Thriller

  • Byron Haskin – The Boss (1956)

    1951-1960Byron HaskinFilm NoirThrillerUSA

    Noir and sci-fi specialist Byron Haskin (I Walk Alone, The War of the Worlds) takes on The Boss in this gritty crime classic. Following World War I, ruthless veteran Matt Brady (John Payne, 99 River Street) inherits the clout of his political kingpin brother and climbs the ladder of corruption all the way to the top of the state. His amoral practices and sheer arrogance lead to broken friendships (William Bishop, The Redhead from Wyoming) and romances (model-turned-actress Doe Avedon and Gloria McGehee, A Child Is Waiting) along the way. Based on the real-life scandal of Kansas City politico Tom Pendergast, The Boss is celluloid dynamite from the pen of Dalton Trumbo (Spartacus, Lonely Are the Brave), originally uncredited due to Hollywood’s blacklisting.Read More »

  • Wolf Gremm – Kamikaze 1989 (1982)

    1981-1990GermanyRainer Werner FassbinderSci-FiThrillerWolf Gremm

    Wolf Gremm’s Kamikaze ‘89 gleefully engages the Eurotrash spirit of liberation from corporate culture. It places Berlin’s rabble-rousing nighthawks in the midst of a terrorist investigation that may-or-may-not implicate a fascistic media conglomerate known as The Combine. Caught in step with music and sex above politics, the libidinous partygoers remain oblivious to the rampant corruption that exists beyond the pulsating speakers.Read More »

  • Robert Hamer – It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)

    Drama1941-1950Robert HamerThrillerUnited Kingdom

    ‘A married woman shelters her former lover in her London home after he has escaped from prison. Discontented with her dull marriage, she begins to rediscover her former love for him.’
    – ScreenonlineRead More »

  • Woody Allen – Match Point (2005)

    Drama2001-2010ThrillerUnited KingdomWoody Allen

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    Description: Tennis pro Chris Wilton takes a job as a tennis instructor and hits it off immediately with one of his students, wealthy young Tom Hewitt. Tom introduces Chris to his family and Chris falls quickly into a romance with Tom’s sister Chloe. But despite the growing certainty that Chris and Chloe will marry, and the enormous professional and financial advantages that come Chris’s way through his relationship with the delighted Hewitt family, Chris becomes increasingly intrigued and eventually romantically involved with Tom’s fiancée, Nola Rice, a struggling American actress. Their passionate trysts leave Chris in danger of losing the wealth and position he has now come to enjoy. The only solution to the dilemma seems unthinkable…Read More »

  • André De Toth – Man on a String (1960)

    USA1951-1960André De TothCrimeThriller


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    Plot:
    Renowned director Andre De Toth (House of Wax) actually got permission to go into East Berlin and Moscow to film much of this pulse-pounding Cold War thriller, based on actual events. Academy Award®-winner Ernest Borgnine (1955, Best Actor, Marty) gives one of his finest performances as a Russian-born movie producer (inspired by composer Boris Morros) whose background makes him an ideal counterspy for the “CBI.” He agrees to the deception, and, aided by agent Avery (Kerwin Mathews, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad), he pretends to defect — but how long can he keep up the charade? The crackerjack cast also includes Colleen Dewhurst, Alexander Scourby, Glenn Corbett and in bit parts, Ted Knight (in his film debut) and Seymour Cassel. Newly remastered. From Warner Brothers Website!Read More »

  • Piero Schivazappa – Femina ridens AKA The Frightened Woman (1969)

    1961-1970EroticaItalyPiero SchivazappaThriller

    With a style that is reminiscent of erotica guru, Radley Metzger, it is hard to believe that he did not direct The Frightened Woman. However, one can see why Metzger chose to release the film under his company Audubon Films. Imagine sets that are similar to Camille 2000, a sensual score by Stelvio Cipriani, and the perversity (though not nearly as extreme) of the Marquis de Sade combined in one film.Read More »

  • Umit Unal – Dokuz AKA Nine (2002)

    2001-2010DramaThrillerTurkeyUmit Unal

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    Scene: A poor neighborhood of Istanbul. A beautiful, young, homeless girl is killed in a brutal and gory murder. Nobody knows where she comes from, although there are many rumors. Six people from the neighborhood are interrogated by the police and the secret history of the neighborhood is thus revealed. 9 is a story about everyday fascism in the lives of ordinary people.

    The movie centers entirely around the interrogation of 6 people about the murder of a homeless girl relatively new to their Istanbul neighborhood. The stories told by each of the characters about their community, neighbors and the murder start out innocently, but bit by bit the oniony layers of the rotten story start to be peeled away revealing that nothing is as rosy as the neighbors would like to believe. Clever editing of the ever changing versions of stories by the different characters provides an often humorous, quick paced, entertaining film that in the end leaves you questioning where the facade ends and the truth really begins.
    Melissa@ImdbRead More »

  • Abel Ferrara – Fear City (1984)

    1981-1990Abel FerraraCrimeThrillerUSA

    Quote:
    Brass-balled, Bronx-born auteur Abel Ferrara is one of those two-fisted screen bards that always follows through on each sucker punch, his heart beating with Sam Fuller’s blood. His scorching morality plays and tainted-psyche humanizations are raw nerves exposed and chewed through, like a naked tornado called Hyde to Scorsese’s more calculated risk-taker Jekyll. However, what makes an Abel Ferrara film for me isn’t plot or casts of meaty, dilemma-torn characters. It’s in the gritty city itself, a filmmaking toybox for tones, textures, sounds, music and aesthetic. When Ferrara looks at New York City, he knows its tourist-trap beauty is bullshit and the lurid truth is in the blackened gum on the bottom of the postcard rack. He’s the director who would probably kick my pasty ass all the way to Chinatown if he heard this flowery praise.Read More »

  • Stanley Kubrick – Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

    Drama1991-2000Stanley KubrickThrillerUSA

    After his wife, Alice, tells him about her sexual fantasies, William Harford sets out for a night of sexual adventure. After several less than successful encounters, he meets an old friend, Nick Nightingale – now a musician – who tells him of strange sex parties when he is required to play the piano blindfolded. All the men at the party are costumed and wear masks while the women are all young and beautiful. Harford manages to find an appropriate costume and heads out to the party. Once there, however, he is warned by someone who recognizes him, despite the mask, that he is in great danger. He manages to extricate himself but the threats prove to be quite real and sinister.Read More »

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