Best Psychological thrillers
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- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSimone SignoretVéra ClouzotPaul MeurisseThe wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.
- DirectorKim Jee-woonStarsLim Soo-jungYum Jung-ahKim Kap-suAfter being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.
- DirectorJames Ward ByrkitStarsEmily BaldoniMaury SterlingNicholas BrendonStrange things begin to happen when a group of friends gather for a dinner party on an evening when a comet is passing overhead.
- DirectorAlex ProyasStarsRufus SewellKiefer SutherlandJennifer ConnellyA man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsShane CarruthDavid SullivanCasey GoodenFour friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsDenzel WashingtonPaula PattonJim CaviezelAfter a ferry is bombed in New Orleans, an A.T.F. agent joins a unique investigation using experimental surveillance technology to find the bomber, but soon finds himself becoming obsessed with one of the victims.
- DirectorBradley KingStarsDanielle PanabakerMatt O'LearyGeorge FinnThree friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures twenty-four hours into the future, and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.
- DirectorChristopher SmithStarsMelissa GeorgeJoshua McIvorJack TaylorFive friends set sail and their yacht is overturned by a strange and sudden storm. A mysterious ship arrives to rescue them, and what happens next cannot be explained.
- DirectorMichael SpierigPeter SpierigStarsEthan HawkeSarah SnookNoah TaylorAs his last assignment, a temporal agent is tasked to travel back in time and prevent a bomb attack in New York in 1975. The hunt, however, turns out to be beyond the bounds of possibility.
- DirectorNacho VigalondoStarsKarra ElejaldeCandela FernándezBárbara GoenagaA man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.
- DirectorDuncan JonesStarsJake GyllenhaalMichelle MonaghanVera FarmigaA soldier wakes up in someone else's body and discovers he's part of an experimental government program to find the bomber of a commuter train within 8 minutes.
- DirectorRian JohnsonStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittBruce WillisEmily BluntIn 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits - someone like Joe - who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróStarsLuis TosarMarta EturaAlberto San JuanCesar, a miserable man who works as an apartment concierge, takes a special interest in an attractive woman who lives there. He goes to great lengths to trouble her.
- DirectorAndrew LauStarsRichard GereClaire DanesKaDee StricklandA hyper-vigilant employee of the department of public safety, while training his young female replacement, has to track down a missing girl who he is convinced is connected to a paroled sex offender he is investigating.
- DirectorNicholas TomnayStarsDavid Hyde PierceClayne CrawfordNathaniel ParkerAn on-the-run convict looking for temporary cover finds it at the house of a very colorful character.
- DirectorJames McTeigueStarsHugo WeavingNatalie PortmanRupert GravesIn a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsMichael DouglasSharon StoneGeorge DzundzaA violent police detective investigates a brutal murder that might involve a manipulative and seductive novelist.Like many of our most beloved genre movies on this list, "Basic Instinct," which starred psychosexual thriller king Michael Douglas (who not only starred in classic "Fatal Attraction" but also "Disclosure" — his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, crops up in "Side Effects") and a young Sharon Stone, is a very loose riff on Alfred Hitchcock, in this case the master’s all-time classic "Vertigo." Like that film, "Basic Instinct" shares a San Francisco setting and a leggy blonde bombshell. Unlike "Vertigo," "Basic Instinct" features geysers of blood and explicit sexuality (which had to be toned down for its initial theatrical release to secure an R rating). Paul Verhoeven had made a similar film before almost a decade before in his native Netherlands (the more wigged-out "Fourth Man"), so the material was familiar to an auteur who, armed with a razor-sharp script by psychosexual thriller regular Joe Eszterhas, made it palpable for modern audiences. While the film is probably most remembered for its infamous leg uncrossing scene (which, given current grooming habits, would surely be even more revealing these days…), it’s still a terrifically entertaining, wildly stylish movie, one in which all of the psychosexual thriller boxes are checked off (romantic triangle, accused murderer, addiction, demons in the closet) but in a way that doesn’t seem perfunctory or workmanlike, but is instead definitive and galvanizing. In the wake of "Basic Instinct" many tried to replicate its creative and commercial success — none did.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsWilliam HurtKathleen TurnerRichard CrennaDuring an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.Scott Z. Burns has cited Lawrence Kasdan‘s sexually charged riff on "Double Indemnity" as one of his chief inspirations on "Side Effects," and it’s easy to see why. "Body Heat," which marked the directorial debut from Kasdan (then primarily known as the writer of fantastical blockbusters "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Empire Strikes Back"; George Lucas returned the favor by serving as an un-credited producer here) and the first performance from Kathleen Turner (in a role that would help define her career and cloud it in a smoky haze of sexuality), concerns a skuzzy lawyer (William Hurt), who strikes up an affair with Turner, who is the wife of a powerful local businessman (Richard Crenna), with deadly consequences. The film’s Florida location gives it some sticky-sweaty Southern Gothic overtones, like a Tennessee Williams play that happens to have a role for Mickey Rourke as a prototypical domestic terrorist who gives Hurt a homemade bomb. The location isn’t the only thing that is hot in "Body Heat;" the sex scenes have a singular, explicit power, aided in part by Bond composer John Barry‘s slinky, jazz-tinged score, the dewy cinematography of Richard Kline and Turner’s raw, fresh-faced allure. She is so gorgeous, so unrelentingly sultry, that it’s easy to see why men would do very bad things just to keep her.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsCraig WassonMelanie GriffithGregg HenryA young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.If there’s a king of the psychosexual genre, then Brian De Palma should probably be the one to wear the crown. Beginning with his debut feature, "Murder A La Mod" (1968) and continuing through to "Passion" (which will be released later this year), De Palma has been working over themes of obsession, violence, and betrayal, in particular during a string of profitable and highly controversial movies in the ’70s and ’80s. (Detailed lovingly in the recent, pseudo-academic book "Un-American Psycho" by Chris Dumas.) While "Dressed to Kill" might be the most psychosexual of his psychosexual heyday, there’s something sleazier and steamier about "Body Double," his unheralded classic from the period, that was unjustifiably thrown under the bus for perceived misogynistic undertones and what critics viewed as too many lapses in logic in De Palma’s dreamlike narrative. (He’s admitted some things in the movie just don’t work.) But it’s for all these reasons, not in spite of them, that "Body Double" is such a whacked-out delight. Like "Dressed to Kill," which liberally cribs from "Psycho," "Body Double" finds De Palma riffing on Hitchcock, in this case "Rear Window," with a struggling actor (Craig Wasson) agreeing to housesit for a friend. After her watches a woman get killed (in a sequence that caused the public outcry – she gets speared by a giant phallic drill), he’s drawn into the underground world of Los Angeles pornography. (It was originally intended as a micro-budget film with an NC-17 rating.) "Body Double" is goofier than "Blow Out," De Palma’s masterpiece, but it’s still a sparkly crown jewel for the king of the psychosexual thriller.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsRooney MaraChanning TatumJude LawA young woman's world unravels when a drug prescribed by her psychiatrist has unexpected side effects.An uncanny psychosexual thriller set against the backdrop of the pharmaceutical industry, it stars Channing Tatum, Jude Law, Rooney Mara, and Catherine Zeta-Jones and is, per our review, more than worth your money this weekend. While the film twists and turns and hops through genres, Soderbergh’s been open about the movie being something of a tribute to a particular brand of psychosexual thrillers, with "Fatal Attraction" cited as one of the inspirations for the director.
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsMichael DouglasGlenn CloseAnne ArcherA married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.Arguably the "Citizen Kane" of the psychosexual thriller genre (it was nominated for six major Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director), "Fatal Attraction" was hugely influential – spawning countless imitators and serving as Steven Soderbergh‘s principle inspiration for "Side Effects." Yes, the psychosexual elements are great and super intense, but the domestic stuff has just as much resonance. Michael Douglas, as a somewhat morally ambiguous New York City lawyer, has a wonderful home life with his wife (Anne Archer) and adorable daughter. Then one weekend he decides to screw around with the hot but deranged woman (Glenn Close) he meets at a party and later has to work with. That’s when things go south and she exemplifies the "psycho" part of psychosexual thriller. A cautionary fable for the soulless Reagan era, "Fatal Attraction" was marvelously directed by perennially underrated stylist Adrian Lyne, who makes sure the "psycho" stuff is really nuts and scary (the wrist cutting is still intense) and the "sexual" stuff is really hot (and pretty graphic for 1987 – that elevator blowjob, wowee). Like De Palma’s movies and later "Basic Instinct," "Fatal Attraction" had its detractors, including noted feminist writer Susan Faludi, who resented the one-dimensionally insane portrayal of Close’s character and the movie’s more ambivalent attitude towards Douglas’ sins. (An early cut of the movie had a more resonant ending for Close but test audiences didn’t respond well, which resulted in a massive, three-week reshoot that drastically altered the climax.) It’s one of the biggest psychosexual thrillers of all time and still the best. Who wants rabbit stew?
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA secretary on the run for embezzlement takes refuge at a secluded California motel owned by a repressed man and his overbearing mother.While Alfred Hitchcock‘s masterpiece "Psycho" is often cited as the principle building block for the slasher genre, inspiring everything from "Halloween" to "Silence of the Lambs" (a film also based in part on the real-life exploits of infamous serial killer Ed Gein) it also could be cited as one of the first honest-to-god psychosexual thrillers. The psycho part is spelled out in the title – most literally it refers to Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a nebbish loner who ruthlessly kills young women who have the misfortune of checking into his seedy roadside motel. He’s got a serious (and here’s where the sexual part comes in) Oedipal complex; falling in love with his mother, digging up her corpse (after he poisoned her), and assuming her personality to carry out his devilish deeds. His sexual repression unleashes murderous consequences, triggered, during the course of the movie, by young Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who is nothing but sex – her introductory scene has her engaged in an unmarried (!) midday tryst. Even her underwear color betrays her – after she’s stolen a substantial mount of money from her job, her bra turns from virginal white to seamy black. It’s pretty heady, progressive stuff, especially for 1960, excuted by a master of suspense at the top of his game. It doesn’t quite feature the love triangle aspect that is a common staple of the genre, although you could argue that a triangle of sorts forms between Leigh, Perkins, and John Gavin, as Marion’s slightly wooden (but determined) lover. Oh, and there’s always Mother…
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsAntonio BanderasElena AnayaJan CornetA brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.On a commercial level, Pedro Almodovar has always been woefully underappreciated, but that response became downright mystifying when, just a couple of years ago, Almodovar delivered "The Skin I Live In," a funny, sexy, scary psychosexual thriller that was entirely accessible, but ignored by too many (it was the director’s lowest-grossing film in the U.S. in over a decade). It’s clear from his filmography that he is deeply indebted to the works of Hitchcock but is also fond of the more arch approach of Brian De Palma. He was able to synthesize those styles in "The Skin I Live In," refining something that he attempted a few years earlier in "Bad Education," and came up with one of his very best, most darkly comic movies. Talking about the plot of "The Skin I Live In" would ruin the fun, bu the thriller is full of ripped-up psyches and sexual obsessions (taken to almost Frankenstein-ian degrees), complete with doppelgangers and murderous intent. It’s also really, really hot, and really, really weird. Antonio Banderas, reuniting with Almodovar after close to twenty years apart, gives one of his very best performances, as a bruised cosmetic surgeon reeling from the death of his wife and daughter, while the jaw-dropping Elena Anaya is the object of his desire. The ins and outs of the relationship are revealed piecemeal as the film moves along, shifting forwards and backwards in time, with a surprising amount of poignancy. And the "big reveal" is one of the best twists in recent memory.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsJennifer TillyGina GershonJoe PantolianoTough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.As The Wachowskis proved with "The Matrix," with elements borrowed from old kung fu movies, off kilter Japanese anime, and yellowed cyberpunk novels, they’re very good at combining things they love into new and exciting packages. With "Bound," they did that on a much smaller scale, handily referencing psychosexual thrillers from the ’80s with older film noir and detective novel influences and a healthy dose of gay S&M culture to create the striking, frequently brilliant debut Stripped down to its bare minimum (the movie’s budget was probably less than an average episode of "Game of Thrones"), the movie concerns two women (Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon) who become lovers and then hatch a plot to steal $2 million from Tilly’s thuggish mobster boyfriend (Joe Pantoliano). That’s pretty much it – but the lesbian angle, especially at the time, was pretty revolutionary, even if earlier thrillers, particularly "Basic Instinct" from a few years before, played with a similar concept. (The depiction of homosexuality in "Bound" is much more positive, the film serving almost as a response to the less progressive elements of Verhoeven’s film). Even on a tiny budget, The Wachowkis were able to make super stylish film (they love their black-and-white checkered floors), and the actors fully commit to the characters, even when things become increasingly violent and bizarre. A psychosexual thriller with a heart, "Bound" still holds up fairly well.