightrope, everything you expect from this type of thriller materialises. Does his two daughters become in danger when the killer gets too close? Check. Does Block’s relationship with Beryl melt some of Block’s hard exterior? Check. Does Block catch the killer? Well, that would be telling.

They keep saying the western is slowly becoming a dead genre but somehow it keeps delivering great films almost every year, often more than once. It’s pretty much alive and going strong even if it’s not the Golden Age of it. That said, it’s true that the genre doesn’t necessarily appeal to everyone and some people just stick to the classics that are well-known by any average filmgoer. However, all you need is just to take a closer look.

If you like the genre and looking out for things that you might not have seen before, maybe this list will help. There are traditional ones and non-traditional ones but hopefully there’s something for anyone who enjoys westerns and even if you don’t like westerns, some of these might still be worth to check out. If you had seen them all, that’s great, it means you’re a certified western fan but it also means you can re-visit them.

10. Blackthorn (2011)

Twenty years after his disappearance, an old man named Butch Cassidy (Sam Shepard), living under the assumed name James Blackthorn in a secluded village in Bolivia as a cattle breeder wants to return to the United States after learning of the death of Etta Place. But then his path crosses that of a persecuted man who allegedly robbed a local mine owner. Then as you can imagine, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins.

“Blackthorn” is a wonderful film made by people who certainly love deep love and respect for the genre as they handle the material with certain melancholy. It feels like traditional classic western but the use of grandiose landscapes, amazing staging, non-traditional location uses gives a fresh life to it. The movie has something to say about aging as well. But at the center of it, it works mainly because of Sam Shepard’s brilliant performance. He’s almost Paul Newman-esque in the role, delivering strong, captivating work. Their presence in movies are certainly missed. So if you want to check one of his finest late career performances, this would be a great choice.

9. Never Grow Old (2019)

Probably the least well-known on the list because it kind of disappeared when it got released just like many of actor John Cusack’s recent outputs. Other films are understandable because once reliable actor who selected his projects carefully has seem to long lost his interest in his career. However, once in a while he gets a chance that reminds us what a talented actor he used to be. The film’s lead character is Patrick Tate (Emile Hirsch), an Irish immigrant and undertaker, who profits when outlaws, led by Dutch Albert (Cusack), take over an American frontier town on the California Trail in 1849.

The director describes it as an attempt to the show the dark side of the “American Dream”. Indeed, the film is so dark that it feels like you’re watching a horror at times. It’s a visually dark film too but it only enriches the atmosphere. Why it’s less-known than many other fine westerns of the recent times it’s probably because it’s too mean-spirited to entertain every fan but if you’re okay with that, it’s certainly a fine ride. Definitely deserves more recognition than it initially received.

8. They Call Me Trinity (1970)

“They Call Me Trinity”, ss well as its sequel called “They Still Call Me Trinity” which even more successful than its predecessor are two of the best westerns of its time. Two somewhat shady brothers, one of whom got the sheriff’s star in a rather strange way, become the reluctant rescuers of a Mormon settlement from Mexican bandits and the henchmen of the land-grabbing Major Harriman.

The first word comes to mind to describe this movie is “fun”. It’s just so much fun. There’s just a great comic chemistry between Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. It was very successful at some countries but totally obscure in some others but it was a much needed movie at the time; because the westerns were getting too dark and suddenly a film comes out with a great sense of humor and doesn’t shy back to poke fun at the genre’s clichés. It has everything you need with lots of fights and shootouts and humor. Even if you’re not too fond of comedy westerns, “They Call Me Trinity” is worth to give a chance for and the sequel as well!

7. The Good Old Boys (1995)

Tommy Lee Jones has done enough in the genre to call him an icon here; from the masterpiece TV series “Lonesome Dove” to modern day classic “No Country for Old Men”, he appeared in so many worth-watching westerns. The man certainly has a love for the genre as his directorial debut “The Good Old Boys” was also a western and continued to make other films in the genre. It was a television production and such films tend to go overlooked unfortunately but when the film came out, it received certain attention including a SAG nomination for Tommy Lee Jones and Emmy nomination for Sissy Spacek’s performances.

Those who love “Lonesome Dove” will have a lot to appreciate here as there’s something so gentle about this story about a cowboy who refuses to go to new century and faces with dilemmas. The story is compelling, there are nice touches of humour and it has a nice bittersweet ending. The acting performances are all aces and Tommy is doing a great job at directing the material; everything feels authentic. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find it in a good quality. It’s worth to be seen by more people and to get a proper release.

6. Hearts of the West (1975)

Iowa, 1933. Lewis Tater is an ambitious young man with the ambition to become a western writer, the next Zane Grey. While he narrowly escapes the attack of two crooks wanting to rob, he stumbles upon the location of a western filming in the middle of Nevada. Chance and luck will make him become the new star of Hollywood. He’s played by then-the new star of Hollywood, Jeff Bridges who brings so much charm and complexity into his part.

This list has little bit of everything for fans of all sorts of Westerns. This one is more of a Frank Capra-like movie, it has no sophistication or cynicism but it has lots of charm instead. It’s mostly a tribute to B westerns and more comedic than most choices on the list. It’s not a laugh-out-loud funny but it’s constantly lovely that it makes you smile throughout the entire thing. Beside Bridges, film also features notable performances form Andy Griffith, Donald Pleasence, Blythe Danner and the late Alan Arkin whose presence in movies will certainly be missed. Unfortunately a box office flop, the film later gained love from the fans of the genre and developed a cult following.