Image: Universal Pictures / Imagine Corporation
About This Quiz
Are you into thrillers? Do you know how to differentiate one type from another? Oh yes, there are varieties — all equally exciting!
The dictionary defines thriller as "a work of fiction or drama designed to hold the interest by the use of a high degree of intrigue, adventure, or suspense." The key term in this definition is "high degree" since thrillers need to concoct intense situations to make audiences feel intense about them, too. That's basically how thrillers work.
But as mentioned, there are different types. If you're into dramatic thrillers, ones that explore how twisted the human psyche can get, then that's the psychological thriller type. These are films that test characters' morality lines, often indulging them in crossing to the darker side. If these dramatic situations involve paranormal elements, then it becomes a paranormal thriller. When gruesome murders are present, then that's a slasher or horror thriller.
Crime-filled thrillers are those that feature an active case, and the protagonists need to solve them, or else! They're often caught between life-or-death situations, which elevate the typical crime drama into a crime thriller. The situations need to make our hearts beat faster in anticipation. And if the stories are just great to watch because they're delivered in action-packed sequences, then that's an action or adventure thriller. It's like the cinematic counterpart of riding a roller coaster.Â
Now that you've reviewed the kinds, time to review the titles! Have a happy time hopping from one thriller to the next!
"The Nun"
"The Sixth Sense"
Before the world left the '90s and embraced the 2000s, movie buffs were saying "I see dead people" over and over, thanks to M. Night Shyamalan's hit thriller "The Sixth Sense." This 1999 film catapulted its kiddie protagonist, Haley Joel Osment, to stardom.
"The Conjuring"
"Carrie"
Advertisement
"The Fan"
"Fatal Attraction"
If the name Alex Forrest is familiar, then chances are, you've seen her as that obsessive mistress in the 1987 thriller "Fatal Attraction." Glenn Close owned this role to scary stalker proportions, earning her an Academy Award nomination in the process as well as AFI's 7th best film villain listing.
"The Crush"
"Enough"
Advertisement
"Friday the 13th"
"Nightmare on Elm Street'
"Silence of the Lambs"
It's no surprise that Hannibal Lecter of "Silence of the Lambs" is the American Film Institute's (AFI) top movie villain of all time. Anthony Hopkins' chilling portrayal of this cannibalistic psychiatrist earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. The film bagged the Best Picture award, too.
"It"
Advertisement
"Finding Nemo"
"Mortal Kombat"
"Die Hard"
"The Shining"
Stanley Kubrick's thrilling 1980 masterpiece "The Shining" came from a 1977 Stephen King novel, but the filmmaker reportedly found the author's writing as "weak." As a result, he improvised many things in the film version with the help of Pulitzer Prize-nominated novelist Diane Johnson.
Advertisement
"Pet Sematary"
"Stand By Me"
"Creepshow"
"Misery"
Creative people often get elated whenever someone tells them "I'm your number one fan," but this isn't the case with novelist Paul Sheldon. James Caan portrayed this Stephen King protagonist in the "Misery" film adaptation while Kathy Bates played his fan, Annie Wilkes. She won an Oscar for it.
Advertisement
"Shutter Island"
American author Dennis Lehane occasionally finds Hollywood knocking on his novelist door to adapt his mystery thriller novels. The 2010 Martin Scorsese film "Shutter Island" came from his 2003 novel, while the 2003 Clint Eastwood film "Mystic River" came from his 2001 novel.
"A Quiet Place"
"North by Northwest"
"Mystic River'
Advertisement
"Basic Instinct"
Stone made a career out of playing strong but sexy women characters in the '90s and 2000s, the most notable being her writer character in "Basic Instinct." Even though she played a bisexual in this film, that aspect got downplayed as her character's liaison with the leading man got more focused on.
"Total Recall"
"The Quick and the Dead"
"The Specialist"
Advertisement
"Psycho"
Second only to Dr. Hannibal Lecter as the American Film Institute's top movie villain is Norman Bates, proprietor of the Bates Motel in Hitchcock's "Psycho." While Anthony Hopkins gave life to Lecter, Anthony Perkins made this 1960 hotel owner memorable in movie history.
"Halloween"
"Arrival"
"Suspiria"
Advertisement
"Gia"
"Girl, Interrupted"
"The Bone Collector"
Jolie suited up in police uniform for the 1999 thriller "The Bone Collector." She played a forensics-obsessed rookie cop who assists Denzel Washington's paralyzed forensic expert character. A year after, procedural forensics boomed as a TV theme, thanks to "CSI" premiering in 2000.
"Hackers"
Advertisement
"Jaws"
If you find yourself traveling to California and visiting theme parks there, don't forget to pass by Universal Studios in Los Angeles where the "Jaws" movie scene is one of the Studio Tour attractions. There's also a bigger Jaws ride in Universal Studios Japan where you can relive the thriller live.
"Three Days of the Condor"
"The Day of the Jackal"
"Straw Dogs"
Advertisement
"Sleeping with the Enemy"
"Flatliners"
Even with big names like out and proud actress Ellen Page and Mexican heartthrob Diego Luna in the leads, the 2017 remake of "Flatliners" didn't resuscitate the success of the 1990 original. Aside from Roberts, the original had Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin and Oliver Platt.
"Mary Reilly"
"Erin Brockovich"
Advertisement
"The Game
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Panic Room"
If you're wondering who played Jodie Foster's 11-year-old daughter in the 2002 thriller "Panic Room," that was a pre-"Twilight" Kristen Stewart acting it out with the former child star-turned-actor/director. But the film originally had Nicole Kidman and Hayden Panettiere in the cast.
"The Social Network"
Advertisement
"The Firm"
"The Whole Truth"
"The Devil's Advocate"
Before Charlize Theron made a bigger name for herself by torturing bad guys in the late 2000s and up, she played many tortured wife/girlfriend roles during the '90s. One striking role was as the lawyer's wife in the 1997 thriller "The Devil's Advocate" where Al Pacino played the devil role.
"Point Break"
Advertisement
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
"The Mummy"
"Red Dragon"
Hannibal the Cannibal first gets exposed in the "Silence of the Lambs" prequel "Red Dragon" where he crossed the line from doctor to criminal. The 2002 film featured him working with another tortured FBI agent, Will Graham (Edward Norton), before meeting up with Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster).
"Excalibur"
Advertisement
"Great Expectations"
"Mary Shelley's Frankenstein"
"Cape Fear"
Both the 1962 original and 1991 remake of "Cape Fear" featured prominent Hollywood actors. Playing the terrifying avenging ex-con in the new film is Robert De Niro, while Robert Mitchum played him in the original. Gregory Peck, the lawyer in the original, also appeared in the remake in another role.
"Ronin"
Advertisement
"The Manhattan Project"
"Super 8"
"Final Destination"
Devon Sawa fans who first had a crush on him in 1995's "Casper" as the friendly ghost's human form soon got to see more of him in the 2003 film "Final Destination." Interestingly enough, he played a teen here who had premonitions about a plane crash so he avoided becoming a ghost in this story.
"Swimfan"
Advertisement
"Dial M for Murder"
"Phone Booth"
The 2002 action thriller "Phone Booth" plays on the ticking time bomb trope in storytelling wherein a character gets trapped in a situation he can't get out of. If he attempts to leave, it's a life or death situation for him. Colin Farrell played the man trapped in this situation in the film.
"The Book of Eli"
The Cell
Advertisement
"Snatch"
"Seven"
If you're not familiar with the seven deadly sins, the serial killer's motif in "Seven," it has something to do with the Catholic belief of "man's capital vices" or "cardinal sins." Each murder scene in the movie reflected these themes: greed, gluttony, lust, pride, envy, sloth and wrath.
"Fury"
"Allied"
Advertisement
"The Good Son"
The 1993 film "The Good Son" shows how children can also act out of their own volition and choose evil deeds while being fully aware of its disastrous consequences. A young Macaulay Culkin starred with the preteen Elijah Wood in this suburban psychological thriller.
"The Faculty"
"The War"
"The Adventures of Huck Finn"
Advertisement
"Awakenings"
"Dead Poets Society"
"Good Will Hunting"
"One Hour Photo"
The late great comedian Robin Williams occasionally showed us that he could also provide us chills and thrills aside from laughs. In the 2002 thriller "One Hour Photo," he played the photo developing staff in a mall who got obsessed with a suburban family.
Advertisement
"The Prestige"
"Dunkirk"
"Interstellar"
"Inception"
In an interview, director Christopher Nolan said his own brother, fictionist Jonathan, advised him against explaining the mysterious endings of his intriguing films. Therefore, the world might never know whether "Inception" ends in the dream world or the real world for its lead character, Dom Cobb.
Advertisement
"Point of No Return"
"Single White Female"
Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh's performances in "Single White Female" made '90s young professionals wary of taking in a roommate; the 1992 movie was a huge hit back then. "Gossip Girl" Leighton Meester starred in a college-set remake of this film in 2011 called "The Roommate."
"Singles"
"City Hall"
Advertisement
"Primal Fear"
Before playing a "Fight Club" boxer and a former neo-Nazi in "American History X," Edward Norton showed off his psychologically driven acting chops for the first time in "Primal Fear." This 1996 thriller had him fooling Gere's lawyer character by pretending to have multiple personality disorder.
"An Officer and a Gentleman"
"American Gigolo"
"The Mothman Prophecies"
Advertisement
"L.A. Confidential"
The 1997 crime thriller "L.A. Confidential" starred two Australian celebrities making their first big starring roles in America: Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe. Pearce's big film before this one was the 1994 campy film "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
"Sunset Boulevard"
"Barton Fink"
"Get Shorty"
Advertisement
"Ex Machina"
Generation X fans of novelist Alex Garland might remember his 1996 book "The Beach" as the basis of Danny Boyle's 2000 backpacker film with Leonardo DiCaprio. He transitioned into a film scriptwriter during the 2000s, which led to his directing debut in 2014's "Ex Machina." He also penned its script.
"The Danish Girl"
"The Man From U.N.C.L.E."
"Jason Bourne"
Advertisement
"The Terminal"
"Saving Private Ryan"
"The Da Vinci Code"
Want to stir a global controversy by taking on old religions and proposing fantastic "facts" of holy deities? That was what author Dan Brown did with his 2003 novel "The Da Vinci Code," but for some reason, the 2006 movie version got more flak. Both proposed that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were lovers.
"Apollo 13"
Advertisement
"Strangers on a Train"
"Strangers on a Train" is about two men who try to plot the perfect murder — one will kill the other's identified victim so they won't get suspected for it. It's an adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel, the writer who also penned "The Price of Salt" later adapted as the 2015 film "Carol."
"Lifeboat"
"Vertigo"
"The 39 Steps"
Advertisement
"Eyes Wide Shut"
"The Hours"
"The Others"
Since filmmaker Alejandro Amenabar is from Spain, his 2001 film "The Others" qualified as a nominee in the Goya Awards, their country's version of the Oscars, even if the film was all in English. Meanwhile, Kidman got honored with a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination for her role in the film.
"Cold Mountain"
Advertisement
"Aeon Flux"
"Atomic Blonde"
Ever the LGBT advocate, "Atomic Blonde" star Charlize Theron highly supported the sexuality rewrite of her spy character Lorraine Broughton in media interviews. Its originating material, "The Coldest City" graphic novel, didn't portray this character as bisexual but the film did.
"Mad Max: Fury Road"
"The Italian Job"
Advertisement
"The Usual Suspects"
"Casablanca" somehow inspired director Bryan Singer to choose a line from that movie and turn it into this movie's title. The French police captain said, "Round up the usual suspects" when a military official got shot. This is why the film "The Usual Suspects" features a criminal lineup, too.
"Reservoir Dogs"
"The Outsiders"
"Goodfellas"
Advertisement
"Speed"
"Bird Box"
Netflix's 2018 thriller "Bird Box" had a more hopeful treatment from director Susanne Bier than its original book material by Josh Malerman. In the book, Bullock's character formed no romantic relationship with any fellow survivor. Plus the birds served more as a warning for the creatures' presence.
"The Net"
"The Vanishing"
Advertisement
"Black Swan"
"The Departed"
"Get Out"
The Academy Award's Best Original Screenplay award at the 2018 ceremonies went to Jordan Peele's cautionary tale of a thriller called "Get Out." It's about an interracial couple wherein the white parents of the black man's fiancee seem to be holding their black servants in a hypnotic state.
"Mississippi Burning"
Advertisement
"Scream"
"Urban Legend"
"I Know What You Did Last Summer"
The horror-thriller "I Know What You Did Last Summer" was a loose adaptation of a 1973 young adult novel by Lois Duncan. Wes Craven adapted another horror-themed book of hers into film, 1976's "Summer of Fear." But when Duncan's own teen daughter got murdered, she stopped writing horror stories.
"Candyman"
Advertisement
"The Birdcage"
"City of Angels"
"Diabolique"
The 1996 American version of "Diabolique" featured Sharon Stone in a deviously sexual role opposite Adjani's angelic martyr role. The original 1955 psychological thriller "Les Diaboliques" featured Simone Signoret, one of France's legendary cinematic icons, playing the character portrayed by Stone.
"Scent of a Woman"
Advertisement
"Gone Girl"
The 2014 psychological thriller "Gone Girl" is director David Fincher's last theatrical film to date. Lately, he's busy being the executive producer of the Netflix series "Love, Death & Robots."
"Argo"
"The Town"
"Armageddon"
Advertisement
"The Illusionist"
"The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
"Now You See Me"
The 2013 film "Now You See Me" pulled off great magic at the box office, so a 2016 sequel followed it. The original Four Horsemen illusionists featured Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher. But Fisher didn't return for the sequel because she got pregnant at that time.
"The Great Escape"
Advertisement
"Memento"
After playing Trinity and Cypher in 1999's "The Matrix," Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano met up again on the set of the 2000 film "Memento." It's the second film directed by Christopher Nolan in his career. Guy Pearce starred in this one.
"Insomnia"
"Interstellar"
"Following"
Advertisement
"Dial M for Murder"
"Rear Window"
"Jamaica Inn"
"Rebecca"
Even though Mrs. Danvers of "Rebecca" isn't as psychotic or murderous as the other antagonists in AFI's list of best movie villains, she still makes it to number 31. Film critics agree that Judith Anderson made a chilling impression as the housekeeper obsessed with the memory of her former boss.
Advertisement
"Heat"
"The Panic in Needle Park"
"Insomnia"
You would think California cops already adjusted to having too much sunlight in their lives but experiencing perpetual daylight is another thing. This is what happened to Pacino's detective character in "Insomnia" who helps solve a case in Alaska during the midnight sun summer season.
"Sea of Love"
Advertisement
"Men in Black 3"
"Jonah Hex"
"Sicario"
Brolin played the CIA director reluctant to work with FBI agents in an anti-Mexican drug cartel task force in "Sicario." Thriller movie actors Emily Blunt of "A Quiet Place" and Daniel Kaluuya of "Get Out" played these noble agents who had a hard time dealing with their operations' illegalities.
"True Grit"
Advertisement
You Got:
/40
