Subgenre Sampler
Suspense/Crime: 3190 Films to Buy & Rent
A Shriek in the Night (1933)
- Dir. Albert Ray
Feat. Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, Harvey Clark…
- A murderer terrorises a quiet neighbourhood, with each victim ominously receiving a polite card before being dispatched. This solidly produced…
Kennel Murder Case, The (1933)
- Dir. Michael Curtiz
Feat. William Powell, Mary Astor
- Stylish murder mystery from the pre code era with William Powell playing detective and Scottish Terrier owner Philo Vance, popularised in the novels…
Testament of Dr. Mabuse, The (1933)
- Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Rudolf Klein-Rogge
- Dir. Lang's brilliant sequel to the silent DR. MABUSE – THE GAMBLER, rethinking his vision of the evil controlling mastermind for the nascent…
Most Dangerous Game, The (1932)
- Dir. Ernest B Shoedsack, Irving Pichel
Feat. Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks
- This mother of all chase–movies was adapted from Richard Connell's book by the makers of KING KONG. A fresh–faced Joel McCrea is…
M... Worst Crime of All (1931)
- Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Peter Lorre
- A chilling expressionist classic starring Peter Lorre as psychotic child molester. Dir. Lang masterfully fills the screen with understated but…
Bat Whispers, The (1930)
- Dir. Roland West
Feat. Chester Morris, Una Merkel, Richard Tucker…
- An early talkie about a mysterious criminal known as "The Bat", who terrorises a group of people looking for treasure in an old country…
Gangster Films, The: Three Silent Films by Yasujiro Ozu (Walk Cheerfully, That Night's Wife, Dragnet Girl) (1930-1933)
- Dir. Yasujiro Ozu
- Criterion collection of three silent crime films made by prolific Japanese director Ozu before his reputation for post–WWII domestic dramas was…
Hitchcock Showcase (1930)
- Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- Four films from the early career of suspense's elder statesman, available on twin cassettes – MURDER (1930), SKIN GAME (1931), NUMBER 17…
Murder! (1930)
- Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Herbert Marshall, Edward Chapman, Miles Mander
- Hitchcock's second talkie is a clever whodunnit in which a juror (Marshall) in the murder trial of a young woman decides to open his own…
Blackmail (1929)
- Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Anny Ondra, John Longden, Sara Allgood…
- Notable early thriller from Hitch, with Ondra being blackmailed by someone who knows she accidentally killed a rapist. Features good London…