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100+ Best Thriller Movies Of All Time On Netflix (2020)

By
Donnie Keith

What are the best thriller movies? What makes a Perfect Thriller? Actually Thriller is such a broad genre that you can not define a perfect thriller film. Thriller could be easily meshed up with horror or crime. You will find a lots of sub genres of Thriller films, Most Popular Being – Crime Thriller, Action Thriller, Horror Thriller, Mystery Thriller and even comedy Thriller. But the question is what actually defines a thriller film.

A Thriller film is one whose plot revolves around such elements and characters that create anxiety, suspense, surprise and even terror among the audience. So sometimes a good thriller film can give you more chill than a horror film. Thriller films are full of surprises and plot twists and you can never guess what is going to happen at the next moment. The tension build around the plot can easily gulp the audience in it and you might feel like one of the character and even if you don’t, you surely will run your mind to guess the next move in the film.

Thriller films are in existence since the 1920s. In fact the very first thriller movie was a comedy thriller (Harold lloyd’s Safety Last in 1923). But the director who actually made thriller genre popular among audience was Sir Alfred Hitchcock. He and Director Fritz Lang made some of the finest thriller films of all time.

The 1950s could be seen as the best decade for thriller films.The 1960s mainly focused on Political Thrillers. In the 1970s Horror Thriller and crime thriller films were on rise and in the 1980s many directors made sci fi thrillers. The 1990s was the only decade that could give competition to the 50s thriller movies. The 00s decade once again focused on horror thriller films.

Here i have compiled a list of 100 Greatest Thriller Movies ever made:

100. Basic Instinct Series

best thriller movies
Director – Paul Verhoeven
Cast – George Dzundza, Michael Douglas, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Sharon Stone
IMDB Rating – 6.9
Rotten Tomatoes – 53%
Release Date – 20 March 1992
Box Office – $352.9 million
Genre – Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

99. Primal Fear

best thriller movies
Director – Gregory Hoblit
Cast – Edward Norton, John Mahoney, Frances McDormand, Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Alfre Woodard
IMDB Rating – 7.7
Rotten Tomatoes – 75%
Release Date – 3 April 1996
Box Office – $102.6 million
Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
Awards – None
Plot –

98. Jackie Brown

best thriller movies
Director – Quentin Tarantino
Cast – Samuel L. Jackson, Bridget Fonda, Robert De Niro, Pam Grier, Robert Forster, Michael Keaton
IMDB Rating – 7.5
Rotten Tomatoes – 87%
Release Date – 25 December 1997
Box Office – $74.7 million
Genre – Crime, Drama, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

97. The Devil’s Advocate

best thriller movies
Director – Taylor Hackford
Cast – Al Pacino, Jeffrey Jones, Charlize Theron, Keanu Reeves, Judith Ivey
IMDB Rating – 7.5
Rotten Tomatoes – 67%
Release Date – 13 October 1997
Box Office – $153 million
Genre – Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

96. Cape Fear

best thriller movies
Director – Martin Scorsese
Cast – Jessica Lange, Robert De Niro, Robert Mitchum, Nick Nolte, Juliette Lewis
IMDB Rating – 7.3
Rotten Tomatoes – 75%
Release Date – 13 November 1991
Box Office – $182.3 million
Genre – Crime, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

95. American Psycho

best thriller movies
Director – Mary Harron
Cast – Jared Leto, Samantha Mathis, Christian Bale, Josh Lucas, Willem Dafoe, Matt Ross
IMDB Rating – 7.6
Rotten Tomatoes – 68%
Release Date – 14 April 2000
Box Office – $34.3 million
Genre – Crime, Drama
Awards – None
Plot –

94. Shooter

best thriller movies
Director – Antoine Fuqua
Cast – Danny Glover, Mark Wahlberg, Elias Koteas, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Ned Beatty, Rade Šerbedžija
IMDB Rating – 7.2
Rotten Tomatoes – 47%
Release Date – 8 March 2007
Box Office – $95.7 million
Genre – Action, Drama, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

93. True Romance

best thriller movies
Director – Tony Scott
Cast – Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Brad Pitt
IMDB Rating – 7.9
Rotten Tomatoes – 92%
Release Date – 8 September 1993
Box Office – $12.3 million
Genre – Crime, Drama, Romance
Awards – None
Plot –

92. The Talented Mr. Ripley

best thriller movies
Director – Anthony Minghella
Cast – Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Jack Davenport, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sergio Rubini, Jude Law
IMDB Rating – 7.4
Rotten Tomatoes – 83%
Release Date – 12 December 1999
Box Office – $128.8 million
Genre – Crime, Drama, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

91. The Ring

best thriller movies
Director – Gore Verbinski
Cast – David Dorfman, Naomi Watts, Brian Cox, Martin Henderson
IMDB Rating – 7.1
Rotten Tomatoes – 71%
Release Date – October 18, 2002
Box Office – $249.3 million
Genre – Horror, Mystery
Awards – None
Plot –

90. Pi

best thriller movies
Director – Darren Aronofsky
Cast – Ben Shenkman, Samia Shoaib, Sean Gullette, Ben Shenkman, Mark Margolis
IMDB Rating – 7.4
Rotten Tomatoes – 88%
Release Date – 10 July 1998
Box Office – $3,221,152
Genre – Drama, Horror, Mystery
Awards – None
Plot –

89. Déjà vu

best thriller movies
Director – Tony Scott
Cast – Val Kilmer, Bruce Greenwood, Adam Goldberg, Dnzel Washington, Paula Patton
IMDB Rating – 7.1
Rotten Tomatoes – 55%
Release Date – 22 November 2006
Box Office – $180.6 million
Genre – Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
Awards – None
Plot –

88. Rashomon

best thriller movies
Director – Akira Kurosawa
Cast – Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, Toshiro Mifune, Minoru Chiaki
IMDB Rating – 8.3
Rotten Tomatoes – 98%
Release Date – 25 August 1950
Box Office – $96,568
Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
Awards – None
Plot –

87. Mulholland Dr.

best thriller movies
Director – David Lynch
Cast – Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Mark Pellegrino, Laura Elena Harring, Ann Miller
IMDB Rating – 8
Rotten Tomatoes – 83%
Release Date – 6 June 2001
Box Office – $20.1 million
Genre – Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

86. Man on fire

best thriller movies
Director – Tony Scott
Cast – Christopher Walken, Denzel Washington, Giancarlo Giannini, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Marc Anthony
IMDB Rating – 7.7
Rotten Tomatoes – 39%
Release Date – 21 April 2004
Box Office – $130.3 million
Genre – Action, Crime, Drama
Awards – None
Plot –

85. Charade

best thriller movies
Director – Stanley Donen
Cast – Walter Matthau, James Coburn, Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant
IMDB Rating – 7.9
Rotten Tomatoes – 95%
Release Date – 5 December 1963
Box Office – $13.4 million
Genre – Comedy, Mystery, Romance
Awards – None
Plot –

84.Equilibrium

best thriller movies
Director – Kurt Wimmer
Cast – Angus Macfadyen, Christian Bale, Matthew Harbour, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, William Fichtner
IMDB Rating – 7.4
Rotten Tomatoes – 40%
Release Date – 6 December 2002
Box Office – $5.3 million
Genre – Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Awards – None
Plot –

83. The Butterfly Effect

best thriller movies
Director – Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
Cast – Elden Henson, William Lee Scott, Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Melora Walters, Ethan Suplee
IMDB Rating – 7.7
Rotten Tomatoes – 33%
Release Date – January 23, 2004
Box Office – $96.1 million
Genre – Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

82.The Machinist

best thriller movies
Director – Brad Anderson
Cast – Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Christian Bale, John Sharian, Jennifer Jason Leigh
IMDB Rating – 7.7
Rotten Tomatoes – 81%
Release Date – 18 January 2004
Box Office – $8.2 million
Genre – Drama, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

81. Strangers on a train

best thriller movies
Director – Alfred Hitchcock
Cast – Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Farley Granger
IMDB Rating – 8
Rotten Tomatoes – 98%
Release Date – 30 June 1951
Box Office – $2,932,000
Genre – Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot –

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