Subgenre Sampler

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Companion (2025): Dir. Drew Hancock
Feat. Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Rupert Friend…; It's no spoiler to say that Iris (Sophie Thatcher) is not what she seems in this cutting–edge sci–fi comedy thriller that deploys some…
Bikeriders, The (2024): Dir. Jeff Nichols
Feat. Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, Jodie Comer…; After being inextricably whisked away by 60's rebel heartthrob (Butler), A young woman becomes the groupie of Midwestern biker club "the Vandals".…
Drive-Away Dolls (2024): Dir. Ethan Coen
Feat. Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein…; A short romp about two women who take an impromptu road–trip to freshen up their sad lives. Things quickly go awry when they find themselves on…
Longlegs (2024): Dir. Oz Perkins
Feat. Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Alicia Witt…; A sizable horror hit that is two parts police procedural centred around Maika Monroe's sombre FBI agent, and one part supernatural thriller, hinged…
Love Lies Bleeding (2024): Dir. Rose Glass
Feat. Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone…; An audacious Stateside thriller from director Rose Glass that makes good on the promise of her outstanding British debut, Saint Maud (2019). There…
Trap (2024): Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Feat. Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan…; Former teen heartthrob Josh Hartnett stars as a father who attends a 'Lady Raven' pop concert with his adoring teenage daughter, only to realize…
Anatomy of a Fall (2023): Dir. Justine Triet
Feat. Sandra Huller, Swann Arlaud, Jehnny Beth…; An extraordinary, multi–layered dramatic thriller from France that deservingly won the Palm D'or at Cannes. For the past year, Sandra, a…
Blood For Dust (2023): Dir. Rod Blackhurst
Feat. Scoot McNairy, Kit Harrington, Josh Lucas…; A stylish crime–thriller set in 90’s Minnesota that addresses the grim consequences of economic decline with slow–burn menace and…
Cat Person (2023): Dir. Susanna Fogel
Feat. Emilia Jones, Nicholas Braun, Geraldine Viswanathan…; An extended film adaptation of a 2017 'New Yorker' short story that went viral on account of its wildly relatable tale of a young millennial woman's…
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023): Dir. Chad Stahelski
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård…; Keanu's stonefaced man–alone takes his fight to the High Table as he seeks to dispatch the most powerful players in the underworld, from New…
Missing (2023): Dir. Will Merrick, Nick Johnson
Feat. Storm Reid, Joaquim De Almeida, Ken Leung…; A "screenlife thriller" from the producers of “Searching” (2018). When her mother (Nia Long) disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her…
November (Novembre) (2023): Dir. Cédric Jimenez
Feat. Jean Dujardin, Anaïs Demoustier, Sandrine Kiberlain…; A captivating thriller that dramatizes one of the most incredible manhunts in European history in the aftermath of the 2015 attacks across Paris. Led…
355, The (2022): Dir. Simon Kinberg
Feat. Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Diane Kruger…; When a top–secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, a wild card CIA agent (Jessica Chastain) joins forces with a rival German agent, a…
Ambulance (2022): Dir. Michael Bay
Feat. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza Gonzalez; Propulsive action thriller directed by Michael Bay about a desperate veteran (Yahya Abdul–Mateen II) who turns to his adoptive brother and…
Decision To Leave (2022): Dir. Park Chan-Wook
Feat. Hae-il Park, Wei Tang; An exquisite and mysterious melodrama from Korean maestro Park Chan–Wook (Old Boy, Thirst, The Handmaiden), ostensibly about a detective who…
Don't Worry Darling (2022): Dir. Olivia Wilde
Feat. Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine…; A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his company could be hiding disturbing secrets.
Holy Spider (2022): Dir. Ali Abbasi
Feat. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani; An astonishing new film from Ali Abbasi, who makes good on the promise of his head–turning Danish troll drama “Border” (2018). This one…
How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022): Dir. Daniel Goldhaber
Feat. Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, Kristine Froseth…; A nail–biter of the first order that vividly depicts the actions of a group of young climate activists who come together for a 'meaningful' act…
Kompromat (2022): Dir. Jérôme Salle
Feat. Gilles Lellouche, Joanna Kulig; Mathieu is a gregarious and dedicated diplomat who accepts a posting to Irkutsk as the head of Siberia’s Alliance Française. He hopes the change…
Maigret (2022): Dir. Patrice Leconte
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Jade Labeste, Aurore Clement…; Gérard Depardieu brings to remarkable life one of the most beloved characters from 20th–century crime fiction in this crime drama from…
Muru (2022): Dir. Tearepa Kahi
Feat. Cliff Curtis, Jay Ryan, Manu Bennett…; A riveting local action–thriller that boldly fictionalizes events surrounding the Nga Tuhoe raids of 2007. Our finest actor Cliff Curtis…
Night of the 12th, The (La Nuit du 12) (2022): Dir. Dominik Moll
Feat. Bastien Bouillon, Bouli Lanners, Anouk Grinberg; Another intelligent and thought–provoking French crime drama from the director of Aro Favourite, “Only the Animals” (2019). It’s more…
Project Wolf Hunting (2022): Whist being transported across international waters inside a locked cargo ship, a group of infamous criminals unites to stage a coordinated escape.…
The Origin of Evil (2022): Dir. Sebastien Marnier
Feat. Laure Calamy; A black comedy thriller from France about riches, bitches and patriarchal pricks, because when it comes to money all bets are off and all knives come…
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022): Dir. Olivia Newman
Feat. Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor Smith, Harris Dickinson…; From the best–selling novel comes a captivating mystery. Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya, an abandoned girl who raised herself…
Angela Black (Mini-series) (2021): Feat. Joanne Froggatt, Michiel Huisman, Samuel Adewunmi; 6–Part TV thriller about a wife and mother of two (Joanne Froggatt, DOWNTON ABBEY) who is approached out of the blue by a private investigator…
Before We Die (TV Series) (2021): Feat. Lesley Sharp, Patrick Gibson, Vincent Regan; 6 part Police drama based on the popular Scandi–noir series of the same name, shifting the setting from Stockholm to Bristol. Follows a…
Coming Home in the Dark (2021): Dir. James Ashcroft
Feat. Miriama McDowell, Erik Thomson, Daniel Gillies…; Not for the faint of heart, this Kiwi thriller is confrontingly grim yet takes the psycho–killer genre into thematic territory it rarely…
Cruella (2021): Dir. Craig Gillespie
Feat. Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry…; Crime comedy starring Emma Stone as the villainous character Cruella de Vil from Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Director…
Escape from Mogadishu (2021): Dir. Ryoo Seung-Wan
Feat. Yoon-seok Kim, In-sung Zo, Joon-ho Huh; A gritty action–thriller based on true events following a diplomatic skirmish between North and South Korea that breaks out on the African…
Forgiven, The (2021): Dir. John Michael McDonagh
Feat. Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Christopher Abbott…; Speeding through the Moroccan desert to attend an old friend’s lavish weekend party, wealthy Londoners (Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain) are…
Full Time (A Plien Temps) (2021): Dir. Eric Gravel
Feat. Laure Calamy, Genevieve Mnich, Anne Suarez; A cracker of a French drama that teeters on the edge of a thriller throughout because it’s all about the pressure cooker that is modern life.…
Gaia (2021): Dir. Jaco Bouwer
Feat. Monique Rockman, Carel Nel, Dick Van Dyke…; Visually striking South African eco–horror about an injured forest ranger on a routine mission who is saved by two off–the–grid…
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021): Dir. Navot Papushado
Feat. Karen Gillan , Lena Headey, Carla Gugino…; Navot Papushado (BIG BAD WOLVES) directs this neon–infused action thriller about a master assassin (Karen Gillan) who teams up with her…
Hollington Drive (Mini-series) (2021): Feat. Anna Maxwell Martin, Rachael Stirling, Peter McDonald…; 4–Part drama–thriller created and written by Sophie Petzal (BLOOD), following the lives of two sisters whose suburban comforts are…
Last Night in Soho (2021): Dir. Edgar Wright
Feat. Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith…; Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor–Joy star in this latest dizzying concoction from precocious British director Edgar Wright, a…
Locked Down (2021): Dir. Doug Liman
Feat. Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Stephen Merchant…; Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor play a newly separated couple confined to their swanky London apartment during a mandatory lockdown, with…
Many Saints of Newark, The (2021): Dir. Alan Taylor
Feat. Alessandro Nivola, Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll…; A prequel to the beloved crime series THE SOPRANOS about the iconic Italian–American mob boss Tony Soprano and his crime family. Focuses on…
Mare of Easttown (TV Mini-series) (2021): Dir. Craig Zobel
Feat. Kate Winslet, Evan Peters, Angourie Rice…; Crime series set in rural Pennsylvania following a detective investigating an unsolved murder. Kate Winslet is a triumph in the role of the…
Nightmare Alley (2021): Dir. Guillermo Del Toro
Feat. Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette…; Dark and stormy neo–noir thriller from director Guillermo del Toro (THE SHAPE OF WATER) about a low–ranking carnie (Bradley Cooper) who…
Nitram (2021): Dir. Justin Kurzel
Feat. Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Essie Davis…; An intense yet clear–eyed psychological drama from accomplished director Justin Kurzel (TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG) depicting the events…
No Man of God (2021): Dir. Amber Sealey
Feat. Elijah Wood, Luke Kirby, Aleksa Palladino…; Engrossing thriller based on the relationship between FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier and serial killer Ted Bundy. Set in Bundy's final years on death…
Pig (2021): Dir. Michael Sarnoski
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin…; A mesmerising drama with Nicolas Cage (somewhat) changing pace to play a bedraggled truffle hunter living in the remote Oregonian wilderness. When…
Reminiscence (2021): Dir. Lisa Joy
Feat. Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton…; Hugh Jackman plays a private investigator of the mind in this sci–fi action thriller set in a near future world destroyed by climate…
Smother (TV Series) (2021): Feat. Dervla Kirwan, Seána Kerslake, Niamh Walsh…; Riveting Irish TV thriller set on the wild and rugged coast of County Clare, where a matriarch (Dervla Kirwan) is determined to find out who killed…
Stillwater (2021): Dir. Tom McCarthy
Feat. Matt Damon, Camille Cottin, Abigail Breslin…; Crime drama directed by Tom McCarthy (THE VISITOR), with Matt Damon playing an unemployed oil–rig worker from Stillwater, Oklahoma who travels…
Ted K: The Unabomber (2021): Dir. Tony Stone
Feat. Sharlto Copley; An ambient, minimalistic approach to portraying the life of notorious U.S. domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski, who lives a life of quiet seclusion in…
To Chiara (A Chiara) (2021): Dir. Jonas Carpignano
Feat. Swamy Rotolo, Claudio Rotolo, Giorgia Rotolo…; A rites–of–passage drama in the Italian neo–realist tradition that examines the impact of Mafia activity on those in the close…
West Side Story (2021): Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Rachel Zegler, Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose…; Steven Spielberg's dazzling adaptation of the 1957 musical, an American fairy tale of doomed love and the rivalry between Puerto Rican and white…
Whitstable Pearl (TV Mini-series) (2021): Feat. Kerry Godliman, Howard Charles, Frances Barber; Cosy crime miniseries based on the novels by Julie Wassmer about a single mum and ex–police officer who pursues her dream to start a detective…
Wrath of Man (2021): Dir. Guy Ritchie
Feat. Jason Statham, Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan…; Pulpy action thriller with director Guy Ritchie (LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS) teaming up with actor Jason Statham for the fourth…
Antebellum (2020): Dir. Gerard Bush, Christopher Renz
Feat. Janelle Monáe, Eric Lange, Jena Malone…; A provocative psychological horror in which a modern day African American writer finds herself trapped in a 19th Century Southern slave plantation. A…
Appearances (Les apparences) (2020): Dir. Marc Fitoussi
Feat. Karin Viard, Benjamin Biolay, Lucas Englander; French–Belgian psychological thriller about a happily married couple living in Vienna whose lives are disrupted when one suspects the other of…
Ava (2020): Dir. Tate Taylor
Feat. Jessica Chastain, John Malkovich, Common …; Jessica Chastain delivers another full force performance in this otherwise by–the–numbers crime thriller, playing a Bostonian…
Bloodlands (TV Mini-series) (2020): Feat. James Nesbitt, Lisa Dwan, Lorcan Cranitch…; A gripping 4–part BBC police procedural set in Northern Ireland, where a veteran police detective (James Nesbitt) re–opens a cold case…
C.B. Strike: Lethal White (TV Miniseries) (CB Strike (Season 2)) (2020): Feat. Tom Burke, Holliday Grainger, Kerr Logan; The second season in the C. B. Strike series which adapts J. K. Rowling's Cormoran Strike novels, published under the pseudonym Robert…
Capone (2020): Dir. Josh Trank
Feat. Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, Jack Lowden…; Tom Hardy plays the legendary Chicago gangster at the age of 47, after a decade in prison, where his untreated neurosyphilis is robbing him of…
Courier, The (Ironbark) (2020): Dir. Dominic Cooke
Feat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Jessie Buckley, Angus Wright…; Gripping Cold War spy thriller with Cumberbatch playing real life British businessman Greville Wynne, who was recruited by the SIS to deliver covert…
Dead Still (TV Mini-series) (2020): Feat. Michael Smiley, Kerr Logan, Eileen OHiggins; Dark comedy miniseries set in Dublin in 1880, exploring the emergence of photography as an affordable and accessible art, and the decline in…
Deceived, The (TV Mini-series) (2020): Feat. Emmett J Scanlan, Catherine Walker, Paul Mescal; Psychological thriller miniseries following an English student who falls in love with a charismatic lecturer then moves to Ireland to be with him…
Des (TV Mini-series) (2020): Feat. David Tennant, Daniel Mays, Jason Watkins; Grisly TV miniseries based on the 1983 arrest of Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen, one of the most infamous criminal cases in UK…
Dissident, The (2020): Dir. Bryan Fogel; A documentary about Jamal Khashoggi, Washington Post journalist and dissident who was murdered by agents of the Saudi government while working in…
Doorman, The (2020): Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
Feat. Jean Reno, Ruby Rose, Louis Mandylor…; Brawny actioner with Ruby Rose playing a former US Marine whose deadly fighting skills are put to the test when a group of art theives, lead by a…
Dry, The (2020): Dir. Robert Connolly
Feat. Eric Bana, Genevieve O’Reilly, Keir O'Donnell…; Conventional though atmospheric outback thriller starring Eric Bana as a federal agent who returns to his drought–stricken home town after more…
Empty Man, The (2020): Dir. David Prior
Feat. James Badge Dale, Marin Ireland, Stephen Root…; Supernatural horror set in a small Missouri town, where an ex–cop is investigating the disappearance of a missing girl and comes across a…
Honest Thief (2020): Dir. Mark Williams
Feat. Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Robert Patrick…; Solid Liam Neeson thriller, with the actor putting in another committed performance playing a criminal mastermind who tries to go straight after…
How To Deter A Robber (2020): Dir. Maria Bissell
Feat. Vanessa Marano, Benjamin Papac, Abbie Cobb; Endearing horror comedy set in a desolate town in Northern Wisconsin at Christmas, where a stubborn young woman and her sweet but naive boyfriend…
Hunt, The (2020): Dir. Craig Zobel
Feat. Hilary Swank, Ike Barinholtz, Betty Gilpin…; Craig Zobel (Z FOR ZACHARIAH) directs this outrageous satirical horror about the extreme political divide between the left and the right in America.…
Let Him Go (2020): Dir. Thomas Bezucha
Feat. Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Lesley Manville…; Gripping neo–western thriller following a retired sheriff and his wife from rural Montana, who are grieving over the death of their son when…
Little Things, The (2020): Dir. John Lee Hancock
Feat. Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto…; Neo noir murder mystery from writer–director John Lee Hancock (THE BLIND SIDE) with Denzel Washington and Rami Malek playing a pair of…
Marksman, The (2020): Dir. Robert Lorenz
Feat. Liam Neeson, Katheryn Winnick, Juan Pablo Raba…; Action thriller from frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator Robert Lorenz, with Liam Neeson cast unsurprisingly as an ex–marine and rancher who…
Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (2020): Dir. Tony Tilse
Feat. Essie Davis, Nathan Page; Film based on the acclaimed TV series MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES, with Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis) returning as the Jazz age sleuth, unravelling…
Miss Scarlet and The Duke (TV Series) (2020): Feat. Kate Phillips, Danny Midwinter, Stuart Martin; Crime series set in Victorian London, where a penniless single woman decides to keep her father's detective agency running after his death, and hires…
Mortal (Torden) (2020): Dir. André Øvredal
Feat. Nat Wolff, Iben Akerlie; Norwegian fantasy film inspired by Norse mythology, where a seemingly ordinary young man finds himself out of his depth when he discovers he has…
Nest, The (TV Mini-series) (2020): Feat. Martin Compston, Sophie Rundle, Mirren Mack…; Suspenseful Scottish 5–part TV drama starring Martin Compston (LINE OF DUTY) and Sophie Rundle (PEAKY BLINDERS, BODYGUARD) as a wealthy couple…
Outsider, The (TV Mini-series) (2020): Feat. Ben Mendelsohn, Bill Camp, Jeremy Bobb…; Slow burning crime TV series based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, with Ben Mendelsohn playing a troubled detective in the Cherokee City…
Painter and the Thief, The (2020): Dir. Benjamin Ree; A astonishing art documentary about the Czech painter Barbora Kysilkova, who tracked down and met the criminal who stole her paintings. What…
Pale Horse, The (2020): Dir. Leonora Lonsdale
Feat. Rufus Sewell, Sheila Atim, Georgina Campbell…; Two–part miniseries based on the 1961 Agatha Christie novel of the same name, involving all manner of malevolent goings on in the picturesque…
Penance (TV Mini-series) (2020): Feat. Julie Graham, Nico Mirallegro, Neil Morrissey…; 3–part TV miniseries which replaces the male gaze with that of a mother who, grieving for her son's death, struggles with maelstrom of emotions…
Possessor (2020): Dir. Brandon Cronenberg
Feat. Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Rossif Sutherland…; Brandon Cronenberg (ANTIVIRAL) wrote and directed this sci–fi horror about an assassin (Andrea Riseborough) who assumes control of other…
Promising Young Woman (2020): Dir. Emerald Fennell
Feat. Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie…; Carey Mulligan is sensational as the 'promising young woman' who contrives an elaborate scheme to avenge for a traumatizing past event in this…
Rent-A-Pal (2020): Dir. Jon Stevenson
Feat. Wil Wheaton, Brian Landis Folkins, Amy Rutledge; Thriller set squarely in the VHS era, following a lonely bachelor who finds a mysterious tape called Rent–A–Pal while using a video…
Roadkill (TV Mini-series) (2020): Feat. Hugh Laurie, Millie Brady, Helen McCrory…; Four part British political thriller starring Hugh Laurie as a charismatic Justice Minister on the cusp of a major promotion when a secret in his…
Savage (2020): Dir. Sam Kelly
Feat. Jake Ryan, John Tui, Chelsie Preston-Crayford; Powerful drama inspired by the history of NZ's gangs, following a young boy in three different stages of life from the 1960's to the 1980's, as he…
Shirley (2020): Dir. Josephine Decker
Feat. Elisabeth Moss, Odessa Young, Michael Stuhlbarg; Elisabeth Moss gives another inspired performance in this literary themed thriller, playing a renowned horror writer who is interrupted on the brink…
Sister, The (TV Mini-series) (2020): Dir. Niall MacCormick
Feat. Russell Tovey, Bertie Carvel, Amanda Root…; British psychological thriller series from writer Neil Cross (LUTHER, HARD SUN) based on his own novel "Burial". Russell Tovey plays a newly married…
Six Minutes to Midnight (2020): Dir. Andy Goddard
Feat. Eddie Izzard, Carla Juri, James D'Arcy…; A tense British period thriller loosely based on the true story of the disappearance of a school teacher at an elite girls' boarding school shortly…
Sounds, The (TV Mini-series) (2020): Dir. Peter Stebbings
Feat. Matt Whelen, Rachelle Lefevre, Matt Nable…; Kiwi mystery drama series from writer Sarah–Kate Lynch (800 WORDS), about a Canadian couple who move to the Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere region in…
This Town (2020): Dir. David White
Feat. Robyn Malcolm, Alice May Connolly, David White…; Goofy small–town NZ rom–com about a socially awkward man (played by writer–director David White) who finds unlikely romance despite…
Translators, The (Les Traducteurs) (2020): Dir. Régis Roinsard
Feat. Riccardo Scamarcio, Lambert Wilson, Olga Kurylenko…; A multi–lingual literary thriller centering around nine international translators, one of whom may be leaking pages of a highly anticipated…
Undoing, The (TV Mini-series) (2020): Dir. Susanne Bier
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Édgar Ramírez…; A rote but beautifully–appointed psychological thriller from HBO starring Nicole Kidman as a wealthy New York therapist whose life is turned…
Unhinged (2020): Dir. Derrick Borte
Feat. Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Gabriel Bateman…; Darkly funny, high voltage psycho thriller with Russell Crowe perfect as an volatile emasculated man going berserk at an intersection one day,…
Villain (2020): Dir. Philip Barantini
Feat. Craig Fairbrass, Robert Glenister, George Russo; A crime thriller with a refreshing take on the familiar story of an ex–con who tries unsuccessfully to go straight. Craig Fairbrass is…
White House Farm (TV Mini-series) (Murders at White House Farm, The) (2020): Feat. Freddie Fox, Mark Addy, Gemma Whelan…; Crime mini–series based on the notorious White House Farm murders that occurred in 1985, in which five members of a family were shot to death…
Wildland (2020): Dir. Jeanette Nordahl
Feat. Sandra Guldberg Kampp, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Joachim Fjelstrup; Powerful coming–of–age Scandi–noir about a Danish teenager who becomes embroiled in the ruthless criminal life of her aunt and…
A Confession (TV Mini-Series) (2019): Feat. Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, Siobhan Finneran; British crime drama with Martin Freeman playing a Detective Superintendent willing to risk his career and reputation to catch the killer of a…
A Good Woman is Hard to Find (2019): Dir. Abner Pastoll
Feat. Sarah Bolger, Edward Hogg, Andrew Simpson; Harrowing Irish revenge thriller anchored by a powerhouse performance from actress Sarah Bolger, who plays a recently widowed young mother determined…
A White, White Day (2019): Dir. Hlynur Pálmason
Feat. Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Ida Mekkin Hlynsdottir, Hilmir Snaer Gudnason…; Aesthetically striking Icelandic drama which plunges the viewer deep into the psyche of a tortured former police officer who suspects a neighbour…
Above Suspicion (2019): Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Sophie Lowe…; True crime movie starring Emilia Clarke (GAME OF THRONES) as the murder victim of an FBI agent. Offers a chilling exposé of corruption and…
All the Sins (TV Series) (2019): Dir. Mika Ronkainen
Feat. Johannes Holopainen, Maria Sid, Matti Ristinen; Compulsive Nordic noir miniseries following a detective who returns to his home town in Northern Finland to investigate two murders, while…
Apartment 1BR (1BR) (2019): Dir. David Marmor
Feat. Nicole Brydon Bloom, Giles Matthey, Taylor Nichols…; Smartly scripted psychological thriller about an aspiring costumer designer in Los Angeles whose new neighbours belong to a creepy cult–like…
Art of Self-Defense, The (2019): Dir. Riley Stearns
Feat. Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots; Black comedy thriller from the director of the underseen FAULTS, with a mild mannered accountant (Jesse Eisenberg) questioning the meaning of…
Bacurau (2019): Dir. Kleber Mendonca Filho, Juliano Dornelles
Feat. Sonia Braga, Udo Kier, Bárbara Colen…; Fiercely political and utterly distinctive film blending elements of neo–western, ethnography, gonzo and horror, set in a fictional Brazilian…
Bad Boys For Life (2019): Dir. Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Feat. Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Anne Hudgens; The infamous pair of Miami detectives are back for one last ride in this enjoyably over the top action comedy.
Baptiste (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Tcheky Karyo, Tom Hollander, Jessica Raine…; A TV spin–off of the acclaimed BBC crime drama THE MISSING, with the same writers and some of the same cast, which follows the character Julien…
Bay, The (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Morven Christie, Marsha Thomason, Daniel Ryan…; British crime series starring Morven Christie (GRANTCHESTER) as a detective sergeant family liaison officer, who is involved in an investigation into…
Big Little Lies - Season 2 (TV Mini-series) (2019): Dir. Andrea Arnold
Feat. Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley…; The second chapter of this acclaimed HBO series, this time from the director of FISHTANK and AMERICAN HONEY, throws a grief ridden…
Black and Blue (2019): Dir. Deon Taylor
Feat. Naomie Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Frank Grillo…; Brawny action film following a rookie cop in New Orleans (Naomie Harris), whose identity as a black woman is at odds with the racist hate crimes…
Blue Moon (2019): Dir. Stefen Harris
Feat. Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Olivia Hadlow; Shot on entirely on an iphone in and around a Motueka petrol station, this twisty thriller from enterprising indie Mainlander Stefen Harris follows a…
Boys, The (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr…; TV series based on the Garth Ennis comic about a team of vigilantes who fight back against corrupt superpowered individuals. Series 1 – 8…
Burnt Orange Heresy, The (2019): Dir. Giuseppe Capotondi
Feat. Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger…; Sophisticated crime thriller set in the privileged world of fine art, where an art critic (Claes Bang, who played the unfortunate gallery curator in…
Butt Boy (2019): Dir. Tyler Cornack
Feat. Angela Jones, Tyler Cornack, Kristina Clifford; Pulpy crime comedy boasting an outrageously vulgar gag as it's premise: a hard–working, hard–drinking detective discovers that a suspect…
Calm With Horses (The Shadow of Violence) (2019): Dir. Nick Rowland
Feat. Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, Ned Dennehy; Bleak and unflinching Irish crime drama following the fate of a troubled former boxer descending into a complex ecosystem of crime.
Cheat (TV Mini-series) (2019): Dir. Louise Hooper
Feat. Katherine Kelly, Molly Windsor, Tom Goodman-Hill…; Another female–centric psychological thriller from Britain premised on a dangerous relationship between university professor and her student.…
Chimerica (TV Series) (2019): Dir. Michael Keillor
Feat. Alessandro Nivola, Cherry Jones, Sophie Okonedo…; A Trump–era political thriller starring Alessandro Nivola as a discredited photojournalist whose reputation hinges on a return to Beijing to…
Corpus Christi (2019): Dir. Jan Komasa
Feat. Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel…; A devastating, gripping drama based on the true story of a charismatic ex–convict who is mistaken to be a priest in a devout Polish village, a…
Daniel Isn't Real (2019): Dir. Adam Egypt Mortimer
Feat. Miles Robbins, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sasha Lane; Terrific psychological horror about a troubled college freshman who resurrects his charismatic childhood imaginary friend Daniel to cope after…
Dark Money (TV Mini-series) (2019): Dir. Lewis Arnold
Feat. Babou Ceesay, Jill Halfpenny, Susan Wokoma…; A struggling working–class father decides to accept hush money rather than drag his family through publicity hell by pressing charges against a…
Day Shall Come, The (2019): Dir. Chris Morris
Feat. Marchánt Davis, Anna Kendrick, Kayvan Novak…; Brilliantly absurd comedy from boundary–pushing British director Chris Morris (FOUR LIONS) following an impoverished and somewhat unhinged…
Enemy Within, The (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Jennifer Carpenter, Morris Chestnut, Raza Jaffrey…; Gripping counter–intelligence drama series following an ex–CIA–spy–turned–traitor (Jennifer Carpenter, DEXTER) who is…
Fanny Lye Deliver'd (The Delivered) (2019): Dir. Thomas Clay
Feat. Maxine Peake, Charles Dance, Freddie Fox; British period thriller set in 1657 on a Shropshire farm, where Fanny Lye (the magnificent Maxine Peake) is living a quiet, puritan life until the…
Finding Steve McQueen (2019): Dir. Mark Steven Johnson
Feat. Travis Fimmel, Rachael Taylor, William Fichtner…; Lighthearted heist caper set in the 1970's, following the unlikely attempt by a group of small–time crims to steal $30 million from Nixon's…
Gentlemen, The (2019): Dir. Guy Ritchie
Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell…; A star–studded "mockney" action–comedy from Guy Ritchie led by Matthew McConaughey as an American marijuana magnate in London whose…
Good Liar, The (2019): Dir. Bill Condon
Feat. Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, Russell Tovey…; Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren are brilliantly matched in this juicy cat–and–mouse thriller where a career con–man attempts to take…
Hatton Garden (TV Mini-series) (2019): Feat. Timothy Spall, Kenneth Cranham, Brian F O'Byrne…; Four elderly men carry out a large–scale robbery in this series based on the 2015 Hatton Garden Diamond Heist, one of the most audacious…
Heroic Losers (2019): Dir. Sebastian Borensztein
Feat. Ricardo Darín, Luis Brandoni, Chino Darin…; Winning underdog comedy from Argentinian director Sebastian Borensztein (CHINESE TAKEAWAY) based on the novel by Eduardo Sacheri (THE SECRET IN THEIR…
Human Capital (2019): Dir. Marc Meyers
Feat. Liev Schreiber, Marisa Tomei, Maya Hawke…; Thoroughly engrossing drama about three upstate New York families whose lives are entangled by a hit–and–run accident. Filled with…
Hustle, The (2019): Dir. Chris Addison
Feat. Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, Alex Sharp…; A female makeover of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (1988), with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson starting as scam artists, one low rent and the other high…
Hustlers (2019): Dir. Lorene Scafaria
Feat. Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles…; A group of former strip club employees take on their Wall Street Clients in this high energy, whip smart crime comedy. Inspired by the New York…
I See You (2019): Dir. Adam Randall
Feat. Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Owen Teague…; Meticulously crafted horror about a small–town detective whose family is plagued by inexplicable events after the disappearance of a local…
Incitement (2019): Dir. Yaron Zilberman
Feat. Yehuda Nahari Halevi, Amitai Yaish, Daniella Kertesz; Tense, slow–building thriller depicting Israeli right–wing extremist Yigal Amir in the year leading up to his assassination of the…
Informer, The (2019): Dir. Andrea Di Stefano
Feat. Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Common …; Crime thriller with Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman (EASY MONEY) playing a former Special Ops soldier who is jailed defending his wife in an attack, then…
Inheritance (2019): Dir. Vaughn Stein
Feat. Lily Collins, Simon Pegg, Connie Nielsen…; Juicy gothic thriller from the director of TERMINAL, following the daughter of a wealthy patriarch whose secret inheritance threatens to tear the…
Into the Labyrinth (L'uomo del labirinto) (2019): Dir. Donato Carrisi
Feat. Toni Servillo, Dustin Hoffman, Valentina Bellè…; Based on the best–selling novel by the director himself, this dream–like, indeed labyrinthine–plotted Italian thriller stars Toni…
Irishman, The (2019): Dir. Martin Scorsese
Feat. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci…; Unwieldly but fascinating Scorsese crime drama, in which the director reunites with good fellas Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci to tell the…
Joker (2019): Dir. Todd Phillips
Feat. Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz…; Brilliantly dark psychological thriller introducing Batman's arch nemesis as a traumatised loner who finds his voice in acts of violence. An achingly…
Just Mercy (2019): Dir. Destin Cretton
Feat. Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson…; Powerful legal drama from director Destin Daniel Cretton (SHORT TERM 12), telling the true story of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), the…
Kitchen, The (2019): Dir. Andrea Berloff
Feat. Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss…; After their mobster husbands get locked up in prison, three housewives decide to take over the family business. Set in Hell's Kitchen in 1978, and…
Knives Out (2019): Dir. Rian Johnson
Feat. Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas…; A wildly funny and supremely clever contemporary murder–mystery from writer–director Rian Johnson, where a family patriarch's death…
Les Miserables (2019): Dir. Ladj Ly
Feat. Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djebril Zonga…; This impressive feature debut from French director Ladj Ly is set in the French criminal underworld in aftermath of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, when…
Lowdown Dirty Criminals (2019): Dir. Paul Murphy
Feat. James Rolleston, Samuel Austin, Robbie Magasiva…; Kiwi crime caper set in Wellington, with likeably formless best buddies Freddy (James Rolleston, THE BREAKER UPPERERS) and Marvin (newcomer Samuel…
Luce (2019): Dir. Julius Onah
Feat. Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr.…; A tense and knotty social thriller based on a play of the same name by J.C. Lee, about a married American couple who have their idealised image of…
Manhunt (TV Mini-series) (2019): Dir. Marc Evans
Feat. Martin Clunes, Stephen Wight, Katie Lyons; Solid Brit–cop drama starring Martin Clunes as a London Metropolitan police detective who tracks down a serial killer. Based on the true story…
Miss Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries (TV Mini-Series) (2019): Feat. Geraldine Hakewill, Joel Jackson, Catherine McClements…; Spin–off of the popular Australian TV series MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES, set in Melbourne in the 1960's, and following a woman who aspires…
Monos (2019): Dir. Alejandro Landes
Feat. Julianne Nicholson, Moises Arias, Sofía Buenaventura…; A dark contemporary fable inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, set in a remote and mountainous region of Columbia, where a group of teenage…
MotherFatherSon (TV Mini-series) (2019): Feat. Richard Gere, Helen McCrory, Billy Howle…; BBC TV thriller of distinction, interweaving themes of politics, media and law enforcement as it follows three members of a fractured but powerful…
Motherless Brooklyn (2019): Dir. Edward Norton
Feat. Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw…; Handsomely mounted neo–noir crime movie, the culmination of a 20 year passion project for writer, director and star Edward Norton, based on the…
Mr. Jones (2019): Dir. Agnieszka Holland
Feat. James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard; Strikingly bold political thriller from eminent Polish director Agnieszka Holland (IN DARKNESS), loosely based on the true story of ambitious Welsh…
Official Secrets (2019): Dir. Gavin Hood
Feat. Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode…; Engrossing drama based on the life of whistleblower Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley), the GCHQ emplyee who leaked a secret memo about an illegal NSA…
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood) (2019): Dir. Quentin Tarantino
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie…; Sprawling love–letter to the final years of Hollywood's golden age, following a faded television actor and his stunt double as they face the…
Only the Animals (Seules les bêtes) (2019): Dir. Dominik Moll
Feat. Denis Ménochet, Laure Calamy, Damien Bonnard…; A superb psychological thriller set in rural France that uncovers a twisted web of deceit concerning five people who are all linked to the…
Parasite (2019): Dir. Joon-ho Bong
Feat. Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Cho…; An unemployed family with a bleak future systematically ingratiate themselves into the lives of a wealthy family in this brilliant,…
Queen & Slim (Queen and Slim) (2019): Dir. Melina Matsoukas
Feat. Daniel Kaluuya, Bokeem Woodbine, Chloe Sevigny…; An African American couple's first date is interrupted when they kill a cop in self–defence and go on the run to avoid prison. A brilliantly…
Queens of Mystery (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Julie Graham, Rebecca Grant, Andrew Leung…; Delightfully tongue–in–cheek British crime series set in a picturesque fictional English village, following a young detective and her…
Rose Plays Julie (2019): Dir. Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
Feat. Ann Skelly, Orla Brady, Aidan Gillen; Bracing drama made by the interdisciplinary art collective Desperate Optimists, which follows an adopted Irish girl who tracks down her birth mother.…
Russian Doll (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Yul Vazquez…; Emmy–nominated comedy–thriller series, in which co–creator Natasha Lyonne stars as a game developer who repeatedly dies and relives…
Saint Maud (2019): Dir. Rose Glass
Feat. Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Caoilfhionn Dunne…; The debut feature film of English writer–director Rose Glass is a deeply disturbing psychological horror about a devout Roman Catholic nurse…
Serenity (2019): Dir. Steven Knight
Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane…; Matthew McConaughey plays a fishing boat captain whose peaceful life is disrupted by the arrival of his ex–wife (Anne Hathaway), who begs him…
Traitors (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Emma Appleton, Luke Treadaway, Michael Stuhlbarg…; 6–part TV series set in London in 1945, where a young women is recruited by the American Office of Strategic Services to spy on her own…
True Detective - Season 3 (TV Series) (2019): Dir. Daniel Sackheim, Jeremy Saulnier, Nic Pizzolatto
Feat. Mahershala Ali, Carmen Ejogo, Stephen Dorff…; A return–to–form for the third season of the Emmy–winning crime show that this time features Mahershala Ali as a retired detective…
Twin (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Kristofer Hivju, Rebekka Nystabakk; Intriguing eight–part Norwegian crime drama series starring "Game of Thrones" actor Kristofer Hivju as identical twin brothers living…
Uncut Gems (2019): Dir. Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Feat. Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel…; Adam Sandler hits a career high in this tense and quite sensational thriller about a fast–talking NY jeweller and gambling addict who puts…
Who You Think I Am (Celle que vous croyez) (2019): Dir. Safy Nebbou
Feat. Juliette Binoche, François Civil, Nicole Garcia…; Juliet Binoche is outstanding at the helm of this elegant psychological thriller, playing a French literature professor and middle–aged…
Wild Bill (TV Mini-series) (2019): Feat. Rob Lowe, Bronwyn James, Rachael Stirling…; British drama with Rob Lowe playing a US police chief who moves to Lincolnshire from Miami with his 14 year old daughter. Hoping to escape a painful…
Wild Goose Lake, The (Nan fang che zhan de ju hui) (2019): Dir. Diao Yinan
Feat. Ge Hu, Fan Liao, Lun-Mei Kwei; Chinese noir thriller with impeccable visual flair, following the fates of a rogue gangster and the prostitute he meets whilst on the run from the…
Wolf Hour, The (2019): Dir. Alistair Banks Griffin
Feat. Naomi Watts, Jennifer Ehle, Emory Cohen…; Psychological thriller set in New York in 1977, anchored by Naomi Watts playing a reclusive author who is targeted by an unseen tormentor as violence…
A Private War (2018): Dir. Matthew Heineman
Feat. Rosamund Pike, Greg Wise, Alexandra Moen; Rosamund Pike is a stand out in this powerful thriller based on the true story of the fearless and celebrated war correspondent Marie Colvin. Having…
A Quiet Place (2018): Dir. John Krasinski
Feat. Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds…; A smart and creative horror movie made by John Krasinski, who also stars alongside his real–life spouse Emily Blunt as parents fighting for…
A Simple Favour (2018): Dir. Paul Feig
Feat. Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding…; Featuring a knowing cocktail of far–fetched twists and betrayals, secrets and revelations, this stylish post–modern film noir stars Anna…
A Vigilante (2018): Dir. Sarah Daggar-Nickson
Feat. Olivia Wilde, Morgan Spector, Kyle Catlett; A thoroughly committed performance from Olivia Wilde anchors this thriller about a domestic abuse survivor who makes it her mission to support other…
ABC Murders, The (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Alex Gabassi
Feat. John Malkovich, Andrew Buchan, Eamon Farren…; Three–part adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel with John Malkovich refreshing as retired detective Hercule Poirot who is here targeted by a…
Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018): Dir. Terry Loane
Feat. Ruth Bradley, Ralph Ineson, Pippa Haywood; Crime thriller imagining what happened to Agatha Christie during her 11–day disappearance in 1926. Stuck in a writer's rut, she finds herself…
Alienist, The (TV Mini-series) (2018): Feat. Daniel Bruhl, Luke Evans, Dakota Fanning…; Crime drama series that assembles an ad hoc team in mid–1890s New York to investigate a serial killer who is murdering street children. The…
American Animals (2018): Dir. Bart Layton
Feat. Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner…; A crime movie following the true story of a group of ordinary friends who brazenly attempt one of the most audacious heists in American history…
American Woman (2018): Dir. Jake Scott
Feat. Sienna Miller, Aaron Paul, Christina Hendricks…; Sienna Miller gets a rare chance to flex her acting chops as a single mother faced with raising her grandson after her daughter goes missing under…
Bad Seed, The (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Helena Brooks
Feat. Dean O'Gorman, Matt Minto, Madeleine Sami…; Four–part New Zealand crime series based on the books by Charlotte Grimshaw telling the story of two brothers from a dysfunctional family with…
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018): Dir. Drew Goddard
Feat. Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson…; Deliciously suspenseful ensemble thriller from the director of CABIN IN THE WOODS, set circa 1969, following a group of strangers who converge by…
Beirut (The Negotiator) (2018): Dir. Brad Anderson
Feat. Jon Hamm, Rosamund Pike, Dean Norris…; Meaty old–school espionage thriller with John Hamm perfectly cast as a fixer turned business consultant in war torn Beirut, negotiating the…
Birds of Passage (2018): Dir. Ciro Guerra, Cristina Gallego
Feat. Natalia Reyes, Carmina Martinez, Jose Acosta; Intelligent and engrossing narco–thriller set in Columbia in the 1960's, following an indigenous Wayuu man and his family as they turn to drug…
Black Earth Rising (TV Series) (2018): Feat. John Goodman, Michaela Coel, Tamara Tunie; Political thriller series about the prosecution of war criminals, with Michaela Coel playing a Rwandan–born British legal investigator whose…
Bletchley Circle, The: San Francisco (TV Mini-series) (2018): Feat. Julie Graham, Rachael Stirling, Crystal Balint…; Set during the thrilling social change of the mid–1950s, these new episodes see two characters from the original British series travel to…
Blood (TV Mini-series) (2018): Feat. Adrian Dunbar, Diarmuid Noyes, Carolina Main; Brooding Irish psychological thriller following an isolated woman whose estrangement from her family is interrupted by the sudden death of her…
Bodyguard (TV Series) (2018): Dir. John Strickland, Thomas Vincent
Feat. Richard Madden, Keeley Hawes, Gina McKee…; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Brothers' Nest (2018): Dir. Clayton Jacobson
Feat. Shane Jacobson, Clayton Jacobson; The directing and acting brothers behind beloved Australian hit KENNY reunite for this black comedy about two siblings who team up to murder their…
By the Grace of God (Grâce à Dieu) (2018): Dir. Francois Ozon
Feat. Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud; Hard–hitting French–Belgian drama about three sexual abuse victims who attempt to the to justice the Catholic priest who was…
Castle Rock (TV Series) (2018): Feat. André Holland, Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgård…
Clovehitch Killer, The (2018): Dir. Duncan Skiles
Feat. Dylan McDermott, Charlie Plummer, Samantha Mathis; A tense, effectively slowburn horror–thriller from the writer of COP CAR that stars Charlie Plummer (so good in LEAN ON PETE) as the dutiful…
Cold Pursuit (2018): Dir. Hans Petter Moland
Feat. Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Emmy Rossum…; Stateside remake of the 2014 Norwegian film IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE in the hands of the original director, Hans Petter Moland. The blackly comic…
Commuter, The (2018): Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
Feat. Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson…; A breakneck thriller starring latterday action man Liam Neeson, who here plays an insurance salesman who is unwittingly recruited into a murder…
Cry, The (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Glendyn Ivin
Feat. Jenna Coleman, Ewen Leslie, Asher Keddie…; A twist–laden psychological thriller that chronicles the disintegration of a British couple's marriage after their four–month–old…
Darkest Minds, The (2018): Dir. Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Feat. Amandla Stenberg, Harris Dickinson, Mandy Moore…; Young adult dystopian thriller where the world is affected by a plague that kills almost every child in the human population, and those that remain…
Destroyer (2018): Dir. Karyn Kusama
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan, Toby Kebbell…; Nicole Kidman goes all in with this gutsy portrayal of an LAPD detective who goes after members of a criminal gang that she infiltrated in a former…
Dogman (2018): Dir. Matteo Garrone
Feat. Edoardo Pesce, Marcello Fonte; The director of GOMORRAH and TALE OF TALES expertly helms this gripping urban Italian crime noir about a mild mannered and diminutive dog groomer who…
Dragged Across Concrete (2018): Dir. S. Craig Zahler
Feat. Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Tory Kittles…; A simmering, witty and entirely unpredictable heist epic from the writer/director of BONE TOMAHAWK that stars an ageing Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughan…
Escape at Dannemora (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Ben Stiller
Feat. Benicio Del Toro, Patricia Arquette, Paul Dano…; TV miniseries based on the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape, where a prison employee (Patricia Arquette, who steals the show) becomes…
Everybody Knows (Todos Lo Saben) (2018): Dir. Asghar Farhadi
Feat. Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín; Iranian maestro Asghar Farhadi assembles a powerhouse cast for this Spanish–language about a mother–of–two who returns from Buenos…
Girl in the Spider's Web, The (2018): Dir. Fede Alvarez
Feat. Claire Foy, Sverrir Gudnason, Sylvia Hoeks…; Hacker Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) returns in this sequel to David Fincher's American remake of GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. A less complex by…
Glass (2018): Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Feat. Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy…; An ambitious, unconventional superhero thriller that provides an intersection between the director M. Night Shyamalan's previous films Unbreakable…
Greta (2018): Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Isabelle Huppert, Chloe Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe…; Creepy psychological thriller from Neil Jordan with a reliably fantastic performance from Huppert as a lonely widow with a sinister agenda who…
Guilty, The (Den skyldige) (2018): Feat. Jakob Cedergren, Jessica Dinnage; A nail–biting Danish thriller that maximises tension from minimal means in which a desk–bound police officer answers an emergency call…
Hard Sun (TV Series) (2018): Feat. Jim Sturgess, Agyness Deyn, Nikki Amuka-Bird…; Neil Cross (LUTHER, SPOOKS) penned this dystopian British crime drama, where two mismatched police officers investigate evidence that a mysterious…
Homecoming (TV Series) (2018): Dir. Sam Esmail
Feat. Julia Roberts, Bobby Cannavale, Stephen James…; Haunting psychological thriller with Julia Roberts playing a woman who discovers she has been working for a mysterious government facility. Season…
Homeland - Season 7 (TV Series) (2018): Feat. Claire Danes, Elizabeth Marvel, Maury Sterling…; Further episodes from this outstanding counter–terrorist thriller of post–9/11 paranoia, with Claire Danes's riveting, high–tensile…
Hotel Mumbai (2018): Dir. Anthony Maras
Feat. Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi…; Gripping dramatisation of the 2008 siege of Mumbai's Taj Hotel, following the staff and guests as they fight to survive the merciless attack by a…
House That Jack Built, The (2018): Dir. Lars Von Trier
Feat. Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman…; Matt Dillon plays a po–faced serial killer across 12 years, intimately exploring his mental state and beliefs about life and art. From Danish…
Hunter Killer (2018): Dir. Donovan Marsh
Feat. Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common …; Tense military thriller where the Russian president is kidnapped during a coup, and US Navy Seals lead by Captain Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) set out…
Informer (TV Series) (2018): Dir. Jonny Campbell
Feat. Nabhaan Rizwan, Paddy Considine, Bel Powley; A complex, character–driven thriller that follows a young East Londoner who is coerced into going undercover for a counter–terrorism…
Innocent (TV Mini-series) (2018): Feat. Lee Ingleby, Daniel Ryan, Adrian Rawlins; TV miniseries following a man who is released from prison after his conviction for the murder of his wife is overturned, and sets about rebuilding…
Instinct (TV Series) (2018): Feat. Alan Cumming, Bojana Novakovic, Naveen Andrews; Police procedural based on the novel "Murder Games" by James Patterson, with Alan Cumming playing an academic and married gay man, who is lured back…
Jack Ryan (TV Series) (2018): Feat. John Krasinski, Abbie Cornish, Wendell Pierce…; John Krasinski inhabits the TV incarnation of the action–man role created by Tom Clancy and previously played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford,…
Judy & Punch (Judy and Punch) (2018): Dir. Mirrah Foulkes
Feat. Mia Wasikowska, Damon Herriman; A gorgeously carnivalesque and blackly comic Australian period drama in which the traditional fairy tale of Punch and Judy is turned on its head. The…
Killing Eve (TV Series) (2018): Feat. Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Fiona Shaw…; Phoebe Waller–Bridge (FLEABAG) created this gripping British thriller TV series based on the Villanelle novel series by Luke Jennings. Sandra…
Kindergarten Teacher, The (2018): Dir. Sara Colangelo
Feat. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Parker Sevak, Rosa Salazar…; English–language remake of the 2014 Israeli film of the same name about a jaded teacher, mother and aspiring poet who becomes obsessed with one…
King of Thieves (2018): Dir. James Marsh
Feat. Michael Caine, Charlie Cox, Michael Gambon…; British heist movie in the classic mould, bringing together an impressive cast to tell the true story of the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary of…
Little Drummer Girl, The (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Park Chan-Wook
Feat. Michael Shannon, Alexander Skarsgard, Florence Pugh…; Korean master Park Chan–Wook directs this typically savvy adaptation of the novel by John le Carré that follows the life of a young English…
Little Woods (2018): Dir. Nia DaCosta
Feat. Tessa Thompson, Lily James, Luke Kirby; Impressive debut from writer–director Nia DaCosta, detailing the struggles faced by a pair of sisters trying to make ends meet in an…
Lizzie (2018): Dir. Craig William Macneill
Feat. Chloe Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jamey Sheridan…; Biographical thriller with Chloe Sevigny excellent as Lizzie Borden, the woman who was accused and acquitted of the murders of her father and…
Mayans M.C. (TV Series) (2018): Feat. J. D. Pardo, Clayton Cardenas, Sarah Bolger…; Spin–off series to SONS OF ANARCHY that takes place in its same fictional universe – set around the California–Mexico border and…
McMafia (TV Series) (2018): Feat. James Norton, David Strathairn, Juliet Rylance; Slow–burning crime TV series following the son of a Russian mafia boss who lives in London with his dad, and becomes pulled into the criminal…
Mother is Wrong (TV Mini-series) (Maman a tort) (2018): Feat. Anne Charrier, Pascal Elbé; French thriller following a detective who, despite being already consumed by a major robbery, takes on the chilling case of a child who tells her his…
Mrs. Wilson (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Richard Laxton
Feat. Ruth Wilson, Iain Glen, Keeley Hawes…; Fascinating 60's period drama series starring and executive–produced by Ruth Wilson, who plays her real–life grandmother, a widow who…
Mule, The (2018): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne…; Clint Eastwood directs and acts in this compelling crime drama about an 80–year old WWII vet who, facing financial pressures, takes a job as a…
Mystery Road (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Rachel Perkins
Feat. Aaron Pedersen, Judy Davis, Deborah Mailman…; Six–part miniseries based on the outback noir film of the same name, following indigenous detective Jay Swan as he investigates the…
Next of Kin (TV Mini-series) (2018): Feat. Archie Panjabi, Jack Davenport; Contemporary ITV thriller mini–series following a woman (Archie Panjabi) who is drawn into a complex familial conspiracy after her brother is…
Ocean's 8 (Ocean's Eight) (2018): Dir. Gary Ross
Feat. Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway…; A star–studded ensemble cast deliver a slick heist caper in the vein of previous installments. A team of crooks go for a 150 million dollar…
Ordeal By Innocence (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Sandra Goldbacher
Feat. Bill Nighy, Anthony Boyle, Anna Chancellor…; Three–part BBC drama based on the Agatha Christie novel of the same name. Set in 1954, where a wealthy philanthropist is murdered and her…
Out of Blue (2018): Dir. Carol Morley
Feat. James Caan, Patricia Clarkson, Aaron Tveit; Neo–noir police procedural–cum–supernatural thriller following a homicide detective (Patricia Clarkson) who investigates the death…
Picnic at Hanging Rock (TV Mini-series) (2018): Feat. Natalie Dormer, Lily Sullivan, Lola Bessis…; A second screen re–imagining of the iconic Australian novel of the same name by Joan Lindsay. On Valentines day in 1900, three school girls and…
Pine Gap (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Mat King
Feat. Parker Sawyers, Tess Haubrich, Jacqueline McKenzie…; Gripping political crime thriller exploring the intensely secretive relationship between Australia and the USA and their joint defence facility in…
Purity of Vengeance, The (Journal 64) (2018): Dir. Christoffer Boe
Feat. Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Fares Fares; The fourth and final installment in the Danish 'Department Q' detective series initiated by The KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES is a conspiracy thriller…
Red Joan (2018): Dir. Trevor Nunn
Feat. Sophie Cookson, Stephen Campbell Moore, Tom Hughes…; The story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the KGB's longest–serving British spy. Arrested in retirement by the MI5, the extraordinary…
Red Sparrow (2018): Dir. Francis Lawrence
Feat. Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts…; Ultra–stylish spy thriller with Jennifer Lawrence as a Russian ballerina whose attempts to support her ailing mother lead her to train as a…
Requiem (TV Mini-series) (2018): Feat. Lydia Wilson, Joel Fry, James Frecheville; 6–part British supernatural thriller following the mysterious connection between a toddler who disappeared from a Welsh village in 1994, and…
Rookie, The (TV Series) (2018): Feat. Nathan Fillion, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones; Police procedural drama with Nathan Fillion playing a small–town guy pursuing his dream of becoming an LAPD officer, and proving himself…
Ruben Brandt, Collector (2018): Dir. Milorad Krstic; Brilliantly animated crime drama following four thieves who attempt to steal the legendary artworks that are inspiring the nightmares of their…
Rust Creek (2018): Dir. Jen McGowan
Feat. Hermione Corfield, Jay Paulson; Satisfyingly sinister survival thriller following an ambitious college senior who loses her way on the road to a job interview, and ends up stranded…
Save Me (TV Series) (Gone) (2018): Dir. Nick Murphy
Feat. Lennie James, Suranne Jones, Stephen Graham…; Dark and gripping 6–part crime thriller set in South London, following an ordinary man who embarks on a brave search for his missing 13 year…
Searching (2018): Dir. Aneesh Chaganty
Feat. John Cho, Debra Messing; A smart and entertaining thriller about a father searching for his missing daughter, which explores the role of digital technology in our lives by…
Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators (TV Series) (2018): Light BBC crime drama set in Stratford–upon–Avon and following a ex–Detective Inspector turned debt–laden private…
Sharp Objects (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
Feat. Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina…; Searing psychological thriller with Amy Adams playing a reporter who returns to her small home town to investigate the murders of two preteen girls.…
Sicario: Day Of The Soldado (Sicario 2) (2018): Dir. Stefano Sollima
Feat. Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner; Blistering follow–up to the acclaimed 2015 film SICARIO, with Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro returning as a federal agent and a black op…
Stockholm (2018): Dir. Robert Budreau
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Noomi Rapace, Mark Strong; Serviceable crime thriller taking some entertaining liberties with the true story of the 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis in Stockholm, often…
Succession (TV series) (2018): Feat. Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin…; Provocative and witty satirical drama created by Jesse Armstrong (IN THE LOOP) about a dysfunctional dynasty led by an aging patriarch (Brian Cox).
Terminal (2018): Dir. Vaughn Stein
Feat. Margot Robbie, Simon Pegg, Dexter Fletcher…; A twisting neo–noir thriller following the intertwining fates of two assassins, a teacher, a janitor and a waitress, who are all the target of…
Thoroughbreds (2018): Dir. Cory Finley
Feat. Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin; Deliciously dark comedy thriller following two childhood friends who reconnect as teenagers, bonding over a murder plot in prim upper–class…
Transit (2018): Dir. Christian Petzold
Feat. Franz Rogowski; Distinguished wartime melodrama from Christian Petzold (BARBARA, PHOENIX) following the plight of a holocaust survivor who assumes the identity of a…
Trauma (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Marc Evans
Feat. Adrian Lester, John Simm; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Truth Will Out, The (TV Series) (2018): Feat. Robert Gustafsson, Johan Ulveson, Maria Sundbom; Swedish crime series about a detective who gathers together a mismatched team of cold–case investigators to crack a case involving eight…
Under the Silver Lake (2018): Dir. David Robert Mitchell
Feat. Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, Topher Grace; Dazzlingly creative Los Angeles–set neo–noir about a disenchanted slacker who sets out for answers when strange crimes begin occurring in…
Unsane (2018): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Juno Temple; A gripping psychological horror focused on a woman who is committed to a mental institution after being pursued by a stalker. Shot entirely on an…
Upgrade (2018): Dir. Leigh Whannell
Feat. Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson; Futuristic body horror about a man who "upgrades" his body using an AI implant called STEM after his wife is murdered – the kicker of the…
Vanishing, The (Keepers) (2018): Dir. Kristoffer Nyholm
Feat. Peter Mullan, Gerard Butler; Windswept psychological thriller set on the remote Flannan Isles, where three lighthouse keepers find a hidden trunk of gold, then mysteriously…
What Keeps You Alive (2018): Dir. Colin Minihan
Feat. Hannah Emily Anderson, Brittany Allen, Martha MacIsaac; Twisty, slow–burning thriller centered on two woman who are on a romantic getaway at a picturesque family lake house, when their happiness is…
White Boy Rick (2018): Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt, Bel Powley…; Compelling true crime story from the director of '71, following 14–year old drug trafficker Richard Wershe Jr. who was an undercover informant…
White Dragon (TV Series) (Strangers) (2018): Dir. Paul Andrew Williams
Feat. John Simm, Anthony Wong, Emilia Fox…; A cross–cultural, conspiracy thriller series set on the hyper–modern island of Hong Kong, where a university lecturer (John Simm) must…
Widows (2018): Dir. Steve McQueen
Feat. Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki…; A contemporary heist thriller from director Steve McQueen following four windowed women who attempt to pay back the crime boss that their husbands…
World Is Yours, The (Le monde est à toi) (2018): Dir. Romain Gavras
Feat. Karim Leklou, Isabelle Adjani, Vincent Cassel…; French comedy thriller about a small time drug dealer who attempts to go straight by becoming the official distributor of Mr. Freeze ice pops in…
X-Files, The - Season 11 (TV Series) (2018): Dir. Chris Carter, James Wong, Glen Morgan
Feat. Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, Mitch Pileggi; Likely to be the final ever X–Files season, remaining loyal to the themes and tone lovingly cultivated throughout previous seasons, but with…
13 Reasons Why (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Dylan Minnette, Katherine Langford, Christian Navarro…; Controversial and sometimes gruelling teenage mystery series about a high school student who discovers a box of cassette tapes recorded by his friend…
Absentia (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Stana Katic, Patrick Heusinger; Thriller about an FBI agent who is declared dead after disappearing while on the search for one of Boston's most notorious serial killers, but is…
Acceptable Risk (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Elaine Cassidy, Morten Suurballe, Angeline Ball…; Irish crime series about a woman from Dublin whose husband is murdered during a business trip in Montreal. Seeking to uncover the truth, she starts…
Aftermath (2017): Dir. Elliott Lester
Feat. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scoot McNairy, Maggie Grace…; Dramatic thriller from the director of NIGHTINGALE, with Schwarzenegger playing a grieving man whose family dies in a devastating aircraft collision.…
All the Money in the World (2017): Dir. Ridley Scott
Feat. Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg…; Solid kidnapping thriller with a terrific performance by Michelle Williams as a mother who attempts to convince her aging oil tycoon…
Apple Tree Yard (TV Mini-series) (2017): Dir. Jessica Hobbs
Feat. Emily Watson, Ben Chaplin; Gripping drama with Emily Watson superb as a woman whose impulsive and passionate affair with a complete stranger is the first in a series of events…
Baby Driver (2017): Dir. Edgar Wright
Feat. Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx…; Entertainingly preposterous heist–comedy from British upstart Edgar Wright, centred around a precociously talented getaway driver whose every…
Bancroft (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Sarah Parish, Faye Marsay, Adam Long…; Contemporary thriller miniseries created by Kate Brooke (MR SELFRIDGE), which centres on Detective Superintendent Elizabeth Bancroft, trusted and…
Beast (2017): Dir. Michael Pearce
Feat. Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Geraldine James; While an isolated community hunts for a serial killer in their midst, a troubled woman provokes disapproval when she is drawn to a secretive outsider…
Berlin Syndrome (2017): Dir. Cate Shortland
Feat. Teresa Palmer, Riemelt Max; An Australian photographer visiting Berlin to shoot architecture meets a charismatic local English teacher, but their first date turns into a…
Big Little Lies - Season 1 (TV Mini-series) (2017): Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
Feat. Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley…; A superb, darkly comedic seven–part HBO miniseries set in the tranquil seaside town of Monterey, California, that weaves a tale of murder and…
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017): Dir. S. Craig Zahler
Feat. Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson…; Midnight movie from the writer–director of BONE TOMAHAWK, with Vince Vaughan in a charismatic career best as a former boxer and drug courier…
Bridge, The - Series 4 (TV Series) (Bron/Broen) (2017): Feat. Sofia Helin, Thure Lindhardt; Fourth series of the enormously popular Danish–Swedish murder mystery is set two years after the conclusion of Series 3 with the central…
Broadchurch - Series 3 (TV Series) (2017): Feat. David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker…; The third and final series has detectives Hardy and Miller investigating a serious sexual assault in the beleagured Dorset village, and explores the…
Cardinal (TV Series) (2017): Dir. Daniel Grou
Feat. Billy Campbell, Karine Vanasse; Based on the award–winning novel Forty Words for Sorrow by writer Giles Blunt, this Canadian TV noir follows a detective hunting down a serial…
Circle, The (2017): Dir. James Ponsoldt
Feat. Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega…; Dave Egger's 2013 novel is adapted into this gripping modern thriller with Emma Watson rising in the ranks of the world's largest and most powerful…
City and the City, The (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Christian Camargo, Ron Cook, Mandeep Dhillon…; Compelling blend of sci–fi dystopia and crime set in a European city–state called Beszel, where an inspector in the Extreme Crime Squad…
Counterpart (TV Series) (2017): Feat. J.K. Simmons, Olivia Williams, Ulrich Thomsen
Crooked House (2017): Dir. Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Feat. Glenn Close, Terence Stamp, Max Irons…; Agatha Christie adaptation set in post–war London, where a hard up private detective is asked by a sultry woman from his past to solve the…
Detroit (2017): Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Feat. John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith…; Harrowing account of the tragic five day race riot in Detroit, 1967, which lead to The Algiers Motel Incident, in which black civilians were beaten,…
Double Lover (L'amant double) (2017): Dir. Francois Ozon
Feat. Jacqueline Bisset, Jeremie Renier, Marine Vacth…; Sexually–charged, stylized thriller from director Francois Ozon about a fragile young model who moves in with her psychoanalyst, only to…
Fargo - Season 3 (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Ewan McGregor, Carrie Coon, Mary Elizabeth Winstead…; Third season of the much acclaimed mid–western noir, this time set in 2010. Features more deception, intrigue and murder in a frosty Minnesota…
Fearless (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Helen McCrory, Wunmi Mosaku; A classy 6–part British miniseries following a human rights lawyer (Helen McCrory in an absorbing performance) as she attempts to secure a…
Flatliners (2017): Dir. Niels Arden Oplev
Feat. Elliot Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev…; A dead–on–arrival resuscitation of the 1990 thriller in which five med students experiment with stopping their hearts for short periods…
Good Time (2017): Dir. Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Feat. Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh…; Robert Pattinson is riveting as a small–time hustler who embarks on a frantic nocturnal mission to break his brother out of custody after a…
Guerrilla (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Idris Elba, Freida Pinto, Babou Ceesay…; 6–part Miniseries set in 1970's London, where a politically active couple have their relationship and values tested after forming a radical…
In the Dark (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. MyAnna Buring; Detective Helen Weeks (MyAnna Buring) finds out she is pregnant shortly before being drawn into the dark side of urban Manchester, when she returns…
In the Fade (2017): Dir. Fatih Akin
Feat. Diane Kruger, Johannes Krisch; Diane Kruger's momentous performance is central to this drama about a woman called Katja from Hamburg, whose husband and son are killed in a…
It Comes at Night (2017): Dir. Trey Edward Schults
Feat. Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo…; Following his impressive debut feature KRISHA, director Trey Edward Shults steps up a notch in scale and ambition to craft an exquisitely…
Jawbone (2017): Dir. Thomas Q. Napper
Feat. Johnny Harris, Ray Winstone, Ian McShane…; A former youth boxing champion who is facing homelessness and alcohol abuse returns to his childhood boxing club, risking his life to regain his…
Jungle (2017): Dir. Greg McLean
Feat. Daniel Radcliffe, Thomas Kretschmann, Alex Russell…; Based on the best–selling memoir by Yossi Ghinsberg, this gut–churning tale of survival charts his journey into the mysterious depths of…
Keeping Faith (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Eve Myles; An ordinary woman fights to protect her family and her sanity when her husband unexpectedly disappears on his way to work. She discovers he is part…
Killing of a Sacred Deer, The (2017): Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
Feat. Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan…; Colin Farrell returns for the singular director of THE LOBSTER for another round of macabre absurdism, this time cast as a cardiovascular surgeon and…
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017): Dir. Matthew Vaughn
Feat. Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Taron Egerton…; Sequel to the outrageous blockbuster spy spoof about an elite secret organisation called Kingsman, who this time must team up with their American…
Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Edie Falco, Anthony Edwards, Miles Gaston Villanueva…; The first season of the crime anthology series, Law & Order True Crime, dramatizes the trial of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were famously convicted…
Liar (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Ioan Gruffudd, Joanne Froggatt, Zoe Tapper…; Intense thriller in which the initial attraction between a dedicated teacher and a renowned surgeon devolves into a devastating chain of events that…
Loch Ness (TV Mini-series) (The Loch) (2017): Feat. Laura Fraser, Jim McMeekin; Gripping murder mystery set on the beautiful, haunting shores of Scotland's iconic Loch Ness, where an inexperienced local detective takes on a…
Logan Lucky (2017): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig…; Heist–comedy populated by an impressive ensemble cast, following the down–on–their–luck Logan family as they try to strike it…
Man With The Iron Heart, The (2017): Dir. Cédric Jimenez
Feat. Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O'Connell…; As German fascism spreads throughout Europe, two young members of the Czech resistance in London plan to assassinate the mastermind of the "Final…
Mr. Mercedes (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Brendan Gleeson, Harry Treadaway, Kelly Lynch; Tense mystery thriller based on the novel trilogy by Stephen King, where retired detective Bill Hodges is haunted by the unsolved case of "Mr.…
Murder on the Orient Express (2017): Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Feat. Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe…; Adaptation of the novel by Agatha Christie, in the capable hands of director Kenneth Branagh, who also stars as Hercule Poirot, the renowned…
One of Us (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Juliet Stevenson, Joanna Vanderham, Laura Fraser…; A grim British drama series set in a remote Scottish Highland village where a newly married couple are found murdered. Their families and neighbours…
Post, The (2017): Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson…; The story of The Washington Post's attempt to publish The Pentagon Papers is given the Spielberg treatment. A riveting political thriller with…
Prime Suspect 1973 (TV Series) (Prime Suspect: Tennison) (2017): Dir. David Caffrey
Feat. Stefanie Martini, Sam Reid, Blake Harrison…; A retro–dated prequel to Lynda LaPlante's long–running British detective drama series, originally starring Helen Mirren as DCI Jane…
Rebecka Martinsson (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Eva Melander, Ardalan Esmaili, Jakob Ohrman; Engrossing Swedish series following a successful lawyer who returns to her remote hometown above the Arctic Circle to hunt for the person who…
Rellik (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Richard Dormer, Jodi Balfour, Ray Stevenson; The title is "Killer" backwards, as so is the structural conceit of this innovative BBC crime thriller that starts at the end, with a prime suspect…
Replacement, The (TV Mini-series) (2017): Dir. Joe Ahearne
Feat. Morven Christie, Vicky McClure, Richard Rankin…; Three part British miniseries set in Glasgow, with a successful architect who interrupts her work on a big project to have a child, hiring an…
Riverdale (TV Series) (2017): Feat. KJ Apa; Millennial neo–noir teen drama set in the deceptively idyllic town of Riverdale, based on characters from the Archie Comics universe. Centres…
Riviera (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Julia Stiles, Lena Olin, Adrian Lester…; A TV mini–series set on the French Riviera, where a recently widowed art curator from the Midwest (Julia Stiles) seeks the truth about her…
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017): Dir. Dan Gilroy
Feat. Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo; A superbly written dramatic thriller from the director of NIGHTCRAWLER set within the overburdened Los Angeles criminal court system. Denzel…
Salvation (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Santiago Cabrera, Jennifer Finnigan, Charlie Rowe; Sci–fi suspense series about a grad student whose self–designed app discovers a giant asteroid is hurtling toward the planet and the…
Shot Caller (2017): Dir. Ric Roman Waugh
Feat. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Omari Hardwick, Lake Bell…; The transformation of an intelligent businessman into a ruthless gangster is chronicled in this taut thriller set within the American prison system.
Sinner, The (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Jessica Biel, Christopher Abbott, Bill Pullman; An 8–episode miniseries starring Jessica Biel as a seemingly ordinary woman who brutally murders someone out of nowhere during a trip to the…
Snowman, The (2017): Dir. Tomas Alfredson
Feat. Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg…; Based on a novel by Jo Nesbø (HEADHUNTERS), Michael Fassbender plays a detective leading an investigation into a missing person who is believed to…
SS-GB (TV Mini-series) (2017): Feat. Sam Riley, James Cosmo, Rainer Bock…; BBC series speculating on what German occupied Britain would like like if the Nazis had won WII. Arrestingly dystopian TV, based on the…
StartUp (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Martin Freeman, Adam Brody; A unique cyber thriller in which the entrepreneurs behind a revolutionary unregulated digital currency are three strangers from the wrong side of the…
Strike (TV Series) (The Cuckoo's Calling; The Silkworm; Career of Evil) (2017-2018): Feat. Tom Burke, Holliday Grainger; A crime drama series adapted from the Cormoran Strike detective novels written by J. K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Tom Burke…
Suburbicon (2017): Dir. George Clooney
Feat. Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac; Dark crime comedy set in supposedly idyllic 50's suburbia, with Matt Damon as a husband and father who is discovering a dark underbelly of crime and…
Taken (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Clive Standen, Gaius Charles, Michael Irby…; An action–packed prequel spin–off to the blockbuster TAKEN movies, with Liam Neeson replaced by VIKINGS star Clive Standen, who plays a…
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017): Dir. Martin McDonagh
Feat. Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell…; Frances McDormand gives an Oscar–winning turn as a grieving mother who personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter's…
Tin Star (TV Series) (2017): Dir. Rowan Joffe
Feat. Tim Roth, Christina Hendricks; TV show by writer–director of BRIGHTON ROCK, set in the majestic Canadian Rockies and following a former British detective who moves with his…
Top of the Lake: China Girl (2017): Dir. Jane Campion, Ariel Kleiman
Feat. Elisabeth Moss, Nicole Kidman, Gwendoline Christie …; Jane Campion relocates her outstanding crime thriller TV series to Sydney's Bondi Beach, where detective Robin Griffin is attempting to rebuild her…
Unforgettable (2017): Dir. Denise Di Novi
Feat. Rosario Dawson, Katherine Heigl; Katherine Heigl plays a scorned divorcee seeking revenge on her ex–husband's new lover in this deliciously villainous suburban thriller.
Valkyrien (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Sven Nordin, Pål Sverre Hagen; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Wake in Fright (TV Mini-series) (2017): Dir. Kriv Stenders
Feat. Sean Keenan, Alex Dimitriades, Caren Pistorious…; Australian miniseries based more on the original novel than the subsequent cult film, depicting the psychological journey of schoolteacher John…
What Happened To Monday (Seven Sisters) (2017): Dir. Tommy Wirkola
Feat. Noomi Rapace, Glenn Close, Willem Dafoe; By the director of DEAD SNOW and featuring a dynamic performance from Noomi Rapace as seven different characters. A dystopian future government is…
Winchester (2017): Dir. The Spierig Brothers
Feat. Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, Jason Clarke; The great Helen Mirren slums it magnificently in an unchallenging role, playing a wealthy heiress who builds a prison asylum for hundreds of vengeful…
Wind River (2017): Dir. Taylor Sheridan
Feat. Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham…; A rookie FBI agent and a local wildlife tracker team up to investigate the death of a young Native American woman on a snowy Indian reservation in…
Woodshock (2017): Dir. Kate Mulleavy, Laura Mulleavy
Feat. Kirsten Dunst, Joe Cole, Pilou Asbæk; A stylistically unique psychological thriller with all the elegance you'd expect from fashion designer siblings Kate and Laura Mulleavy in their…
You Were Never Really Here (2017): Dir. Lynne Ramsay
Feat. Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov, Alex Manette; Another impressionistic masterpiece from director Lynne Ramsay, with a brilliantly volatile performance from Joaquin Phoenix as a deeply traumatised…
9th Life of Louis Drax, The (2016): Dir. Alexandre Aja
Feat. Jamie Dornan, Sarah Gadon, Aaron Paul…; A nine–year–old boy's accidental fall from a steep cliff places him in a coma, prompting an unconventional neurologist to tap into his…
A Conspiracy of Faith (2016): Dir. Hans Petter Moland
Feat. Pål Sverre Hagen, Fares Fares, Nikolaj Lie Kaas; Following THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES and THE ABSENT ONE, this third entry in the coal–black "Department Q" series of feature films has cold case…
A Cure for Wellness (2016): Dir. Gore Verbinski
Feat. Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth; An ambitious Manhattan stockbroker is blackmailed to retrieve a company boardmember from a wellness spa in the Swiss Alps in this visually stunning…
Accountant, The (2016): Dir. Gavin O'Connor
Feat. Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons…; Though prone to contrivance, this is high–octane thriller is built around Ben Affleck's unusual character – a math savant, who works…
Allied (2016): Dir. Robert Zemeckis
Feat. Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Lizzy Caplan…; Old–fashioned wartime romance between an intelligence officer and a French resistance fighter in 1942, which develops into a satisfying…
Animal Kingdom (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Ellen Barkin, Scott Speedman, Shawn Hatosy; Dark crime family drama set in LA, but based on the powerful Australian movie of the same name (whose director David Michod is a producer here).…
Beast (2016): Dir. Sam McKeith, Tom McKeith
Feat. Chad McKinney, Garret Dillahunt; Gutsy account of a young Filipino boxer coming to terms with a tragic incident during a match in the slums of Manila.
Berlin Station (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Richard Armitage, Rhys Ifans, Leland Orser…; TV thriller following the clandestine activities of a CIA team in Berlin, with Richard Armitage playing an ex–Langley analyst who moves to…
Blood Father (2016): Dir. Jean-François Richet
Feat. Mel Gibson, William H. Macy, Erin Moriarty…; Mel Gibson attempts career rehabilitation in this stolid actioner, playing an ex–con who reunites with his estranged wayward…
Burn Country (The Fixer) (2016): Dir. Ian Olds
Feat. Dominic Rains, Melissa Leo, James Franco…; Iranian–American actor Dominic Rains gives an impessive performance in this topical crime drama as an exiled Afghan journalist who is given…
Complete Unknown (2016): Dir. Joshua Marston
Feat. Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon; A shape–shifting tale of the perils and pleasures of self–reinvention in which a man is confronted by an old flame – a woman who…
Dark Crimes (2016): Dir. Alexandros Avranas
Feat. Jim Carrey, Marton Csokas, Charlotte Gainsbourg; Grim Polish–set thriller starring a humourless Jim Carrey as a police investigator who descends into a deadly underworld of sex, lies, and…
Dark Heart (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Tom Riley, Charlotte Riley; Crime mini–series set in London, following an alcoholic and workaholic detective investigating a string of horrific murders, all the while…
Dheepan (2016): Dir. Jacques Audiard
Feat. Antonythasan Jesuthasan; A Sri Lankan refugee in France finds himself posing as the father and husband of two other refugees in order to gain asylum status. An unflinchingly…
Elle (2016): Dir. Paul Verhoeven
Feat. Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny…; Controversial, unflinching drama closely following the perspective of a woman who is repeatedly raped by the same masked intruder, but whose…
Equity (2016): Dir. Meera Menon
Feat. Anna Gunn, James Purefoy, Sarah Megan Thomas…; Sharp, female–centric financial thriller with BREAKING BAD's Anna Gunn as a senior investment banker who finds her career undermined by scandal…
Fall, The - Series 3 (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, John Lynch; Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan reprise their roles, and continue their gripping game of cat and mouse through the streets of Belfast.
Five, The (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Tom Cullen, Hannah Arterton, O.T. Fagbenle…; Glossy British TV thriller from the pen of Harlan Coben in which a five–year–old boy goes missing, but twenty years later his DNA shows…
Follow the Money (TV Series) (Bedrag) (2016): Feat. Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Thomas Bo Larsen; Financial crime thriller set in the renewable energy business in Denmark, where a company is enjoying an enormous and suspicious growth, until an…
Frank and Lola (2016): Dir. Matthew Ross
Feat. Michael Shannon, Imogen Poots, Michael Nyqvist…; Haunting neo–noir romance which delves deep into the male psyche to offer a portrait of desire, obsession and suspicion, bathed in a…
Frozen Dead, The (TV Series) (Glacé) (2016): Feat. Charles Berling, Julia Piaton, Pascal Greggory; Chilly crime thriller set in the French Pyrenees that unravels after the discovery of a headless body of a horse hanging suspended from the edge of a…
Girl on the Train, The (2016): Dir. Tate Taylor
Feat. Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson…; Adapted of the best–selling novel by Paula Hawkins (and transposed from its British setting to America), the mystery unravels for Emily Blunt…
Girl vs. Boy (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Will Robertson, Emma Draper, Courtney Abbot; Kiwi romantic whodunit set in "The Bay", where an amateur detective takes it upon herself to solve the mystery behind the divisions in her tight knit…
Goldstone (2016): Dir. Ivan Sen
Feat. Aaron Pedersen, Alex Russell, Jackie Weaver…; Moody Aussie noir set in a mining town where a missing person inquiry threatens to expose deep–seated corruption.
Handmaiden, The (2016): Dir. Park Chan-Wook
Feat. Min-hee Kim, Tae-ri Kim, Jung-woo Ha…; Delicious erotic thriller from the brilliant Park Chan–Wook, who lends his impeccable style to a provocative potboiler of lesbian love and…
Hell or High Water (2016): Dir. David Mackenzie
Feat. Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster, Chris Pine…; An exceptional ten–gallon thriller in which a divorced father and his ex–con older brother resort to a desperate but righteous scheme in…
Homeland - Season 6 (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, Rupert Friend…; Further episodes from this outstanding counter–terrorist thriller of post–9/11 paranoia, with Claire Danes's riveting, high–tensile…
Hounds of Love (2016): Dir. Ben Young
Feat. Emma Booth, Ashleigh Cummings, Stephen Curry; A disturbing yet vivid captivity thriller set in the mundane suburbs of Perth in 1987 where a couple kidnap and terrorise a young woman. While…
Imperium (2016): Dir. Daniel Ragussis
Feat. Daniel Radcliffe, Toni Collette, Tracy Letts…; Daniel Radcliffe continues his run of diverse roles this time starring as an FBI agent assigned to infiltrate a group of white supremacists.
In Plain Sight (TV Mini-series) (2016): Dir. John Strickland
Feat. Douglas Henshall, Martin Compston, Shauna Macdonald; Three–part drama series covering the crimes committed by serial killer Peter Manuel in Lanarkshire, Scotland in the 1950s, shocking local…
Inferno (2016): Dir. Ron Howard
Feat. Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Omar Sy…; Shambolic third entry in the Robert Langdon series with Tom Hanks stumbling around Europe trying to foil another global plot.
Infiltrator, The (2016): Dir. Brad Furman
Feat. Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger…; Efficient thriller with Bryan Cranston going deep undercover as he attempts to reveal the inner–workings of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar's…
Kettering Incident, The (TV Mini-series) (2016): Dir. Rowan Woods
Feat. Elizabeth Debicki, Matthew Le Nevez; Tasmanian mystery drama centred around a doctor (Elizabeth Debicki) who returns to the logging town of Kettering, where tensions between…
King Cobra (2016): Dir. Justin Kelly
Feat. Garrett Clayton, Christian Slater, Alicia Silverstone…; Biopic about the life of gay porn actor Brent Corrigan/Sean Paul Lockhart, based on the book Cobra Killer: Gay Porn, Murder, and the Manhunt to Bring…
Level, The (TV Series) (2016): Dir. Mark Everest, Andy Goddard
Feat. Karla Crome, Lindsey Coulson, Noel Clarke…; Six–part British crime drama featuring Karla Crome as a detective with the National Crime Division assigned to Brighton CID to investigate the…
Limehouse Golem, The (2016): Dir. Juan Carlos Medina
Feat. Bill Nighy, Olivia Cooke, Douglas Booth…; Set on the squalid streets of Victorian London where a series of murders has shaken the community to the point where people believe that only an…
Lucifer (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Tom Ellis, Lauren German, D.B. Woodside…; Dark fantasy series based on the Neil Gaiman comic has a bored devil set up shop in Los Angeles running a piano bar and aiding the L.A.P.D. in the…
Lucky Man (TV Series) (Stan Lee's Lucky Man) (2016): Feat. James Nesbitt, Amara Karan, Sienna Guillory…; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Maigret (TV Series) (2016): Dir. Ashley Pearce
Feat. Rowan Atkinson, Lucy Cohu, Shaun Dingwall; Rowan Atkinson plays it straight in this immaculate update of Georges Simenon's Inspector Jules Maigret, set in 1950s Paris. Across two features…
Midnight Sun (TV Series) (Midnattssol) (2016): Feat. Leïla Bekhti, Gustaf Hammarsten, Göran Forsmark; TV thriller following a French police officer (Leïla Bekhti, THE PROPHET) who takes a job investigating the murder of a French citizen in a remote…
Mojave (2016): Dir. William Monahan
Feat. Oscar Isaac, Garrett Hedlund, Mark Wahlberg…; Prickly, existential thriller from the writer of THE DEPARTED has a suicidal artist fleeing into the desert where he encounters his doppelganger.
Money Monster (2016): Dir. Jodie Foster
Feat. George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell…; Jodie Foster directs this angry media satire starring George Clooney as a financial TV host held hostage by an irate investor.
Moonstone, The (TV Mini-series) (2016): Feat. John Thomson, Sarah Hadland, Joshua Silver…; Updated BBC version of the Wilkie Collins' novel in which the numerous party guests at an English country house have a motive for stealing a missing…
Morgan (2016): Dir. Luke Scott
Feat. Kate Mara, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michelle Yeoh…; A flawed yet tense and thought–provoking sci–fi thriller about a corporate risk–management consultant who must decide whether or…
Neon Demon, The (2016): Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Feat. Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Jena Malone…; An aspiring model moves to Los Angeles where her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty–obsessed women and exploitative…
Nerve (2016): Dir. Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Feat. Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Juliette Lewis…; Enjoyable teen thriller about a high school student who finds herself immersed in an online game of truth or dare, where her every move starts to…
New Blood (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Mark Strepan, Ben Tavassoli, Mark Addy…; A light–on–its–feet London–based BBC police series from the creator of FOYLE'S WAR that brings together a pair of cheeky…
Night Manager, The (TV Mini-Series) (2016): Dir. Susanne Bier
Feat. Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman…; Stellar John Le Carré adaptation with Tom Hiddleston as a former British soldier recruited to infiltrate an international arm dealer's network.
Night Of, The (TV Mini-Series) (2016): Feat. Riz Ahmed, John Turturro, Michael Kenneth Williams…; Much–acclaimed crime drama from the pen of Richard Price (THE WIRE, CLOCKERS) featuring a revelatory performance from Riz Ahmed as a man…
Nocturnal Animals (2016): Dir. Tom Ford
Feat. Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon…; Renowned fashion designer Tom Ford follows his film debut A SINGLE MAN with this highly intriguing neo–noir tale about a wealthy art gallery…
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016): Dir. Joseph Cedar
Feat. Richard Gere, Lior Ashkenazi, Hank Azaria…; Richard Gere plays a down–on–his–luck Jewish "macher" (person of high influence in circles of wealth and power) whose friend…
Our Kind of Traitor (2016): Dir. Susanna White
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris, Stellan Skarsgard…; Solid adaptation of the John Le Carre novel about a couple who finds themselves lured into a Russian oligarch's plans to defect, and are soon…
Patriots Day (2016): Dir. Peter Berg
Feat. Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon…; Director Peter Berg and star Mark Wahlberg follow DEEPWATER HORIZON with another gutsy dramatisation of a tragic American event, this time the 2013…
Personal Shopper (2016): Dir. Olivier Assayas
Feat. Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Anders Danielsen Lie…; Utterly beguiling psychological horror closely following a troubled personal shopper to a fashion–world celebrity, who attempts to make contact…
Preacher (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, Joe Gilgun…; Much acclaimed adaptation of the DC Comics series with Dominic Cooper as a small town preacher possessed by a supernatural force.
Quarry (TV Series) (2016): Dir. Greg Yaitanes, John Hillcoat
Feat. Logan Marshall-Green, Jodi Balfour, Damon Herriman…; A dark yet realistic crime drama series in which a disillusioned Vietnam War vet returns home to Memphis in 1972 only to find rejection and scrutiny,…
Rillington Place (TV Mini-series) (2016): Dir. Craig Viveiros
Feat. Tim Roth, Samantha Morton, Nico Mirallegro…; Three–part crime drama starring Tim Roth as serial killer John Christie, who strangled a string of victims during the 1940s and early 1950s…
Salt and Fire (2016): Dir. Werner Herzog
Feat. Michael Shannon, Veronica Ferres, Gael Garcia Bernal; Two ecologists posted in the remote Bolivian wilderness are kidnapped by a local businessman with mysterious intentions, but find they must unite…
Secret, The (TV Mini-series) (2016): Dir. Nick Murphy
Feat. James Nesbitt, Genevieve O’Reilly, Jason Watkins…; Award–winning mini–series based on Belfast journalist Deric Henderson's true–life account of the double murder of a couple whose…
Shallows, The (2016): Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
Feat. Blake Lively; Nail–biting but certainly shallow thriller with Blake Lively as a lone surfer being stalked by a great white shark off the Mexican coast.…
Sherlock - Series 4 (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Toby Jones…; Cumberbatch's beloved modern Sherlock is back on British soil once more, while Doctor Watson and Mary prepare for becoming first–time parents…
Snowden (2016): Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto…; The ever–polemical Oliver Stone dramatises the remarakble story of whistleblower Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who was forced into…
Split (2016): Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Feat. James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley…; Twist–meister M. Night Shyamalan returns (to form) with this innovative thriller starring James McAvoy as a man with 23 different personalities…
Swallows and Amazons (2016): Dir. Philippa Lowthorpe
Feat. Kelly MacDonald, Rafe Spall, Andrew Scott…; Based on the 1974 film that was in turn adapted from the series of 1930's children's novels by Arthur Ransome, this reprise retains the setting and…
Thirteen (TV Mini-series) (2016): Feat. Jodie Comer, Natasha Little, Stuart Graham…; Five–part BBC psychological drama that follows a 26–year–old woman who learns to live again after being abducted and held in…
Triple 9 (2016): Dir. John Hillcoat
Feat. Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie…; Bruising slice of pulp cinema features a team of entirely corrupt cops, in hock to the Russian mob, planning a heist that goes dramatically wrong
Undercover (TV Mini-series) (2016): Feat. Sophie Okonedo, Adrian Lester, Dennis Haysbert; A lawyer from London is on the cusp of becoming the first black Director of Public Prosecutions, when she begins to realise that her husband of 20…
Whole Truth, The (2016): Feat. Keanu Reeves, Renee Zellweger, Gugu Mbatha-Raw…; Keanu Reeves plays an attorney who works on a tough case to defend a 17–year–old suspected of murdering his wealthy father in this…
Witness for the Prosecution, The (2016): Feat. Toby Jones, Andrea Riseborough, David Haig…; 2–part miniseries based on Agatha Christie's popular story. A wealthy heiress is found murdered and her principle heir is naturally the major…
'71 (2015): Dir. Yann Demange
Feat. Jack O'Connell, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris; A visceral thriller in which a young British soldier must find his way back to safety after his unit accidentally abandons him during a riot in the…
13 Minutes (2015): Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
Feat. Christian Friedel, Katharina Schüttler, Burghart Klaussner; The director of DOWNFALL returns to World War Two with this tense depiction of Georg Elser's efforts to assassinate Hitler, and the aftermath of his…
600 Miles (2015): Dir. Gabriel Ripstein
Feat. Tim Roth, Kristyan Ferrer; A character driven hostage thriller with Tim Roth as federal agent kidnapped by a Mexican gun runner and driven back across the border into cartel…
Agatha Christie: Partners in Crime (TV Series) (2015): Feat. David Walliams, Jessica Raine, James Fleet…; Cheery update of Agatha Christie's crime–fighting duo, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, who solve mysteries and search for enemy spies in 1950s…
And Then There Were None (Mini-series) (2015): Feat. Douglas Booth, Charles Dance, Maeve Dermody…; A three–part miniseries based on the popular Agatha Christie novel, perhaps her darkest and most sinister work. Ten strangers are invited to an…
Angelby (TV Series) (Ängelby) (2015): Feat. Mia Skaringer, Goran Ragnerstam, Amanda Ooms; Unsettling Swedish mystery series about a wife–and–mother who is forced to take a job in a small remote city of Ängelby where she…
Arthur & George (TV Mini-series) (2015): Dir. Stuart Orme
Feat. Martin Clunes, Arsher Ali, Art Malik; Three–part drama set in 1906 that follows the intersecting lives of Arthur Conan Doyle, world–famous author of 'Sherlock Holmes', and…
Backtrack (2015): Dir. Michael Petroni
Feat. Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, George Shevtsov…; Australian paranormal thriller about a psychotherapist (Adrian Brody) who is plagued by sinister visions after the death of his daughter. Returning…
Black Mass (2015): Dir. Scott Cooper
Feat. Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson…; True crime yarn with Johnny Depp disappearing into the role of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger, who became an FBI informant in order to take down a…
Black Work (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Sheridan Smith, Matthew McNulty, Geraldine James…; Pacy British crime series with Sheridan Smith as a policewoman who sets out to discover who murdered her husband, an undercover officer.
Blackhat (2015): Dir. Michael Mann
Feat. Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis, Wei Tang…; Michael Mann directs this thriller about a convict and his American and Chinese partners tracking a high–level cybercrime network from Chicago…
Blindspot (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Jaimie Alexander, Sullivan Stapleton; Twisty thriller begins with the discovery of a Jane Doe found in Times Square with no memory and mysterious tattoos on her body.
Bloodline (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Kyle Chandler, Ben Mendelsohn, Linda Cardellini…; Knotty thriller about a family of adult siblings who find that their past secrets and scars are revealed when their black sheep of a brother returns…
Boomerang (2015): Dir. François Favrat
Feat. Laurent Lafitte, Mélanie Laurent, Audrey Dana…; Proficient French thriller from the author of SARAH'S KEY concerns a pair of siblings and their pursuit for the truth behind their mother's death.
Bridge of Spies (2015): Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda…; Elegant, nostalgic Cold–War drama from Steven Spielberg based on a true story. Tom Hanks plays the American attorney thanklessly tasked with…
Broadchurch - Series 2 (TV Series) (2015): Feat. David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Andrew Buchan…; Second season of the compelling mystery series returns to the titular town one year after Danny Latimer's killer was revealed. Inevitably more…
Bureau, The (TV Series) (Le Bureau des Legendes) (2015): Feat. Mathieu Kassovitz; After six years of undercover work in Syria, French intelligence officer Malotru returns home, where he struggles to forget his undercover identity,…
Capital (2015): Feat. Adeel Akhtar, Danny Ashok, Mona Goodwin…; A three–part British TV adaptation of the novel by John Lanchester, set on an affluent London street, where residents receive a strange note…
Catching Milat (TV Mini-series) (2015): Feat. Richard Cawthorne, Malcolm Kennard; Rigorous psychological thriller based on the investigation into the 1990s backpacker murders leading to the arrest and conviction of serial killer…
Chi-Raq (2015): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Teyonah Parris…; Brilliant Spike Lee musical transposing the classical Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes into the setting of a Chicago neighbourhood beset by gang…
Child 44 (2015): Dir. Daniel Espinosa
Feat. Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace…; Disturbing thriller with Tom Hardy as disgraced member of the military police investigating a series of nasty child murders during the…
Childhood of a Leader, The (2015): Dir. Brady Corbet
Feat. Bérénice Bejo, Liam Cunningham, Stacy Martin…; Based loosely on a Jean–Paul Sartre short story and also John Fowles' novel, The Magus, this arresting arthouse directing debut for American…
Clan, The (2015): Dir. Pablo Trapero
Feat. Guillermo Francella, Peter Lanzani, Lili Popovich; Swaggering portrait of the Argentina's notorious Puccio Clan who's ruthless kidnap and ransom operation that both terrorized and fascinated the…
Coherence (2015): Dir. James Ward Byrkit
Feat. Emily Foxler, Nicholas Brendon; This inventive and mostly improvised zero–budget indie has been admirably compared to PRIMER and follows eight friends at a dinner party who…
Cop Car (2015): Dir. Jon Watts
Feat. Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford…; Tense, expertly directed thriller in which Kevin Bacon stars as an unsavoury small town sheriff in pursuit of the two 10–year–old boys…
Coroner, The (TV Series) (2015-2016): Feat. Claire Goose, Matt Bardock; Light and fanciful whodunnit drama series starring Claire Goose as a coroner poring over suspicious corpses in a fictional South Devon coastal town.…
Criminal Activities (2015): Dir. Jackie Earle Haley
Feat. Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Christopher Abbott…; The poet Robert Lowell scripted this sparky thriller in which four young men make a risky investment together that puts them in trouble with the mob.
Dark Places (2015): Dir. Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Feat. Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Christina Hendricks…; From the pen of Gillian Flynn – writer of GONE GIRL – comes an equally twisty thriller. Charlize Theron stars as a woman who confronts…
Desierto (2015): Dir. Jonás Cuarón
Feat. Gael Garcia Bernal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Diego Cataño…; Tense B–movie style thriller set in the borderlands between Mexico and the U.S.A, with Bernal as an illegal immigrant who must find a way to…
Dickensian (TV Mini-series) (2015): Feat. Tuppence Middleton, Sophie Rundle, Stephen Rea…; A drama series that plays within the detailed literary universe of Charles Dickens, colliding many of his iconic characters on the streets of 19th…
Doctor Foster (TV Series) (2015-2017): Feat. Suranne Jones, Bertie Carvel, Jodie Comer; Top quality BBC melodrama with Suranne Jones superb as a general practitioner who becomes obessed with the notion that her doting husband may be…
Dope (2015): Dir. Rick Famuyiwa
Feat. Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons…; An "urban" teen comedy about three retro–obsessed high–school friends who find themselves having to creatively dispatch a large quantity…
Driftless Area, The (2015): Dir. Zachary Sluser
Feat. Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, John Hawkes…; Reality–bending thriller about a man who returns to his hometown after his parents die and soon becomes involved in a dangerous situation with…
Eye in the Sky (2015): Dir. Gavin Hood
Feat. Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi…; Provocative drama that examines the perils of drone warfare with Helen Mirren as a military officer in command of a mission to capture terrorists in…
Fargo - Season 2 (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons…; Much acclaimed second season is set in the late seventies and features more deception, intrigue and murder in and around the town of Fargo, North…
Fortitude (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Sofie Grabol, Richard Dormer, Stanley Tucci…; Addictive murder mystery set on the edge of the Arctic Circle, in the town of Fortitude, a town whose peaceful reputation is under threat.
Frankenstein Chronicles, The (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Sean Bean, Anna Maxwell Martin, Charlie Creed-Miles…; Sean Bean stars in this Victorian–set thriller as an inspector investigating a number of mysterious deaths that may be linked to a scientist…
Gift, The (2015): Dir. Joel Edgerton
Feat. Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton…; Australian actor Joel Edgerton acquits himself admirably as first time writer/director of this LA–set psycho–thriller that revives the…
Glitch (TV Series) (2015): Dir. Emma Freeman
Feat. Patrick Brammall, Emma Booth, Emily Barclay; Paranormal series set in small–town Australia with a cop investigating the case of seven people apparently rising from the dead.
Green Room (2015): Dir. Jeremy Saulnier
Feat. Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat…; Another inventive, claustrophobic backwoods thriller from the director of BLUE RUIN, this time focused on a touring punk band who must fight for…
Heat Wave (Coup de chaud) (2015): Dir. Raphaël Jacoulot
Feat. Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gregory Gadebois; A peaceful French hamlet is turned upside down when a deranged local starts harassing the the villagers and causing hostilities to rise dangerously.…
High-Rise (High Rise) (2015): Dir. Ben Wheatley
Feat. Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller…; A blackly comic, super–stylish slice of dystopia set in a retro–futurist 1975 in which life for the residents of a tower block begins to…
Homeland - Season 5 (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Claire Danes, Rupert Friend, Mandy Patinkin; Further episodes from this outstanding counter–terrorist thriller of post–9/11 paranoia, with Claire Danes's riveting, high–tensile…
Idealist, The (2015): Dir. Christina Rosendahl
Feat. Peter Plaugborg, Søren Malling; An intriguing and methodical Cold War thriller based on a book by Poul Brink, a Danish radio journalist who exposed an international 20–year…
Into the Forest (2015): Dir. Patricia Rozema
Feat. Elliot Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Callum Keith Rennie…; Quiet, character driven post–apocalyptic drama following two sisters whose peaceful Pacific Northwestern lives are disrupted by a…
Invitation, The (2015): Dir. Karyn Kusama
Feat. Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, Emayatzy Corinealdi…; A potently ambiguous chiller in which a man attending an LA dinner party at his former home comes to believe his ex–wife and her new husband…
Jordskott (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Moa Gammel, Goran Ragnerstam; CONTRABAND TITLE. Seasons 1 and 2 are not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of…
Kill Your Friends (2015): Dir. Owen Harris
Feat. Nicholas Hoult, James Corden, Georgia King…; Dark comedy set at the height of the nineties Brtipop craze with Nicholas Hoult as an A & R man who will stop at nothing to find the next hit.
Knock Knock (2015): Dir. Eli Roth
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana de Armas…; Keanu Reeves and Eli Roth unite for this satirical take on torture horror, but not without indulging in some of the sub–genre's tropes. Two…
Legend of Barney Thomson, The (2015): Dir. Robert Carlyle
Feat. Robert Carlyle, Emma Thompson, Ray Winstone…; A uniquely Glaswegian black comedy directed by and starring Robert Carlyle as an awkward middle–aged barber whose life of desperate mediocrity…
London Spy (TV Mini-series) (2015): Dir. Jakob Verbruggen
Feat. Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Edward Holcroft…; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Made in France (2015): Dir. Nicolas Boukhrief
Feat. Malik Zidi, Dimitri Storoge, François Civil; Eerily predicting the November 2015 Paris attacks, this crime–thriller follows a journalist infiltrating a jihadist cell that plans to…
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (Mission Impossible 5) (2015): Dir. Christopher McQuarrie
Feat. Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner…; Tom Cruise and team return to take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate – a rogue organization as highly skilled as…
Modus (TV Series) (2015-2017): Feat. Melinda Kinnaman, Greg Wise, Kim Cattrall…; Swedish psychological thriller series following the work of a criminal psychologist and profiler who has previously assisted both the Swedish police…
Mr. Holmes (2015): Dir. Bill Condon
Feat. Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada…; An intriguing take on the great detective's final years with Ian McKellen in his element as the retired Sherlock Holmes who, dealing with early…
Mr. Robot (TV Series) (2015-2020): Feat. Rami Malek, Christian Slater, Portia Doubleday; The excellent Rami Malek stars as an expert hacker recruited by a mysterious anarchist, who calls himself Mr. Robot. 44 episodes across 4 seasons.
Narcos (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Pedro Pascal; Vivid, unflinching HBO drama chronicles the exploits of the notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
No Escape (2015): Dir. John Erick Dowdle
Feat. Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Pierce Brosnan…; Set in Southeast Asia this proficient thriller finds Lake Bell and Owen Wilson caught up in a violent coup specifically targeting foreigners.…
No Second Chance (TV Series) (Une chance de trop) (2015): Feat. Alexandra Lamy, Pascal Elbé; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Norskov (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Thomas Levin, Claus Riis Ostergaard, Jacob Lohmann; CONTRABAND TITLE. Season 1 is not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film &…
Occupied (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Ane Dahl Torp, Henrik Mestad; Exciting Norwegian political thriller from the pen of Jo Nesbo that posits a future Norway taken over by Russia in a bid to increase oil production.
Overnight, The (2015): Dir. Patrick Brice
Feat. Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman…; Wild comedy about a couple and their son who are new to LA are invited by an eccentric couple to their house for a playdate between their sons. But…
Partisan (2015): Dir. Ariel Kleiman
Feat. Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara; A bracing Australian thriller about a young boy raised to be an assassin in a small cult–like community who begins to question his father's…
Professor T. (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Koen De Bouw; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Ratter (2015): Dir. Branden Kramer
Feat. Ashley Benson, Matt McGorry, Rebecca Naomi Jones; Slow–burn found–footage cyber–thriller with Ashley Benson in the role of graduate student being watched by a stalker who hacks into…
Regression, The (2015): Dir. Alejandro Amenabar
Feat. Ethan Hawke, David Thewlis, Emma Watson…; Chilly horror with a detective and a psychoanalyst uncovering evidence of a satanic cult while investigating the rape of a young woman.
Remember (2015): Dir. Atom Egoyan
Feat. Christopher Plummer, Bruno Ganz, Jurgen Prochnow…; A holocaust survivor with dementia sets out to kill a Nazi war criminal in this unsettling and unique thriller from Canadian auteur Atom Egoyan.
Run All Night (2015): Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
Feat. Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman…; Liam Neeson moves both legs and fists as a professional hitman who must figure out where his loyalties lie: with his estranged son, or with his mob…
Safe House (TV Series) (2015-2017): Feat. Christopher Eccleston, Marsha Thomason, Paterson Joseph…; ITV crime series about a married couple who are asked by a police officer and their close friend to turn their remote Guest House into a Safe…
Secret in Their Eyes (2015): Dir. Billy Ray
Feat. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts…; Efficient remake of the acclaimed Argentinean thriller that boasts some serious star power. Kidman, Roberts and Ejiofor star as a tight–knit…
Self/less (Selfless) (2015): Dir. Tarsem Singh
Feat. Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Matthew Goode…; High–concept, though convoluted thriller from Tarsem Singh (THE FALL) about a dying real estate mogul who transfers his consciousness into a…
Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (2015): Dir. Douglas Mackinnon
Feat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs…; One–off holiday special with the modern Sherlock and Watson finding themselves back in 1890's London.
Sicario (2015): Dir. Denis Villeneuve
Feat. Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro…; Nerve–jangling thriller follows an idealistic FBI agent drawn into the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and…
Spectre (2015): Dir. Sam Mendes
Feat. Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux…; Daniel Craig's fourth Bond outing has 007 receiving a cryptic message from his past sending him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization.
Spooks: The Greater Good (MI-5) (2015): Dir. Bharat Nalluri
Feat. Kit Harington, Peter Firth, Jennifer Ehle…; Serviceable follow–up to the hit TV series has Kit Karington as a former MI5 agent investigating the disappearance of Harry Pearce when the…
Strangerland (2015): Dir. Kim Farrant
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, Joseph Fiennes; Twisty Australian thriller has a family finding their life in a rural outback town rocked after their two teenage children disappear into the desert,…
Suburra (2015): Dir. Stefano Sollima
Feat. Pierfrancesco Favino, Elio Germano, Claudio Amendola…; Enthralling crime saga follows a gangster named Samurai as he attempts to turn the waterfront of Rome into an Italian Las Vegas.
Suicide Theory, The (2015): Dir. Dru Brown
Feat. Steve Mouzakis, Leon Cain; A contrived yet unpredictable Australian thriller about a man whose unsuccessful attempts at suicide lead him to hire a hitman who in turn struggles…
Survivalist, The (2015): Dir. Stephen Fingleton
Feat. Martin McCann, Mia Goth, Andrew Simpson; In a kill–or–be–killed world where starvation is rife and strangers are always dangerous, one man lives off the grid, and by his…
Tale of Tales (2015): Dir. Matteo Garrone
Feat. Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones…; Wonderfully imaginative, cohesive portmanteau film comprised of three unusual, somewhat grotesque fairy tales featuring sea monsters, lustful kings…
Team, The (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Lars Mikkelsen, Veerle Baetens, Jasmin Gerat; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Trapped (TV Series) (2015): Dir. Baltasar Kormakur
Feat. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir; Icelandic television mystery series created by Baltasar Kormákur (JAR CITY, EVEREST) that follows a chief of police in a remote town who tries to…
True Detective - Season 2 (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams…; Widely regarded as a disappointing second season of the HBO policier with a streak of "strained seriousness" running through its tale of a bizarre…
True New Zealand Crime Stories (How to Murder Your Wife; Monster of Mangatiti; Venus and Mars; Bloodlines; Siege) (2015): Dir. Riccardo Pellizzeri, John Laing, Peter Burger
Feat. Mark Mitchinson, Craig Hall, Sara Wiseman…; How to Murder Your Wife: A black comedy based on the true story of Alfred Benning's outlandish attempts to murder his overbearing wife in 1977.…
Unforgotten (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Nicola Walker, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Bernard Hill…; Haunting crime drama about a delicate investigation that begins when the bones of a young man are found under the footings of a demolished house 39…
Victoria (2015): Dir. Sebastian Schipper
Feat. Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Max Mauff; Dazzling, propulsive thriller shot entirely in one continuous 134 minute take through multiple locations in the city of Berlin has a Spanish woman's…
Wayward Pines (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino, Shannyn Sossamon…; Matt Dillon stars as a Secret Service agent who journeys to the small town of Wayward Pines in search of two federal agents who have disappeared.
99 Homes (2014): Dir. Ramin Bahrani
Feat. Michael Shannon, Andrew Garfield, Laura Dern…; Andrew Garfield turns in a muscular performance as a recently unemployed single father who struggles to regain his family home by working for the…
A Most Wanted Man (2014): Dir. Anton Corbijn
Feat. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe…; Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a German spy in this taut John le Carré thriller about a mysterious Chechen immigrant with possible terrorist ties.
Absent One, The (2014): Dir. Mikkel Nørgaard
Feat. Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Fares Fares, Pilou Asbæk; Diverting second entry in the Department Q series, following on from THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES. This time Mørck and Assad are investigating the…
Agatha Raisin (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Ashley Jensen, Katy Wix, Mathew Horne…; The Cotswolds–based PR guru turned amateur sleuth returns for a series of comedic murder–mysteries based on the books by M.C. Beaton.…
Before I Go to Sleep (2014): Dir. Rowan Joffe
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong…; Twisty thriller with Kidman excellent as a woman who wakes up every day, remembering nothing as a result of a traumatic accident in her past.
Big Game (2014): Dir. Jalmari Helander
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Onni Tommila, Felicity Huffman…; Bonkers actioner with Sam Jackson as the U.S. President relying on a teenager for aid after Air Force One crash lands in Finnish forest.
Black Sea (2014): Dir. Kevin MacDonald
Feat. Jude Law, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn…; A robust, white–knuckle thriller in which a submarine captain takes a job with a shadowy backer to search the depths of the Black Sea for a…
Blue Eyes (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Linus Wahlgren, Sven Nordin, Louise Peterhoff; A chief of staff at the Swedish justice department goes missing in the weeks leading up to the national election, and her replacement uncovers a…
Bosch (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Titus Welliver; Titus Welliver stars as Michael Connelly's famed detective in this acclaimed series in which Bosch pursues a murderer while standing trial for the…
Brokenwood Mysteries, The (TV Series) (2014-2024): Feat. Neill Rea, Fern Sutherland; A local stab at the ever popular murder mystery genre with this Kiwiana policier featuring two mismatched detectives investigating a series of…
Captive, The (2014): Dir. Atom Egoyan
Feat. Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson…; Atom Egoyan directs this atmospheric if occasionally implausible thriller about a man's obsessive search for his long–missing daughter,…
Chasing Shadows (TV Mini-Series) (2014): Dir. Christopher Menaul, Jim O’Hanlon
Feat. Reece Shearsmith, Alex Kingston, Noel Clarke; British crime series following the work of a missing persons unit, with Reece Shearsmith as a brilliant yet socially awkward detective Sergeant who…
Code, The (TV Series) (2014): Dir. Shawn Seet
Feat. Dan Spielman, Ashley Zukerman, Adam Garcia…; Six–part Australian thriller interweaving several plot lines connected to a mysterious outback accident, which effects the lives of many…
Cold in July (2014): Dir. Jim Mickle
Feat. Michael C. Hall, Don Johnson, Sam Shepard…; A small town Texan incurs the wrath of an ex–con after killing his son in a home invasion attempt in this juicy, well–directed rural…
Connection, The (2014): Dir. Cédric Jimenez
Feat. Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche, Celine Sallette…; Stylish French thriller that doubles a knowing throwback to the Belmondo crime flicks of the seventies as well as many American antecedents. Jean…
Cure, The (2014): Dir. David Gould
Feat. Antonia Prebble, Stephen Lovatt, John Bach…; An American–accented medical thriller in which Antonia Prebble plays a scientist who discovers that the pharmaceutical company she works for is…
Cymbeline (Anarchy) (2014): Dir. Michael Almereyda
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris, Milla Jovovich…; After their edgy version of Hamlet (2000), Ethan Hawke and director Michael Almereyda re–team for one of Shakespeare's lesser–known…
Drop, The (2014): Dir. Michael R. Roskam
Feat. Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace…; Englishman Tom Hardy displays his extraordinary acting range as lonely New York bartender who finds himself at the center of a robbery gone awry and…
Dying of the Light (2014): Dir. Paul Schrader
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Anton Yelchin, Alexander Karim…; Curious thriller with Nicolas Cage as a CIA agent in the earl stages of dementia going rogue to hunt down a terrorist who tortured him during a…
Elephant Song (2014): Dir. Charles Biname
Feat. Bruce Greenwood, Xavier Dolan, Catherine Keener…; Canadian cinema's "enfant terrible" Xaviar Dolan takes the lead in this dark psychodrama in which a psychiatrist is drawn into a complex mind game…
Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014): Dir. Andrea Di Stefano
Feat. Josh Hutcherson, Benicio Del Toro, Brady Corbet…; Romantic thriller set in Colombia where a young surfer meets the woman of his dreams – and then he meets her uncle, Pablo Escobar.
Eyewitness (TV Series) (Øyevitne) (2014): Dir. Jarl Emsell Larsen; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Face of an Angel, The (2014): Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Feat. Cara Delevingne, Kate Beckinsale, Daniel Bruhl; Inspired by the trial of Amanda Knox, Michael Winterbottom directs this tale of journalist and a documentary filmmaker pursuing the story of a murder…
Fall, The - Series 2 (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, John Lynch; Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan reprise their roles, and continue their gripping game of cat and mouse through the streets of Belfast.
Fargo - Season 1 (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks…; This splendid reworking of the Coen Brothers' cult midwestern noir expands on the film's frosty Minnesota murder mystery with more eccentric…
Faults (2014): Dir. Riley Stearns
Feat. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Leland Orser; Commendable, darkly comic indie–drama set in the intiguing world of cult de–programming with excellent performances from Lealand Orser…
Fool, The (Durak) (2014): Dir. Yuri Bykov
Feat. Artyom Bystrov, Boris Nevzorov, Natalia Surkova; An idealistic Russian plumber discovers a building is about to collapse, and when he alerts the authorities of the need to evacuate the residents…
Game, The (TV Mini-Series) (2014): Feat. Brian Cox, Tom Hughes, Jonathan Aris…; Brian Cox leads the cast in this Cold War spy thriller set in the world of 1970's espionage. It tells the story of the invisible war fought by MI5…
Glass Chin (2014): Dir. Noah Buschel
Feat. Corey Stoll, Billy Crudup, Yul Vazquez…; Juicy slice of neo–noir about downtrodden former boxing champ forced to make a choice between friendship and ambition when he is framed for…
Gomorrah (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Marco DAmore, Salvatore Esposito, Maria Pia Calzone…; Euro–crime TV series set in the Scampia neighbourhood of Naples, where a brutal war breaks out between rival gangs in the criminal underworld.…
Gone Girl (2014): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris…; David Fincher's film version of the bestseller by Gillian Flynn in which a man reports that his wife has gone missing. Under pressure from the police…
Good People (2014): Dir. Henrik Ruben Genz
Feat. Kate Hudson, James Franco, Tom Wilkinson…; Discovering a cache of cash in their dead tenant's apartment a couple in debt take the money and find themselves the target of a deadly…
Goodnight Mommy (Ich seh ich seh) (2014): Dir. Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
Feat. Lukas Schwarz, Elias Schwarz, Susanne Wuest; A sleek, uncompromising psycho–thriller from the Michael Haneke school of Austrian austerity centred around twin boys whose perception of their…
Gracepoint (TV Series) (2014): Feat. David Tennant, Anna Gunn, Jackie Weaver…; The US remake of BROADCHURCH is largely a shot–for–shot remake with some minor plot tweaking. A young boy is found dead on the shores of…
Grantchester (TV Series) (2014): Feat. James Norton, Robson Green, Morven Christie; Amiable 1950s detective drama set in the village of Grantchester near Cambridge where a local Anglican vicar develops a sideline in sleuthing.
Guest, The (2014): Dir. Adam Wingard
Feat. Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, Maika Monroe; The director of YOU'RE NEXT returns with another entertainingly lurid thriller about a returning soldier ingratiating himself to a family whose son…
Hannibal - Season 2 (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas…; Further episodes in the grisly, ultra stylised thriller based on Thomas Harris' ubiquitous crime novels, with the grimly compelling relationship…
Happy Valley (TV Series) (2014-2023): Feat. Sarah Lancashire, Steve Pemberton, Siobhan Finneran; Another riveting top–shelf British police drama hot on the heels of BROADCHURCH. Sarah Lancashire stars as a Yorkshire sergeant who suspects a…
Homeland - Season 4 (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, Rupert Friend; Further episodes from this outstanding counter–terrorist thriller of post–9/11 paranoia, with Claire Danes's riveting, high–tensile…
Hour of the Lynx, The (I lossens time) (2014): Dir. Søren Kragh-Jacobsen
Feat. Sofie Grabol, Frederik Christian Johansen, Signe Egholm Olsen…; Nordic thriller following a priest (Sofie Gråbøl of THE KILLING) and a psychology student who team up to solve the mystery behind a deranged…
House of Cards - Season 2 (TV Series, US) (2014): Feat. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara…; Further episodes in the shadowy revival of the classic BBC political series, with Kevin Spacey (perfectly cast) as a machiavellian congressman…
How to Get Away with Murder (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Viola Davis; Legal drama centred around a group of ambitious law students and their brilliant criminal defense professor who become involved in a twisted murder…
Hyena (2014): Dir. Gerard Johnson
Feat. Peter Ferdinando, Stephen Graham, Neil Maskell; Bruising crime flick follows the travails of a corrupt cop trying frantically to shut down an Albanian crime ring before his own illegal activities…
In Order of Disappearance (2014): Dir. Hans Petter Moland
Feat. Stellan Skarsgard, Bruno Ganz, Pål Sverre Hagen…; Stellan Skarsgård reunites with the director of ZERO KELVIN and A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN for this blackly comic Nordic noir. He plays a somewhat…
Inherent Vice (2014): Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Feat. Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson…; Dir. PT Anderson brings Thomas Pynchon faithfully to the big screen in this dope–addled, shaggy–dog comedy in which Joaquin Phoenix stars…
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014): Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Feat. Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner…; Kenneth Branagh directs the latest big screen installment in the adventures of Tom Clancy's hero CIA agent, Jack Ryan, this time revolving around a…
John Wick (2014): Dir. Chad Stahelski, David Leitch
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen…; A superbly choreographed "kick–ass" thriller that appropriately resurrects Keanu Reeves as an ex–hitman who comes out of retirement to…
Keeping Room, The (2014): Dir. Daniel Barber
Feat. Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, Sam Worthington…; Taut western set during the civil war with three women defending their home from two rogue soldiers fleeing the approaching Union army.
Keeping Rosy (2014): Dir. Steve Reeves
Feat. Maxine Peake, Brooke Skylar Baptist, Delta Storm Baptist…; Maxine Peake plays a women whose life is shattered after her company's board of directors betrays her, in this chilly thriller based on director…
Kill the Messenger (2014): Dir. Michael Cuesta
Feat. Jeremy Renner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ray Liotta…; A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine…
Kindnapping Mr. Heineken (2014): Dir. Daniel Alfredson
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Sam Worthington, Jim Sturgess…; Bizarre true crime flick based on the successful kidnapping of the heir to the Heineken beer empire in the 1980's.
Last Ship, The (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Adam Baldwin, Rhona Mitra, Eric Dane…; A global pandemic kills off 80 percent of the earth's population, leaving the crew of a lone naval destroyer to stop the virus before humanity…
Marshland (2014): Dir. Alberto Rodriguez
Feat. Javier Gutiérrez, Raúl Arévalo, Maria Varod; A brooding, exceptionally controlled thriller set in an unsettled post–Franco Spain of 1980 in which two homicide detectives who appear to be…
Missing, The (TV Series) (2014-2016): Feat. James Nesbitt, Frances O’Connor, Tcheky Karyo…; Gripping BBC drama with James Nesbitt as a man devastated by the abduction of his young son during a family vacation in France.
Mule, The (2014): Dir. Tony Mahony, Angus Sampson
Feat. Hugo Weaving, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell…; Penned by SAW screenwriter Leigh Whannell, this hard case Ocker black comedy follows a naive drug mule as he tries to outwit the law after being…
Nightcrawler (2014): Dir. Dan Gilroy
Feat. Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton…; A nervy and quite brilliant satire with Jake Gyllenhaal unforgettable as a petty thief who muscles into the world of crime journalism, shooting…
November Man, The (2014): Dir. Roger Donaldson
Feat. Pierce Brosnan, Olga Kurylenko, Luke Bracey…; An ex–CIA operative inds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving both high level CIA officials and the Russian…
Open Windows (2014): Dir. Nacho Vigalondo
Feat. Elijah Wood, Sasha Grey, Neil Maskell; Thriller from the director of TIMECRIMES follows a jilted fan who soon finds himself pulled into a deadly game of cat–and–mouse after he…
Penny Dreadful (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, Eva Green…; Familiar Gothic literary characters like Dr. Frankenstein and Dorian Gray are brought together with others to explore their origin stories in this…
Phoenix (2014): Dir. Christian Petzold
Feat. Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Nina Kunzendorf; The director of YELLA and BARBARA reunites with his ingenue Nina Hoss for this romantic tale of deception about a concentration camp survivor who…
Prey (TV Mini-series) (2014): Dir. Nick Murphy
Feat. John Simm, Philip Glenister, Benedict Wong…; John Simm stars as a Mancunian detective whose life falls apart when he finds his ex–wife and one of his sons murdered and himself as the chief…
Purge, The: Anarchy (Purge 2) (2014): Dir. James DeMonaco
Feat. Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford…; Visceral sequel follows the plight of three different groups of people as they try to survive another 'Purge'.
Quirke (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Gabriel Byrne, Michael Gambon, Brian Gleeson; An unhurried Dublin period noir with Gabriel Byrne as the eponymous Irish pathologist–cum–sleuth. Three episodes: 'Christine Falls', 'The…
Rover, The (2014): Dir. David Michod
Feat. Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, Scoot McNairy; David Michôd (ANIMAL KINGDOM) directs this searing outback thriller set ten years after a global economic collapse.
Second Chance, A (2014): Dir. Susanne Bier
Feat. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Thomas Bo Larsen…; Susanne Bier directs a haunting melodrama about the contrasting lives of two police officers, whose lives take a dark turn after finding a neglected…
Secrets and Lies (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Martin Henderson, Anthony Hayes, Diana Glenn; A slick addition to the murder mystery genre, with Kiwi Martin Henderson attempting to clear his name after he unwittingly becomes the prime suspect…
Signal, The (2014): Dir. William Eubank
Feat. Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, Laurence Fishburne…; Three bright young students venture deep into the Nevada desert in search of a notorious hacker, and discover they have been drawn into an enigmatic…
Thicker Than Water (TV Series) (Tjockare än vatten) (2014): Feat. Björn Bengtsson, Joel Spira, Aliette Opheim; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
True Detective - Season 1 (TV Series) (2014): Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga
Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Monaghan…; This superlative HBO policier – a marquee television event in 2014, and the first in an anthology of bespoke detective stories – pairs…
Two Faces of January, The (2014): Dir. Hossein Amini
Feat. Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Oscar Isaac; The latest Patricia Highsmith adaptation centers on a con artist, his wife, and a stranger who flee Athens after one of them is caught up in the…
Undeniable (TV Mini-Series) (2014): Dir. John Strickland
Feat. Claire Goose, Peter Firth, Christine Bottomley…; Two–part TV thriller about the effort of a determined women to bring her mother's murderer to justice decades after the tragedy. Convinced…
Veronica Mars (2014): Dir. Rob Thomas
Feat. Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni…; A crowd–funded movie swansong for Kristen Bell's cult teenage private eye, here drawn back as an adult into the mysteries of her hometown on…
Widower, The (2014): Dir. Paul Whittington
Feat. John Hannah, Sheridan Smith, Reece Shearsmith…; Unnerving true crime drama depicting the life of criminal Malcolm Webster, who was convicted of murder, attempted murder and vast amounts of…
11.6 (2013): Dir. Philippe Godeau
Feat. Francois Cluzet, Bouli Lanners; A bitter security guard makes off with an armoured van carrying 11.6 million euros in this everyman heist movie. Based on a true story.
A Field in England (2013): Dir. Ben Wheatley
Feat. Julian Barratt, Peter Ferdinando, Richard Glover…; Dir. Ben Wheatley (KILL LIST, SIGHTSEERS) goes off the deep end with this trippy 17th century odyssey about a band of English Civil War deserters,…
A Single Shot (2013): Dir. David M. Rosenthal
Feat. Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Ted Levine…; A hunter who accidentally shoots a woman is drawn into a game of cat and mouse in this lean, atmospheric backwoods thriller, adapted from Matthew F.…
A Touch of Sin (2013): Dir. Jia Zhang-ke
Feat. Wu Jiang, Baoqiang Wang, Zhao Tao; Another striking modern tale of urban discontent from leading Chinese auteur Jia Zhang–ke, one which remains as perceptive and…
Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013): Dir. David Lowery
Feat. Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster…; In this poetic tale of love and desperation, a Texan outlaw on the run attempts to reunite with his wife and daughter.
Almost Human (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Karl Urban, Michael Ealy, Minka Kelly…; Futuristic sci–fi series set in the year 2048, where a human cop (Karl Urban) partners up with an android to fight crime as part of a new…
American Hustle (2013): Dir. David O. Russell
Feat. Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams…; David O. Russell directs a full–house of acting talent in this wild crime drama about a FBI agent and con man collaborating to sting corrupt…
Americans, The (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich; A smart, atmosphere rich spy thriller shot with impeccable period detail, centred on a pair of Soviet KGB officers posing as a married couple in the…
Art of the Steal, The (2013): Dir. Jonathan Sobol
Feat. Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon, Jay Baruchel…; Kurt Russell plays a reformed art thief who agrees to round up the old gang for one last heist. A superficially entertaining crime caper.
Back in Crime (2013): Dir. Germinal Alvarez
Feat. Jean-Hugues Anglade, Mélanie Thierry, Philippe Berodot; Offbeat police thriller with Anglade as an obsessive cop who finds himself inexplicably transported back in time.
Bad Turn Worse (2013): Dir. Zeke Hawkins, Simon Hawkins
Feat. Mackenzie Davis, Logan Huffman, Jeremy Allen White…; Juicy neo–noir follows three Texas teens trying to escape their dead–end existence in a cotton–mill town, but finding themselves…
Banshee (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Antony Starr, Ivana Miličević, Ulrich Thomsen; Kiwi Antony Starr plays the charismatic rogue at the centre of this luridly entertaining crime series, about an ex–con who poses as the…
Bates Motel (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot…; A creepy, character–rich exploration of Norman Bates' formative years and the relationship with his overbearing mother, played deliciously by…
Best Offer, The (2013): Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
Feat. Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Donald Sutherland…; An obsessive antiques dealer becomes entangled with an heiress who asks him appraise a series of family art works in this baroque mystery from CINEMA…
Big Bad Wolves (2013): Dir. Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado
Feat. Lior Ashkenazi, Tzahi Grad; A bold, gruesome satire on Israel's militarised culture, this black comedy about three Israeli men who abduct a school teacher upon suspicion that he…
Blacklist, The (TV Series) (2013): Feat. James Spader, Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff; This addictive, labyrinthine thriller stars James Spader as a former government agent who engages in a game of cat and mouse with a young profiler…
Blood Ties (2013): Dir. Guillaume Canet
Feat. Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard…; French dir. Guillaume Canet helms this cagey thriller about a convicted killer (Clive Owen) who returns from prison to live with his younger brother…
Blue Caprice (2013): Dir. Alexandre Moors
Feat. Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Tim Blake Nelson…; A 17–year–old boy is taken under the wing of a paternal figure with a vindictive streak in this chilling and perceptive account of the…
Blue Rose, The (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Antonia Prebble, Siobhan Marshall, Jennifer Ludlam; An inquisitive office temp (Prebble) learns that the woman she is replacing in a law firm has been murdered, and becomes obsessed with solving the…
Blue Ruin (2013): Dir. Jeremy Saulnier
Feat. Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves; The destitute victim of a brutal crime plots to exact revenge on his attacker in this spare, startling indie thriller.
Borgman (2013): Dir. Alex Van Warmerdam
Feat. Jan Bijvoet, Jeroen Perceval , Hadewych Minis; Unforgettably creepy home–invasion thriller from Dutch director Alex van Warmerdam, where a rural vagrant preys on an arrogant upper class…
Breaking Bad - The Final Season (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn…; Final episodes in the addictive series chronicling the deeds of anti–hero Walter White (Cranston), a high school chemistry teacher who turns to…
Broadchurch - Series 1 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker…; Superb addition to the euro crime craze, with Tennant and Colman bringing a surprisingly fresh take on the mismatched partner scenario, as detectives…
Broken City (2013): Dir. Allen Hughes
Feat. Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones…; In this serviceable political thriller, Mark Wahlberg plays a New York private eye who is recruited by the city mayor (Russell Crowe) to expose his…
Broken Shore, The (2013): Dir. Rowan Woods
Feat. Don Hany, Claudia Karvan, Anthony Hayes…; Rowan Woods (THE BOYS) is the ideal choice to direct this searing Australian crime story about a detective who encounters upon his return to his…
By Any Means (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Warren Brown, Shelley Conn, Elliot Knight…; Hokey, though solidly entertaining crime serial follows a clandestine unit who operate outside of the law to bring down mastermind criminals. Six…
Call, The (2013): Dir. Brad Anderson
Feat. Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut…; If you can swallow the increasingly implausible plotline, this story of a 911 operator (Berry) scrambling to help an abducted teenager (Breslin) is a…
Canyons, The (2013): Dir. Paul Schrader
Feat. Lindsay Lohan, James Deen, Nolan Gerard Funk…; Dir. Paul Schrader and writer Bret Easton Ellis collaborate on this seedy tale of independent film production, set in a washed out L.A. Lindsay Lohan…
Captain Phillips (2013): Dir. Paul Greengrass
Feat. Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Catherine Keener; Paul Greengrass directs with exhilarating dramatic realism this gripping true account of the hijacking of a U.S. container ship by Somali pirates.
Child Of God (2013): Dir. James Franco
Feat. James Franco, Tim Blake Nelson, Scott Haze; James Franco continues to bite off more than he can chew with this ambitious, if flawed adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's dark novel about a…
Closed Circuit (2013): Dir. John Crowley
Feat. Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall, Jim Broadbent…; A dangerous conflict of interest arises when two ex–lovers end up on opposite sides of a high profile terrorism trial in this probing courtroom…
Counselor, The (2013): Dir. Ridley Scott
Feat. Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz…; Michael Fassbender plays a successful Texan laywer whose greed prompts him to finally accept the offer of some ill–gotten gains from one of his…
Crimes of Passion (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Linus Wahlgren, Ola Rapace, Tuva Novotny; Scandi–crime goes period! Post–war Sweden is the backdrop for this immaculately dressed series of mysteries and whodunnits, based on the…
Double, The (2013): Dir. Richard Ayoade
Feat. Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn…; Richard Ayoade (SUBMARINE) directs this stylish Kafka–esque thriller about a government worker who is joined by his doppelganger.
East, The (2013): Dir. Zal Batmanglij
Feat. Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgard, Elliot Page…; In this tense, thinking person's thriller from the writer and director behind SOUND OF MY VOICE, a covert operative attempts to infiltrate a group of…
Eastern Boys (2013): Dir. Robin Campillo
Feat. Olivier Rabourdin, Kirill Emelyanov, Danil Vorobyev; Unconventional thriller explores the shifting dynamics in a relationship between an older man and a young immigrant male hustler.
Enemy (2013): Dir. Denis Villeneuve
Feat. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon…; The dir. of PRISONERS and INCENDIES explores the dilemma of a man who seeks out his doppelganger after glimpsing him in a movie. An unsettling…
Escape Artist, The (TV Mini-Series) (2013): Dir. Brian Welsh
Feat. David Tennant, Toby Kebbell, Sophie Okonedo…; A brilliant junior barrister (David Tennant) with a reputation for wriggling clients out of sticky situations begins to rue his acquittal of a…
Escape Plan (2013): Dir. Mikael Håfström
Feat. Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, 50 Cent…; When a structural–security authority (Stallone) finds himself incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his…
Fall, The - Series 1 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, Laura Donnelly; A dark exemplar of the current wave of female–driven crime dramas, with former X–FILES stalwart Gillian Anderson bringing a steely edge…
Father Brown (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Mark Williams, Hugo Speer, Sorcha Cusack; A reboot of the 1970's British television detective period drama about the eponymous Roman Catholic priest who solves crimes in a fictional Cotswold…
Felony (2013): Dir. Matthew Saville
Feat. Tom Wilkinson, Joel Edgerton, Jai Courtney…; Matthew Saville (NOISE) directs this taut, emotionally credible thriller centred on three detectives with differing views on how to deal with a…
Fifth Estate, The (5ifth Estate, The) (2013): Dir. Bill Condon
Feat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, Peter Capaldi…; Benedict Cumberbatch plays Julian Assange in this urgent dramatisation of the WikiLeaks founder's controversial rise to prominence.
Fold, The (2013): Dir. John Jencks
Feat. Catherine McCormack, Marina Stoimenova, Dakota Blue Richards; In this tempestuous drama, an Anglican priest mourning the death of her daughter develops an uneasy maternal relationship with Eastern European…
Following, The (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Kevin Bacon, Natalie Zea, Annie Parisse…; Relentlessly grisly crime series concerns the dogged pursuit of an escaped serial killer by a weathered FBI agent (Bacon), whose job becomes more…
Friends From France (Les interdits) (2013): Dir. Philippe Kotlarski, Anne Weil; Two cousins pose as an engaged couple on a tour to Odessa in order to help liberate persecuted Jews in this suspenseful Iron Curtain thriller.
German Doctor, The (2013): Dir. Lucía Puenzo
Feat. Àlex Brendemühl, Natalia Oreiro; Chilling domestic thriller centred on the Argentine family who lived unknowingly with Josef Mengele, the notorious Auschwitz physician, after he fled…
Grand Piano (2013): Dir. Eugenio Mira
Feat. Elijah Wood, John Cusack, Dee Wallace Stone; This tantalizing Grand Guignol, styled in the spirit of Italian Giallo and Brian De Palma, finds concert pianist Elijah Wood stalked by an unseen…
Great Train Robbery, The (TV Mini-Series) (2013): Dir. Julian Jarrold, James Strong
Feat. Jim Broadbent, Luke Evans, Robert Glenister…; Excellent, authentic recreation of 1963's "Great Train Robbery", told from both sides of the law.
Guilty, The (TV Mini-Series) (2013): Feat. Tamsin Greig; Tamsin Greig (BLACK BOOKS) lends an air of intrigue to this otherwise workmanlike missing child drama. She plays a detective determined to get to the…
Hannibal - Season 1 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas…; A grisly, ultra stylised thriller based on Thomas Harris' ubiquitous crime novels, with the grimly compelling relationship between FBI agent Will…
Harry (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Oscar Kightley, Sam Neill, Hunter Kamuhemu…; Oscar Kightley plays a grieving South Auckland detective swamped by a series of armed robberies in this dark, authentic local policier, a welcome…
Harvest, The (2013): Dir. John McNaughton
Feat. Michael Shannon, Samantha Morton, Peter Fonda…; Old–school chiller in which a couple who keeps their sick son in a secluded environment find their controlled lives challenged by a young girl…
Homeland - Season 3 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin…; Further episodes from this outstanding counter–terrorist thriller of post–9/11 paranoia, with Claire Danes's riveting, high–tensile…
Hostages (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Dylan McDermott, Toni Collette, Tate Donovan…; A surgeon is thrust into a chilling political conspiracy when her family is taken hostage by a rogue FBI agent who orders her to assassinate the…
House of Cards - Season 1 (TV Series, US) (2013): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara…; A deep, shadowy revival of the classic BBC political series, with Kevin Spacey (perfectly cast) as a machiavellian congressman manipulating his way…
Hummingbird (Redemption) (2013): Dir. Steven Knight
Feat. Jason Statham, Agata Buzek, Vicky McClure; Jason Statham attempts to break out from his one note action persona, playing a troubled British Special Forces veteran seeking forgiveness in a…
Justified - Season 4 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Joelle Carter…; Further episodes from the slick urban western about an old–school U.S. Marshal reassigned from Miami to his childhood home in the poor, rural…
Keeper of Lost Causes, The (Kvinden i buret) (2013): Dir. Mikkel Nørgaard
Feat. Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Troels Lyby, Per Scheel Kruger…; Danish thriller that finds a cynical detective, put in charge of the "Department Q"– devoted to "filing" cold cases, investigating the…
Kill Point, The (TV Series) (2013): Dir. Steve Shill
Feat. Donnie Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, Tobin Bell…; High octane television series that follows a group of U.S. Marines recently returned from serving in Iraq as they come together to pull off a major…
Last Resort (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Autumn Reeser…; Tense military drama set on board a U.S. submarine which refuses to carry out an order to fire launch nuclear ballistic missiles at Pakistan. 13…
Locke (2013): Dir. Steven Knight
Feat. Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson…; Tom Hardy plays a family man plunged into crisis and armed only with his mobile telephone in this brilliant, one–man chamber piece set entirely…
Mayday (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Sophie Okonedo, Aidan Gillen, Lesley Manville; Off–beat thriller set in a small town steeped in pagan traditions where the crowning of the May Queen is the highlight of the day until…
Metro Manila (2013): Dir. Sean Ellis
Feat. Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega; Tough–minded drama about in which a Filipino rice farmer seeks a better life in the bustling metropolis of Manila.
Mindscape (Anna) (2013): Dir. Jorge Dorado
Feat. Mark Strong, Taissa Farmiga, Brian Cox…; Psychological thriller set in the near future, where a 'memory detective' is tasked with entering the mind of a troubled 16–year–old girl…
Mystery of Lord Lucan, The (Lucan, The Trial of Lord Lucan) (2013): Feat. Rory Kinnear, Catherine McCormack, Christopher Eccleston; A two–part TV miniseries depicting the mysterious real–life case of an aristocrat, the 7th Earl of Lucan, who disappeared 1974 after…
Mystery Road (2013): Dir. Ivan Sen
Feat. Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving, Ryan Kwanten…; In this sparse and evocative Outback murder mystery, a detective returns to his fractured hometown to investigate the death of a young girl.
Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, The (2013): Dir. Fredrik Bond
Feat. Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen…; This chaotic, wildly expressive love story follows an American adrift in Bucharest and his affair with a beautiful cellist with ties to the…
New World (2013): Dir. Hoon-jung Park
Feat. Jung-Jae Lee, Min-sik Choi; Essentially INFERNAL AFFAIRS transposed to the Korean underworld, this brutal gangster flick revolves around an undercover cop whose loyalty to the…
Now You See Me (2013): Dir. Louis Leterrier
Feat. Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson…; A team of magicians who use their illusionist act to pull off daring heists attempt to outwit the authorities in this dazzling crime caper.
Only God Forgives (2013): Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm; Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling reunite for this violent, hypnotic revenge saga set in the belly of Thailand's criminal underworld.
Out of the Furnace (2013): Dir. Scott Cooper
Feat. Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson…; Christian Bale plays a destitute ex–con whose resolve to cut ties with his past is tested when his brother falls in with a notorious group of…
Paranoia (2013): Dir. Robert Luketic
Feat. Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, Amber Heard…; A topical, if rather ineptly produced corporate espionage thriller, centred on an entry–level employee recruited to spy on his company's…
Parkland (2013): Dir. Peter Landesman
Feat. Marcia Gay Harden, Zac Efron, Paul Giamatti…; A suspenseful account of the chaotic events that occurred directly in the aftermath of JFK's assassination.
Prisoners (2013): Dir. Denis Villeneuve
Feat. Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis…; The dir. of INCENDIES crafts another tense, eye–opening thriller in this tale of a family man who turns vigilante after his daughter is…
Purge, The (2013): Dir. James DeMonaco
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey; In the near future, the moral fibre of a family is tested when their house is invaded by a stranger on the night of the 'purge', an annual…
Ray Donovan (TV Series) (2013): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Liev Schreiber, Paula Malcomson , Eddie Marsan…; Echoing THE LONG GOODBYE and Chander's Philip Marlowe, this Californian noir stars Liev Schreiber as corporate 'fixer' whose work involves cleaning…
Runner Runner (2013): Dir. Brad Furman
Feat. Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton…; Justin Timberlake plays a Princeton whizkid caught between an elaborate FBI sting and a high flying swindler whose fortune is made from an online…
Sacrament, The (2013): Dir. Ti West
Feat. Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz, Kate Lyn Sheil; A pair of "Vice" journalists infiltrate a cult in Africa in search of a missing woman in this unsettling "found footage" horror from dir. Ti West.
Sherlock - Series 3 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman; Further episodes from this ingenious update of the master detective, with Benedict Cumberbatch's idiosyncratic take on the character nicely…
Shooter, The (2013): Dir. Annette K. Olesen
Feat. Trine Dyrholm, Kim Bodnia, Nikolaj Lie Kaas; The Scandinavian crime wave continues with this high tension thriller about an eco–terrorist whose grand designs are incited by a journalist…
Siberian Education (Deadly Code) (2013): Dir. Gabriele Salvatores
Feat. John Malkovich, Peter Stormare, Eleanor Tomlinson…; Gabriele Salvatores (I'M NOT SCARED) directs this odd Italian production of Russian gangster memoir, with John Malkovich as the hard–bitten…
Side Effects (2013): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law…; Steven Soderbergh's airtight thriller concerns the psychological dilemma of a young woman whose violent mental state is linked to an experimental…
Snitch (2013): Dir. Ric Roman Waugh
Feat. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Barry Pepper…; Dwayne Johnson tries his hand at Seriousness is this brains–before–brawn thriller, playing the desperate father who agrees to go…
Starred Up (2013): Dir. David Mackenzie
Feat. Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn; A troubled teenager is transferred to the same prison as his violent father in this explosive British prison drama.
Stoker (2013): Dir. Park Chan-Wook
Feat. Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode…; Korean director Park Chan–wook (OLD BOY) makes a head–turning English–language debut with this uber–stylish and sensitized…
Stranger by the Lake (2013): Dir. Alain Guiraudie
Feat. Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d'Assumçao; An unnerving, sexually frank thriller set around an idyllic gay cruising spot, where two lovers strike up a heated romance that threatens to turn…
Thirteenth Tale, The (2013): Dir. James Kent
Feat. Olivia Colman, Vanessa Redgrave, Sophie Turner…; An ageing novelist (Vanessa Redgrave) enlists the help of a biographer (Olivia Colman) to tell her life story, including her childhood in a decaying…
Top of the Lake (TV Series) (2013): Dir. Jane Campion, Gerard Lee
Feat. Elisabeth Moss, Peter Mullan, David Wenham…; An unnerving, atmosphere–rich 'feminist' policier from Australasian auteur Jane Campion, centred on the mystery of a 12–year–old…
Trance (2013): Dir. Danny Boyle
Feat. James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel, Rosario Dawson; The story rattles along like an express train, bouncing between genres and time periods until the whole thing is a confusing mess. Which is actually…
Tunnel, The (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Stephen Dillane, Clemence Poesy, Mia Goth; An Anglo/French remake of Scandinavian crime hit THE BRIDGE, centred alternatively on a British and French detective who find themselves working…
Under the Skin (2013): Dir. Jonathan Glazer
Feat. Scarlett Johansson; Jonathan Glazer (SEXY BEAST, BIRTH) directs screen siren Scarlett Johansson in this startlingly original sci–fi thriller about an alien…
Underbelly - Season 7 (TV Mini-series) (Squizzy) (2013): Feat. Jared Daperis, Camille Keenan; Further tales from Australia's underworld, this time centred on the life and times of notorious Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor, whose blend of…
Wentworth (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Danielle Cormack, Leeanna Walsman, Robbie Magasiva…; Glossy, menacing re–imagining of 80's series PRISONER, centers around a suburban housewife forced to come to terms with life inside one of…
What Remains (TV Mini-series) (2013): Feat. David Threlfall, Alex Arnold, David Bamber; Riveting murder mystery following a young couple who find a heavily decomposed body in their new apartment, and a detective comes out of…
Wrong Mans, The (TV Series) (2013-2014): Feat. James Corden, Sarah Solemani, Tom Basden…; An ambitious BBC comedy–drama series co–created and written by GAVIN & STACEY alumni James Corden and Mathew Baynton that combines the…
7 Boxes (2012): Dir. Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schembori
Feat. Celso Franco, Victor Sosa, Lali Gonzalez; Well–plotted chase movie follows a young delivery boy who receives an unusual proposal to carry seven boxes of unknown content through Market…
A Hijacking (2012): Dir. Tobias Lindholm
Feat. Mikkel Hartmann, Pilou Asbæk, Søren Malling; A Danish cargo ship is hijacked off the coast of Somalia in this gripping, intense maritime adventure that cuts out all the action heroics usually…
A Mother's Son (TV Mini-Series) (2012): Feat. Hermione Norris, Martin Clunes, Paul McGann…; Taut two–part psychological thriller set in the sleepy Suffolk market town of Eastlee, where the disappearance of a young girl sends the…
Ace Attorney (2012): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Hiroki Narimiya, Takumi Saito; Takashi Miike churns out this preposterous video game adaptation, about a cocksure lawyer who agrees to defend his courtroom rival in a murder trial,…
Alcatraz (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Sarah Jones, Jorge Garcia, Sam Neill…; A short–lived but engrossing policier with a mystery hook – a la LOST – which re–imagines San Francisco's Alcatraz prison as…
Alex Cross (2012): Dir. Rob Cohen
Feat. Tyler Perry, Edward Burns, Matthew Fox…; An exceedingly derivative serial killer film hatched from James Patterson's best–selling crime novels. Prolific director Tyler Perry steps…
Amber (2012): Dir. Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Feat. Eva Birthistle; 4–part Irish miniseries about the disappearance of a teenage girl, and the toll it takes on her parents. Received mixed reviews, partly due to…
Arbitrage (2012): Dir. Nicholas Jarecki
Feat. Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling…; Sleek drama with "silver fox" Richard Gere in fine form as a troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire before…
Argo (2012): Dir. Ben Affleck
Feat. Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin…; Oscar–winning thriller based on the fact–based story of a CIA agent's unconventional plans to rescue six American diplomats during the…
ATM (2012): Dir. David Brooks
Feat. Alice Eve, Josh Peck, Brian Geraghty; A daft, if enjoyably nonsensical 'puzzle box' thriller from the writer of BURIED concerns three yuppies who become trapped inside an ATM booth when…
Berberian Sound Studio (2012): Dir. Peter Strickland
Feat. Toby Jones, Cosimo Fusco, Tonia Sotiropoulou…; A masterpiece of implied horror, this is a homage to Italian 'giallo' and horror cinema of 1970's that remarkably measures up to the best films of…
Beyond Outrage (2012): Dir. Takeshi Kitano
Feat. Takeshi Kitano, Ryo Kase; A straightforward sequel to Takeshi Kitano's late return to the yakuza genre, continuing the bloody battle between police and rival gangs. As with…
Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Maurizio Scaparro, Matt Nable; Ropey UNDERBELLY spin–off recounts the infamous 'Milperra massacre' of 1984, where two fierce rivalry between two notorious Australian…
Black's Game (2012): Dir. Óskar Thór Axelsson
Feat. Thor Kristjansson, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson; A young opportunist is drawn into Reykjavik's underworld of gangsters and drug pushers in this hardcore Scandi–crime, an eye–catching if…
Blackout (TV Mini-Series) (2012): Feat. Christopher Eccleston, Ewen Bremner, Dervla Kirwan…; Christopher Eccleston is suitably shady as an alcoholic counselor who suffers a blackout, during which he realises he may have committed a murder. As…
Bletchley Circle, The (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Anna Maxwell Martin, Rachael Stirling, Julie Graham…; A smart, suspenseful period thriller set around a series of unsolved murders surreptitiously investigated by four former female codebreakers at…
Blood (2012): Dir. Nick Murphy
Feat. Paul Bettany, Mark Strong, Brian Cox…; Though fairly derivative, this overcast thriller about a family of policemen who struggle to cover up the death of a murder suspect they've also been…
Boot Tracks (2012): Dir. David Jacobson
Feat. Stephen Dorff, Michelle Monaghan, Willem Dafoe; Charlie Rankin, recently released from prison, seeks vengeance for his jail–house mentor William The Buddha Pettigrew. Along the way, he meets…
Bourne Legacy, The (2012): Dir. Tony Gilroy
Feat. Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz…; Jeremy Renner plays a fellow estranged assassin to Matt Damon's unstoppable rogue agent in this brisk addition to the Bourne franchise, directed by…
Breaking Bad - Season 5 (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn…; Further episodes chronicling the deeds of anti–hero Walter White (Cranston), a high school chemistry teacher who turns to a life of…
Breaking the Girls (2012): Dir. Jamie Babbitt
Feat. Agnes Bruckner, Madeline Zima, Shawn Ashmore…; Teen variation on STRANGERS ON A TRAIN with two college students agreeing to murder each others enemies.
Bullet Vanishes, The (2012): Dir. Chi-Leung Law
Feat. Nicholas Tse, Lau Ching-wan; In 1930s China, two eccentric detectives are summoned to solve a series of murders caused by a phantom killer in a bullet factory. A superb Holmesian…
Columbus Circle (2012): Dir. George Gallo
Feat. Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Jason Lee…; Selma Blair plays an agoraphobic heiress whose apartment building becomes the subject of a homicide investigation in this tense psychological…
Comes a Bright Day (2012): Dir. Simon Aboud
Feat. Craig Roberts, Imogen Poots, Kevin McKidd…; The cherubic charm of Craig Roberts (SUBMARINE) and Imogen Poots carry this swish, luxuriously shot heist movie–cum–romantic comedy,…
Company You Keep, The (2012): Dir. Robert Redford
Feat. Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie…; Robert Redford directs and stars in this bristling thriller, about a former Weather Underground member, now in hiding, whose violent past comes back…
Conspiracy, The (2012): Dir. Christopher MacBride
Feat. James Gilbert, Aaron Poole; Found–footage horror movie about a pair of documentary film makers who are shooting a film about conspiracy theories when they discover a…
Deadfall (2012): Dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky
Feat. Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam…; A pair of sibling crooks hole up on the icy Canadian border after a Casino heist goes wrong in this fatalistic film noir.
Disconnect (2012): Dir. Henry Alex Rubin
Feat. Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Michael Nyqvist…; A suspenseful, topical ensemble drama that addresses the corrosive effect of the internet and social media on the lives of two generations of…
Drug War (2012): Dir. Johnnie To
Feat. Louis Koo, Honglei Sun, Yi Huang…; Another great Johnnie To suspenser, with the master director at the top of his game helming this exciting police procedural set around an elaborate…
Elementary (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, Aidan Quinn…; This modern American update of Sherlock Holmes nicely complements its exceptional BBC counterpart with subtle distinctions, namely the casting of…
Everybody Has a Plan (2012): Dir. Ana Piterbarg
Feat. Viggo Mortensen, Soledad Villamil; A man dissatisfied with his life assumes the identity of his twin brother in this brooding Argentinian thriller.
Expatriate, The (Erased) (2012): Dir. Philipp Stölzl
Feat. Aaron Eckhart, Liana Liberato, Olga Kurylenko; Aaron Eckhart makes for a solid action hero in this suspenseful, if over–familiar spy thriller, about an ex–CIA agent who is forced into…
Flight (2012): Dir. Robert Zemeckis
Feat. Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly…; Denzel Washington plays a lauded pilot whose heroic landing of a crippled airliner is called into question when a history of alcoholism and substance…
Fourth State, The (2012): Dir. Dennis Gansel
Feat. Moritz Bleibtreu, Kasia Smutniak, Max Riemelt…; Another stylish outing from the dir. of THE WAVE and WE OWN THE NIGHT, this time involving a journalist who gets caught up in a terrorist plot in…
Gone (2012): Dir. Heitor Dhalia
Feat. Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter, Wes Bentley…; Amanda Seyfried suspects the same serial killer who kidnapped her has now taken, but no–one believes her, of course. Heavily telegraphed…
Homeland - Season 2 (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin…; Further episodes from this outstanding counter–terrorist thriller of post–9/11 paranoia, with Claire Danes's riveting, high–tensile…
Hotel Noir (2012): Dir. Sebastian Guitierrez
Feat. Malin Akerman, Rosario Dawson, Danny De Vito…; Cult dir. Guitierrez tries his hand at film noir pastiche with this luscious ensemble piece about a detective whose encounters with various…
Hunted (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Melissa George, Morven Christie, Stephen Dillane…; Melissa George plays a private espionage operative who goes in hiding when after surviving an assassination attempt orchestrated by her allies. A…
I, Anna (2012): Dir. Barnaby Southcombe
Feat. Charlotte Rampling, Gabriel Byrne, Hayley Atwell…; A modest, artfully unfurled London noir, centred on a glamourous sixty–something (Rampling) who falls in with a detective (Byrne) investigating…
Iceman, The (2012): Dir. Ariel Vromen
Feat. Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans…; Michael Shannon embodies cold faced killer Richard Kuklinski in this oddly sympathetic portrait of the notorious contract killer, who was as infamous…
Ill Manors (2012): Dir. Ben Drew
Feat. Riz Ahmed, Natalie Press, Ed Skrein…; English rapper Plan B directs this multistory portrait of life in a London housing estate beset by drugs, gangsters, and sexual crime.
Jack Irish: Bad Debts (2012): Dir. Jeffrey Walker
Feat. Guy Pearce, Marta Dusseldorp, Aaron Pedersen…; Guy Pearce plays the whiskey–soaked private investigator of the Peter Temple novels whose troubling past resurfaces after the death of an…
Jack Irish: Black Tide (2012): Dir. Jeffrey Walker
Feat. Guy Pearce, Marta Dusseldorp, Aaron Pedersen…; Second Jack Irish film has the beleaguered private investigator on the trail of an old mates missing son, who may have his reasons for disappearing.
Killing Them Softly (2012): Dir. Andrew Dominik
Feat. Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn…; Ex–pat Kiwi Andrew Dominik helms this sullen gangland thriller, about a professional enforcer (Pitt) hired to track down the amateur criminals…
Killing, The - Series 3 (TV Series) (Forbrydelsen) (2012): Feat. Sofie Grabol, Søren Malling; Final episodes in the ripping, immensely popular Danish homicide serial weaves a third plot exploring a death linked to the global financial crisis…
King is Dead!, The (2012): Dir. Rolf De Heer
Feat. Dan Wyllie, Bojana Novakovic, Garry Waddell…; Rolf de Heer directs this broad black comedy that mercilessly satirizes and plays upon the upwardly mobile's fear of the unruly working class. An…
Last Dragon Master, The (The Last Tycoon) (2012): Dir. Wong Jing
Feat. Chow Yun-Fat, Sammo Hung, Francis Ng; Chow Yun–Fat lends his charismatic presence to this sumptuous gangster picture detailing the rise of a legendary Shanghai mobster at the turn…
Last Will (Nobel's Last Will) (2012): Dir. Peter Flinth
Feat. Malin Crepin, Bjorn Kellman, Leif Andree…; Based on the novel by Liza Marklund, this brisk addition to the "Scandi–crime" canon has unfortunate journalist Annika Bengtzon witnessing a…
Letter, The (2012): Dir. Jay Anania
Feat. Winona Ryder, James Franco, Josh Hamilton; Discordant effort by James Franco's NYU professor has Winona Ryder as a playwright suffering paranoid hallucinations as she attempts to stage a new…
Lilyhammer (2012): Feat. Steven Van Zandt, Trond Fausa Aurvaag; Norwegian–American crime drama about a former New York mobster who goes into hiding in the remote Norwegian town of Lillehammer after testifying…
Line of Duty (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Lennie James, Martin Compston, Vicky McClure…; Outstanding new British policier deals with corruption and department politics within a special unit whose record crime figures don't quite add up.…
Luck (TV Series) (2012): Dir. Michael Mann, Phillip Noyce, Mimi Leder
Feat. Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Farina, John Ortiz…; Heavy–hitting HBO crime drama centred on the deal–makers who frequent a popular Los Angeles racetrack – principally, an aging…
Man on a Ledge (2012): Dir. Asger Leth
Feat. Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell…; An ex–con threatening to take his own life by jumping from a Manhattan high rise may in fact be a decoy to enable an elaborate jewel heist to…
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Essie Davis, Ashleigh Cummings; An elegant Melbourne socialite sleuths murder mysteries in between sipping martinis and bedding lovers in this spiffy crime series set during the…
Missing (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Ashley Judd, Sean Bean, Cliff Curtis…; Ashley Judd brings it as an ex–CIA operative turned homemaker who takes on an international conspiracy when her son goes missing in Rome.…
Morden: The Fjallbacka Murders (TV Series) (Fjällbackamorden) (2012): Feat. Claudia Galli, Richard Ulfsäter; In the wake of a brutal murder, secrets and lies are unearthed by a mystery writer with a nose for the suspicious in this moody Scandi–crime…
Motel Life, The (2012): Dir. Gabe Polsky, Alan Polsky
Feat. Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff, Dakota Fanning…; Two brothers hit the road after becoming involved in a fatal hit–and–run accident. Evocatively set between Reno and the Sierra Nevadas,…
Mud (2012): Dir. Jeff Nichols
Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland…; Jeff Nichols (TAKE SHELTER) directs this thrilling backwoods adventure, about two boys who befriend a charismatic criminal in hiding on the…
Nightfall (2012): Dir. Roy Chow
Feat. Simon Yam, Nick Cheung, Janice Man; Grisly thriller with a celebrity found brutally murdered, a recently paroled rapist becomes the leading suspect.
Paperboy, The (2012): Dir. Lee Daniels
Feat. Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman…; Sweaty Southern melodrama concerns a pair of journalists recruited by a brassy blonde to fight for a death row inmate she has fallen in love with.
Passion (2012): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Karoline Herfurth…; Dir. Brian De Palma remakes Alain Corneau's LOVE CRIME with lashings of Hitchcock to deliver another heady erotic thriller, with Rachel McAdams and…
Place Beyond the Pines, The (2012): Dir. Derek Cianfrance
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper…; Ryan Gosling re–teams with the dir. of BLUE VALENTINE for this equally arresting crime saga that unfolds after a motorcycling drifter's…
Pusher (2012): Dir. Luke Prieto
Feat. Richard Coyle, Bronson Webb, Agyness Deyn…; Slick remake of the Nicolas Winding Refn thriller with Richard Coyle as a street dealer who's life spins out of control after losing a drug shipment.
Raven, The (2012): Dir. James McTeigue
Feat. John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans…; Edgar Allan Poe spends his last days chasing a serial killer inspired by his writing in this hokey, but watchable thriller.
Red Lights (2012): Dir. Rodrigo Cortes
Feat. Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro…; A pair of investigators famous for exposing fraudulent psychics meet their match when they take on a legendary blind mystic (played by Robert De…
Reluctant Fundamentalist, The (2012): Dir. Mira Nair
Feat. Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber…; A Pakistani Princeton graduate's life in America is shattered in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in this searing adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's…
Ripper Street (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Matthew MacFadyen, Jerome Flynn, MyAnna Buring; A gritty and gripping period policier which revisits the manhunt for Jack the Ripper in Victorian London. Series One: eight episodes across three…
Rise, The (Wasteland) (2012): Dir. Rowan Athale
Feat. Matthew Lewis, Iwan Rheon, Timothy Spall…; A flashy heist movie emerges from a dreary Yorkshire setting in this sharp slice of a British deadbeat miserablism, set around the best laid plans of…
Safe House (2012): Dir. Daniel Espinosa
Feat. Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga…; Efficient thriller with CIA rookie Reynolds in charge of keeping rogue agent Washington alive after their safe house is attacked by mercenaries.…
Safe House (2012): Feat. Errol Shand, Peter Elliot, Morgana O’Reilly…; The infancy of witness protection in New Zealand is given a suspenseful retelling in this quality feature–length production from TVNZ's Sunday…
Savages (2012): Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively…; Oliver Stone directs this pulsating thriller with two pot dealers facing off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.
Scandal (TV Series) (2012-2016): Feat. Kerry Washington, Columbus Short, Tony Goldwyn; Kerry Washington plays a 'professional fixer' whose former life as a White House staffer draws her back into the world of political…
Secret of Crickley Hall, The (TV Mini-series) (2012): Dir. Joe Ahearne
Feat. Suranne Jones, Tom Ellis, Douglas Henshall…; Atmospheric 3–part BBC adaptation of the novel by prolific British horror writer James Herbert that connects a supernatural mystery between two…
Secret State (TV Mini-series) (2012): Feat. Gabriel Byrne, Charles Dance, Rupert Graves…; Gabriel Byrne stars in this political thriller that explores the relationship between a democratically elected government, big business and the banks.
Seven Psychopaths (2012): Dir. Martin McDonagh
Feat. Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson…; Three Hollywood deadbeats incur the wrath of a violent gangster after kidnapping his beloved shih zhu in this stinging black comedy from IN BRUGES…
Shadow Dancer (2012): Dir. James Marsh
Feat. Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson…; Andrea Riseborough plays a staunch IRA revolutionary who is apprehended by British intelligence and forced to become a double agent in this…
Shadow Men, The (Spin; Les Hommes De L'Ombre) (2012): Feat. Nathalie Baye, Philippe Magnan, Bruno Wolkowitch…; Political drama series follows the actions of a group of spin doctors who each advance their own cause after the assassination of the French…
Sherlock - Series 2 (TV Series) (2012): Dir. Paul McGuigan
Feat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss…; Further episodes from this ingenious update of the master detective, with Benedict Cumberbatch's idiosyncratic take on the character nicely…
Siege (2012): Feat. Mark Mitchinson, Joel Tobeck, Kirk Torrance; Napier's recent siege crisis in which small–time cannabis grower Jan Molenaar barricaded himself in his home after shooting a Senior Constable…
Silent War, The (2012): Dir. Felix Chong, Alan Mak
Feat. Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Xun Zhou, Mavis Fan…; Engaging espionage thriller with Tony Leung as a blind piano tuner for a spy mission because of his exceptional hearing.
Skyfall (2012): Dir. Sam Mendes
Feat. Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench…; Bond’s 50th anniversary outing is his most spectacular and serious yet, with 007 drawn back to London, and eventually his Scottish homeland, in…
Stand Up Guys (2012): Dir. Fisher Stevens
Feat. Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin…; Three geriatric wiseguys strive to recapture their youth by engaging in a crime spree for nostalgia's sake. A surprisingly sweet, endearingly…
Stolen (2012): Dir. Simon West
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Josh Lucas, Danny Huston…; Nicholas Cage cashes in yet another pay cheque, here playing a master thief who has 12 hours to rescue his kidnapped daughter from the clutches of a…
Sushi Girl (2012): Dir. Kern Saxton
Feat. Tony Todd, James Duval, Mark Hamill…; This low budget variation on 'the last supper' finds a group of criminals squaring off over a meal of sushi served on a naked woman's body.
Taped (2012): Dir. Diederik Van Rooijen
Feat. Barry Atsma, Susan Visser; Exciting Dutch thriller set in Argentina, where a travelling couple witness an execution by a corrupt cop, capture the incident on camera, and are…
Taste of Money, The (2012): Dir. Sang-soo Im
Feat. Kang-woo Kim, Yoon-sik Baek, Yuh-jung Youn; The dir. of THE HOUSEMAID buffs this heady class critique of Korea's impudent elite to a high sheen, with the lust and corruption of a wealthy family…
Town, The (TV Mini-Series) (2012): Feat. Andrew Scott, Martin Clunes, Kelly Adams…; A Londoner returns home following his parents' double–suicide, where he begins to suspect foul play in a town full of secrets in this…
Two Lives (2012): Dir. Georg Maas, Judith Kaufmann
Feat. Juliane Kohler, Liv Ullmann, Rainer Bock; A "war child" of the Nazi regime – the name given to children conceived by German officers and Norwegian women, who were subsequently taken…
Underbelly - Season 6 (TV Mini-series) (Badness) (2012): Feat. Jonathan LaPaglia, Matt Nable; Further tales from Australia's underworld, this time centred on the decade–long case built against one Anthony "Rooster" Perish, an elusive…
White Elephant (2012): Dir. Pablo Trapero
Feat. Ricardo Darín, Jeremie Renier, Martina Gusman; Two priests determined to build a hospital in a Buenos Aires shantytown encounter violent resistance from local drug lords in this superb social…
Young Doctor's Notebook, A (TV Series) (2012): Dir. Alex Hardcastle
Feat. Jon Hamm, Daniel Radcliffe; Tragi–comic TV series set in the early 20th century, with actors Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe playing a troubled and incompetent medic at a…
Young Montalbano (TV Series) (Il giovane Montalbano) (2012): Feat. Michele Riondino; The popular Inspector Montalbano lives on in this prequel which employs Andrea Camilleri's earlier books to paint a picture of Montalbano in his…
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Feat. Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler…; Kathryn Bigelow (THE HURT LOCKER) directs this formidable thriller based on the CIA's decade–long manhunt for Osama bin Laden.
A Gang Story (2011): Dir. Olivier Marchal
Feat. Gerard Lanvin, Tcheky Karyo, Daniel Duval; French cop–turned–filmmaker Olivier Marchal (36 QUAI DES ORFEVRES, MR73) steps over to the other side of the law with this…
Abduction (2011): Dir. John Singleton
Feat. Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Alfred Molina…; Ropey star–vehicle for TWILIGHT man–bot Lautner who finds his baby photo on a missing persons website and sets out to discover the truth…
Aim High (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Jackson Rathbone; A six episode web series centered around a dashing high school student who just so happens to be a top government agent.
American Translation (2011): Dir. Jean-Marc Barr
Feat. Pierre Perrier, Lizzie Brochere, Jean-Marc Barr; Drama exploring the dark and violent obsessions of a sexually ambiguous Frenchman. Plenty of casual sex and casual murder, and a truly memorable lap…
Anonymous (2011): Dir. Roland Emmerich
Feat. Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis…; Enjoyable hokum posits that the true writer of Shakespeare's plays was in fact the Earl of Oxford. Some of Britain's finest thesps – including…
Appropriate Adult (TV Mini-series) (2011): Dir. Julian Jarrold
Feat. Emily Watson, Dominic West; Utterly riveting, BAFTA and Golden Globe winning mini–series that details the crucial part played by a trainee social worker in uncovering the…
Arne Dahl (TV Series) (2011): CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Black Pond (2011): Dir. Tom Kingsley, Will Sharpe
Feat. Chris Langham, Simon Amstell, Amanda Hadingue…; Distinctive indie thriller from acclaimed up–and–coming UK writer–directors Tom Kingsley and Will Sharpe. A suburban man in a…
Breaking Bad - Season 4 (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn…; Further episodes chronicling the deeds of anti–hero Walter White (Cranston), a high school chemistry teacher who turns to a life of…
Bridge, The - Series 1 (TV Series) (Bron/Broen) (2011): Feat. Sofia Helin, Kim Bodnia, Dag Malmberg; The Scandi–crime wave continues with this steely Danish–Swedish murder mystery, centred on the discovery of a body straddling the…
Case Histories (TV Series) (2011-2013): Feat. Jason Isaacs, Amanda Abbington, Paul McCole…; Richly character driven British crime TV series based on the popular Jackson Brodie series by English novelist Kate Atkinson. Both set and filmed…
Case Sensitive (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Olivia Williams, Darren Boyd, Peter Wight…; Serviceable British policier centred on the case–solving acumen of a male–female detective team whose work regularly descends into…
Contagion (2011): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne…; Steven Soderbergh directs this hypothetical disaster thriller concerned with the experiences of a cross section of people (biologists, government…
Devil's Double, The (2011): Dir. Lee Tamahori
Feat. Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier; An Iraqi foot solider is selected as the body double for Saddam Hussein's ruthless son Uday in this violent docu–drama from Kiwi dir. Lee…
Double, The (2011): Dir. Michael Brandt
Feat. Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Martin Sheen…; By–the–book conspiracy thriller finds a retired CIA operative paired with a young FBI agent in the investigation of a murder that bears…
Dream House (2011): Dir. Jim Sheridan
Feat. Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz…; Less haunted house movie than emotionally fraught character drama, this somewhat trashy if competently delivered thriller centres on a family man…
Drive (2011): Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston…; Ryan Gosling smoulders as a moonlighting getaway driver in–over–his–head in this crisply stylised, romance–inflected crime…
Dum Maaro Dum (2011): Dir. Rohan Sippy
Feat. Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu…; "Gritty" Bollywood policier with a corrupt cop given permission to clean up drug–infested Goa however he sees fit. Sluggish plot and insipid…
Exile (TV Mini-Series) (2011): Dir. John Alexander
Feat. John Simm, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman; John Simm comes to terms with his father's Alzheimer's disease while unknowingly uncovering dark secrets from the past in this sometimes shaky, but…
Faces in the Crowd (2011): Dir. Julien Magnat
Feat. Milla Jovovich, Julian McMahon, Marianne Faithfull; An oddly balanced thriller, which juggles illness–of–the–week earnestness with the occasionally suspenseful movements of a serial…
Field of Blood, The (TV Mini-Series) (2011): Dir. David Kane
Feat. Jayd Johnson, David Morrissey, Peter Capaldi…; Grim, girl–powered crime drama shot through with impeccable period detail. Set in the male–dominated world of British journalism in the…
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The (2011): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer…; David Fincher helms this electrifying big–budget remake of the dynamite Swedish thriller, adapted from Stieg Larsson's worldwide bestseller.…
Greetings to the Devil (2011): Dir. Juan Felipe Orozco
Feat. Édgar Ramírez, Ricardo Vélez, Carolina Gómez; Fast and aggressive Colombian thriller stars the charismatic Édgar Ramírez, fresh off CARLOS, as a former guerrilla forced to hunt down and kill…
Grimm (TV Series) (2011): Feat. David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch…; A supernaturally gifted homicide detective begins to take on cases linked to creature mythology and fairytale archetypes in this police procedural…
Headhunters (2011): Dir. Morten Tyldum
Feat. Aksel Hennie, Synnove Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau…; Jo Nesbo's blockbusting crime novel about a corporate headhunter moonlighting as an art thief gets an appropriately energetic treatment, and with its…
Headshot (2011): Dir. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Feat. Nopachai Chaiyanam; Thai new waver Pen–ek Ratanaruang directs this zen–like "Buddist noir" about a hitman who seeks enlightenment after a bullet to the head…
Homeland - Season 1 (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin…; Anchored by Claire Danes's riveting, high–tensile performance, this outstanding surveillance thriller centres on the return of an Iraq war hero…
Hour, The - Series 1 (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Dominic West, Romola Garai, Ben Whishaw…; A team of journalists (lead by THE WIRE's Dominic West) front a groundbreaking news hour for the BBC, only to chance upon a high–level…
Injustice (TV Mini-series) (2011): Dir. Colm McCarthy
Feat. James Purefoy, Robert Whitelock, Dervla Kirwan…; 5–part British crime drama set in the Suffolk countryside, with James Purefoy (THE FOLLOWING) playing a disillusioned criminal defence…
Jackpot (Jo Nesbo's Jackpot) (2011): Dir. Magnus Martens
Feat. Kyrre Hellum, Mads Ousdal, Henrik Mestad…; This second helping of Jo Nesbo's blackly comic tales has the hapless sole survivor of a strip club massacre taken in for questioning where his…
Jury, The (The Jury 2) (2011): Feat. Julie Walters, John Lynch, Roger Allam…; A gripping court room drama regarded for its authenticity and attention to detail, which centres on a prolonged court room trial from the perspective…
Kidnap and Ransom (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Trevor Eve, John Hannah, Helen Baxendale; Muscular ITV hostage thriller, centred on an expert negotiator whose latest assignment comes unstuck in volatile South Africa. Carefully balances…
Kill List (2011): Dir. Ben Wheatley
Feat. Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley; An ex–solider turned contract killer descends into a disturbing netherworld while embarking on this latest hit in this dark, twisted thriller…
Kill the Irishman (2011): Dir. Jonathan Hensleigh
Feat. Ray Stevenson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Val Kilmer…; Based on the violent exploits of Shamrock career criminal Danny Greene – a union crook, loan shark heavy, and finally, organised crime boss in…
Killer Joe (2011): Dir. William Friedkin
Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church…; True crime, trailer park style, this down–and–dirty adaptation of Tracy Letts's play tells the ugly story of a brood of white trash…
Killing Time (TV Mini-Series) (2011): Feat. David Wenham, Diana Glenn, Colin Friels; Another hard–hitting crime story ripped from Australian headlines, starring David Wenham as a favourite defense lawyer of Melbourne's gangland…
Killing, The (TV Series, US) (2011): Feat. Mireille Enos, Billy Campbell, Michelle Forbes; Absorbing US remake of the hit Danish homicide serial remains faithful to the long–form, deep–focus procedural format of the original…
Ledge, The (2011): Dir. Michael Chapman
Feat. Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Terrence Howard…; Barbed dramatic suspense centred on a feud between a Christian extremist and a staunch atheist who has been driven to take his own life. A meaty…
Life Without Principle (2011): Dir. Johnnie To
Feat. Lau Ching-wan, Terence Yin, Richie Ren; Hong Kong's master of suspense crafts this swirling triumvirate of stories centred on unraveling lives amidst the global financial crisis. Combing…
Limitless (2011): Dir. Neil Burger
Feat. Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish…; Dynamic thriller in the hyper–reality genre that follows a struggling writer who discovers a top–secret brain–enhancing drug which…
Machine Gun Preacher (2011): Dir. Marc Forster
Feat. Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon…; A surprisingly solid – and notwithstanding its sensationalist title – serious movie (amid splashes of gun–toting action) about the plight…
Mad Dogs (TV Series) (2011): Feat. John Simm, Marc Warren, Max Beesley…; Oddly unsettling and engaging in equal measure, this mid–life black comedy centres on four middle–aged blokes who reunite to celebrate…
Man from Beijing, The (2011): Dir. Peter Keglevic
Feat. Michael Nyqvist, Suzanne von Borsody; A straightforward Scandi–thriller with a German accent, about the mystery behind the massacre of 18 people in a small Swedish town –…
Manipulation (2011): Dir. Pascal Verdosci
Feat. Klaus Maria Brandauer, Sebastian Koch; Sweaty Cold War thriller centred on the cat–and–mouse game between a special agent investigating possible spy moves by a top PR advisor.
Marchlands (TV Series) (2011): Dir. James Kent
Feat. Jodie Whittaker, Denis Lawson, Alex Kingston…; Time–switching supernatural drama where three separate families who have lived in the same Yorkshire house in 1968, 1987 and the present day,…
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011): Dir. Sean Durkin
Feat. Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy…; A damaged young woman struggles to re–assimilate with her sister after fleeing an abusive cult in this unnerving, suggestive psycho–drama…
Miss Bala (2011): Dir. Gerardo Naranjo
Feat. Stephanie Sigman, Irene Azuela, Jose Yenque; A beauty pageant contestant becomes entangled in a Tijuana drug cartel killing spree in this electric Mexican thriller.
Netherwood (2011): Dir. Cristobal Araus Lobos
Feat. Owen Black, Will Hall, Miriama Smith; A lone drifter wanters into a North Canterbury "redneck" town and winds up as the unfortunate middle–man in an age old land dispute. It’s not…
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011): Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Feat. Muhammet Uzuner, Firat Tanis, Yilmaz Erdogan; Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan directs this masterful long–haul road movie about a convoy of policemen searching for a body on the…
Person of Interest (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson; A rogue CIA agent is recruited by a reclusive computer genius to help run an unwanted crime prediction system he developed for the government. Strong…
Polisse (2011): Dir. Maïwenn
Feat. Karin Viard, Marina Fois, Nicolas Duvauchelle …; A tough, unglamorous insight into the police work of a Parisian Juvenile Protection Unit, whose officers grapple with the moral and personal dilemmas…
Rampart (2011): Dir. Oren Moverman
Feat. Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Cynthia Nixon…; Woody Harrelson plays a reckless Los Angeles police officer whose corruption on the job extends to his family and personal life in this profane,…
Rebellion (2011): Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
Feat. Mathieu Kassovitz, Iabe Lapacas, Malik Zidi…; A proficient, airtight geopolitical thriller from dir. Kassovitz, who also stars as the captain of a counterterrorist division sent to New Caledonia…
Resident, The (2011): Dir. Antti Jokinen
Feat. Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lee Pace…; Entirely watchable chiller has Hilary Swank suspecting she may not be alone in her new apartment. Produced by the revived "Hammer" label, Christopher…
Retreat (2011): Dir. Carl Tibbets
Feat. Cillian Murphy, Thandiwe Newton, Jamie Bell; Unnerving thriller with a couple recovering from tragedy on a secluded island who have their mourning interrupted by a bloodied soldier claiming a…
Revenge (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Emily VanCamp, Madeleine Stowe; A high society soap opera served cold, this juicy page turner outlays the elaborate revenge plot of a blonde femme fatale (VanCamp) determined to…
Scott & Bailey (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Suranne Jones, Lesley Sharp, Rupert Graves…; A tough–minded and level–headed female policier in the spirit of CAGNEY & LACEY (with shades of PRIME SUSPECT), framed around the private…
Shadow Line, The (TV Series) (2011): Dir. Hugo Blick
Feat. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Eccleston, Rafe Spall…; This quality BBC production builds a compelling and morally complex story around the death of a convicted drugs smuggler, whose murder is…
Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows (2011): Dir. Guy Ritchie
Feat. Robert Downey Jnr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace…; Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson respectively in this high–wire sequel to Guy Ritchie's blockbuster…
Silence, The (Das letzte Schweigen) (2011): Dir. Baran bo Odar
Feat. Ulrich Thomsen, Katrin Sass, Wotan Wilke Möhring; German thriller set in 2009, 23 years after the unsolved rape and murder of an 11–year old girl, when a remarkably similar crime attracts the…
Skin I Live In, The (2011): Dir. Pedro Almodovar
Feat. Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes…; Over twenty years after their last collaboration, a gracefully middle–aged Antonio Banderas returns for Spanish maestro Pedro Almodovar to play…
Sleepless Night (2011): Dir. Frederic Jardin
Feat. Tomer Sisley, Serge Riaboukine, Julien Boisselier…; A stonking, white–knuckle French action picture, smartly and tightly wound around a cop's frantic search for a stolen drug stash in order to…
Snowtown (2011): Dir. Justin Kurzel
Feat. Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris…; Australian serial killer John Bunting is the controversial subject of this disturbing yet persuasively told recreation of the 'scum' murders that…
Son of No One, The (2011): Dir. Dito Montiel
Feat. Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Ray Liotta…; Channing Tatum plays a rookie policeman assigned to the neighborhood of his troubled youth in this excitable crooked cop tale. Great cast, though…
Spooks - Season 10 (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Peter Firth, Rupert Penry-Jones, Hermione Norris…; Concluding episodes from the British MI5 spy suspense series, in which agents try to resolve a variety of 21st century threats. Series Ten: six…
Straw Dogs (2011): Dir. Rod Lurie
Feat. James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard…; Sam Peckinpah's controversial 1971 film is bleached, but certainly not bettered in this nasty remake that goes for broke in the violence stakes,…
Suspicions of Mr Whicher, The (TV Mini-Series) (The Murder at Road Hill House) (2011): Dir. James Hawes
Feat. Paddy Considine, Peter Capaldi; Paddy Considine plays famed Scotland Yard inspector Jack Whicher in this fine Victoria era murder mystery; the series' first installment based on the…
Swerve (2011): Dir. Craig Lahiff
Feat. David Lyons, Jason Clarke, Emma Booth…; Tense outback–noir with a hapless witness to a fatal road accident finding himself in possession of a suitcase full of money and bad company.
Take Shelter (2011): Dir. Jeff Nichols
Feat. Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham…; Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young family man questions whether to shelter his wife and daughter from the spectre of a coming storm,…
Texas Killing Fields (2011): Dir. Ami Canaan Mann
Feat. Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chloe Grace Moretz…; Muddled, though distinctly helmed serial killer saga set amid the sticky marshlands of Texas City, where two stone–faced homicide detectives…
Thin Ice (The Convincer) (2011): Dir. Jill Sprecher
Feat. Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Billy Crudup…; Another predictable, if satisfying tale of frigid small town crooks, with Greg Kinnear as a huckstering insurance salesman who hatches a plan to…
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011): Dir. Tomas Alfredson
Feat. Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Hurt…; An enthralling, impeccably cast screen adaptation of John Le Carre’s quintessential cold war spy novel, centred on a retired George Smiley (Oldman)…
Trespass (2011): Dir. Joel Schumacher
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Ben Mendelsohn…; A bloated Nic Cage cashes in yet another paycheck in this hysterically straight–faced thriller from serial hack Joel Schumacher. Sympathy is…
Twixt (2011): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. Val Kilmer, Elle Fanning, Bruce Dern…; Silly, though intermittently stylish late Francis Ford Coppola piece, with Val Kilmer as an alcoholic horror novelist who is visited by a young ghost…
Underbelly - Season 5 (TV Mini-series) (Razor) (2011): Feat. Danielle Cormack, Chelsie Preston-Crayford, Felix Williamson; The latest in the Underbelly franchise again features a strong Kiwi (and female) flavour, with Danielle Cormack and Chelsie Preston–Crayford…
Unforgettable (TV Series) (2011-2016): Feat. Poppy Montgomery, Dylan Walsh; A police detective with hyperthymesia (the ability to remember everything she's ever experienced) uses her rare condition to solve crime on the…
Unknown (2011): Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
Feat. Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones…; Sleek thriller with Liam Neeson awakening from a coma with his identity seemingly erased.
Vera (TV Series) (2011-2022): Dir. Louise Hooper
Feat. Brenda Blethyn, David Leon; A combative female detective sleuthes murder cases through a blend of unconventional investigative methods and an obsession with detail. Formulaic…
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011): Dir. Lynne Ramsay
Feat. Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller; Tilda Swinton struggles to cope with the grief and guilt of mothering a deeply troubled child in Lynne Ramsay's unflinching, stylistic adaptation of…
Woman in the Fifth, The (2011): Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Kristin Scott Thomas; Intriguing, if ultimately baffling Parisian thriller about a struggling American writer (Ethan Hawke) who embarks on a passionate affair with an…
X (Night of Vengeance) (2011): Dir. Jon Hewitt
Feat. Viva Bianca, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence; A lurid, superficially–surfaced expose of tough–minded prostitutes working Sydney's King's Cross sex trade. Strictly style over…
Zen (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Rufus Sewell, Caterina Murino, Julie Cox…; Short–lived but stylish BBC detective series wades into the overcrowded male crime fighter market with suave Rufus Sewell in the role of…
24 - Season 8 (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland; Final season of the high–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode) with Kiefer Sutherland as lead…
4.3.2.1 (2010): Dir. Noel Clarke
Feat. Emma Roberts, Noel Clarke, Tamsin Egerton; Ludicrous Tarantino wannabe, in which a chance encounter with a gang of diamond thieves sends four girls on a collision course not only each other,…
A Quiet Life (2010): Dir. Claudio Cupellini
Feat. Toni Servillo, Marco D'Amore, Francesco Di Leva…; Moody thriller with Servillo –outstanding once again– as a restauranteur who's past resurfaces after a chance encounter with two…
Accused (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Christopher Eccleston, Naomie Harris, Warren Brown…; Acclaimed British anthology series centres each episode on the back story of a new character as they make their way to the dock in court to await the…
All Good Things (2010): Dir. Andrew Jarecki
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella…; Bizarre account of a notorious unsolved murder with Ryan Gosling as an eccentric business heir who's wife mysteriously disappears in the…
American, The (2010): Dir. Anton Corbijn
Feat. George Clooney, Paolo Bonacelli, Violante Placido…; George Clooney stars a weary hit–man forced to lay low in the Italian countryside after a job goes wrong in this attractive though lugubrious…
And Soon the Darkness (2010): Dir. Marcos Efron
Feat. Amber Heard, Karl Urban, Odette Yustman…; Stock remake of a minor '70's chiller concerns two friends cycling through Argentina, when they split up one goes missing, and the other finds…
Angels of Evil (2010): Dir. Michele Placido
Feat. Kim Rossi Stuart, Filippo Timi, Valeria Solarino…; Taking a leaf from MESRINE's rap sheet, Italy simultaneously glorifies and moralises the story of its own criminal rock star, Renato…
Animal Kingdom (2010): Dir. David Michod
Feat. Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce…; The deadly underworld politics of a Melbourne crime family come under the microscope in this outstanding Australian gangland thriller. Framed…
Big Picture, The (2010): Dir. Eric Lartigau
Feat. Romain Duris, Marina Fois, Niels Arestrup…; Romain Duris plays a well–off, happily married lawyer whose life is turned upside down with the discovery that his wife is having an affair…
Black Heaven (L'autre monde) (2010): Dir. Gilles Marchand
Feat. Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Louise Bourgoin, Melvil Poupaud; An innocent young man becomes entangled with a suicidal beauty and is lured into a "Black Hole" – an eerie cyberworld of avatars with deadly…
Bloodlines (2010): Dir. Peter Burger
Feat. Mark Mitchinson, Nathalie Boltt, Craig Hall…; The intimidating Mark Mitchinson plays another hihg–profile Kiwi criminal in this solid tele–movie of South African–born,…
Blue Bloods (TV Series) (2010-2020): Feat. Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan; Character driven police procedural set in New York City where an Irish Catholic family has a history of work in law enforcement, with each family…
Breaking Bad - Season 3 (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn…; Further episodes chronicling the deeds of anti–hero Walter White (Cranston), a high school chemistry teacher who turns to a life of…
Brighton Rock (2010): Dir. Rowan Joffe
Feat. Sam Riley, Andrea Riseborough, Helen Mirren…; Graham Greene's 1939 novel is the source material for this prickly British underworld drama about a gangster (Riley) whose rise through the ranks is…
Buried (2010): Dir. Rodrigo Cortes
Feat. Ryan Reynolds; A literal puzzle box thriller delivered with confidence and aplomb, this stars a lone Ryan Reynolds as a kidnapped truck driver who is held for…
Carlos (Carlos the Jackal) (2010): Dir. Olivier Assayas
Feat. Édgar Ramírez, Nora von Waldstätten, Alexander Scheer; An explosive, globe–trotting biopic of Venezuelan terrorist and fugitive Ilich Ramírez Sánchez – aka Carlos the Jackal – whose exploits…
Ch@troom (Chatroom) (2010): Dir. Hideo Nakata
Feat. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Imogen Poots; J–Horror stalwart Hideo Nakata directs this British–set cautionary tale about a group of self–centred teenagers whose regular…
City Under Siege (2010): Dir. Benny Chan
Feat. Aaron Kwok, Colin Chou, Wu Jing…; One–of–a–kind Hong Kong mash–up has a group of criminals gaining super powers after being infected with a biological weapon,…
Cold Fish (2010): Dir. Sion Sono
Feat. Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Denden , Asuka Kurosawa; Japanese 'enfant terrible' Sion Sono's violent (and typically lengthy) tale of a quiet owner of a tropical fish shop whose life and family are taken…
DCI Banks (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Stephen Tompkinson, Caroline Catz, Andrea Lowe; Stephen Tompkinson embodies the firm, working class stock of Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks in this solid British police procedural. Series…
Dear Mr. Gacy (2010): Dir. Svetozar Ristovski
Feat. William Forsythe, Jesse Moss, Emma Lahana; Haunting cautionary tale – based on a true story – chronicles the interactions between an ambitious college student and the notorious…
Debt, The (2010): Dir. John Madden
Feat. Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Ciaran Hinds…; Gripping spy thriller, with Helen Mirren as a retired Mossad agent whose exploits in capturing a Nazi war criminal come back to haunt her three…
Door, The (2010): Dir. Anno Saul
Feat. Mads Mikkelsen, Jessica Schwarz, Heike Makatsch…; Ethereal time–travel drama with Mikkelsen as a grieving father who discovers a tunnel that leads him back to the day his daughter died and a…
Easy Money (Snabba Cash) (2010): Dir. Daniel Espinosa
Feat. Joel Kinnaman, Matias Varela, Dragomir Mrsic…; High–flying Swedish thriller centres on a Stockholm business student who moonlights as a drug runner in order to maintain the illusion of…
Edge Of Darkness (2010): Dir. Martin Campbell
Feat. Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston; Kiwi Martin Campbell helms this compact Hollywood remake of the 1986 BBC mini–series he also directed. Despite Mel Gibson’s…
Esoterica (2010): Dir. Sam Barrett
Feat. James Helm, George Shevtsov, Melanie Munt; A photographer specialising in the surveillance of wayward spouses takes on a case that will involve his ex–wife, chainsaw wielding gangsters…
Essential Killing (2010): Dir. Jerzy Skolimowski
Feat. Vincent Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner; Vincent Gallo plays a terrified Taliban fighter on the run from American forces in this oddly compelling chase movie, distinctive for its relentless…
Experiment, The (2010): Dir. Paul Scheuring
Feat. Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Clifton Collins Jr.; Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker chew the scenery in this slick, if largely diminished remake of the 2001 German thriller, itself a dramatisation of…
Fair Game (2010): Dir. Doug Liman
Feat. Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Tom McCarthy…; A smart, ground level conspiracy thriller based on the true story of an undercover CIA operative (Watts) whose identity was suspiciously leaked after…
Five Days (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Suranne Jones, Anne Reid, Bernard Hill…; High concept BBC crime series magnifies the complex thread of events and consequences surrounding a lengthy crime investigation by focusing on five…
Frozen (2010): Dir. Adam Green
Feat. Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers…; Nifty little thriller with three snowboarding friends trapped on a frozen ski lift, and as night comes they discover something lurks down below.…
Ghost Writer, The (2010): Dir. Roman Polanski
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams…; A cracking yarn in unapologetic Hitchcock mould has Ewan McGregor hired to complete the memoirs of a Tony Blair–like former British prime…
Guard, The (2010): Dir. John Michael McDonagh
Feat. Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham…; A straitlaced FBI agent (Cheadle) and a raucous Irish cop (Gleeson) buddy up to take down an international drug smuggling ring in this riotous…
Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim…; A souped–up, though still relatively faithful update of the funky surf and sun policier, originally a hit in the late sixties. Alex O'Loughlin…
Henry's Crime (2010): Dir. Malcolm Venville
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, James Caan…; Newly released from prison for a crime he didn't commit, an ex–con decides to target the same bank he was sent away for robbing.
Holy Rollers (2010): Dir. Kevin Asch
Feat. Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Bartha, Ari Graynor; The true story of a disillusioned Orthodox Jew who turns to Ecstasy dealing is given an underwhelming treatment in this otherwise fascinating glimpse…
Housemaid, The (2010): Dir. Sang-soo Im
Feat. Do-yeon Jeon, Jung-Jae Lee, Seo Woo; A sleek, sexual thriller of manipulation and revenge, centred on the consequences of a torrid affair between a wealthy industrialist and his newly…
How I Ended This Summer (2010): Dir. Aleksey Popogrebskiy
Feat. Grigoriy Dobrygin, Sergey Puskepalis; Two Russian meteorologists isolated at polar station on the Arctic fringes put each other in jeopardy in this tense, slow–burn adventure. An…
Hunter, The (Shekarchi) (2010): Dir. Rafi Pitts
Feat. Rafi Pitts; Spare, lyrical drama with a low–paid security guard on the run from authorities after gunning down two police officers. Unfolding against the…
Kidnapped (Secuestrados) (2010): Dir. Miguel Ángel Vivas; Brutally authentic Spanish horror in which three hooded criminals break into a family home in a gated community, holding the others hostage whilst…
Killer Inside Me, The (2010): Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Feat. Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba…; Casey Affleck disturbs as a psychotic small town sheriff struggling to cover his bloody tracks in this grim, stylish neo–noir. Adroitly…
London Boulevard (2010): Dir. William Monahan
Feat. Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, David Thewlis…; An ex–con turned celebrity bodyguard finds himself unwittingly drawn back into London's criminal underworld in this confident directorial debut…
Lost (TV Series) - Season 6 (2010): Feat. Matthew Fox, Terry O'Quinn, Evangeline Lilly…; The mysterious and seemingly never–ending consequences of the downing of Oceanic Flight 815 are resolved (sort of) in the cult show's final…
Love / Hate (TV Series) (2010-2014): Feat. Aidan Gillen, Robert Sheehan, Peter Coonan…; TV series set in Ireland's criminal underworld, where a kingpin (Aidan Gillen) and four members of his small–time drug gang navigate rivalries…
Love Crime (2010): Dir. Alain Corneau
Feat. Kristin Scott Thomas, Ludivine Sagnier, Olivier Rabourdin; Kristin Scott–Thomas sinks her teeth into the bitchiest role of her career as a ruthless, high–flying executive whose attempts at…
Luther (TV Series) (2010-2019): Feat. Idris Elba, Saskia Reeves, Indira Varma…; Stylish, swaggering BBC cop show created by SPOOKS–scriptwriter (and currently Wellington resident) Neil Cross stars THE WIRE's Idris Elba as a…
Man From Nowhere, The (Ajeossi) (2010): Dir. Jeong-beom Lee
Feat. Won Bin, Sae-ron Kim; Korean action movie following a former special agent who is living a quiet life as a pawnshop owner after his wife dies in a tragic accident, when a…
Mr. Nice (2010): Dir. Bernard Rose
Feat. Rhys Ifans, Chloe Sevigny, David Thewlis…; Droll tale of the life raconteur and international drug smuggler Howard Marks who Ifans plays as a smug hippie–capitalist. The endless…
Next Three Days, The (2010): Dir. Paul Haggis
Feat. Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson…; Patchy American remake of ANYTHING FOR HER, with Crowe as a mild–mannered professor determined to free his wife from prison, and fortunately…
Once Fallen (2010): Dir. Ash Adams
Feat. Brian Presley, Taraji P. Henson, Ed Harris…; Credible portrait of a young drug–trafficker's struggle to adjust to life outside prison. Committed performances help disguise what is…
Outrage (2010): Dir. Takeshi Kitano
Feat. Takeshi Kitano, Renji Ishibashi, Ryo Kase; Aging Japanese hard–man Takeshi Kitano returns to the turf of his international film celebrity – the minimalist Yakuza movie – in…
Outside the Law (2010): Dir. Rachid Bouchareb
Feat. Sami Bouajila, Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem; Dir. Bouchareb (DAYS OF GLORY) re–frames the revolutionary tactics of Algerian nationalists against the French post–WWII as a…
Perfect Host, The (2010): Dir. Nick Tomnay
Feat. David Hyde Pierce, Clayne Crawford, Nathaniel Parker…; Cat–and–mouse thriller with a bank robber crashing a dinner party, unfortunately he gets more than he bargained for from the urbane host.…
Pete Smalls is Dead (2010): Dir. Alexandre Rockwell
Feat. Peter Dinklage, Mark Boone Jr., Seymour Cassel…; Indie dark horse Alexandre Rockwell (IN THE SOUP) directs this tipsy tale of Hollywood deadbeats. Peter Dinklage stars as an L.A. exile trying to…
Point Blank (2010): Dir. Fred Cavaye
Feat. Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gerard Lanvin…; Literally breathless French thriller centred on the exploits of a nurse who becomes entangled with a wounded gunman on the run from the law. Higher…
Predicament (2010): Dir. Jason Stutter
Feat. Jemaine Clement, Heath Franklin, Hayden Frost…; A macabre comic adventure of murder and blackmail in rural Taranaki in the 30's, this follows CAME A HOT FRIDAY, THE SCARECROW and PALLET ON THE…
Red White and Blue (2010): Dir. Simon Rumley
Feat. Noah Taylor, Amanda Fuller, Marc Senter; Engrossing but ultimately depressing tale of a libidinous young woman, an Iraq War veteran and an aspiring rocker whose lives violently intersect.
Revenge (Shadow Boxing 2) (2010): Dir. Anton Megerdichev
Feat. Denis Nikiforov, Andrey Panin, Victor Lopez…; Punchy crime thriller with a Russian boxer taking on a Mexican mafia boss after mortally injuring his son in the ring. Leave your brain parked in…
Revenge: A Love Story (2010): Dir. Ching-po Wong; 'Hammer and tong' serial killer potboiler centres on a lowly store clerk who begins murdering policemen (and their pregnant wives) after his…
Rizzoli & Isles (TV Series) (2010-2016): Feat. Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Bruce McGill…; Girl–powered police procedural series that teams up Angie Harmon as police detective Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as medical examiner Dr.…
Route Irish (2010): Dir. Ken Loach
Feat. Mark Womack, Andrea Lowe, John Bishop; Ken Loach tackles the murky occupation of Iraq with purpose and political thrust in this intelligent, agile conspiracy thriller, about the killing of…
Salt (2010): Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor…; Outlandish thriller with Jolie as a C.I.A. agent accused of being a Russian spy, and with the C.I.A. in pursuit she must fight to clear her name.…
Sebastian Bergman (TV Series) (Den fördömde) (2010): Feat. Rolf Lassgard; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Shelter (2010): Dir. Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein
Feat. Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Frances Conroy…; Julianne Moore's conviction as a forensic psychiatrist is tested when confronted by a patient whose multiple personality disorder manifests as series…
Sherlock - Series 1 (TV Series) (2010): Dir. Paul McGuigan
Feat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs…; Ingenious updating of the master detective finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London. Benedict…
Shutter Island (2010): Dir. Martin Scorsese
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley…; Martin Scorsese’s latest is an intensely atmospheric, if overly confounding psychological thriller, set on a remote island which is home to shadowy…
Small Town Murder Songs (2010): Dir. Ed Gass-Donnelly
Feat. Peter Stormare, Jill Hennessy, Martha Plimpton…; Simmering provincial redemption story stars Peter Stormare as a clammy police officer trying to escape his violent past in a small Mennonite…
Spooks - Season 9 (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Richard Armitage, Sophia Myles, Peter Firth; Further episodes from the British MI5 spy suspense series, in which agents try to resolve a variety of 21st century threats. Series Nine: eight…
Stolen (2010): Dir. Britta Hawkins
Feat. Miriama Smith, Scott Wills, George Henare…; TV thriller based on the real life 2002 kidnapping of Baby Kahu Durie, which saturated NZ media at the time. Held for $3 million ransom, the child…
Stone (2010): Dir. John Curran
Feat. Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich…; Smouldering thriller with Edward Norton as a convicted arsonist who looks to manipulate a parole officer into a plan to secure his parole by placing…
Takers (2010): Dir. John Luessenhop
Feat. Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon…; Slick, but generic heist film has a notorious gang of thieves running up against a hard–bitten detective determined to foil their latest heist.
Thirteen (13) (2010): Dir. Géla Babluani
Feat. Jason Statham, Sam Riley, Alexander Skarsgard…; A young opportunist (Riley) steps into the shoes of a dead man whose lucrative assignment turns out to be a competitor in a deadly underground…
This is Not My Life (TV Series) (2010): Dir. Robert Sarkies
Feat. Charles Mesure, Tania Nolan, Ariana Brunet…; Set in a fictional New Zealand town in the 2020s, this high–end Kiwi production runs with a number of well–worn science–fiction…
Thorne (TV Series) (2010): Feat. David Morrissey, Eddie Marsan, Aidan Gillen…; Another top–draw British policier loaded with all the usual suspects: atmosphere, plot twists, and a hard–bitten hero, with David…
Tourist, The (2010): Dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Feat. Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany…; Vacationing in Venice, Johnny Depp is drawn into the web of a beautiful woman (Angelina Jolie) in this intriguing international thriller from the…
True Grit (2010): Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Feat. Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin…; This lively, immaculately shot remake of John Wayne’s classic 1969 western sees the Coen Brothers reinterpret Charles Portis’s novel, about a…
Unthinkable (2010): Dir. Gregor Jordan
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Michael Sheen…; Troubling psychological thriller with Sheen as a terrorist suspect who won't divulge the whereabouts of rogue nuclear weapons, Jackson and Moss…
Vanishing on 7th Street (2010): Dir. Brad Anderson
Feat. Hayden Christensen, Thandiwe Newton, John Leguizamo…; Low–wattage shocks abound as Hayden Christensen wakes up one morning to find everyone has disappeared. Brad Anderson directs with customary…
Viva Riva (2010): Dir. Djo Munga
Feat. Patsha Bay, Manie Malone, Diplome Amekindra; Torrid, violent thriller with a small–time hustler discovering a stockpile of gasoline during a fuel crisis, and struggling to stay alive long…
Wasted on the Young (2010): Dir. Ben C. Lucas
Feat. Oliver Ackland, Adelaide Clemens, Alex Russell…; Potent teen thriller, stylishly directed by first–timer Lucas, has a party getting out of hand an triggering a wave of revenge acts.
Whistleblower, The (2010): Dir. Larysa Kondracki
Feat. Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, Monica Bellucci…; Uncompromising drama with Rachel Weisz as an American cop whose stint as a Bosnian peacekeeper exposes her to a human trafficking ring run from…
William Vincent (Shadows and Lies) (2010): Dir. Jay Anania
Feat. James Franco, Martin Donovan, Josh Lucas…; A quiet criminal recounts the eccentric path that has brought him to New York – after four years in exile, to rescue the favourite call girl of…
Winter's Bone (2010): Dir. Debra Granik
Feat. Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garret Dillahunt…; Celebrated art–house thriller set in the Ozark Mountains follows a teenage girl as she desperately searches for her drug–dealing father…
Wolfman, The (2010): Dir. Joe Johnston
Feat. Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt…; Disjointed remake of the Lon Chaney classic stars Benicio Del Toro as the broody beast, helplessly chowing down on Victorian London. Although the…
Wrecked (2010): Dir. Michael Greenspan
Feat. Adrien Brody, Caroline Dhavernas, Ryan Robbins; Artful micro–thriller with Brody as an injured man trapped in a car wreck with no memory of what happened. Resourceful suspenser that relies on…
Yellow Sea, The (2010): Dir. Hong-jin Na
Feat. Jung-woo Ha, Yoon-seok Kim; High–tension Korean noir–style thriller from the director of THE WAILING about a down–on–his–luck Korean taxi driver…
12 Rounds (2009): Dir. Renny Harlin
Feat. John Cena, Aidan Gillen, Ashley Scott…; Mindless action–flick–with–a–shtick focused on a police detective who must complete 12 gruelling puzzles in order to rescue…
39 Steps, The (2009): Dir. James Hawes
Feat. Rupert Penry-Jones, Eddie Marsan, Lydia Leonard; This BBC adaptation of Buchan’s spy novel struggles with a scriptwriter who can't seem to drag himself away from hip, self–aware 2009…
A Million (2009): Dir. Min-Ho Cho
Feat. Hae-il Park, Min-Ah Shin, Min-Ki Lee; Slavishly entertaining Reality TV spin–off pits eight Korean contestants against each other and the Australian Outback in a race for the…
A Perfect Getaway (2009): Dir. David Twohy
Feat. Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, Milla Jovovich…; Twisty thriller sees a group of couples – two 'normal', one 'creepy' – who find themselves stalked (or not?) by a killer on their holiday…
About Elly (2009): Dir. Asghar Farhadi
Feat. Golshifteh Farahani, Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti…; Though something of a dress rehearsal for Farhadi's Oscar–winning A SEPARATION, this tense and absorbing account of a beach holiday tainted by…
Above Suspicion (TV Series) (2009): Feat. Kelly Reilly, Ciaran Hinds, Shaun Dingwall; British crime series based on the novels written by Lynda La Plante (PRIME SUSPECT). A rookie female detective, determined to prove herself amidst…
Above the Street Below the Water (Over gaden under vandet) (2009): Dir. Charlotte Sieling
Feat. Sidse Babett Knudsen, Anders W. Berthelsen, Mohammed Al-Bakier; Light ensemble drama set in Copenhagen with Sidse Babett Knudsen (BORGEN) leading a cast of Danes in their 40's whose relationship complications are…
Accident (Yi ngoi) (2009): Dir. Pou-Soi Cheang
Feat. Louis Koo, Richie Ren, Shui-Fan Fung; A number of skillfully choreographed set–pieces are at the centre of this top–notch Hong Kong thriller, about a league of assassins who…
Across The Hall (2009): Dir. Alex Merkin
Feat. Mike Vogel, Brittany Murphy, Danny Pino; The presence of the late Brittany Murphy (in one of her last roles) adds a layer of dread to this gloomy "hotel noir" about a man who checks into a…
Angels And Demons (2009): Dir. Ron Howard
Feat. Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer; Sequel to blockbuster phenomenon THE DA VINCI CODE sees Tom Hanks reprise his role as Robert Langdon, on the hunt to uncover a terrorist plot against…
Armored (2009): Dir. Nimrod Antal
Feat. Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne…; Slick heist film has a down on his luck Iraq war veteran finding for a security company where he finds himself drawn into a forty–two million…
Balibo (2009): Dir. Robert Connolly
Feat. Anthony LaPaglia, Oscar Isaac, Nathan Phillips…; Searing political thriller based on the death of five Australian–based journalists (one, a Kiwi) who, upon covering the occupation of East…
Beautiful (2009): Dir. Dean O'Flaherty
Feat. Deborra-Lee Furness, Aaron Jeffery; Australian suburban thriller sees a 17–year old Lolita persuade her smitten young neighbour to take photographs of the seedy goings–on in…
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009): Dir. Peter Hyams
Feat. Jesse Metcalfe, Amber Tamblyn, Michael Douglas…; Glib remake of the hard–to–find Fritz Lang classic has an intrepid reporter (Metcalfe) determined to bring down a corrupt D.A (a…
Box, The (2009): Dir. Richard Kelly
Feat. Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella…; Supernatural chiller has a mysterious stranger presenting a young couple with a small wooden box with a nasty twist, if they open it they'll receive…
Breaking Bad - Season 2 (TV Series) (2009): Feat. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn…; Further episodes chronicling the deeds of anti–hero Walter White (Cranston), a high school chemistry teacher who turns to a life of…
Brooklyn's Finest (2009): Dir. Antoine Fuqua
Feat. Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke…; The dir. of TRAINING DAY spins this heavy–handed multi–narrative around three burnt out NYC cops at the end of their tether. Posturing…
Case 39 (2009): Dir. Christian Alvart
Feat. Renee Zellweger, Ian McShane, Bradley Cooper; Rene Zellweger plays a determined social worker assigned to protect a 10–year–old girl from abusive parents, who turn out to be far…
Code, The (2009): Dir. Mimi Leder
Feat. Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas, Tom Hardy…; Routine heist film with Freeman playing a veteran thief who recruits a younger crook to help him pull off one final job in order to repay his debt to…
Cry of the Owl, The (2009): Dir. Jamie Thraves
Feat. Paddy Considine, Julia Stiles, James Gilbert…; Middling adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel with Considine playing a troubled voyeur who strikes up an unlikely relationship with the object of…
Cult, The (TV Series) (2009): Feat. Renato Bartolomei, Latham Gaines, Danielle Cormack…; A group of brainwashed cult members are desperate to escape the mysterious compound and its deranged leader they're imprisoned by in this ambitious…
Daybreakers (2009): Dir. The Spierig Brothers
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill…; Inventive take on the vampire genre has a world populated with the fanged undead facing a food shortage with the human population rapidly dwindling.…
Disappearance of Alice Creed, The (2009): Dir. J Blakeson
Feat. Gemma Arterton, Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston; Nominally another addition to the flavorless torture genre, this ransom drama centred on the abduction of a millionaire's daughter by two…
Dolan's Cadillac (2009): Dir. Jeff Beesley
Feat. Christian Slater, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Wes Bentley; Revenge yarn based on a Stephen King short story sees Christian Slater play the titular Dolan, a crooked slimeball begging for punishment after he…
Double Hour, The (La Doppia Ora) (2009): Dir. Giuseppe Capotondi
Feat. Kseniya Rappoport, Filippo Timi, Antonia Truppo…; A high–concept, twisty Euro–thriller plays out after a chambermaid and an ex–cop meet at a speed dating event. As is par for the…
Duplicity (2009): Dir. Tony Gilroy
Feat. Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Tom Wilkinson…; Power–dressed by Clive Owen and Julia Roberts, this is a smart, playful conundrum of a spy thriller that proves great fun to unravel, as…
Exam (2009): Dir. Stuart Hazeldine
Feat. Jimi Mistry, Luke Mably, Adar Beck…; High–concept, low–budget thriller from the UK delivers a testing spin on 'The Apprentice', where eight candidates vying for a corporate…
Farewell (2009): Dir. Christian Carion
Feat. Guillaume Canet, Emir Kusturica, Gary Lewis…; This riveting Cold War yarn from the dir. of JOYEUX NOEL brings to light the little–known true story of a disillusioned KGB colonel (played by…
Father and Son (TV Mini-Series) (2009): Dir. Brian Kirk
Feat. Dougray Scott, Sophie Okonedo, Stephen Rea…; Gritty, tough–minded BBC serial examines the reverberations of crime across two parallel storylines: a father (Scott), whose wife was murdered…
Fortapasc (Fort Apache) (2009): Dir. Marco Risi
Feat. Libero de Rienzo, Valentina Lodovini, Michele Riondino…; Poignant account of the last days in the life of a young Italian journalist who's investigations into the Neapolitan Mafia resulted in his murder.
Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, The (2009): Dir. Daniel Alfredson
Feat. Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre; Satisfying conclusion to the trilogy features some lengthy courtroom scenes as Salander and Nyqvist fight to clear her name and unravel the…
Girl Who Played with Fire, The (2009): Dir. Daniel Alfredson
Feat. Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre; Part two of Stieg Larsson's 'Millennium Trilogy' sees the return of touch–as–nails Lisbeth Salander, who must clear her name of murder…
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The (2009): Dir. Niels Arden Oplev
Feat. Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre; One of the highest–grossing foreign language hits at the NZ box office, this riveting, full–bodied Swedish thriller follows an escalating…
Glorious 39 (2009): Dir. Stephen Poliakoff
Feat. Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, David Tennant…; Trademark Stephen Poliakoff visuals and upper crust intrigue characterise this pre–WWII mystery, starring Romola Garai as the adoptive daughter…
Godspeed (2009): Dir. Robert Saitzyk
Feat. Joseph McKelheer, Courtney Halverson, Cory Knauf…; Heavy–handed themes dog this otherwise vivid Alaskan thriller, in which a small–time preacher experiences a crisis of faith in the…
Good Wife, The (TV Series) (2009-2016): Feat. Julianne Margulies, Chris Noth, Josh Charles…; First–rate, Golden Globe–winning series about a politician's wife who must return to the workforce after a sex and corruption scandal…
Harry Brown (2009): Dir. Daniel Barber
Feat. Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed-Miles…; Michael Caine plays a disgruntled ex–serviceman who takes the law into his own hands when the drug and gang problem within his neighborhood…
High Life (2009): Dir. Gary Yates
Feat. Timothy Olyphant, Stephen Eric McIntyre, Rossif Sutherland; Well–executed crime caper has four laughable lowlifes hatch a plan to rob a series of ATM machines, only for their moronic, stoned–out…
Horsemen, The (2009): Dir. Jonas Akerlund
Feat. Dennis Quaid, Zhang Ziyi, Lou Taylor Pucci…; Blood–soaked biblical thriller from dir. Akerlund (better known for his Lady Gaga music videos), with Dennis Quaid as a grizzled detective…
Hurt (2009): Dir. Barbara Stepansky
Feat. Melora Walters, William Mapother, Johanna Braddy…; Desert set indie–horror is a more thoughtful entry in the burgeoning 'demon child' canon with Melora Walters as a mother trying to hold the…
I'm Not Harry Jenson (2009): Dir. James Napier Robertson
Feat. Gareth Reeves, Ian Mune, Marshall Napier…; Tensely conceived, enterprising Kiwi thriller finds a true crime novelist so deeply invested in the violent subject of his latest book, that he…
In the Electric Mist (2009): Dir. Bertrand Tavernier
Feat. Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard…; Improving on previous James Lee Burke adaptation HEAVEN’S PRISONERS, this sturdy New Orleans thriller has Tommy Lee Jones assuming the plum role of…
Incendiary (2009): Dir. Sharon Maguire
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Michelle Williams, Matthew MacFadyen…; Thriller set in the aftermath of a terrorist strike in London, based on the novel by Chris Cleave. Though it boasts a typically fine Michelle…
International, The (2009): Dir. Tom Tykwer
Feat. Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl…; Sleek cosmopolitan thriller finds Owen and Watts, as disheveled Interpol agent and bland district attorney respectively, exposing a sinister arms…
Killing Room, The (2009): Dir. Jonathan Liebesman
Feat. Chloe Sevigny, Nick Cannon, Clea Duvall…; Unpredictable thriller with four strangers recruited for a psychological study, find themselves pawns in a game designed to break them mentally. A…
Killing, The - Series 2 (TV Series) (Forbrydelsen) (2009): Feat. Sofie Grabol, Søren Malling; Further episodes from the ripping, immensely popular Danish homicide serial weaves a secondary plot of intrigue, corruption, and bureaucracy…
Knowing (2009): Dir. Alex Proyas
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Lara Robinson…; Sci–fi thriller focused around a teacher (Cage) who opens up a time capsule from 50 years ago which unnervingly predicts accurate dates of past…
Law Abiding Citizen (2009): Dir. F. Gary Gray
Feat. Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Colm Meaney…; Spiteful revenger with Butler wreaking vengeance from behind prison bars on the legal system who let his family's killers walk…
Leaves of Grass (2009): Dir. Tim Blake Nelson
Feat. Edward Norton, Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfuss…; Stoner comedy for the philosophically inclined with Edward Norton pulling double duty as an Ivy League professor lured back to his Oklahoma hometown,…
Lebanon (2009): Dir. Samuel Maoz
Feat. Yoav Donat, Itay Tiran, Oshri Cohen…; Intense, multi–faceted battle thriller set during the height of the Israeli–Lebanon conflict in 1982 in which four young soldiers sent by…
Lie To Me (TV Series) (2009-2011): Feat. Tim Roth, Kelli Williams, Brendan Hines; Engaging crime drama that sees an unlikely Tim Roth play Cal Lightman, a doctor who has such an uncanny ability to read facial expressions and body…
Limits of Control, The (2009): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Isaach de Bankole, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton…; Indie King Jim Jarmusch directs this mysterious and moody crime thriller, in which a Lone Man wanders through Madrid and Seville on an undisclosed…
Lodger, The (2009): Dir. David Ondaatje
Feat. Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Shane West…; Remake of the Hitchcock original takes Jack the Ripper out of Whitechapel and places him on West Hollywood's Sunset Strip, pursued by grizzled…
Lost (TV Series) - Season 5 (2009): Feat. Naveen Andrews, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly…; The mysterious consequences of the downing of Oceanic Flight 815 continue, this season finally answering some long–standing questions. 17…
Lucky Country (2009): Dir. Kriv Stenders
Feat. Aden Young; Terrific outback chamber piece is a turn–of–the–century powerplay between a poverty–stricken family, and three…
Lulu and the Bank Robber (TV Mini-Series) (2009): Feat. Lene Maria Christensen, Lars Brygmann, Nicole Johansen; An independent mother and small business owner is drawn into the dodging dealings of her habitual criminal husband in this pulpy Danish crime…
Marple (TV Series) [Julia McKenzie] (2009-2011): Dir. John Strickland, Nicholas Renton, Charles Palmer
Feat. Julia McKenzie, Prunella Scales, Rik Mayall…; Yet another regeneration of British TV's long–running Agatha Christie serial, with Julia McKenzie taking the reins from Geraldine McEwan, who…
Message, The (2009): Dir. Kuo-fu Chen, Qunshu Gao
Feat. Bingbing Li, Xun Zhou, Zhiwen Wang…; Sino–Japanese tensions are foregrounded in this enthralling cat and mouse thriller, set in a clifftop mansion during the height of World War…
Moment of Truth, The (Don McKay) (2009): Dir. Jake Goldberger
Feat. Thomas Haden Church, Elisabeth Shue, Melissa Leo…; Quirky thriller with a downtrodden janitor lured back to his hometown by a letter from an old flame but upon his return he soon finds things are not…
Moses Jones (TV Mini-Series) (2009): Dir. Michael Offer
Feat. Shaun Parkes, Matt Smith; Grimy, downtrodden policier finds the titular Moses Jones (Parkes) re–assigned to investigate a brutal murder amid London’s Ugandan exile…
Mother (2009): Dir. Joon-ho Bong
Feat. Hye-ja Kim, Won Bin, Ku Jin; Cavalier Korean dir. Bong Joon–ho (THE HOST) contorts a regulation murder mystery, centred on a mother's campaign to clear her deadbeat son's…
Murderer (2009): Dir. Roy Chow
Feat. Aaron Kwok, Ning Chang, Tam Chun Yat; Serial killer convention receives an enjoyable, shameless workout with this Hong Kong policier, centred on a police investigator framed for a series…
Murderland (TV Mini-series) (2009): Dir. Catherine Morshead
Feat. Robbie Coltrane, Amanda Hale, Bel Powley…; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Mystery Team (2009): Dir. Dan Eckman
Feat. Donald Glover, D.C. Pierson, Dominic Dierkes…; Goofy comedy with three high school nerds masquerading as detectives who find themselves investigating a murder. Hit–and–miss comedy…
Not Forgotten (2009): Dir. Dror Soref
Feat. Simon Baker, Paz Vega, Claire Forlani; An average joe (Baker) pursues his kidnapped daughter in this unseemly abduction thriller. Straddling the U.S.–Mexico border, the film delves…
Obsessed (2009): Dir. Steve Shill
Feat. Idris Elba, Beyonce Knowles, Ali Larter…; Campy stalker thriller sees a successful bank manager (Elba) relentlessly pursued by an obsessive temp who works in his office. THE WIRE vet Elba…
Overheard (Qie ting feng yun) (2009): Dir. Felix Chong, Alan Mak
Feat. Lau Ching-wan, Louis Koo, Daniel Wu; The directors of INFERNAL AFFAIRS reel in their sleek, sprawling urbane sensibility, changing tack with this compact character study about three…
Peacock (2009): Dir. Michael Lander
Feat. Cillian Murphy, Elliot Page, Susan Sarandon…; A freak accident in a small American town threatens to disclose a bank teller's secret life – that of a split personality – in this…
Prophet, A (Un Prophet) (2009): Dir. Jacques Audiard
Feat. Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif…; Dir. Jacques Audiard betters the accomplished storytelling of THE BEAT MY HEART SKIPPED, situating an immersive world of cloistered gangsters and…
Push (2009): Dir. Paul McGuigan
Feat. Camilla Belle, Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning…; Four telekinetic outcasts band together to expose a government conspiracy in this familiar, if crispy executed sci–fi thriller. Derives…
Red Riding Trilogy (1974, 1980, 1983) (2009): Dir. Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, Anand Tucker
Feat. Sean Bean, Andrew Garfield, David Morrissey…; David Peace’s gritty quartet of crime novels receive a stunning translation to the screen with this threesome of British detective thrillers, based…
Secret in Their Eyes, The (El Secreto de sus Ojos) (2009): Dir. Juan José Campanella
Feat. Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Carla Quevedo; Arresting, well–rounded Argentine crime drama sees a retired court employee become obsessed with a 25–year–old murder case that he…
Sherlock Holmes (2009): Dir. Guy Ritchie
Feat. Robert Downey Jnr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams…; Blockbuster makeover of the famous sleuth has Holmes re–imagined as a brawny, off–beat super–hero type, battling a fiendish villain…
Shinjuku Incident (San suk si gin) (2009): Dir. Derek Yee
Feat. Jackie Chan, Naoto Takenaka, Daniel Wu; Jackie Chan turns serious for this gritty, nocturnal gangland drama centered around a Chinese immigrant who is unintentionally drawn into Tokyo’s…
Spooks - Season 8 (TV Series) (2009): Feat. Peter Firth, Hermione Norris, Richard Armitage; Further episodes from the British MI5 spy suspense series, in which agents try to resolve a variety of 21st century threats.
State Of Play (2009): Dir. Kevin MacDonald
Feat. Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams…; With excellent political thriller credentials, this accomplished remake (from the BBC mini–series) transposes its conspiracy–laden scoop…
Staten Island (Little New York) (2009): Dir. James DeMonaco
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Seymour Cassel…; Ethan Hawke plays a blue collar New Yorker whose plan to fleece a mob boss of his dirty money comes unstuck when a deaf–mute hitman enters the…
Stepfather, The (2009): Dir. Nelson McCormick
Feat. Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Amber Heard…; This cliche–heavy remake of the eighties classic about a teenager convinced his new step father is a serial killer doesn't have the same…
Storm (2009): Dir. Hans-Christian Schmid
Feat. Kerry Fox, Anamaria Marinca, Stephen Dillane; Accomplished international courtroom drama sees a determined prosecutor (Fox) risk life and limb in order to prove that the former commander of the…
Sweet Karma (2009): Dir. Andrew Thomas Hunt
Feat. Shera Bechard; A beautiful, bloodthirsty Russian mute infiltrates Toronto's underground sex trade in pursuit of her sister's killers, in this tantalizing throwback…
Taking Of Pelham 123, The (2009): Dir. Tony Scott
Feat. Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzman; Flashy remake of the 70s heist movie sees John Travolta as the mastermind behind the hijack of a New York subway train, and Denzel Washington as the…
Turn of the Screw (2009): Dir. Tim Fywell
Feat. Michelle Dockery, Sue Johnston, Eva Sayer…; Solid adaptation of the Henry James classic substitutes subtle scares for jolts in this classic tale of a governess under paranormal…
Uncertainty (2009): Dir. David Siegel, Scott McGehee
Feat. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lynn Collins, Assumpta Serna…; 'Uncertainty' is both the title and the key to enjoying this convention–defying thriller that interweaves two parallel stories that feature the…
Unforgiven (2009): Dir. David Evans
Feat. Suranne Jones, Matthew McNulty, Emily Beecham…; 3–part crime drama about a woman in Yorkshire who was found guilty of murdering two police officers when she was a teenager. After spending 15…
Van Diemen's Land (2009): Dir. Jonathan auf der Heide
Feat. Oscar Redding, Arthur Angel, Paul Ashcroft…; Forbidding re–enactment of the "legend" of Alexander Pearce, who escaped from a penal colony in 1822 into the unforgiving Tasmanian wilderness…
White Collar (TV Series) (2009-2014): Feat. Matt Bomer, Marsha Thomason, Tim DeKay…; Police procedural series following a hard working and honest FBI agent (Tim DeKay) who makes a work–release deal with a captured con artist…
Whiteout (2009): Dir. Dominic Sena
Feat. Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Columbus Short…; Brisk, improbable thriller starring Kate Beckinsale as a U.S. Marshall investigating Antarctica’s first ever homicide on the brink of continent’s…
Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop, A (2009): Dir. Zhang Yimou
Feat. Honglei Sun, Shen-Yang Xiao, Ni Yan; Dir. Zhang Yimou weaves a tale of adultery and revenge in 19th century China, based on the Coen brothers' classic neo–noir, BLOOD SIMPLE.
100 Feet (2008): Dir. Eric Red
Feat. Famke Janssen, Bobby Cannavale, Ed Westwick; A woman (Janssen) confined to her house after being accused of murdering her husband is plagued by his vengeful ghost in this high–concept…
21 (2008): Dir. Robert Luketic
Feat. Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth…; Snappy thriller based on the true story of a group of students who cheat the Vegas gambling system in order to pay off their college fees, helped…
24 - Redemption (2008): Dir. Jon Cassar
Feat. Kiefer Sutherland, Robert Carlyle, Gil Bellows…; Solid feature–length primer for 24's seventh season finds the ever–durable Jack Bauer on the lam from American authorities, hiding out in…
24 - Season 7 (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland; Further episodes in this high–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode) with Kiefer Sutherland as lead…
25 Carat (25 Kilates) (2008): Dir. Patxi Amezcua
Feat. Francesc Garrido, Aida Folch, Manuel Moron…; Relentless thriller set in the Barcelona underworld where a loan enforcer and a car thief pair up for a particularly dangerous heist.…
A Film With Me In It (2008): Dir. Ian Fitzgibbon
Feat. Dylan Moran, Mark Doherty, Keith Allen…; Wonderfully droll vehicle for the amiable, slightly–sozzled comic persona of Dylan Moran, who stars as a down–at–heel actor who…
Acolytes (2008): Dir. Jon Hewitt
Feat. Joel Edgerton, Michael Dorman, Hanna Mangan Lawrence…; Chilling, if somewhat uneven, low–budget Aussie thriller concerning a group of teens who blackmail a serial killer to help them extract revenge…
American Trap, The (2008): Dir. Charles Biname
Feat. Remy Girard, Colm Feore, Janet Lane; Paranoid sixties set thriller has a Canadian criminal becoming an unwitting secret weapon for a covert organisation and bearing witness to a chain of…
Anything for Her (Pour Elle) (2008): Dir. Fred Cavaye
Feat. Vincent Lindon, Diane Kruger, Lancelot Roch…; Cracking French thriller sees a happy couple's marriage torn apart when the wife is sent to prison for murder. Convinced of her innocence, her…
Assassination Of A High School President (2008): Dir. Brett Simon
Feat. Mischa Barton, Reece Thompson, Bruce Willis…; A high–school reporter investigating the disappearance of missing exam papers uncovers a wider conspiracy in this smart, teen riff on CHINATOWN.
Baader Meinhof Complex, The (2008): Dir. Uli Edel
Feat. Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek…; A big–budget, pulse–pounding account of terrorism and political protest in 1960s and 70s Germany, centred on the notorious Red Army…
Blindness (2008): Dir. Fernando Meirelles
Feat. Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Danny Glover…; Psychological thriller set in a big city where a sudden epidemic of 'white blindness' strikes half the population, and those affected set up their…
Body Of Lies (2008): Dir. Ridley Scott
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Vince Colosimo…; Double–crossing political thriller starring DiCaprio as a street–savvy US intelligence operative at the beck and (phone)call of a CIA…
Breaking Bad - Complete Boxset (TV Series) (2008-2013): Feat. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn…; Boxed set edition of AMC's heavy–hitting TV series, about a high school chemistry teacher (Cranston) who turns to a life of drug–dealing…
Breaking Bad - Season 1 (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn…; Cynical drama series that gives us a new anti–hero in Walter White (Cranston), a high school chemistry teacher who turns to a life of…
Broken, The (2008): Dir. Sean Ellis
Feat. Lena Headey, Ulrich Thomsen, Melvil Poupaud…; Spooky, artfully directed thriller, about a woman (Headey) who suspects she’s being followed around London by a murderous…
Burn After Reading (2008): Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Feat. George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt…; Appealing 'dunderhead' comedy from the Coen Brothers that plots an elaborate caper for its A–list ensemble cast, who relish the chance to…
Cactus (2008): Dir. Jasmine Yuen Carrucan
Feat. Travis McMahon, Bryan Brown, Shane Jacobson…; Claustrophobic Aussie thriller pitting a kidnapper and his captive against each other in a battle of wills while travelling through the scorching…
Cass (2008): Dir. Jon S. Baird
Feat. Nonso Anozie, Natalie Press, Leo Gregory; Freewheeling hooligan flick centered around the true story of Cass Pennant, a Jamaican brought up in an all white area of London who grew up to be…
Changeling (2008): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Angelina Jolie, Gattlin Griffith, John Malkovich; Would–be heavyweight drama set in 1920's L.A. sees solo mother Angelina Jolie reunite with her kidnapped son only to realise he is an impostor,…
Chaser, The (Chugyeogja) (2008): Dir. Hong-jin Na
Feat. Yun-seok Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Yeong-hie Seo; As much concerned with criticizing the police force as it is deftly juggling plot twists, murders, and other serial killer conventions, this Korean…
Deception (2008): Dir. Marcel Langenegger
Feat. Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Williams…; Smoke–and–mirrors suspenser stars Ewan McGregor as a disillusioned accountant entangled in an illicit world of duplicity after getting…
Detective De Luca (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Alessandro Prezioni; Another good looking entry into the Italian crime fiction genre, only this time set during the country's fascist era and along the war torn Bologna…
Disappeared, The (2008): Dir. Johnny Kevorkian
Feat. Harry Treadaway, Greg Wise, Ros Leeming…; Restrained British chiller set on a London estate focuses on a young man's search for his missing younger brother. Impressive debut for dir.…
Eagle Eye (2008): Dir. D. J. Caruso
Feat. Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson…; Derivative but entertaining cyber–thriller in which a young man and single mother get framed as terrorists and find themselves unexpectedly…
Escapist, The (2008): Dir. Rupert Wyatt
Feat. Brian Cox, Damian Lewis, Joseph Fiennes; This straight–up escape movie delivers all the thrills and spills of the durable prison genre, with old–timer Brian Cox hatching a master…
Eye, The (2008): Dir. David Moreau, Xavier Palud
Feat. Jessica Alba, Alessandro Nivola, Rade Serbedzija…; Mildly startling Hollywood remake of creepy Hong Kong horror sees Jessica Alba playing the once–blind violinist whose sight gets surgically…
Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008): Dir. Kari Skogland
Feat. Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Zegers…; Sharp docu–drama with Jim Sturgess as Irishman Martin McGartland, charged with infiltrating the IRA during the 1980s. Tense action sequences…
Fixer, The (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Andrew Buchan, Tamzin Outhwaite, Peter Mullan; Punchy, well executed thriller in the tradition of SPOOKS sees a team of misfits, all with shady pasts, collaborate to bring down Britain's most…
Flame and Citron (2008): Dir. Ole Christian Madsen
Feat. Thure Lindhardt, Mads Mikkelsen, Stine Stengade…; Lavishly–appointed wartime thriller based on the true story of contrasting Danish resistance fighters as they take vengeance on the occupying…
Flashpoint (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Hugh Dillon, Enrico Colantoni, Sergio Di Zio; High–octane cop show from Canada following the 'Strategic Response Unit', a team of elite police who take on the riskier jobs the rest won't…
Fred Vargas Collection (TV Series) (2008-2010): Dir. Josee Dayan
Feat. Jean-Hugues Anglade, Helene Fillieres, Charlotte Rampling; Four excellent French TV adaptations of crime fiction novelist Fred Vargas' popular policiers, with her famous protagonist, Detective Adamsberg, a…
Frozen River (2008): Dir. Courtney Hunt
Feat. Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott; A fraught, unexpected thriller within indie drama specs, this engrossing premise concerns two single mothers who find themselves smuggling immigrants…
Generation Kill (TV Mini-series) (2008): Feat. Alexander Skarsgard, James Ransone, Lee Tergesen…; Superlative HBO series from the makers of THE WIRE following the U.S. Marine reconnaissance battalion in the first year of the Iraq invasion.…
Go Fast (2008): Dir. Olivier Van Hoofstadt
Feat. Roschdy Zem, Olivier Gourmet; An exciting, if standard issue Gallic policier set around the high–stakes world of narcotics, where an Arab police officer goes undercover to…
Gran Torino (2008): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her…; Grizzly Korean war veteran Clint Eastwood puts aside his prejudices to defend a family of Hmong immigrants from Asian gangsters in this clear cut and…
Guns (TV Mini-series) (2008): Dir. David Sutherland
Feat. Elisha Cuthbert, Lyriq Bent, Colm Feore; Mini–series exploring the issue of gun violence in Canada through the story of four families caught up in illegal trafficking in Toronto.…
Happening, The (2008): Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Feat. Mark Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, Zooey Deschanel…; Latest M. Night Shyamalan thriller, set in the disaster capital of New York City, where a family tries to escape a disturbing blight of city…
Hell Ride (2008): Dir. Larry Bishop
Feat. Larry Bishop, Michael Madsen, Eric Balfour…; Grindhouse–inspired biker flick stars Bishop as the head of a biker gang on a mission to avenge a fallen comrade killed by a rival…
Hurt Locker, The (2008): Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Feat. Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty…; Nerve–jangling Iraq War set drama follows a gung–ho bomb disposal expert with a seeming addiction to adrenaline. The most…
Hush (2008): Dir. Mark Tonderai
Feat. William Ash, Christine Bottomley, Andreas Wisniewski; Highway thriller concerning a yappy young Manchester couple who commit an innocent indiscretion on the road, plunging them into a race for their…
I Come with the Rain (2008): Dir. Tran Anh Hung
Feat. Josh Hartnett, Elias Koteas, Tran Nu Yen-Khe…; Dir. Tran Anh Hung revives the humid, squalored atmosphere of his acclaimed CYCLO with this stylish, heavy–handed international noir. Josh…
I Know You Know (2008): Dir. Justin Kerrigan
Feat. Robert Carlyle, Arron Fuller, David Bradley; Grim British drama focused on the volatile Charlie (Carlyle), an undercover spy working for a shadowy agency, and the fiercely protective…
Ice Blues (2008): Feat. Chad Allen, Sebastian Spence; Gay detective Donald Strachey investigates an anonymous donation of $3 million to a children's charity, only to find himself entwined in corruption…
In Bruges (2008): Dir. Martin McDonagh
Feat. Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes; A smart, jet–black comedy centred on two Irish assassins who are packed off to Bruges, Belgium by their superior after a hit goes horribly…
Jerusalema (2008): Dir. Ralph Ziman
Feat. Daniel Buckland, Robert Hobbs; A punchy, gun–toting gangland epic following the rise to two Soweto teenagers seduced by crime and violence in South Africa. Although…
Julia (2008): Dir. Erick Zonca
Feat. Tilda Swinton, Saul Rubinek, Kate del Castillo; Gutsy, dynamic melodrama propelled by a full–tilt performance from Tilda Swinton as a loose cannon alcoholic who becomes embroiled in…
Killshot (2008): Dir. John Madden
Feat. Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Thomas Jane…; Mickey Rourke's ruthless hitman targets a divorced couple hiding out in the witness protection program. Adapted from Elmore Leonard's pulp novel,…
Knight Rider (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Justin Bruening, Deanna Russo, Paul Campbell…; Slick re–boot of the '80's 'classic' with Michael Knight's son teaming up with smart car K.I.T.T. to fight baddies and rack up speeding tickets…
Lady Cop and Papa Crook (Daai Sau cha Ji Neui) (2008): Dir. Siu Fai Mak, Felix Chong
Feat. Eason Chang, Sammi Cheng, Tak-bun Wong…; An oil kingpin (Chang) finds himself in alliance with a cop (Cheng) when his son is kidnapped, resulting in an uneasy relationship between the law…
Lakeview Terrace (2008): Dir. Neil LaBute
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington; Creepy suburban thriller focused on obsessive cop Abel Turner (Jackson) who will stop at nothing to rid his 'perfect' neighbourhood of an interracial…
Last Confession of Alexander Pearce, The (2008): Dir. Michael James Rowland
Feat. Adrian Dunbar, Ciaran McMenamin, Don Hany…; Potent docu–drama revealing the true story of the infamous Irish convict Alexander Pearce during the days leading up to his execution at the…
Lazarus Project, The (2008): Dir. John Glenn
Feat. Paul Walker, Piper Perabo, Linda Cardellini; Surreal thriller concerning a prisoner on death row (Walker), who after his lethal injection inexplicably wakes up in a mental institution where he…
Life on Mars (US TV Series) (2008): Feat. Harvey Keitel, Jason O'Mara, Michael Imperioli…; Polarizing remake of the British sci–fi success shares an identical premise – namely cop hit by car in present wakes up in 1973 –…
Mentalist, The (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang; Superior crime series sees Simon Baker play an ex–'psychic' who now uses his remarkable powers of scrupulous observation in the name of the…
Mesrine (Killer Instinct, Public Enemy Number 1) (2008): Dir. Jean-François Richet
Feat. Vincent Cassel, Cecile De France, Gerard Depardieu…; Effective, if at times highly sensationalised biopic of career criminal Jacques Mesrine – France’s ‘Public Enemy #1’ throughout the 1960s and…
Midnight Meat Train, The (2008): Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
Feat. Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, Brooke Shields…; Twisted horror based on cult–horror writer Clive Barker's 'Books Of Blood' sees a photographer (Cooper) grow obsessed with a butcher (Jones)…
Mirrors (2008): Dir. Alexandre Aja
Feat. Kiefer Sutherland; Sketchy remake of the Korean horror 'Geoul Sokeuro', starring Kiefer Sutherland as an ousted ex–cop turned security officer who begins to see…
MR 73 (The Last Deadly Mission) (2008): Dir. Olivier Marchal
Feat. Daniel Auteuil, Olivia Bonamy, Philippe Nahon; Rock solid policier stars Daniel Auteuil as a drunken, burnt–out cop whose shot at redemption comes in the form of a woman requiring protection…
Murdoch Mysteries (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Yannick Bisson, Thomas Craig, Jonny Harris…; An under–appreciated, unique historical crime series set in Victorian Toronto in which an unorthodox young detective, William Murdoch, uses…
New Town Killers (2008): Dir. Richard Jobson
Feat. Dougray Scott, Alastair Mackenzie, James Anthony Pearson; Two wealthy businessmen get their kicks out of playing macabre games of cat–and–mouse with poverty–stricken victims who win money…
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, The (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Jill Scott, Anika Noni Rose, Lucian Msamati; Filmed on location in Botswana – a major first for the country, this vibrant, award winning series comes with a hefty line–up of…
North Face (Nordwand) (2008): Dir. Philipp Stölzl
Feat. Benno Fürmann, Florian Lukas; Exceptionally vivid, nerve–wracking mountaineering thriller in which two novice climbers attempt to be the first to scale the treacherous north…
Nothing But The Truth (2008): Dir. Rod Lurie
Feat. Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett…; Solid political drama 'inspired' on a true story focused around a young journalist who faces imprisonment after outing a CIA agent and refusing to…
Objective, The (2008): Dir. Daniel Myrick
Feat. Jonas Ball, Michael Williams; Supernatural horror set in the all–too–real territory of Afghanistan follows a bunch of US Special Ops who get lost in a terrifying…
On the Other Hand, Death (2008): Dir. Ron Oliver
Feat. Chad Allen, Sebastian Spence, Margot Kidder…; Gay detective Donald Strachey (Allen) is back to investigate some ruthless property developers who he suspects are the culprits of homophobic…
Other Man, The (2008): Dir. Richard Eyre
Feat. Laura Linney, Antonio Banderas, Liam Neeson…; Melodrama starring Liam Neeson as a man whose struggle to find his missing and unfaithful wife (Linney) brings him into contact with her new lover…
Oxford Murders, The (2008): Dir. Alex de la Iglesia
Feat. Elijah Wood, John Hurt, Leonor Watling…; At Oxford University, a professor and a grad student work together to try and stop a potential series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical…
Passengers (2008): Dir. Rodrigo Garcia
Feat. Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson, Andre Braugher…; Supernatural thriller revolving around a young grief therapist (Hathaway) assigned to counsel the five survivors of a plane crash, only to have them…
Pineapple Express (2008): Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Seth Rogen, James Franco, Bill Hader…; Surprisingly touching stoner comedy with Seth Rogen and James Franco playing two dudes on the run from corrupt drug lords after witnessing a murder.…
Place Of Execution (TV Mini-series) (2008): Dir. Daniel Percival
Feat. Juliet Stevenson, Lee Ingleby, Greg Wise; Complex and morally ambiguous three part thriller based on the award–winning novel by Val McDermid. Told in parallel storylines, Juliet…
Pride and Glory (2008): Dir. Gavin O'Connor
Feat. Colin Farrell, Edward Norton, Jon Voight…; A withdrawn, honest Irish cop becomes tangled in a web of betrayal when his brother's drug bust goes savagely wrong and he is ordered to investigate…
Prison Break - Season 4 (TV Series) (2008-2009): Feat. Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Robin Tunney…; Further episodes in this riveting series of two escaped convicts' flight to freedom, and the high level political conspiracy they must expose in…
Protectors, The (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Cecilie Stenspil, Søren Vejby, André Babikian; Stellar Danish production centred on a group of professional bodyguards assigned to protect VIPs, politicians, and heads of state out of Copenhagen.…
Quid Pro Quo (2008): Dir. Carlos Brooks
Feat. Nick Stahl, Vera Farmiga; Offbeat indie thriller focused on a wheelchair–bound radio reporter sent to investigate the emerging trend of people paying doctors to remove…
Red (2008): Dir. Trygve Allister Diesen, Lucky McKee
Feat. Brian Cox, Noel Fisher, Tom Sizemore…; A surprisingly restrained revenge thriller, with Brian Cox as the owner of a murdered dog seeking retribution. Muddled, but has its moments.
Restraint (2008): Dir. David Denneen
Feat. Teresa Palmer, Stephen Moyer, Travis Fimmel; Gripping, stripped–back thriller from across the ditch, in which an agoraphobic toff is taken hostage by a young couple on the run from the…
Revanche (2008): Dir. Gotz Spielmann
Feat. Johannes Krisch, Irina Potapenko, Andreas Lust; A botched bank robbery resulting in the death of a prostitute compels an embittered ex–con to contemplate revenge in this steely, impressive…
Righteous Kill (2008): Dir. Jon Avnet
Feat. Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, John Leguizamo…; Heavyweight has–beens De Niro and Pacino team up again as a couple of NYPD detectives on the trail of a serial killer, whose signature murders…
RocknRolla (2008): Dir. Guy Ritchie
Feat. Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandiwe Newton…; Stylephile Guy Ritchie revisits well–trodden territory with this typically tangled crime caper involving a menagerie of seedy opportunists…
Roxy Hunter (2008): Dir. Eleanor Lindo
Feat. Aria Wallace; Nancy Drew–ish family drama revealing another precocious kid sleuth and her best buddy as they use their investigative know–how to solve…
Shuttle (2008): Dir. Edward Anderson
Feat. Tony Curran, Peyton List, Cameron Goodman…; An airport shuttle ride turn into a nightmare for its nubile passengers in this tightly contained indie adbuction thriller from first–time…
Sin Nombre (Without Name) (2008): Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga
Feat. Paulina Gaitan, Edgar Flores; Honduran teenagers brave Mexican gangs and border patrols as they attempt to illegally emigrate to the US in this superbly mounted,…
Splinter (2008): Dir. Toby Wilkins
Feat. Shea Whigham, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Wagner; Lean sci–fi thriller in which a couple and an escaped convict are trapped in a gas station by a deadly parasite intent on making their bodies…
Spooks - Season 7 (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Peter Firth, Gemma Jones, Richard Armitage; Further episodes from the British MI5 spy suspense series, in which agents try to resolve a variety of 21st century threats. Series Seven: 8…
Square, The (2008): Dir. Nash Edgerton
Feat. David Roberts, Claire van der Boom, Joel Edgerton; Hard–and–fast noir with an Aussie twang, hatched from a plot to make off with a mobster’s stash of cash, and the luckless turn of…
Strangers, The (2008): Dir. Bryan Bertino
Feat. Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman; A home invasion horror orcestrated with rare tension and restraint, concerning a couple’s night of terror at the hands of three masked…
Street Kings (2008): Dir. David Ayer
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie, Forest Whitaker…; LA CONFIDENTIAL author James Ellroy and the writer of TRAINING DAY team up for this ultra–macho, ultra–violent LAPD–centric…
Surveillance (2008): Dir. Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Feat. Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Pell James…; Divisive thriller following two FBI agents who must piece together three very different eyewitness accounts of a murder in a small town, in order to…
Suspension (2008): Dir. Ethan Shaftel
Feat. Scott Cordes, Annie Tedesco, Caroline Vinciguerra; Independent sci–fi thriller in the TWILIGHT ZONE mold, concerning a man who loses his wife and son in a car accident, and subsequently…
Tender Hook, The (2008): Dir. Jonathan Ogilvie
Feat. Rose Byrne, Hugo Weaving, Matthew Le Nevez…; Noted for its production design and cinematography, this film captures the visual mood of 1920s Sydney to enfold a melodrama of corruption,…
Tenderness (2008): Dir. John Polson
Feat. Russell Crowe, Jon Foster; Indie thriller sees Russell Crowe play a semi–retired detective who becomes obsessed with a teenage murderer recently freed from prison, who he…
Three Monkeys (2008): Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Feat. Yavuz Bingol, Hatice Aslan, Ahmet Rifat Sungar…; A brooding detective story from Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, about a wealthy businessman who bribes one of his underlings to take the wrap for a…
Tony Manero (2008): Dir. Pablo Larrain
Feat. Alfredo Castro, Paola Lattus, Héctor Morales; Unsettling drama set against the Pinochet regime in Chile in 1978, where a psychopathic disco fan steals and kills in an effort to become the…
Traitor (2008): Dir. Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Feat. Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Said Taghmaoui…; Don Cheadle stars as a Semtex racketeer selling to the highest bidder – be he CIA or Jihadist – and finds himself a pawn on the twin…
Transporter 3, The (2008): Dir. Olivier Megaton
Feat. Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, Francois Berleand; The third in the mind–numbing action series sees Statham reprise his role as mercenary transporter whose package is now a Ukrainian beauty he…
Transsiberian (2008): Dir. Brad Anderson
Feat. Emily Mortimer, Woody Harrelson, Ben Kingsley…; Writer–director Brad Anderson (THE MACHINIST) again turns a captivating premise into a stylish, dark–edged thriller of distinction, this…
Tuesday (2008): Dir. Sacha Bennett
Feat. Philip Glenister, Ashley Walters, Christian Solimeno…; British heist movie concerning a group of infamous criminals, a couple of beautiful bank clerks and a desperate, jobless man, all of whom decide to…
Untraceable (2008): Dir. Gregory Hoblit
Feat. Diane Lane, Billie Burke, Colin Hanks; Contemporary cyber–thriller starring Diane Lane as an FBI agent tracking a serial killer who uses Internet hits to decide how quickly he will…
Valkyrie (2008): Dir. Bryan Singer
Feat. Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson…; Hollywood crosses enemy lines with Tom Cruise perversely cast as a disaffected Nazi officer who leads a plot to assassinate Hitler. Dispensing…
Vantage Point (2008): Dir. Peter Travis
Feat. Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Dennis Quaid…; Tipsy, time–swapping political thriller cribs liberally from RASHOMON and TV–terrorist heart–stopper 24 in congealing multiple…
Vinyan (2008): Dir. Fabrice du Welz
Feat. Emmanuelle Beart, Rufus Sewell, Julie Dreyfus; Fabrice Du Welz (THE ORDEAL) directs this striking, elemental jungle thriller, in which a tormented couple (Sewell and Beart) cross the Thai border…
Wallace and Gromit - A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008): Dir. Nick Park; BAFTA–winning animation from the unstoppable clay characters of cheese–loving Wallace and his trusty dog Gromit. This time round the…
Wallander (TV Series, UK) (2008): Feat. Kenneth Branagh, Sarah Smart, Sadie Shimmin; UK adaptation of Henning Mankell’s crime novels sees Branagh take on the titular role of the grizzled Nordic detective, solving gristly crimes in…
Wanted (2008): Dir. Timur Bekmambetov
Feat. James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman; A relentless rollercoaster ride on amphetamines, this breakneck graphic novel adaptation from the Russian director of NIGHT WATCH tracks the…
Wave, The (Die Welle) (2008): Dir. Dennis Gansel
Feat. Jürgen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt…; Based on a true incident in the US in the early 1970's to practically illustrate the machinations of Nazi propaganda, a school teacher's unorthodox…
What Doesn't Kill You (2008): Dir. Brian Goodman
Feat. Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, Amanda Peet…; A grubby, unpretentious thriller hatched amongst the urban boondocks of South Boston, in which two suffering, longtime friends (Ruffalo and Hawke)…
What No One Knows (Det som ingen ved) (2008): Dir. Søren Kragh-Jacobsen
Feat. Anders W. Berthelsen, Maria Bonnevie, Ghita Norby; Knife–edged political thriller sees a middle–aged family man uncover his father’s shady involvement in military intelligence after his…
Whitechapel (TV Mini-series) (2008): Feat. Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis, Steve Pemberton; Atmospheric detective show focused on a group of detectives who are trying to track down a Jack The Ripper copycat. Filmed entirely in the East…
Wire, The - Season 5 (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Dominic West, John Doman, Frankie Faison…; Fifth and final season of the celebrated Baltimore crime drama shifts focus to its creator David Simon's 'bread and butter' – crime…
Wired (TV Mini-series) (2008): Feat. Riz Ahmed, Jodie Whittaker, Toby Stephens…; Three–part television miniseries from the director of SPOOKS, in which a single mother working as a bank employee gets caught up in the corrupt…
XIII: The Conspiracy (TV Mini-Series) (2008): Feat. Val Kilmer, Stephen Dorff; Intriguing mini–series set around the premise that the first female President of the United States has been assassinated by an unknown sniper…
24 - Season 6 (TV Series) (2007): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland; Further episodes in this high–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode) with Kiefer Sutherland as lead…
28 Weeks Later (2007): Dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Feat. Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Harold Perrineau, Jr.…; Post–Apocalyptic sequel to 28 DAYS LATER takes place weeks after the Rage Virus outbreak, with a small community attempting to…
88 Minutes (2007): Dir. Jon Avnet
Feat. Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski…; Humdrum, race–against–the–clock thriller stars ol’ owl–eyes as a professor whose recent testimony against a convicted…
Air I Breathe, The (2007): Dir. Jieho Lee
Feat. Brendan Fraser, Forest Whitaker, Andy Garcia…; Slick ensemble drama charting four desperate city dwellers who find their destinies intertwined through the four emotions of Happiness, Pleasure,…
Anamorph (2007): Dir. Henry Miller
Feat. Willem Dafoe, Scott Speedman, Clea Duvall; Moody thriller in which Willem Dafoe plays detective to a delusional psychopath who leaves each crime scene in the style of a painting…
Awake (2007): Dir. Joby Harold
Feat. Jessica Alba, Hayden Christensen, Terrence Howard; Watchable, if insubstantial psychological suspenser about a wealthy young man (Christensen) who experiences 'anaesthetic awareness' during heart…
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney…; Intense tragi–thriller centred around a pair of hapless brothers (Hoffman and Hawke) who face devastating family consequences after a botched…
Bionic Woman, The (TV Series) (2007): Feat. Michelle Ryan, Miguel Ferrer, Molly Price…; Updated version of the 70's TV series about a female athlete who is gifted with bionic strength after a serious accident.
Black Donnellys, The (TV Series) (2007): Feat. Michael Stahl-David, Jonathan Tucker, Tom Guiry…; Haphazard but engrossing antidote to the status quo of gangster TV series (i.e. THE SOPRANOS) centres on four Hell's Kitchen brothers whose…
Black Snake Moan (2007): Dir. Craig Brewer
Feat. Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson, Justin Timberlake; Christina Ricci stars as a scrawny, Southern–fried nympho whose demons get her deep into trouble in the deep, deep South the minute her doting…
Boarding Gate (2007): Dir. Olivier Assayas
Feat. Asia Argento, Michael Madsen, Kelly Lin; Grubby, intercontinental intrigue, starring the slinky Asia Argento on the lam from sleazy ex–lovers and drug deals gone wrong,…
Borderland (2007): Dir. Zev Berman
Feat. Brian Presley, Rider Strong, Sean Astin; Unexpectedly effective horror following three recent college–graduates as they stumble across a human–sacrifice cult during a heady…
Bourne Ultimatum, The (2007): Dir. Paul Greengrass
Feat. Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Édgar Ramírez…; Quality white–knuckle thrills–and–spills flick concludes the Bourne trilogy – and our super–spook hero’s (Damon)…
Brave One, The (2007): Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Jodie Foster, Naveen Andrews, Terrence Howard; Jodie’s gotta gun, here playing a radio jock turned vigilante avenging her husband's fatal mugging in Neil Jordan's tough stylish, revenge…
Breach (2007): Dir. Billy Ray
Feat. Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney; A first–rate dramatic thriller that pits spy against spy on the American homefront, based on the true story of the FBI's internal investigation…
Brooklyn Rules (2007): Dir. Michael Corrente
Feat. Alec Baldwin, Scott Caan, Freddie Prinze Jnr.…; Three impressionable Italian Americans must choose to resist or surrender to Mob life in this familiar, but soundly acted coming–of–age,…
Butterfly on a Wheel (2007): Dir. Mike Barker
Feat. Pierce Brosnan, Gerard Butler, Maria Bello; Tantalising thriller centred on a couple whose idyllic existence is shattered when their daughter is kidnapped by a man (Brosnan) with increasingly…
Cassandra's Dream (2007): Dir. Woody Allen
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson…; Woody Allen–directed suspense, rounding out his recent penchant for London–set thrillers, starring Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell as…
City of Men (Cidade dos Homens) (2007): Dir. Paulo Morelli
Feat. Douglas Silva, Darlan Cunha; Salty Rio back–blocks melodrama from the producers of CITY OF GOD revolving around two orphaned street kids on the brink of adulthood faced…
Cleaner (2007): Dir. Renny Harlin
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, Eva Mendes…; Noir–ish thriller stars Sam Jackson as an ex–cop–turned–crime–scene–cleaner who inadvertently finds himself…
Cold Blood (TV Mini-series) (2007): Feat. John Hannah, Jemma Redgrave; Standard psychological thriller centered around a jailed serial killer, who's last victim was never found. Announcing suddenly that he's ready to…
Concrete Romance (Cemento armato) (2007): Dir. Marco Martani
Feat. Nicolas Vaporidis, Giorgio Faletti, Carolina Crescentini; Brutal Italian thriller focused on a young petty crim unwittingly caught up in a deadly revenge plot by a Mafia kingpin after damaging his…
Counterfeiters, The (Die Fälscher) (2007): Dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky
Feat. Karl Markovics, Devid Striesow; An Oscar–winner for Best Foreign Language film, this taut German thriller reconstructs the story of a Jewish fraudster forced to assist the…
Day Zero (2007): Dir. Bryan Gunnar Cole
Feat. Elijah Wood, Jon Bernthal, Chris Klein…; A 'what if scenario' study of three New Yorkers facing the draft in an alternate post–9/11 reality. There's embattled Ivy Leaguer Chris…
Dead Clever (The Life and Crimes of Julie Bottomley) (2007): Dir. Dearbhla Walsh
Feat. Suranne Jones, Helen Baxendale, Dean Lennox Kelly; Smart British suburban thriller in which a scorned wife extracts wicked revenge on her cheating husband. A simple concept that skirts the line…
Death Proof (2007): Dir. Quentin Tarantino
Feat. Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan…; Tarantino, that great galloping genre geek, further indulges his jones for '70s B flicks and sexual kicks with his half of the 'Grindhouse' double…
Debt, The (Ha Hov) (2007): Dir. Assaf Bernstein
Feat. Gila Almagor, Yuriy Chepurnov, Oleg Drach; Unsettling thriller with a retired Mossad agent, whose Nazi–hunting past comes back to haunt her and her fellow agents.
Disturbia (2007): Dir. D. J. Caruso
Feat. Carrie-Anne Moss, Shia LaBeouf, David Morse…; Highly suspenseful retake of Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW, about a high–school senior who suspects his neighbour is a notorious serial…
Down By the Riverside (2007): Dir. Brad Davison, Marama Killen
Feat. Rebecca Trelease; Stylised rural noir concerns the mystery of a notorious country house used for abortions in the 20s, and the subsequent investigation into its dark…
Durham County (TV Series) (2007-2008): Feat. Hugh Dillon; An emotionally powerful series centered around Detective Mike Sweeney and his family as he hunts a serial killer he's certain is the guy across the…
Eastern Promises (2007): Dir. David Cronenberg
Feat. Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel…; A muscular, satisfying thriller set in the underworld of the Russian mafia in London, this reteams the director and star of A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE,…
End of the Line (2007): Dir. Maurice Devereaux
Feat. Ilona Elkin, Nicolas Wright, Neil Napier…; Chilling horror set in a Subway where a young nurse boards the last train of the night, only to have it stop halfway and its passengers brutally…
Exodus (Cheut ai kup gei) (2007): Dir. Pang Ho-Cheung
Feat. Simon Yam, Nick Cheung, Annie Liu; An indifferent Hong Kong detective slowly becomes convinced that women are conspiring to kill off the entire male species in this curious melange of…
Extraordinary Rendition (2007): Dir. Jim Threapleton
Feat. Andy Serkis, Omar Berdouni, Ania Sowinski; Topical, slightly underdone small–budget political thriller tracks a forward thinking UK teacher who is abducted and brutally tortured in an…
Fallen Angel (TV Series) (2007): Dir. David Drury
Feat. Emilia Fox, Charles Dance, Clare Holman; Disquieting Brit crime thriller fixed on the story of a murderess, starting at her most recent crime then winding back through time to reveal her…
Far North (2007): Dir. Asif Kapadia
Feat. Michelle Yeoh, Michelle Krusiec, Sean Bean…; On the Arctic tundra a starving stranger is thrown upon the charity of two Inuit women, driven to isolation by fear of prophecy and a violent past,…
Fermat's Room (La Habitación de Fermat) (2007): Feat. Frederico Luppi; Four top mathematicians must solve a complex riddle in order to avoid being crushed to death by a shrinking room in this claustrophobic Spanish…
Five (2007): Dir. Amit Tripuraneni
Feat. Richard Thompson; Exploratory sophomore feature from the dir. of MEMORIES OF TOMORROW leeches the mind–bending surrealism of David Lynch to intriguing,…
Flawless (2007): Dir. Michael Radford
Feat. Demi Moore, Michael Caine; Competent period caper teams up undervalued Diamond Corp exec Demi Moore with disaffected janitor Michael Caine, as they decide to take revenge by…
Flock, The (2007): Dir. Wai Keung Lau
Feat. Richard Gere, Claire Danes, Ray Wise…; Creepy thriller with Gere as a vigilant federal agent in pursuit of a recently paroled sex offender. Danes is the rookie along for the…
Fracture (2007): Dir. Gregory Hoblit
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn…; A you–know–whodunnit legal psychodrama with Anthony Hopkins as a wealthy businessman who shoots his wife dead, then plays a cruel (if…
Funny Games (2007): Dir. Michael Haneke
Feat. Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt…; This contentious ‘self–remake’ finds perennial agitator Michael Haneke revisiting his subversive home invasion classic, emigrating the…
George Gently (TV Series) (Inspector George Gently) (2007): Feat. Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby; Retro policier with a superb attention to detail, starring Martin Shaw as the eponymous inspector whose old–school detective methods are caught…
Girl by the Lake, The (La ragazza del lago) (2007): Dir. Andrea Molaioli
Feat. Toni Servillo, Denis Fasolo, Nello Mascia…; A murder–mystery that swept Italy's Academy Awards set in an idyllic North Italian village where a beautiful young girl is found murdered.…
Gone (2007): Dir. Ringan Ledwidge
Feat. Scott Mechlowicz; Ominous, slow–burn Outback thriller follows a British couple, traveling through remote Australia, who give passage a mysterious American along…
Gone Baby Gone (2007): Dir. Ben Affleck
Feat. Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman…; Surprisingly gutsy and sure–footed urban crime drama from actor Ben Affleck, who stays behind the camera to direct his brother, Casey, as a…
Grand, The (2007): Dir. Zak Penn
Feat. Woody Harrelson, David Cross, Dennis Farina…; Spontaneous ensemble comedy centred on a reckless gambler (Harrelson) trying to save his grandpa's casino by beating a raft of sneaky Vegas Poker…
Hannibal Rising (2007): Dir. Peter Webber
Feat. Gaspard Ulliel, Rhys Ifans, Gong Li…; SILENCE OF THE LAMBS creator Thomas Harris pens this original back–story to Hannibal Lecter’s murderous reign, in which we’re privy to the…
He Was a Quiet Man (2007): Dir. Frank A. Cappello
Feat. Christian Slater, Elisha Cuthbert, William H. Macy; With his best role in donkey's years, Christian Slater stars in this bleakly satirical drama as a frustrated loner who decides to take out his anger…
Hunting Party, The (2007): Dir. Richard Shepard
Feat. Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, James Brolin…; Action–packed serio–comic political thriller in the spirit of THREE KINGS centres on the shaggy dog story of an intrepid trio of…
I Am Legend (2007): Dir. Francis Lawrence
Feat. Will Smith, Alice Braga; In the post–apocalyptic ruins of New York City, Will Smith is the (seemingly) sole survivor of a mutant cancer vaccine gone bung, which has…
I Know Who Killed Me (2007): Dir. Chris Siverston
Feat. Lindsay Lohan, Julia Ormond, Neal McDonough; Trash fans rejoice. This Lindsay Lohan career nadir won more Razzie awards than both SHOWGIRLS and BATTLEFIELD EARTH. Lohan plays both a good…
I Witness (2007): Dir. Rowdy Herrington
Feat. Portia de Rossi, Jeff Daniels, James Spader…; When the bodies of 27 Mexican factory workers are found in an underpass, an American human rights activist gets embroiled in Tijuana's political and…
In the Valley of Elah (2007): Dir. Paul Haggis
Feat. Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon…; Calculated military mystery from the director of CRASH, concerning an out–of–touch dad (Jones) searching for his missing son who has gone…
Invasion, The (2007): Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig; Riddled with flaws, yet entertaining enough to sustain attention, the third remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS centres on a Washington D.C.…
Invisible Target (Naam yi boon sik) (2007): Dir. Benny Chan
Feat. Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Chan, Shawn Yue…; Unyielding martial arts thriller rumbles with a group of detectives commissioned to take out a local Hong Kong mercenary gang. The expected ass…
Jekyll (TV Series) (2007): Dir. Douglas Mackinnon
Feat. James Nesbitt, Gina Bellman; A modern adaptation of the 'Jekyll and Hyde' tale, this twisted comedy series focuses on an everyday guy who morphs into his violent alter ego 'Hyde'…
Joshua (2007): Dir. George Ratliff
Feat. Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston…; Carefully drawn psychological thriller in which a precocious child of Manhattan's wealthy elite starts to act up – in a creepy, possibly…
Just Another Love Story (2007): Dir. Ole Bornedal
Feat. Anders W. Berthelsen, Rebecka Hemse, Nikolaj Lie Kaas; An enjoyably overwrought Danish thriller with noir–ish aspirations, whose story revolves around a bored married man who assumes the identity of…
Killing, The - Complete Series Boxset (TV Series) (Forbrydelsen) (2007-2012): Feat. Sofie Grabol; The entire 40–episode story arc of the gripping Danish crime thriller – an immensely popular series synonymous with the 'Nordic Noir'…
Killing, The - Series 1 (TV Series) (Forbrydelsen) (2007): Dir. Birger Larsen
Feat. Sofie Grabol, Søren Malling; A ripping Danish homicide serial in the long–form tradition of THE WIRE, which weaves a plot of intrigue, corruption, and bureaucracy around a…
King of the Hill (El Rey de la montaña) (2007): Dir. Gonzalo López-Gallego
Feat. Leonardo Sbaraglia, Maria Valverde; A well–crafted, believable take on the lost–in–the–woods genre, about a man who follows an attractive stranger into the…
Kingdom (TV Series) (2007): Feat. Stephen Fry, Phyllida Law, Celia Imrie…; Agreeable BBC series stars Stephen Fry as Peter Kingdom, a country solicitor who helps the eccentric populace of Market Shipborough with their…
La Zona (2007): Dir. Rodrigo Plá
Feat. Daniel Giménez Cacho, Carlos Bardem, Daniel Tovar…; Award winning, intensely scripted and thought provoking drama set in a wealthy Mexican compound where the residents have formed a vigilante group to…
Life (TV Series) (2007): Feat. Damian Lewis, Adam Arkin; Damian Lewis riffs Hugh Laurie’s ‘House’ as an incongruous detective returning to the force to uncover the person who got him locked up for 12…
Lookout, The (2007): Dir. Scott Frank
Feat. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Isla Fisher…; It–boy Joseph Gordon–Levitt elevates this small–town crime thriller as an impaired bank janitor who is coerced into acting as an…
Lust, Caution (Se, Jie) (2007): Dir. Ang Lee
Feat. Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Joan Chen, Wei Tang…; Dir. Ang Lee (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) returns to the mainland to present a slow–burn, psychologically dense and provocative spy thriller, based on…
Man from London, The (2007): Dir. Bela Tarr
Feat. Miroslav Krobot, Tilda Swinton; Bela Tarr's dense, mesmeric imagery is married to the traditions of film noir in this strikingly opaque detective story, set on the weathered…
Michael Clayton (2007): Dir. Tony Gilroy
Feat. George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson…; Razor–sharp legal thriller involving a sprawling class–action law suit and alleged cover–up, George Clooney plays a humble legal…
Monkey Puzzle (2007): Dir. Mark Forstmann; A camping trip in search of a rare tree goes pear–shaped for a group of Aussie twenty–somethings as they lose their bearings and their…
Moonlight (TV Series) (2007-2008): Feat. Alex O'Loughlin, Sophia Myles, Shannyn Sossamon; Underrated crime series featuring a private investigator that just happens to be a vampire and treads the fine line between his daytime duties and…
Mr. Brooks (2007): Dir. Bruce A. Evans
Feat. Demi Moore, Kevin Costner, Dane Cook…; Cool, conceptual psycho–drama in which Costner and Hurt play two sides of the same character: an on–the–wagon serial killer from…
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (2007): Dir. Jon Turtletaub
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger…; Family adventure sequel joining up with a treasure hunter on a global quest for clues to prove his family's innocence over Abraham Lincoln's death. A…
Night Bus (Notturno Bus) (2007): Dir. Davide Marengo
Feat. Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Valerio Mastandrea; Fast paced comedy/thriller follows the misadventures of a petty thief, who gets more than she bargained for when she comes into possession of a…
Nines, The (2007): Dir. John August
Feat. Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, Melissa McCarthy…; Exigent thriller commenting on the realities of Hollywood, told by way of three connected stories inside the minds of an actor, a screenwriter and a…
No Country for Old Men (2007): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones…; A masterfully executed thriller from the Coen brothers, who return to the suspense–driven fatalism of their most admired films (BLOOD SIMPLE,…
Nobel Son (2007): Dir. Randall Miller
Feat. Alan Rickman, Bryan Greenberg, Shawn Hatosy…; Peppy crime caper about a recent Nobel Prize winner whose son is kidnapped and ransomed for the $2 million prize money. Directed with whiz, pop,…
Noise (2007): Dir. Matthew Saville
Feat. Brendan Cowell, Maia Thomas; An impressive Australian modern 'noir', refreshingly off–centred around a hearing–afflicted cop who is assigned the night shift at a…
Number 23, The (2007): Dir. Joel Schumacher
Feat. Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman…; Enigmatic, strangely engrossing rabbit hole thriller for Jim Carrey, about a seemingly innocuous detective novel that mysteriously mirrors his…
Outlanders (2007): Dir. Dominic Lees
Feat. Jakub Tolak, Przemyslaw Sadowski; Gritty British thriller concerns the plight of a displaced Polish teenager whose brother has become entangled in an illegal workers ring. Realistic…
Perfect Stranger (2007): Dir. James Foley
Feat. Halle Berry, Bruce Willis, Giovanni Ribisi; Halle Berry stakes out a murder suspect (Willis) via online social networks and chatroom espionage in this lurid tech–oriented thriller.…
Premonition (2007): Dir. Mennan Yapo
Feat. Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon; Sandra Bullock loses her husband to a car accident – or does she? – in this eerie time–bending thriller. While Bullock haters will view…
Prison Break - Season 3 (TV Series) (2007-2008): Feat. Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Robin Tunney…; Further episodes in this riveting series of two escaped convicts' flight to freedom, and the high level political conspiracy they must expose in…
Rendition (2007): Dir. Gavin Hood
Feat. Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Sarsgaard…; Frenetic thriller by dir. of TSOTSI concerns Witherspoon's desperate search for her husband after he goes missing on an international flight,…
Reservation Road (2007): Dir. Terry George
Feat. Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly…; Emotionally charged thriller from the director of HOTEL RWANDA set around two families whose lives will forever be intertwined after a hasty father…
Rise of the Foot Soldier (2007): Dir. Julian Gilbey
Feat. Roland Manookian, Frank Harper, Lara Belmont; Brutal gangster drama chronicles three decades in the life of Carlton Leach – a football hooligan who went on to become one of the UK's most…
Rogue (2007): Dir. Greg McLean
Feat. Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Sam Worthington; Second terrifying outing from the dir. of WOLF CREEK centers on a 'rogue' giant crocodile in the Australian outback, whose latest prey is a boatful…
Roman De Gare (Crossed Tracks) (2007): Dir. Claude Lelouch
Feat. Audrey Dana, Dominique Pinon, Fanny Ardant; Playfully pulpy French thriller from veteran director Claude Lelouch (A MAN AND A WOMAN) depicts the intersecting lives of two strangers oddly…
Rush Hour (The Trial Begins) (2007): Dir. Vincenzo Marra
Feat. Michelle Lastella, Fanny Ardant, Giulia Bevilacqua…; Tightly directed drama about the temptation of amoral manipulation. Italian tax official Filippo makes himself guilty of fraud and bribery to join…
Savage Grace (2007): Dir. Tom Kalin
Feat. Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, Eddie Redmayne…; Featuring another fearless performance from the great Julianne Moore, this takes the family dysfunction drama to a disturbing extreme as it maps the…
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars (2007): Dir. Julian Kemp
Feat. Jonathan Pryce, Bill Paterson, Anna Chancellor; Holmes gets kicked into the 21st century with this made–for–TV family drama in which the crime–busting duo must rely on a gang of…
Shoot on Sight (2007): Dir. Jag Mundhra
Feat. Naseeruddin Shah, Greta Scacchi, Om Puri…; Not so much hot potato as lukewarm, this political thriller bases its story on the real–life shooting of an innocent Brazilian man gunned down…
Shotgun Stories (2007): Dir. Jeff Nichols
Feat. Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon, Barlow Jacobs…; Sturdy, atmospheric independent drama detailing the simmering rivalry between two sets of half–brothers which boils over after the death of…
Sleuth (2007): Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Feat. Michael Caine, Jude Law; Sleek Harold Pinter–written remake of 1972 character–driven thriller ratchets up the menace, pitting cuckolded crime writer Michael Caine…
Spiral (2007): Dir. Adam Green, Joel David Moore
Feat. Joel David Moore, Zachary Levi, Amber Tamblyn; Simmering psychological thriller takes its cues from Hitchcock as it details a surprise friendship between an introverted telemarketer and a…
Spooks - Season 6 (TV Series) (2007): Feat. Rupert Penry-Jones, Peter Firth, Hermione Norris…; Further episodes from the British MI5 spy suspense series, in which agents try to resolve a variety of 21st century threats. Series Six: 10…
Sugarhouse (2007): Dir. Gary Love
Feat. Andy Serkis, Steven Mackintosh, Ashley Walters; Ordinary Brit crime thriller focused on a middle–class man trying to buy a gun in the back streets of East London, and the deadly 'deal' he…
Tattooist, The (2007): Dir. Peter Burger
Feat. Jason Behr, Mia Blake, David Fane…; A supernatural thriller that forges the disparate worlds of urban tattoo counter–culture with Samoan cultural taboo, Jason Behr plays an…
Time Crimes (Los Cronocrímenes Timecrimes) (2007): Dir. Nacho Vigalondo
Feat. Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernandez, Barbara Goenaga; Intricate, mind–bending Spanish gem following a man who trips back a fraction in time and inadvertently interferes with his past, present and…
Trade (2007): Dir. Marco Kreuzpaintner
Feat. Kevin Kline, Cesar Ramos, Alicia Bachleda…; Grimy drama sees a 13–year–old–girl kidnapped by sex traffickers, prompting her older brother to set off in pursuit aided by Texas…
Walk All Over Me (2007): Dir. Robert Cuffley
Feat. Leelee Sobieski, Tricia Helfer, Lothaire Bluteau…; Shadowy crime thriller leavened by screwball comedy–styled pickles sees small–town woman (Sobieski) adopting her friend's dominatrix…
Walker, The (2007): Dir. Paul Schrader
Feat. Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall…; Woody Harrelson plays against type as a sharp–witted blueblood socialite who tries to solve the mystery of a murder he's framed for after…
We Own the Night (2007): Dir. James Gray
Feat. Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes…; Accomplished crime saga concerns a nightclub manager (Phoenix) on the fringe of New York's Russian Mafia, whose lifestyle is jeopardized when family…
When Night Falls (2007): Dir. Alex Galvin
Feat. Tania Nolan, Rosella Hart; Creeping Wairarapa–set thriller fixed on two nurses holed up in a remote country house caring for a patient while trying to steer clear of a…
Yella (2007): Dir. Christian Petzold
Feat. Nina Hoss; Engrossing metaphysical thriller set in a predatory corporate world in which a divorcee accountant (Hoss) decides to leave behind her redundant life…
You Move You Die (2007): Dir. Ketzal Sterling
Feat. Ketzal Sterling, Bruce Hopkins; Ad hoc gangster thriller out of Auckland concerns a stolen engagement ring, and its ensuing recovery by a desperate fiancée and his posse of…
Zodiac (2007): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards…; Intense, painstaking thriller from the dir. of SEVEN magnifies San Francisco's unsolved ‘Zodiac’ killings with obsessive compulsion and…
.45 (2006): Dir. Gary Lennon
Feat. Milla Jovovich, Angus Macfadyen, Stephen Dorff; Sultry crime drama centred on two petty–crime thugs addicted to danger and each other, until a violent attack spurs the woman (Jovovich) to…
12 In A Box (2006): Dir. John McKenzie
Feat. Ed Bennett, David Burrows-Sutcliffe, Robert Cargill…; Farcical comedy following a dozen old school 'friends' who are offered the chance to win a million pounds each if they can survive 96 hours with one…
24 - Season 5 (TV Series) (2006): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland; Further episodes in this high–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode) with Kiefer Sutherland as lead…
Adrift (Open Water 2) (2006): Dir. Hans Horn
Feat. Susan May Pratt; Respectably–suspenseful dive back into the premise of OPEN WATER, this has a handful of squabbling twenty–something American friends on a…
Alibi, The (Lies & Alibis) (2006): Dir. Matt Checkowski, Kurt Mattila
Feat. Steve Coogan, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, James Marsden…; Nicely–off kilter farce stars Steve Coogan as a 'reformed' con–artist running an 'alibi providing service' for adulterous spouses to help…
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006): Dir. Jonathan Levine
Feat. Amber Heard, Anson Mount, Whitney Able; Above–average slasher flick following a group of Texan teens who invite the unobtainable 'hot girl' at their school to a remote weekend…
Alpha Dog (2006): Dir. Nick Cassavetes
Feat. Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Sharon Stone…; The versatile Emile Hirsch plays a rich, white, and very teenage drug dealer whose charmed existence is threatened when a kidnapping–murder…
Anna Pihl (TV Series) (2006-2008): Feat. Charlotte Munck, Iben Hjejle; Praised for its realism, this Danish police drama centres around a Copenhagen policewoman also having to deal with solo parenthood.
Backwoods, The (Bosque de sombras) (2006): Dir. Koldo Serra
Feat. Gary Oldman, Paddy Considine, Virginie Ledoyen; Latin slice of backwoods gothic is a classy revenge film, as things go from bad to worse for hunting buddy Brits Gary Oldman and Paddy Consadine when…
Basic Instinct 2 (2006): Dir. Michael Caton-Jones
Feat. Sharon Stone, David Morrissey, Charlotte Rampling…; A belated and troublesome sequel to the 1992 sex'n'suspense hit which made Sharon Stone famous, has the psychopathic blonde novelist return, now in…
Big Nothing (2006): Dir. Jean-Baptiste Andrea
Feat. Simon Pegg, David Schwimmer, Natascha McElhone…; Violent farce with dead–beat Schwimmer falling in with scam–artist Pegg in a bizarre blackmail scheme that goes predictably –and…
Black Book (Zwartboek) (2006): Dir. Paul Verhoeven
Feat. Carice Van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman; A Jewish singer goes deep undercover for the Dutch resistance in this splashy, larger–than–life WWII yarn set in Nazi–occupied…
Black Dahlia, The (2006): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank…; Seething with atmosphere, this noir crime–drama (based on James Ellroy's novel) presents a complicated case of the unsolved Hollywood murder of…
Blood Trails (2006): Dir. Robert Krause
Feat. Rebecca R. Palmer, Ben Price, Tom Frederic; Low budget horror sees a cyclist woman and her boyfriend pursued by a psycotic fellow rider through the wilderness. This is an effective little…
Brotherhood (TV Series) (2006): Feat. Jason Isaacs, Jason Clarke; Tough, multistoried drama from HBO competitor Showtime builds a crime legacy on par with THE SOPRANOS in focusing on the Irish neighborhood of…
Bug (2006): Dir. William Friedkin
Feat. Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jnr.…; Claustrophobic, knife's–edge drama in which a victim of spousal abuse (Judd) develops an obsessive, paranoid relationship with an enigmatic…
Chronicle of an Escape (Buenos Aires 1977) (2006): Dir. Adrián Caetano
Feat. Rodrigo De la Serna; An Argentinian goalkeeper is kidnapped and falsely imprisoned as a revolutionary in this gripping account of the “Buenos Aires, 1977”…
Civic Duty (2006): Dir. Jeff Renfroe
Feat. Peter Krause, Richard Schiff; Post–9/11 paranoia and propaganda combine to arouse the suspicions of a newly–redundant accountant (SIX FEET UNDER's Krause), who…
Confession of Pain (Seung sing) (2006): Dir. Siu Fai Mak, Wai Keung Lau
Feat. Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Takeshi Kaneshiro, Shu Qi; The directorial duo behind INFERNAL AFFAIRS eek out this morose and melancholic policier about two troubled detectives tracking down a killer in…
Contract, The (2006): Dir. Bruce Beresford
Feat. John Cusack, Morgan Freeman; An elusive contract killer is apprehended by a camping father and son, giving way to a remote wilderness thriller of cat and mouse. Though…
Da Vinci Code, The (2006): Dir. Ron Howard
Feat. Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen…; Adapted from Dan Brown's blockbusting novel, this rollicking, if over–weighty adventure has an American historian (Hanks) getting dragged into…
Dark Sea (Mare Nero) (2006): Dir. Roberta Torre
Feat. Luigi Lo Cascio, Anna Mouglalis; Ice cold policier charts a lone cops descent into the sex underworld after the murder of a sexually adventurous teenager. Full of Lynchian…
Dead Girl, The (2006): Dir. Karen Moncrieff
Feat. Toni Collette, Piper Laurie, Rose Byrne…; A superb ensemble cast give rich life to this exceptional drama that interlinks the unsettling stories of five women connected to the discovery of a…
Death Note (TV Series) (Deathnote) (2006): Anime serial of the cultish good vs. evil parable follows on from the manga and live–action versions in retelling the battle between a cocky…
Death Note / Death Note - The Last Name (2006): Dir. Shusuke Kaneko
Feat. Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Erika Toda…; High–concept and precocious in attitude, this absurdly drawn battle–of–wits, based on a cult Manga, concerns the discovery of an…
Death of a President (2006): Dir. Gabriel Range; An audacious faux–documentary that contrives an utterly convincing scenario around the fictional assassination of President George W.…
Deja Vu (2006): Dir. Tony Scott
Feat. Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Jim Caviezel; More flash and bang from blockbuster teamsters Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott, here devising a series of brute action sequences around a…
Departed, The (2006): Dir. Martin Scorsese
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson…; A rip–roaring remake of Hong Kong actioner INFERNAL AFFAIRS, Martin Scorsese returns to the mean streets in this high–performance game of…
Dexter (TV Series) (2006): Feat. Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter…; Deliciously twisted crime drama series following a forensics investigator encouraged by his adopted father to knock off the dregs of the criminal…
Don (2006): Dir. Farhan Akhtar
Feat. Shahrukh Khan, Om Puri; Far–fetched story of a Mumbai man recruited by police to masquerade as the ruthless head of the Malaysian drug mafia, known as "the Don". When…
Election 2 (Triad Election) (2006): Dir. Johnny To
Feat. Simon Yam, Nick Cheung, Louis Koo; Genre exponent Johnny To logically extends the gangland politics of his original film in this punchy, no–nonsense sequel concerning a fresh…
Eureka (TV Series) (2006): Feat. Colin Ferguson, Greg Germann, Joe Morton…; Novel sci–fi series focused on a stranded U.S. Marshall who uncovers a remote hamlet populated by a community of hand–picked scientists…
Exit (2006): Dir. Peter Lindmark
Feat. Mads Mikkelsen, Alexander Skarsgard; Gripping Swedish corporate thriller stars the angular Mads Mikkelsen (CASINO ROYALE) as a family man on the run after he becomes the main suspect in…
Fay Grim (2006): Dir. Hal Hartley
Feat. Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum, Thomas Jay Ryan…; This unlikely sequel to HENRY FOOL finds Parker Posey deep undercover for the CIA, dispatched to France to recover her ex–husband’s (ruffian…
Few Days in September, A (Quelques jours en septembre) (2006): Dir. Santiago Amigorena
Feat. Juliette Binoche, John Turturro, Nick Nolte…; Pre–September 11 spy–thriller dramatising events leading up to the fatal terrorist attack, with former spy (Binoche) being stalked…
First Snow (2006): Dir. Mark Fergus
Feat. Guy Pearce, Piper Perabo, William Fichtner; Fateful neo–noir thriller stars Guy Pearce as a shyster salesman whose life is sent into a paranoid tailspin after a trailer park palm reader…
Five Fingers (2006): Dir. Laurence Malkin
Feat. Ryan Phillippe, Laurence Fishburne, Colm Meaney…; Hostage drama with a few surprises up its sleeve has Dutch pianist (Phillippe) on a charity trip to Morocco who gets abducted by Moroccan terrorists…
Four Minutes (Vier Minuten) (2006): Dir. Chris Kraus
Feat. Monika Bliebtreu, Hannah Herzsprung; Unrelentingly gritty German drama of redemption details the hostile relationship between an incarcerated piano player and her emotionally chilly…
Freedomland (2006): Dir. Joe Roth
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, Edie Falco…; An unsettling race–drama about a bedraggled woman (Moore) who turns up at a New Jersey hospital alleging that her young son has been kidnapped…
Gathering, The (2006): Dir. Brian Gilbert
Feat. Christina Ricci, Stephen Dillane, Ioan Gruffudd; Goth–lite supernatural horror stars Ricci as an American backpacker who loses her memory after a car accident in a small town in rural England,…
Good German, The (2006): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire; Dir. Steven Soderbergh takes another extravagant artistic punt with this meticulous pastiche of 1940's war stories, shot not only in…
Good Shepherd, The (2006): Dir. Robert De Niro
Feat. Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro…; Robert De Niro directs this dramatization of the CIA’s clandestine origins, with Matt Damon in the central role of a colourless career…
Hollywoodland (2006): Dir. Allen Coulter
Feat. Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck…; The intriguing, mysterious circumstances surrounding George ‘Superman’ Reeves’ suicide are exhumed by a private eye (Adrien Brody) in this…
Illusionist, The (2006): Dir. Neil Burger
Feat. Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti…; Edward Norton plays an enigmatic magician who courts a Viennese Dutchness (Biel) with the art of illusion in this lush and mystical period…
Infinite Justice (2006): Dir. Jamil Dehlavi
Feat. Kevin Collins, Raza Jaffrey; Following in the footsteps of A MIGHTY HEART, this vigorous political thriller inspired by the Daniel Pearl case follows an investigative journalist…
Inland Empire (2006): Dir. David Lynch
Feat. Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux…; Warped and optically haunting suspense starring Lynch regular Laura Dern as a focused actress ecstatic about receiving a part in a new film, until…
Inside Man (2006): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster…; Proficient, personalised heist thriller from dir. Spike Lee (25TH HOUR) in which a smooth and cold super–crim (Owen) engineers the robbery of…
Invisible Waves (2006): Dir. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Feat. Tadanobu Asano; Moody and sophisticated dream–noir from the dir. of LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE again casts Japanese star Tadanobu Asano, here in the role of a…
Irresistible (2006): Dir. Ann Turner
Feat. Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill, Emily Blunt; Susan Sarandon feels the wrath of Emily Blunt in this Hitchcockian fable of one woman's struggle to prevent her life from being overtaken by another.…
Jar City (Mýrin) (2006): Dir. Baltasar Kormakur
Feat. Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Agusta Eva Erlendsdóttir, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson; With dirt under its fingernails and ice on its breath, this forensic thriller harnesses the harsh, otherworldly elements of its Icelandic setting to…
Lady in the Water (2006): Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Feat. Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright…; Adapting his own literary fairytale, M. Night Shyamalan's (SIGNS) fifth film is set around a dank apartment complex, where the dour superintendent…
Last Winter, The (2006): Dir. Larry Fessenden
Feat. Ron Perlman, James LeGros, Connie Britton…; Chilly, intelligent survival horror from director Larry Fessenden that plays like a more naturalistic version of the John Carpenter's THE…
Like Minds (2006): Dir. Gregory J. Read
Feat. Toni Collette, Richard Roxburgh, Eddie Redmayne…; Determinedly creepy psychological thriller with Richard Roxburgh and Toni Collette partnered as detective and forensic psychologist investigating a…
Listening, The (2006): Dir. Giacomo Martelli
Feat. Michael Parks; Visually fetching spy thriller centred on a NSA officer on a mission to disable spy technology that enables the U.S. government to use phones as live…
Live Free or Die (2006): Dir. Gregg Kavet, Andy Robin
Feat. Michael Rapaport, Aaron Stanford, Paul Schneider…; Offbeat comedy from the writers of SEINFELD, in which a small–town loafer gets himself into a whole lot of hot water after setting designs on a…
Lives of Others, The (2006): Dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Feat. Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Martina Gedeck…; Compelling dramatisation of the political tensions between artists and authorities in 80's East Germany, this widely celebrated arthouse hit won the…
London to Brighton (2006): Dir. Paul Andrew Williams
Feat. Lorraine Stanley, Georgia Groome; Two women on the lam board a train in hope of evading their violent pursuers in this tough–as–nails contemporary British…
Lonely Hearts (2006): Dir. Todd Robinson
Feat. John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Jared Leto…; The true tale of 1940s “lonely hearts killers”, Martha Beck and Raymond Martinez Fernandez who would lure war widows through personal ads and…
Lost (TV Series) - Season 3 (2006): Feat. Dominic Monaghan, Naveen Andrews, Harold Perrineau, Jr.…; The mysterious consequences of the downing of Oceanic Flight 815 continue, complete with the trademark flashbacks, and further twists and turns,…
Love is the Drug (Addcited to Her Love) (2006): Dir. Elliott Lester
Feat. John Patrick Amedori, Lizzy Caplan, D. J. Cotrona…; A love triangle turns deadly in this potent immersion into the world of teenage sex and drug–taking. An unfortunate slide into melodrama in the…
Macbeth (2006): Dir. Geoffrey Wright
Feat. Sam Worthington, Steve Bastoni; A black–lacquered contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s 'Macbeth' set in the ganglands of Melbourne, with dir. Wright (ROMPER STOMPER)…
Miami Vice (2006): Dir. Michael Mann
Feat. Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Gong Li…; A brooding reprise of the cult 80s cop TV series with uber–stylist Michael Mann (HEAT) ramping up the serious atmospherics in a prolonged…
Modern Love (2006): Dir. Alex Frayne
Feat. Mark Constable, Victoria Hill; Slowly flickering rural gothic set in South Australia following a man's return to his childhood home and his subsequent descent into…
Murder on Pleasant Drive (2006): Dir. Michael Scott
Feat. Alan Arkin, Amy Madigan, Kelli Williams; Adam Arkin’s plays the ubiquitously named killer John Smith, whose wives keep disappearing, though not if two inquisitive women can help it.…
New Street Law (TV Series) (2006): Feat. John Hannah, Paul Freeman, John Thomson…; Engrossing legal drama with Hannah and Freeman as heads of two law firms sharing the same premises. Plenty of ethical conundrums populate a tightly…
Night Listener, The (2006): Dir. Patrick Stettner
Feat. Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Rory Culkin…; A restrained Robin Williams plays a radio host who becomes fixated with an autobiography of a boy supposedly dying of AIDS in this unconventional…
Notes on a Scandal (2006): Dir. Richard Eyre
Feat. Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy; Authorities Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench go head–to–head in this psychological gambit between a pottery teacher engaged in an illicit…
Out of the Blue (Aramoana) (2006): Dir. Robert Sarkies
Feat. Karl Urban, Matthew Sunderland, Simon Ferry…; A moving, uncomfortably harrowing account of New Zealand’s worst mass murder, bringing the trauma of 1990’s Aramoana massacre to the screen with…
Outlaw (2006): Dir. Nick Love
Feat. Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Rupert Friend…; Unpleasant slug–fest with Sean Bean establishing a posse of vigilantes to round up the 'lawless scum' pervading Britain. Simplistic thriller…
Perfume - The Story of a Murderer (2006): Dir. Tom Tykwer
Feat. Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Ben Whishaw…; Lush, faithful adaptation of Patrick Suskind’s 1985 novel, with Ben Whishaw as Jean–Baptiste Grenouille, the gifted ‘nose’ turned…
Prestige, The (2006): Dir. Christopher Nolan
Feat. Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson…; Another astounding feat of storytelling from the dir. of MEMENTO that spins a constantly intriguing yarn of two rival magicians who engage in a…
Prison Break - Season 2 (TV Series) (2006): Feat. Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Stacy Keach…; Further episodes in this riveting series of two escaped convicts' flight to freedom, and the high level political conspiracy they must expose in…
Red Road (2006): Dir. Andrea Arnold
Feat. Kate Dickie, Tony Curran, Martin Compston…; Absorbing, unbearably tense drama of undisclosed motivations, which follows a lonely surveillance operator and her pursuit of a man throughout the…
Rest Stop (2006): Dir. John Shiban; Road trip becomes holiday in hell when a young woman gets caught up in a cat and mouse battle with a deranged killer, after her boyfriend goes…
Return, The (2006): Dir. Asif Kapadia
Feat. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Peter O'Brien, Kate Beahan; Scream queen Sarah Michelle Gellar is plagued by spectral visions en route to her Texan hometown in this mildly effective, slow burn ghost…
Right At Your Door (2006): Dir. Chris Gorak
Feat. Mary McCormack, Rory Cochrane, Tony Perez; Lean and paranoid 'what–if?' thriller sees a group of bombs detonate in downtown LA, enveloping the whole city in a toxic cloud. Made on a…
Rosebery 7470 (2006): Dir. Stefan Popescu
Feat. Alice Ansara; Disturbing Aussie mining town Horror from experimental dir. Stefan Popescu, focused on an autistic teen mentally scarred by abuse who slips into a…
Running Scared (2006): Dir. Wayne Kramer
Feat. Paul Walker, Chazz Palminteri, John Noble; Flashy, hopped–up mob thriller has New Jersey foot–soldier Paul Walker assigned to conceal a snub–nosed revolver, a gun used in a…
Sally Lockhart Mysteries, The (TV Mini-series) (The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North ) (2006-2007): Dir. Brian Percival
Feat. Billie Piper, Julie Walters; Billy Piper stars as Sally Lockhart – the gutsy mystery–solving heroine of this Victorian England mystery series adapted straight from…
Scoop (2006): Dir. Woody Allen
Feat. Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman, Woody Allen…; Following his success with MATCH POINT, Woody Allen returns to London with young muse Scarlett Johansson for this feather–lite…
See No Evil - The Story of the Moors Murders (2006): Dir. Christopher Menaul; Well–made, sensitive teledrama that depicts in grim detail the story of the notorious "Moors murderers" Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, who…
Sentinel, The (2006): Dir. Clark Johnson
Feat. Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria…; A political conspiracy thriller with plenty of gun–cocked posturing involves veteran secret service agent Michael Douglas, implicated in a…
Shock to the System (2006): Dir. Ron Oliver
Feat. Chad Allen, Morgan Fairchild; Latest Donald Strachey outing (from Richard Stevenson's novels) has the queer detective investigating another fishy murder linked to the underworld…
Silent Hill (2006): Dir. Christophe Gans
Feat. Radha Mitchell, Deborah Kara Unger, Alice Krige…; An instantly–spooky premise, based on a video game, guides this story of a mother (Rahda Mitchell) who foolishly drives to a ghoulish West…
Situation, The (2006): Dir. Philip Haas
Feat. Damian Lewis, Connie Nielsen, Mido Hadama; A noted fictional dramatisation of the Iraq conflict and its many complex participants and victims, this film interweaves a love triangle with…
Solo (+ Project Greenlight - Australia) (2006): Dir. Morgan O'Neill
Feat. Colin Friels; Well–executed, if relatively downbeat Australian crime caper adhering to the tried–and–true genre formula of a hitman who wants to…
Southland Tales (2006): Dir. Richard Kelly
Feat. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott, Mandy Moore…; A chaotically comedic, pre–apocalyptic sci–fi ensemble piece, helmed with self–importance and unrestraint by the…
Spooks - Season 4 (TV Series) (2006): Feat. David Oyelowo, Anna Chancellor; Further episodes from the British MI5 spy suspense series, in which agents try to resolve a variety of 21st century threats. Series Four: 10…
Spooks - Season 5 (TV Series) (2006): Feat. Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, Peter Firth…; Further episodes from the British MI5 spy suspense series, in which agents try to resolve a variety of 21st century threats. Season 5: 10 episodes…
State Within, The (TV Series) (2006): Dir. Daniel Percival
Feat. Jason Isaacs, Ben Daniels, Sharon Gless; Gripping political series centred on the British Ambassador to Washington who finds himself entangled in the midst of political scandal after a plane…
State's Evidence (2006): Dir. Benjamin Louis
Feat. Alexa Vega, Douglas Smith, Majandra Delfino…; Six high school students make a suicide pact which goes nastily awry, in this prurient youth drama clearly influenced by cinema provocateurs Larry…
Subject Two (2006): Dir. Phillip Chidel
Feat. Christian Oliver, Dean Stapleton; Indie 'mad science' thriller in which a doctor invents a resurrection formula and tests it by killing and reviving a 'volunteer' med student many…
Tell No One (Ne le dis à Personne) (2006): Dir. Guillaume Canet
Feat. Francois Cluzet, Marie-Josee Croze, Andre Dussollier…; Convoluted yet propulsive French thriller about a man whose deceased wife contacts him eight years after her supposed murder, triggering a quest to…
Ten 'til Noon (2006): Dir. Scott Storm
Feat. Rick D. Wasserman; A surprisingly effective, if imitative revision of the now–derivative time fragmented crime caper, this employs a multitude of simultaneous…
Tiger's Tail, The (2006): Dir. John Boorman
Feat. Brendan Gleeson, Kim Cattrall, Ciaran Hinds…; John Boorman points his moral compass towards the ‘miracle’ Irish economy in this patchy yet worthwhile satirical thriller about an enterprising…
Trailer Park Boys - The Movie (2006): Dir. Mike Clattanburg
Feat. Rob Wells, Mike Smith, John Paul Tremblay; Satisfying cult TV series spin–off of TRAILER PARK BOYS, featuring the three trailer trash dropkicks planning a mad–cap plot, dubbed 'The…
True North (2006): Dir. Steve Hudson
Feat. Peter Mullan, Martin Compston, Gary Lewis; Devastating thriller concerning the crew of a Scottish trawler in financial strife who smuggle Chinese immigrants in appalling conditions across the…
Unit, The (TV Series) (2006): Dir. David Mamet, various
Feat. Dennis Haysbert, Scott Foley, Robert Patrick…; The brainchild of David Mamet, this riveting black–ops suspenser serialises the daring assignments of a covert special forces team who, under…
Unknown (2006): Dir. Simon Brand
Feat. Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Bridget Moynahan…; Unbelievably twisty, indie hostage thriller in the tradition of RESERVOIR DOGS and The USUAL SUSPECTS. Five men awake bloody and beaten in a…
Unknown Woman, The (La Sconosciuta) (2006): Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
Feat. Kseniya Rappoport, Michele Placido, Claudia Gerini; Skillful Hitchcockian suspense hailed as a return to form for the director of CINEMA PARADISO, following a troubled Ukrainian immigrant in Italy who…
Vengeance (Phairii phinaat paa mawrana) (2006): Dir. Preaw Sirisuwan; Fast–paced jungle fantasy horror has a young man and his friends in pursuit of an escaped prisoner inside a fantastical forest populated by…
Wilderness (2006): Dir. Michael J. Bassett
Feat. Sean Pertwee, Alex Reid, Toby Kebbell; High–concept survival horror where a group of young delinquents are sent to a remote island for a 'character–building' exercise, only to…
Wire, The - Season 4 (TV Series) (2006): Feat. Dominic West, John Doman, Frankie Faison…; Fourth season of the celebrated crime drama set on the mean back streets of Baltimore. This time around the focus is on a group of teenage…
Wrong Man, The (Lucky Number Slevin) (2006): Dir. Paul McGuigan
Feat. Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu…; A crazily convoluted thriller with a powerhouse cast, this is heavy on slick violence and self–aware pop–gun dialogue, with levels of…
13 Tzameti (2005): Dir. Géla Babluani
Feat. Aurelien Recoing, Georges Babluani; Coolly disturbing noir thriller tracks the fate of a struggling immigrant labourer who intercepts a package with instructions that lead him into a…
24 - Season 4 (TV Series) (2005): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland, Elisha Cuthbert; Further episodes in this high–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode) with Kiefer Sutherland as lead…
A History of Violence (2005): Dir. David Cronenberg
Feat. Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris…; An incisive take on the noir thriller from celebrated horror auteur David Cronenberg (EXISTENZ et al), in which a smalltown family man (Mortensen) is…
Archangel (TV Mini-Series) (2005): Dir. Jon Jones
Feat. Daniel Craig, Yekaterina Rednikova; Biting thriller based on the Robert Harris novel, with Daniel Craig taking on the role of an academic thrust into darkest post–war Russia to…
Asylum (2005): Dir. David Mackenzie
Feat. Natasha Richardson, Ian McKellen, Joss Ackland…; Tense psychological thriller from the dir. of YOUNG ADAM that owes plenty to the master Hitch, with Natasha Richardson in fine form as a bored…
Aura, The (2005): Dir. Fabian Bielinsky
Feat. Ricardo Darín; A taxidermist indulges his criminal fantasies in this brooding, atmospheric wilderness thriller from the late dir. of NINE QUEENS. Unfolding as a…
Ax, The (Le Couperet) (2005): Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Jose Garcia, Karin Viard, Olivier Gourmet; Dastardly satire from the always–edgy Costa Gavras plumbs the depths of a corporate downsizing victim (Garcia) who resorts to murderous ways in…
Beat My Heart Skipped, The (De battre mon coeur s'est arrete) (2005): Dir. Jacques Audiard
Feat. Romain Duris, Niels Arestrup, Jonathan Zaccai…; A star–turn by Romain Duris invigorates this deft remake of James Toback's 1978 thriller FINGERS, playing a reluctant young thug with a…
Big White, The (2005): Dir. Mark Mylod
Feat. Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Giovanni Ribisi…; Black farce set in snowy Alaska around travel–agent Robin Williams who is struggling to help his ailing wife and seizes a dubious opportunity…
Bleak House (Mini-series) (2005): Dir. Justin Chadwick
Feat. Gillian Anderson, Alun Armstrong, Warren Clarke…; From the pen of Charles Dickens comes this pacy, razor sharp BBC adaptation dabbling in murder, lineage, and the 19th century legal…
Bones (TV Series) (2005-2014): Feat. David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel; A curious forensic policier positing a new angle on the genre, this partners a brilliant anthropologist (Deschanel) and a cocky FBI agent (Boreanaz)…
Brick (2005): Dir. Rian Johnson
Feat. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Emilie de Ravin…; Precocious neo–noir set amid the student body of a Californian high school with a bespectacled lad (Gordon–Levitt) taking a 'Sam Spade'…
Bubble (2005): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Debbie Doebereiner, Dustin Ashley, Misty Wilkins; Steven Soderbergh's creepy, independent sojourn (made between OCEAN'S 12 and 13) casts an uneasy eye on a midwestern doll factory, where the…
Bystanders (Diary of June) (2005): Dir. Kyung-Soo Im
Feat. Yunjin Kim; Proficient Korean thriller grapples with a murder mystery of cryptic diary notes left inside the bodies of murder victims; the handwriting matched to…
Closer, The (TV Series) (2005-2006): Feat. Kyra Sedgwick; Capable and assured detective drama dodges most of the worst cliches of the genre, with Kyra Sedwick playing a talented 'Southern Belle' investigator…
Constant Gardener, The (2005): Dir. Fernando Mierelles
Feat. Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bill Nighy…; A British diplomat in Kenya (Fiennes) becomes obsessed with uncovering the secrets that lie behind his wife's (Weisz) murder which seem to lead to…
Crime Novel (Romanzo criminale) (2005): Feat. Kim Rossi Stuart, Pierfrancesco Favino, Claudio Santamaria…; Novel–based Italian crime drama concerning a group of small–town crims who went on to become Rome's most merciless crime family and a…
Criminal Minds (TV Series) (2005): Feat. Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson, Lola Glaudini; An elite team of FBI profilers attempt to get under the skin of America's most wanted in this tough, if routine procedural drama. Lead by a…
CSI: Grave Danger (TV Series) (2005): Dir. Quentin Tarantino
Feat. William Petersen; Commissioned by producers to write and direct this fifth season cliffhanger of the forensic crime series, Quentin Tarantino exhumes the "buried…
Derailed (2005): Dir. Mikael Håfström
Feat. Clive Owen, Vincent Cassel, Jennifer Aniston; Efficient direction and casting propel this familiarly–plotted blackmail thriller, with Clive Owen and Jennifer Anniston playing well–off…
Down in the Valley (2005): Dir. David Jacobson
Feat. Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse…; Slow–burn yet layered and intense drama has Edward Norton in fine form as a delusional 'cowboy' who charms his way into trouble via the heart…
Edmond (2005): Dir. Stuart Gordon
Feat. William H. Macy, Julia Stiles, Joe Mantegna…; Raw, unapologetic adaptation of David Mamet's 1982 stageplay stars William H. Macy as a downtrodden everyman who embarks on a volatile…
Election (2005): Dir. Johnnie To
Feat. Simon Yam, Tony Leung (Kar-fai); A terrific gangland power tussle from genre exponent Johnnie To, this combative suspenser embarks on the shady underworld of triad politics in…
Eleventh Hour (2005): Feat. Patrick Stewart, Ashley Jensen; Well–spun, rapidly paced drama turns pertinent science issues (global warming, human cloning, disease hysteria) into an engaging and eventful…
Empire of the Wolves (L'Empire des Loups) (2005): Dir. Chris Nahon
Feat. Jean Reno, Laura Morante; Jean Reno plays a brutal French policeman brought out of 'compulsory retirement' to hunt for the murderers of some Turkish labourers in Paris. He…
Exorcism of Emily Rose, The (2005): Dir. Scott Derrickson
Feat. Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott…; An eerie tale based on true events concerns the supposed demonic possession of a girl (Carpenter) in the 1970s and the trial of a priest (Wilkinson)…
Firewall (2005): Dir. Richard Loncraine
Feat. Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virginia Madsen…; Bank security expert Harrison Ford is forced into a tight corner when his family home is invaded by gun–toting criminals, led by a…
Flightplan (2005): Dir. Robert Schwentke
Feat. Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean; A riveting spin on THE LADY VANISHES with Jodie Foster playing a stressed aircraft engineer who boards a jumbo passenger jet with her young daughter,…
Hard Candy (2005): Dir. David Slade
Feat. Elliot Page, Patrick Wilson, Sandra Oh; Unflinchingly dark and slickly impressive thriller proceeds from the chatroom flirtations between a precocious teenager (Page) and a…
Hate Crime (2005): Dir. Tommy Stovall
Feat. Seth Peterson, Bruce Davison, Chad Donella; Gay revenge melodrama takes a hard line against the religious right, telling the story of a gay accountant who suspects his Christian fundamentalist…
Have No Fear (Non aver paura) (2005): Dir. Angelo Longoni
Feat. Laura Morante, Alessio Boni; Isolating Italian thriller focused on a recent divorcee trying to make ends meet while fighting a custody battle and dealing with a persistent…
Hidden (Cache) (2005): Dir. Michael Haneke
Feat. Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Benichou…; A disquieting modern thriller that pulls no punches, depositing a climate of terrorism and fear onto the lives of two French professionals and their…
Hostage (2005): Dir. Florent Emilio Siri
Feat. Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Jonathan Tucker…; Bruce Willis negotiates familiar territory as a SWAT agent drawn into a messy siege in a high–security mansion, where three white–trash…
Ice Harvest, The (2005): Dir. Harold Ramis
Feat. John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen…; A chilled–out study in sleaze and crime with partners John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton contriving a way to lift $2 million from a Mob client…
Interpreter, The (2005): Dir. Sydney Pollack
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener…; A topical thriller embroiled in the thorny issues of African politics (with obvious allusions to Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe), this is a slick,…
Invasion (TV Series) (2005-2006): Feat. William Fichtner, Eddie Cibrian; Creeping sci–fi series concerning a small–town family who find their town bizarrely quarantined after a mysterious hurricane. Like a…
Jacket, The (2005): Dir. John Maybury
Feat. Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson…; Adding to a growing canon of mind–bending thrillers of distinction (see our 'Close Relatives' below), this certainly feels part of a distinct…
Jesse Stone [Movie Series] (2005-2015): Feat. Tom Selleck, Jane Adams, Saul Rubinek…; Based on the detective novels by Robert B. Parker, Tom Selleck plays his eponymous law enforcement officer from Massachusetts in this series of…
King, The (2005): Dir. James Marsh
Feat. Gael Garcia Bernal, William Hurt, Laura Elena Harring; A brooding, accomplished slice of southern discomfort with Gael Garcia Bernal (in his first US film) playing recently dischargee from the Navy named…
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005): Dir. Shane Black
Feat. Val Kilmer, Robert Downey Jnr., Corbin Bernsen…; Reflexively vulgar and enjoyably vicious, this comic–thriller has fumbling thief Downey Jnr. by chance winning an audition for a film part,…
Lord Of War (2005): Dir. Andrew Niccol
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan…; A thoughtful though heavy–handed thriller about an intelligently amoral Ukrainian–American (Cage), who dedicates himself to the world…
Love (2005): Dir. Vladen Nikolic; Little–known but extremely worthwhile drama lays out several major storylines, but centres on the struggles of a former Serbian soldier trying…
Luella Miller (2005): Dir. Dane Giraud
Feat. Sara Wiseman, Philip Brown, Sia Trokenheim; Competent local drama set in a small country town, where quiet lifestyle and gentle intrigues are disrupted by the arrival of an enigmatic young…
Malice Aforethought (TV Mini-series) (2005): Dir. David Blair
Feat. Ben Miller, Barbara Flynn, Megan Dods; Ironically fashioned PBS tele–mystery has a frustrated doctor (Miller) driven to dose his overbearing wife (Flynn) with poisons, but having to…
Matador, The (2005): Dir. Richard Shepard
Feat. Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis…; Deftly–toned comedy tracks the chance meeting in Mexico City of a sleazy, aging hitman (Brosnan) and a struggling dotcom consultant (Kinnear),…
Match Point (2005): Dir. Woody Allen
Feat. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Emily Mortimer, Scarlett Johansson…; Widely touted as Woody Allen's finest film since the mid–80's, this is also his least characteristic – set in London and entirely…
Munich (2005): Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassovitz…; Compelling, if occasionally muddily–overearnest thriller based around the aftermath of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich…
Murder Take One (The Big Scene) (2005): Dir. Jin Jang
Feat. Ha-kyun Shin, Seung-Won Cha; Thwarted by a television agreement consigning an ongoing homicide investigation to the prying eyes of a Reality TV show, prosecutor Choi (Cha) must…
Numbers (TV Series) (Numb3rs) (2005): Feat. Rob Morrow, David Krumholtz, Judd Hirsch; An original and enjoyably intellectual take on the crime–solving TV genre, which entertains the concept of an FBI agent (Morrow) employing his…
Paradise Now (2005): Dir. Hany Abu-Assad
Feat. Kais Nashef, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azabal; This extraordinarily brave film shadows the martyrdom of two Palestinian friends recruited by an extremist group to perpetrate a suicide bombing in…
Princess Aurora (Orora gongju) (2005): Dir. Eun-jin Bang
Feat. Jeong-hwa Eom; Korean revenge film concerns a scorned woman who commits a series of murders as part of an elaborate revenge scheme. Far–fetched in that…
Prison Break - Season 1 (TV Series) (2005): Feat. Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Stacy Keach…; Making a masterfully gripping series out of its preposterous premise, this finds a wealthy architect (Miller) enfurl an elaborate plan to rescue his…
Proposition, The (2005): Dir. John Hillcoat
Feat. Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston…; Grimly intense and atmospheric 'Australian Western' – scripted by singer Nick Cave – is set the outback of the 1880s, where lawman Ray…
Pusher III (I'm The Angel Of Death: Pusher III) (2005): Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Feat. Marinela Dekic, Zlatko Buric; Third instalment of the thoroughly gripping Pusher trilogy closes in on the Sisyphean struggle of drug kingpin Milo (Buric) as he desperately battles…
Quiet, The (2005): Dir. Jamie Babbitt
Feat. Elisha Cuthbert, Camilla Belle, Martin Donovan…; A creepy teenage melodrama about an orphaned deaf–mute girl (Belle) who goes to live in suburbia with her godparents (Falco, Donovan) and…
Quo Vadis, Baby? (2005): Dir. Gabriele Salvatores
Feat. Angela Baraldi; Oscar–winning–director Gabriele Salvatore's haughty thriller depicting a desperate private investigator who decides to re–examine…
Red Eye (2005): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox; Dir. Wes Craven whittles a lean, claustrophobic thriller around the plight of a woman (McAdams), menaced onboard of short–haul plane flight by…
Secuestro Express (2005): Dir. Jonathan Jakubowicz
Feat. Mia Maestro, Ruben Blades; Venezuela comes off second best in this exploitative thriller peddling the country's professional kidnapping trade, where a couple of wealthy young…
Separate Lies (2005): Dir. Julian Fellowes
Feat. Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Rupert Everett; Tense tragedy of manners stars Tom Wilkinson as a complacent lawyer whose young wife (Watson) confesses to being tangled–up in a fatal…
Silence, The (2005): Dir. Cate Shortland
Feat. Richard Roxburgh, Emily Barclay; Above–average teledrama based around the investigations of an emotionally–wounded police detective (Roxburgh) whose curiosity into…
Skeleton Key (2005): Dir. Iain Softley
Feat. Kate Hudson, John Hurt, Gena Rowlands…; A young woman (Hudson) gets a job caring for a troubled elderly stroke victim (Hurt) in a swampside manor in rural Louisiana, coming to realise there…
Sorry, Haters (2005): Dir. Jeff Stanzler
Feat. Robin Wright, Abdellatif Kechiche, Elodie Bouchez…; The after–effects of September 11 act as a racially–charged backdrop to this low–budget thriller set on the mean streets of New…
Spiral (TV Series) (Engrenages) (2005): Feat. Audrey Fleurot, Philippe Duclos, Caroline Proust; Euro–crime TV series set in Paris and following the police officers, lawyers and judges surrounding various criminal investigations.
State of Play (TV Mini-series) (2005): Dir. David Yates
Feat. David Morrissey, John Simm, Bill Nighy…; Politics, journalism and murder collide in this dynamic British thriller, which snowballs from two seemingly unrelated deaths into a riveting,…
Stay (2005): Dir. Marc Forster
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling…; A New York psychiatrist (McGregor) is drawn into a strange, hallucinatory world when he tries to prevent a disturbed, seemingly prescient young…
Supernatural (TV Series) (2005): Feat. Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles; Two brothers scour the countryside for urban myths and legends, stumbling upon various paranorma, horror movie moments and other unexplained events…
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Chinjeolhan geumjassi) (2005): Dir. Park Chan-Wook
Feat. Young-ae Lee, Min-sik Choi; A visually dynamic endpoint to Park Chan–wook's feted vengeance trilogy, this final chapter in the saga emerges from a female perspective, and…
Syriana (2005): Dir. Stephen Gaghan
Feat. George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright…; Fierce and dense exploration of the machinations and consequences of the global oil industry in the form of a multiple–storyline drama (from…
Third Man Out (2005): Dir. Ron Oliver
Feat. Chad Allen, Sean Young; First adaptation of Richard Stevenson's 'Donald Strachey' detective novels – about a homosexual PI who works cases involving Albany's queer…
Tsotsi (2005): Dir. Gavin Hood
Feat. Presley Chweneyagae; Deserved winner of the 2006 Foreign Language Oscar, this gripping tale of a young homicidal street–thug ('tsotsi') in post–apartheid…
Two for the Money (2005): Dir. D. J. Caruso
Feat. Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo…; Set in the world of gridiron betting, this steamy male melodrama has an injured quarterback (McConaughey) tempted into the field of 'sports…
Underworld: Evolution (2005): Dir. Len Wiseman
Feat. Kate Beckinsale, Derek Jacobi, Bill Nighy; The slinky, rubber–clad Kate Beckinsale continues her Vampiric crusade against 'the Lycans' (Werewolves) in this obligatory sequel to the…
Van Veeteren (TV Series) (2005-2006): Feat. Sven Wollter; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Vincent (TV Series) (2005): Feat. Ray Winstone, Joe Absolom, Angel Coulby; Solid British drama has Ray Winstone play an ex–cop who runs a private investigation firm, finding himself and his staff embroiled in a series…
Wallander (TV Series) (2005): Feat. Krister Henriksson, Johanna Sällström; Suspenseful Scandinavian procedural finds drama within the inner–workings of a police force in southern Sweden, chiefly between the series’…
Where the Truth Lies (2005): Dir. Atom Egoyan
Feat. Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman; Challenging and kinky mystery drama from dir. Atom Egoyan (EXOTICA), in which a reporter in the 1970s (Lohman) investigates the death by overdose of…
White Noise (2005): Dir. Geoffrey Sax
Feat. Michael Keaton, Deborah Kara Unger, Ian McNeice; An architect (Keaton) becomes entranced by the possibilities of speaking with his deceased wife (Unger) by tapping into the audiovisual chaos of a TV…
24 - Season 3 (TV Series) (2004): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland; Further episodes in this high–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode) with Kiefer Sutherland as lead…
36 Quai Des Orfevres (2004): Dir. Olivier Marchal
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil; Gerard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil partner again for this straight–faced policier as two veteran cops who compete for the top job while trying…
7 Times Lucky (2004): Dir. Gary Yates
Feat. Kevin Pollak, Liane Balaban, Jonas Chernick…; Solid caper film that benefits from Kevin Pollak's performance as a small time con man who suddenly finds himself with the prospect of a big score…
After the Sunset (2004): Dir. Brett Ratner
Feat. Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson…; Recently retired jewel thieves Brosnan and Hayek are safely esconsed on a desert island, when an old FBI nemesis turns up simultaneous with a…
Assassination of Richard Nixon, The (2004): Dir. Niels Mueller
Feat. Sean Penn, Don Cheadle, Naomi Watts…; The ghost of 'Travis Bickle' (TAXI DRIVER) pervades this accomplished diatribe on the contentious era of Richard Nixon's administration – a…
Birth (2004): Dir. Jonathan Glazer
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Danny Huston…; An absorbing psychological drama about a young widow (Kidman) whose New York life is disrupted when a 10 year–old boy claims to be the…
Bourne Supremacy, The (2004): Dir. Paul Greengrass
Feat. Matt Damon, Franke Potente, Brian Cox…; Creditable sequel to the sleeper hit THE BOURNE IDENTITY, which tracked the anxieties of an amnesiac former CIA–assassin on the run across…
Brush Off, The (2004): Dir. Sam Neill
Feat. David Wenham, Mick Molloy, John Clarke…; David Wenham returns as the untidy Melbourne official from STIFF who in this story becomes an effective, if bruised detective tracking a case of a…
Cellular (2004): Dir. David R Ellis
Feat. Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, Jason Statham…; Interesting abduction thriller leads with a premise that has flaky beachbum Evans rung on his cellphone with a chilling message from a kidnap victim…
Clearing, The (2004): Dir. Pieter Jan Brugge
Feat. Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe, Helen Mirren…; An unusually flavoured and structured kidnapping thriller, in which wealthy entrepeneur Redford is abducted by a polite, former–employee…
Collateral (2004): Dir. Michael Mann
Feat. Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith…; A moody night–thriller that cruises the streets of Los Angeles with a taxi–driver (Foxx) whose cab is commandered by a ruthless,…
Connie and Carla (2004): Dir. Michael Lembeck
Feat. Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, David Duchovny…; In an unusual twist on the 'drag comedy' genre Toni Collette and Nia Vardalos are pursued by mobsters and escape by posing as drag–queens on…
Control (2004): Dir. Tim Hunter
Feat. Ray Liotta, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Rodriguez…; Ray Liotta is typically compelling as an unrepentant sociopath on 'death row', who, in return for his life, agrees to become a guinea pig in a…
Cooler, The (2004): Dir. Wayne Kramer
Feat. William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin…; Casino–cool 'indie' film starring William H. Macy as a life–long loser employed to 'cool' the winning streaks of high–rollers in a…
Dead Fish (2004): Dir. Charley Stadler
Feat. Gary Oldman, Robert Carlyle, Jimi Mistry…; The stock British gangster flick gets yet another working over: Gary Oldman plays a hitman who crosses paths with various motley individuals,…
Dead Man's Shoes (2004): Dir. Shane Meadows
Feat. Paddy Considine; Brutal and atmospheric, but a tad reductive, this revenge drama stars Paddy Considine as a demobbed soldier returning to his scungy North England…
Eagle, The (TV Series) (A Crime Odyssey) (2004): Feat. Jens Albinus; An expert Danish thriller dealing in international terrorism and cross–border crime, this involves the usual task force machinations of special…
Fida (2004): Dir. Ken Ghosh
Feat. Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Fardeen Khan; Typically likeable Bollywood item that intercrosses two love stories with the tale of an online bank heist. Treading lightly through the genre…
Final Cut, The (2004): Dir. Omar Naim
Feat. Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, Jim Caviezel…; Pertinent in an age where everything is over–recorded, and continuing a wave of films that play with memory, this sci–fi speculation from…
Forgotten, The (2004): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. Julianne Moore, Gary Sinise, Alfre Woodard…; A year after her young son is killed in a plane crash, Julianne Moore is told by authorities that he never existed and that she is suffering from…
Fracture (2004): Dir. Larry Parr
Feat. Kate Elliot, Miranda Harcourt, Jennifer Ward-Lealand…; An impressively staged adaptation of Maurice Gee's novel "Crime Story", set around two equally fractured families who enter each other's orbit after…
Freeze Frame (2004): Dir. John Simpson
Feat. Lee Evans, Ian McNeice, Rachael Stirling; After being almost convicted for a multiple killing a decade before, traumatised loner Lee Evans has since equipped himself and his…
Godsend (2004): Dir. Nick Hamm
Feat. Robert De Niro, Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos; An age–old horror conceit grafted onto the topical 'genetic cloning' debate, with Kinnear and Romijn–Stamos playing a couple who agree to…
Grid, The (Mini-series) (2004): Dir. Mikael Salomon
Feat. Dylan McDermott, Julianne Margulies, Bernard Hill…; Solid and swiftly moving mini–series in which members of multiple security and intelligence agencies (CIA, FBI, M16, M15, NSC...) attempt to…
Hex (TV Series) (2004): Feat. Jemima Rooper, Christina Cole, Michael Fassbender; Bewitching, BUFFY–comparable series in which a feisty English schoolgirl is bestowed with supernatural powers amidst a looming demonic threat.…
Hollywood Flies (2004): Dir. Fabio Segatori
Feat. Brad Renfro, Vinnie Jones; Promisingly sleazy tele–thriller has two bank robbers (Renfro and Jones) in Los Angeles end up kidnapping an Italian woman for ransom. Sundry…
Hotel Rwanda (2004): Dir. Terry George
Feat. Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte, Sophie Okonedo…; A deeply affecting expose of the Rwandan conflict of the early 1990s that matches its political conscience with vivid staging and terrific…
Hustle (TV Series) (Hu$tle) (2004): Feat. Robert Vaughn, Rob Jarvis, Adrian Lester…; Popular Brit TV drama about the so–called 'pros of con': five slick yet human ripoff artists who earn their bread by staging elaborate stings…
In My Father's Den (2004): Dir. Brad McGann
Feat. Matthew MacFadyen, Emily Barclay, Miranda Otto…; Achieving a new high watermark in production terms at least, this vivid New Zealand melodrama harnesses the complexities of Maurice Gee's…
Khakee (2004): Dir. Rajkumar Santoshi
Feat. Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan; A Bollywood offering in which the song count is low but the body count is high, this twist–filled, often violent drama centres on the police…
Kill Bill - Vol. 2 (2004): Dir. Quentin Tarantino
Feat. Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah…; The second half of Quentin Tarantino’s revenge saga is an uneven but redeeming affair that brings closure to his magnum opus with more character…
Koma (2004): Dir. Chi-Leung Law
Feat. Angelica Lee; The attractive Lee plays a feckless young woman with kidney problems who gets caught up in a scandal involving a gang of organ thieves. This…
Ladykillers, The (2004): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. Tom Hanks, Marlon Wayans, Irma P. Hall; The ever–talented Coen Brothers (O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?) take on the challenging task of updating the classic Ealing black comedy, importing…
Layer Cake (2004): Dir. Matthew Vaughn
Feat. Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Cranham…; A harder–edged version of Britcrime from the LOCK STOCK stable, this has Daniel Craig playing a cocaine dealer on the verge of retirement,…
Machinist, The (2004): Dir. Brad Anderson
Feat. Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Ironside; A mind–twisting thriller in the industrial–gothic mould, this might at times feel like an off–cut from the David…
Man on Fire (2004): Dir. Tony Scott
Feat. Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, Radha Mitchell…; A hard–eyed revenge thriller which sees an alcoholic bodyguard (Washington) losing a 11–yr old girl he's assigned to protect in Mexico…
Manchurian Candidate, The (2004): Dir. Jonathan Demme
Feat. Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber…; Slickly modernised version of the Cold War classic, tailors its twisted fable of political paranoia into a complex speculation on military, political…
Marple (TV Series) [Geraldine McEwan] (2004-2005): Dir. Andy Wilson, John Strickland, Charles Palmer
Feat. Geraldine McEwan, Derek Jacobi, John Hannah…; Four episodes from the most recent adaptation of Agatha Christie's novels set around her indefatiguable elderly heroine and amateur detective Miss…
Matando Cabos (2004): Dir. Alejandro Lozano
Feat. Tony Dalton, Ana Claudia Talancon, Pedro Jr. Armendariz; Energetic Mexican 'farce of errors' in which two teenagers kidnap a coldly ruthless businessman, not realising he is also a coveted prize for a…
Memories of Tomorrow (2004): Dir. Amit Tripuraneni
Feat. Richard Thompson, Rachel Gilchrist, Ray Trickitt; An artful psychological thriller set around a man's (Thompson) frustrating amnesia of a past which seemingly involves commando training and…
Mindhunters (2004): Dir. Renny Harlin
Feat. LL Cool J, Jonny Lee Miller, Val Kilmer…; Mindlessly contrived suspense yarn, gains satisfactions from the sheer loopiness of its central tale of seven trainee FBI 'profilers', who must…
Murder in Suburbia (TV Series) (2004): Feat. Lisa Faulkner, Caroline Catz; Another variation on Britain’s fetish for sleuthing duos, this is a spunkier, sexier alternative to most under the female eye two abrasively…
Offensive Behaviour (2004): Dir. Patrick Gillies; Amiable though underwritten exercise in Kiwi bad taste, revolving around one afternoon’s goings on in a block of flats. The deviants inside…
Old Boy (Oldboy) (2004): Dir. Park Chan-Wook
Feat. Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yoo; Wowing audiences wherever it's played (including being nominated for the Palm D'Or at Cannes), this achingly intense thriller from Korea raises the…
One Last Chance (2004): Dir. Stewart Svaasand
Feat. Iain Robertson, Dougray Scott, Kevin McKidd; Scottish hi–jinks cut in the same droll humour as SHALLOW GRAVE, with a young man landlocked in his small highland village discovering a gold…
One Night in Mongkok (Wong gok hak yau) (2004): Dir. Derek Yee
Feat. Daniel Wu, Cecilia Cheung; A bespectacled 'Mainland' Chinese man is recruited for the assassination of a triad boss in the lusciously seedy Hong Kong district of Mongkok, but…
One Point 0 (1.0) (2004): Dir. Jeff Renfroe, Marteinn Thorsson
Feat. Jeremy Sisto, Deborah Kara Unger, Udo Kier…; An inventive science–fiction speculation, set in a delapidated future world in which a computer programmer (Sisto) begins to get mysterious…
Operation Valkyrie (Stauffenberg) (2004): Dir. Jo Baier
Feat. Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur, Hardy Kruger…; Highly credible Germanic take on the failed 'Valkyrie' plot to assassinate Hitler favors sobering realism over Hollywood heroism. Made for German…
Ordeal, The (Calvaire) (2004): Dir. Fabrice du Welz
Feat. Laurent Lucas; Less gruelling than its title suggests, this is a macabre, blackly humorous slice of "redneck gothic" from Belgium, in which a cabaret singer's…
Pusher II (With Blood on my Hands) (2004): Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Feat. Mads Mikkelsen; Number two in the Danish thriller PUSHER series tracks a muddled Copenhagen thug fresh from prison who faces the scorn of his gangster father, past…
Red Lights (Feux Rouges) (2004): Dir. Cedric Kahn
Feat. Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Carole Bouquet; A married couple bicker in a holiday traffic–jam, fueled by the husband's drunken irritability and his wife's haughty disregard, leading them…
Saint Ange (Sanatorium) (2004): Dir. Pascal Laugier
Feat. Virginie Ledoyen, Katriona MacColl, Lou Doillon; A young woman (Ledoyen) journeys into the remotes of the French Alps to help clean up an abandoned orphanage, but soon begins to notice strange…
Secret Window (2004): Dir. David Koepp
Feat. Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Timothy Hutton…; Coming off the back of a messy divorce, novelist Depp moves to an isolated lakeside house where he must contend with accusations of plagarism by an…
Sex Traffic (Mini-Series) (2004): Dir. David Yates
Feat. John Simm, Wendy Crewson, Maury Chaykin; Harrowing drama of Britain’s illegal sex trade, with John Simm leading the good fight against an international prostitution ring. The compelling…
She's Gone (2004): Dir. Adrian Shergold
Feat. Ray Winstone, Lindsey Coulson, Gary Lucy…; Ray Winstone is typically compelling as the father of a young British woman who goes missing in Turkey. Travelling to the Middle East, he quests to…
Spartan (2004): Dir. David Mamet
Feat. Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, William H. Macy…; An expert 'special ops' agent (Kilmer) is sucked headfirst into a wild, yet plausible conspiracy involving the kidnapping of the US president's…
Spooked (2004): Dir. Geoff Murphy
Feat. Cliff Curtis, John Leigh, Christopher Hobbs…; An ambitious though uneven thriller based on the true–life NZ case of a computer expert who ended up with disc–fulls of incriminating…
Spooks - Season 3 (TV Series) (2004): Feat. Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, Peter Firth…; Further episodes from the British MI5 spy suspense series, in which agents try to resolve a variety of 21st century threats. Season Three: 10…
Stiff (2004): Dir. John Clarke
Feat. David Wenham, Mick Molloy, Sam Neill; Superior telemovie adaptation from the popular crime novel series by Shane Maloney, based around a shambling but effective government advisor…
Suspect Zero (2004): Dir. E. Elias Merhige
Feat. Ben Kingsley, Aaron Eckhart, Carrie-Anne Moss; A foreboding blood hunt in the stylish tradition of SEVEN, with serial–killer Kingsley and FBI–man Eckhart circling each other in a fog…
Taking Lives (2004): Dir. D. J. Caruso
Feat. Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland…; Expert FBI 'profiler' Jolie is recruited onto a case in deepest Canada involving a serial killer who murders blonde–haired men then assumes…
Twisted (2004): Dir. Philip Kaufman
Feat. Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Garcia…; Judd plays a detective hunting a serial killer on the San Francisco waterfront in this overly shadowy thriller. It's chief distinction occurs when…
Undertow (2004): Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Jamie Bell, Josh Lucas, Dermot Mulroney; Southern Gothic melodrama from dir. Green (GEORGE WASHINGTON) who here applies his off–centre visual tics to a story of family inheritances,…
Veronica Mars (TV Series) (2004): Feat. Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni…; Addictive, dark–hued mystery noir masquerading as a high school drama, centred on the socially ostracised teen daughter of a private eye whose…
Village, The (2004): Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Feat. Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody…; A further investigation in atmospherics from the maker of SIGNS and THE SIXTH SENSE, this time sent in the foreboding microcosm of an 18th century…
Walk on Water (2004): Dir. Eytan Fox; An arresting drama based on the obsessive efforts of an Israeli Mossad hitman –in grieving over his wife's suicide – to search for and…
Wicker Park (2004): Dir. Paul McGuigan
Feat. Josh Hartnett, Diane Kruger, Rose Byrne…; A flashily–filmed, functional Hollywood remake of L'APPARTEMENT, with Hartnett playing a Chicago artist who falls for a beautiful dancer…
Wire, The - Season 3 (TV Series) (2004): Feat. Dominic West, Frankie Faison, Idris Elba…; Third season of this cracking HBO crime drama set in the seedy underbelly of the Baltimore crime scene. This season the Baltimore mayor is…
World Without Thieves, A (Tian xia wu zei) (2004): Dir. Feng Xiaoning
Feat. Andy Lau, Rene Liu; Two thieves resolve to go straight, only to become entangled in high–stakes plot aboard a long haul train. Starring the ever–watchable…
11:14 (2003): Dir. Greg Marcks
Feat. Rachael Leigh Cook, Barbara Hershey, Patrick Swayze…; A set of seemingly random incidents all coincide in a sleepy suburban town one evening at 11:14pm, throwing together five different characters with…
21 Grams (2003): Dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Feat. Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Benicio Del Toro…; For his English–language debut, the celebrated Mexican director of AMORES PERROS weighs in with an unconventional, soul–baring drama that…
24 - Season 2 (TV Series) (2003): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland; Further episodes in this high–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode) with Kiefer Sutherland as lead…
Agent Cody Banks (2003): Dir. Harald Zwart
Feat. Frankie Muniz, Cynthia Stevenson, Hilary Duff…; Teen heart–throb Frankie Munz plays a junior CIA agent in this lightweight but savvy James Bond–parody. Skateboarding his way into a…
Alexandra's Project (2003): Dir. Rolf De Heer
Feat. Helen Buday, Gary Sweet; Business executive Gary Sweet arrives home one evening and walks into a psychological trap set by his aggreived wife (Buday). Finding that she has…
As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (2003): Dir. Hardy Martins; Based on the novel by Josef Martin Bauer, this film recounts the harrowing true story of Clemens Forell, the German POW who escaped a Siberian labour…
Ashes and Sand (2003): Dir. Bob Blagden
Feat. Nick Moran, Lara Belmont; Promising but ultimately disappointing drama set among the members of a girl–gang in Brighton, England. Although based on an…
Back River Rd (2003): Dir. Peter Tait; A roughly–hewn thriller set in the backroads of northern New Zealand, where various characters in the dope–growing scene vie for success.…
Basic (2003): Dir. John McTiernan
Feat. John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Connie Nielsen…; Slick jungle thriller kept interesting by a far from basic storyline involving US troops on a training mission in Panama. When the squad runs into…
Big Empty, The (2003): Dir. Steve Anderson
Feat. Jon Favreau, Kelsey Grammer, Joey Lauren Adams…; Jon Favreau is an unemployed LA actor who lands a real–life role in a mysterious rendezvous in an eccentric desert town. A deliberately…
Blackjack (TV Series) (2003-2007): Dir. Peter Andrikidis
Feat. Colin Friels, Vince Colosimo, Kate Beahan…; Tenacious Aussie crime series centred on a detective banished to work in the police archives section, who uses his new surrounds to solve long…
Blind Flight (2003): Dir. John Furse
Feat. Ian Hart, Linus Roache; True story of the 4–year kidnapping in 80s Lebanon of Irishman Brian Keenan and Englishman John McCarthy, given an affecting depth by its…
Blind Shaft (2003): Dir. Yang Li
Feat. Li Yixiang, Wang Shuangbao, Baoqiang Wang; Chinese crime drama set in the brutal world of illegal coal mining. Follows two struggling coal miners who are running a side hustle in which they…
Blue Murder (TV Series) (2003): Feat. Caroline Quentin; Pragmatic crime series featuring British comedian Caroline Quentin as a detective at the top of her game, trying to juggle her demanding career and…
Bookies (2003): Dir. Mark Illsley
Feat. Nick Stahl, Lukas Haas, Rachael Leigh Cook…; Four college friends become small–time bookies, only to find their world spinning dangerously out of control when their greed attracts the…
Butterfly Effect, The (2003): Dir. Eric Bress, J Mackye Gruber
Feat. Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz; A timewarping thriller with a touch of genuine B–movie originality, this portrays the unintended consequences when its young hero (Kutcher)…
Carandiru (2003): Dir. Hector Babenco; An expressionist series of tales set within the notorious titular prison in Sao Paolo, Brazil, as seen through the eyes of a benevolent doctor and…
Code 46 (2003): Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Feat. Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton; A cerebral, provocative 'future shock' thriller in which Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton try to conduct a forbidden affair in a politically…
Cold Creek Manor (2003): Dir. Mike Figgis
Feat. Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff…; A middling twist on the city–folks–go–country thriller, with Quaid, Stone and family moving into a creaky old mansion with a bad…
Crime Spree (2003): Dir. Brad Mirman
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel, Johnny Hallyday…; Slick comedy crime caper focused on a group of French thieves on a heist in Chicago where they mistakenly rob the head honcho of the Mafia and end up…
Dallas 362 (2003): Dir. Scott Caan
Feat. Scott Caan, Jeff Goldblum, Shawn Hatosy…; Minor but admirable drama about a young man seeking to break away from his stifling life in Los Angeles with the encouragement of his stoner…
Dead Bodies (2003): Dir. Robert Quinn
Feat. Andrew Scott, Kelly Reilly; An inconvenient dead body turns up on young Irish lad Scott's floor – that of his girlfriend, with whom he has just had a screaming argument.…
Dead End (2003): Dir. Jean-Baptiste Andrea, Fabrice Canepa
Feat. Ray Wise, Lyn Shaye; Backwoods chiller about a family who find themselves trapped on a car journey into nightmare. This superior horror fare is fuelled by a genuine sense…
Deadly Cargo (Cámara Oscura) (2003): Dir. Pau Freixas
Feat. Unax Ugalde, Adria Collado; Two friends on a scuba–diving trip get into troubled waters when they turn up a body, accidentally destroy their ship and happened to be…
Debt, The (2003): Dir. Jon Jones
Feat. Warren Clarke, Hugo Speer; A superior British telemovie about a number of shady characters and their attempts to remove financial debts from their lives. Clarke is enjoyable in…
Dot The I (El Punto sobre la I) (2003): Dir. Matthew Parkhill
Feat. Gael Garcia Bernal, James D'Arcy, Natalia Verbeke; A skillfully moody London romance, in which the relationship of an engaged couple is disturbed by a pre–wedding ritual in which Verbeke must…
Elephant (2003): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, Timothy Bottoms…; A smoothly crafted, but troubling depiction of the Columbine High School massacre in which two disaffected teenagers planned and staged the multiple…
Equilibrium (2003): Dir. Kurt Wimmer
Feat. Christian Bale, Taye Diggs, Emily Watson; Modest, but intelligent sci–fi thriller, where a policeman misses his daily dose of emotion–lowering drug Prozium and realises the…
Fear X (2003): Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Feat. John Turturro, Deborah Kara Unger, James Remar; The Danish dir. of BLEEDER makes his American debut with a darkly inventive pscyhodrama which follows the obsession of a Wisconsin…
Foolproof (2003): Dir. William Phillips
Feat. Ryan Reynolds, David Suchet; A slick if stereotypical heist thriller, in which a group of brainy thieves plan 'foolproof' heists, but find their ambitions go awry when their next…
For Good (2003): Dir. Stuart McKenzie
Feat. Michelle Langstone, Timothy Balme, Miranda Harcourt…; Deserving of a wider audience, this assured and well–focused NZ feature debut belies its limited budget with a pertinent crime story executed…
Ginji The Slasher (2003): Dir. Takeshi Miyasaka
Feat. Riki Takeuchi; Low profile suspenser, set around a recalcitrant swordsman who goes on the rampage in post–WW2 Japan and 50 years later is released to start…
Good Morning, Night (2003): Dir. Marco Bellocchio; A dramatisation of events surrounding the kidnapping and murder of Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978 by The Red Brigades, as seen through the…
I Inside, The (2003): Dir. Roland Suso Richter
Feat. Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Polley, Piper Perabo…; Head–scratching psychological thriller centred on an amnesiac (Phillippe) who cannot recall the last two years of his life and begins to travel…
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003): Dir. Mike Hodges
Feat. Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, Jonathan Rhys Meyers…; Reteaming dir. Mike Hodges with star Clive Owen for a follow–up to the acclaimed CROUPIER, this takes more of a cue from the director’s…
I'm Not Scared (Io Non Ho Paura) (2003): Dir. Gabriele Salvatores
Feat. Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Dino Abbrescia, Giorgio Careccia…; Atmospheric thriller from dir. Gabriele Salvatores that deftly conveys a foreboding childhood experience during a long, hot summer in the country,…
Identity (2003): Dir. James Mangold
Feat. John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet…; File this teasing, shamelessly manipulative thriller under “guilty pleasure” for its gimmick premise can either be enjoyed as a cheeky…
Imagining Argentina (2003): Dir. Christopher Hampton
Feat. Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Ruben Blades…; A controversial adaptation of Lawrence Thornton's award–winning novel, set in the Argentine dictatorship of the mid–1970s. Thompson is…
In the Cut (2003): Dir. Jane Campion
Feat. Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh…; An uncomfortable, darkly ‘feminist’ thriller for which Meg Ryan deflowers her star persona, playing a troubled forty–something who…
Infernal Affairs 3 (Mou gaan dou III) (2003): Dir. Wai Keung Lau, Siu Fai Mak
Feat. Andy Lau, Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Leon Lai…; Actual sequel to the hit Hong Kong gangland–cop thriller attempts valiantly to tie up loose ends, both picking up where corrupt cop Ming (Lau)…
Intermission (2003): Dir. John Crowley
Feat. Colin Farrell, Colm Meaney, Cillian Murphy…; Irish crime drama teeming with 'interconnected' plotlines and profane lowlife, dreaming various criminal and romantic endeavours into…
Jericho Mansions (2003): Dir. Alberto Sciamma
Feat. James Caan, Jennifer Tilly, Genevieve Bujold…; An apartment block murder–mystery styled in the tradition of European arthouse fare. As the loner caretaker, James Caan finds himself the chief…
Killing Words (Palabras encadenadas) (2003): Dir. Laura Mana
Feat. Darío Grandinetti, Goya Toledo, Fernando Guillén…; This quality, award–winning thriller has a woman waking to find herself restrained in a dark basement, while a seeming serial–killer,…
Last Samurai, The (2003): Dir. Edward Zwick
Feat. Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, William Atherton…; Swathed in the scenery of New Zealand, this enactment of the Japanese civil wars of the late 19th century is an ambitious, though…
Manson Family, The (2003): Dir. Jim Van Bebber
Feat. Marcelo Games; Psychedelic biopic of the notorious hippie anti–icon Charles Manson, who gathered a cult following around him in the late 1960s and programmed…
Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World (2003): Dir. Peter Weir
Feat. Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'Arcy; Vivid sea–chase yarn, set during the Napoleonic Wars, with Crowe commanding the screen as the sympathetic captain of a British frigate…
Matchstick Men (2003): Dir. Ridley Scott
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman; A moderately engaging caper comedy from dir. Ridley Scott starring Nicolas Cage as an obsessive–compulsive type whose profession as a conman…
Mean Creek (2003): Dir. Jacob Aaron Estes
Feat. Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelly; Skillful 'delinquent thriller' about a group of highschool kids who plot to humiliate the overweight school bully on a boating daytrip. Though the…
Memories of Murder (Salinui chueok) (2003): Dir. Joon-ho Bong
Feat. Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim; A darkly lyrical thriller, set around the true–life hunt for South Korea's first documented serial killer in 1986, during the years of Chun…
Missing, The (2003): Dir. Ron Howard
Feat. Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood…; A brooding historical thriller set in 19th–century New Mexico in which Blanchett reunites with her estranged father (Jones) to search for her…
Monster (2003): Dir. Patty Jenkins
Feat. Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern…; Powerful dramatization of the story of female serial–killer Aileen Wournos, strong enough to support an astonishing, Oscar–winning…
Mystic River (2003): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon…; Dignified crime thriller shot in unfussy style by old pro Clint Eastwood, this is less thrilling than a reliable entertainment, with the emotional…
NCIS (TV Series) (2003-2007): Feat. Mark Harmon, Sasha Alexander; Globe–trotting TV crime series focused on a group of detectives investigating curly crimes connected to the Navy and Marine corps. A riveting…
Nemesis Game (2003): Dir. Jesse Warn
Feat. Carly Pope, Ian McShane, Rena Owen; Twisted, overly enigmatic thriller shot in New Zealand, that concerns a student's obsession with a high–stakes game of riddles. Noticing…
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003): Dir. Robert Rodriguez
Feat. Johnny Depp, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek…; The final 'installment' in dir. Rodriguez' violent Mexican trilogy (see EL MARIACHI and DESPERADO), with Banderas again the loner in a dusty town,…
Open Water (2003): Dir. Chris Kentis
Feat. Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis; An admirable independent film that broke through to the multiplexes, this ocean–peril thriller reliably whitens the knuckles with its candid…
Out of Time (2003): Dir. Carl Franklin
Feat. Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes; Solidly crafted with a thumbscrew–tightening atmosphere, this thriller is set in the 'Sunshine State' of Florida, with Washington playing a…
Owning Mahowny (2003): Dir. Richard Kwietniowski
Feat. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, John Hurt…; Phillip Seymour Hoffman stars in this fact–based story of a Toronto bank manager who became legendary for gambling away millions of his…
Paycheck (2003): Dir. John Woo
Feat. Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman…; Action–orientated version of a typically complex Phillip K Dick sci–fi story, in which hero Affleck must contend with wiped memories,…
Perfect Strangers (2003): Dir. Gaylene Preston
Feat. Sam Neill, Rachael Blake, Joel Tobeck; Thriller of possessive love, set effectively on the rugged coastline of New Zealand’s West Coast, that changes tack mid–way into blackly…
Planman, The (2003): Dir. John Strickland
Feat. Robbie Coltrane, Graham Crowden; Ingenious two–part thriller in which Robbie Coltrane, in a near–reprise of his CRACKER role, plays a clever Scottish lawyer who in his…
Reckoning, The (2003): Dir. Paul McGuigan
Feat. Willem Dafoe, Paul Bettany, Vincent Cassel…; A sober minded recreation of plague–blasted England of the Middle Ages, with Bettany cowling–up as a monk on the run who falls in with a…
Recruit, The (2003): Dir. Roger Donaldson
Feat. Al Pacino, Colin Farrell; CIA–trainer Al Pacino puts computer hacker Colin Farrell through the hoops to prepare him for the world of intelligence gathering and secret…
Return, The (Vozvrashcheniye) (2003): Dir. Andrei Zvyagintsev
Feat. Ivan Dobronravov, Vladimir Garin, Konstantin Lavronenko…; A surprise arthouse hit about a couple of teenage brothers who are taken on a mysterious trip by their estranged and rather surly father, with his…
Rick (2003): Dir. Curtiss Clayton
Feat. Bill Pullman, Aaron Stanford, Agnes Bruckner…; A faithful and somewhat underrated adaptation of Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Rigoletto", updated into the modern office world, where a top executive…
Ripley's Game (2003): Dir. Liliana Cavani
Feat. John Malkovich, Dougray Scott, Lena Headey…; Another episode in the life of Patricia Highsmith's amoral, talented manipulator Tom Ripley, here played with dry self–amusement by John…
Rosemary & Thyme (TV Series) (2003): Dir. Tom Clegg
Feat. Pam Ferris, Felicity Kendal; Utterly peculiar crime series follows two disenchanted botanists – Rosemary, a sacked horticulture lecturer, and Laura, a police officer separated…
Runaway Jury (2003): Dir. Gary Fleder
Feat. John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman…; It's back to court with John Grisham, in a well–cast, entertaining tale of gun–control issues, jury–manipulation, big business and…
S.W.A.T. (SWAT) (2003): Dir. Clark Johnson
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez…; Competent, but hardly special updating of the 70s cop show (Special Weapons And Tactics), which mixes credible action assignments with personality…
Sin Eater, The (The Order) (2003): Dir. Brian Helgeland
Feat. Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Peter Weller; Priest Heath Ledger investigates a series of mysterious deaths within the Catholic Church that lead him to the Vatican, and beyond, in this murky…
Singing Detective, The (2003): Dir. Keith Gordon
Feat. Robert Downey Jnr., Robin Wright, Jeremy Northam…; A not unthoughtful remake of Dennis Potter's iconic 1980s TV Series, in which a psoriasis–afflicted crime writer hallucinates mystery plots and…
Sparkling Cyanide (2003): Dir. Tristram Powell
Feat. Pauline Collins, Oliver Ford Davies, Kenneth Cranham; An elderly husband and wife are the unlikely secret agents brought in to investigate the murder of a beautiful trophy wife at a glitzy champagne…
Spooks - Season 2 (TV Series) (2003): Feat. Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, Peter Firth…; Further episodes from the British MI5 spy suspense series, in which agents try to resolve a variety of 21st century threats. Season Two: 6…
Statement, The (2003): Dir. Norman Jewison
Feat. Michael Caine, Tilda Swinton, Jeremy Northam…; Michael Caine plays an ex–Nazi collaborator who has remained beyond the law for fifty years in post–WW2 France thanks to the Roman…
Swimming Pool (2003): Dir. Francois Ozon
Feat. Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance; A beguiling psychological thriller, in which a British mystery–novelist (Rampling) travels to her publisher's holiday house in rural France for…
Tais Toi! (Ruby and Quentin) (2003): Dir. Francis Veber
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Jean Reno, Andre Dussollier…; Another reliable entertainment from the writer–director of THE CLOSET and THE DINNER GAME, this screwball crime comedy boasts a central comic…
Tears of the Sun (2003): Dir. Antoine Fuqua
Feat. Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci, Cole Hauser…; Bruce Willis leads the charge in a 'Special Ops' mission in war–ravaged Nigeria. Assigned to rescue a UN doctor (Belluci!) he and his squad…
Torso (Torso: The Evelyn Dick Story) (2003): Dir. Alex Chapple
Feat. Kathleen Robertson, Victor Garber, Brenda Fricker…; Would–be socialite Evelyn Dick is arrested by Canadian police for the murder of her husband in this above–average account of the trial…
Underworld (2003): Dir. Len Wiseman
Feat. Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy, Michael Sheen…; A sleek action workout in which cat–suited vampire Beckinsale fights an ongoing war with the other creatures of night, werewolves, but also…
Veronica Guerin (2003): Dir. Joel Schumacher
Feat. Cate Blanchett, Ciaran Hinds, Brenda Fricker; Playing an Irish journalist determined to uncover the drug–networks of Ireland, Blanchett gives a rounded portrait of a headstrong…
Visitors (2003): Dir. Richard Franklin
Feat. Radha Mitchell, Ray Barrett, Susannah York; Circumnavigating the globe in her yacht, Radha Mitchell gets becalmed in the tropics and is 'visited' by persons who may be ghosts, hallucinations or…
Who Killed Bambi? (Qui a tué Bambi?) (2003): Dir. Gilles Marchand
Feat. Laurent Lucas, Catherine Jacob, Sophie Quinton; French thriller set in an eerie hospital where people are mysteriously disappearing, following a nursing student and a doctor as they try to catch…
Wire, The - Season 2 (TV Series) (2003): Feat. Dominic West, Idris Elba, Wood Harris…; Much of the cast of the first season of this phenomenal HBO crime drama return for another complex delve into the Baltimore crime scene. This time…
Wrong Turn (2003): Dir. Rob Schmidt
Feat. Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto; A carload of photogenic youths take a wrong turn into the nightmare of a West Virginia inhabited by murderous mutants. With enough efficient…
Young Adam (2003): Dir. David Mackenzie
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan; Evocatively set amid the grimy canal barges of post–WW2 Scotland, this follows the shady fortunes of a failed writer (McGregor), whose…
Zero Day (2003): Dir. Ben Coccio
Feat. Andre Keuck, Calvin Robertson; A confronting, fictionalized insight into the nihilistic mind–set of two alienated students who plotted and carried out a violent massacre at…
'R Xmas (2002): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Lillo Brancato Jr., Drea De Matteo, Ice-T; Familiar territory tinged with originality from bad boy dir. Ferrara, examining the unusual Christmas crises of a drug–dealing Latino couple in…
24 - Season 1 (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland, Leslie Hope, Dennis Haysbert…; High–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode), with Kiefer Sutherland as lead special agent of a…
9 Dead Gay Guys (Nine Dead Gay Guys) (2002): Dir. Lab Ky Mo
Feat. Glen Mulhern, Brendan Mackey, Steven Berkoff…; Irreverent, often damned funny, crime comedy in which two lads stumble their way through the London gay underworld in search of 'gainful…
A Man Apart (2002): Dir. F. Gary Gray
Feat. Vin Diesel, Larenz Tate, Timothy Olyphant; When his wife is killed by drug–dealer types, DEA agent Vin Diesel goes into full–blown 'Charles Bronson' mode. Despite his appealing…
A Snake of June (2002): Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto
Feat. Asuka Kurosawa, Yuji Kohtari, Shinya Tsukamoto…; Intriguing neo–noir psychodrama from uncompromising Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto (yes, he of the notorious TETSUO films), about a suicide…
And Now Ladies and Gentlemen (2002): Dir. Claude Lelouch
Feat. Jeremy Irons, Patricia Kaas, Thierry Lhermitte…; A smooth exercise in self–satire from dir. Lelouch, with Jeremy Irons playing a shifty jewel–thief who hooks up with lounge–singer…
Angela (2002): Dir. Roberta Torre
Feat. Donatella Finocchiaro; A solid, if oblique drama depicting the doings of the 1980s Sicilian Mafia as seen through the eyes of mob–wife Finocchiaro. Although…
Assassination Tango (2002): Dir. Robert Duvall
Feat. Robert Duvall, Kathy Baker, Ruben Blades; Unassuming, yet engrossing crime drama, which follows aging hitman Robert Duvall on a job in Argentina, while casually digressing into a search for…
Bad Company (2002): Dir. Joel Schumacher
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Chris Rock; CIA–spook Anthony Hopkins recruits the street–smart twin (Chris Rock) of his recently–dead partner to help on a mission to track…
Below (2002): Dir. David Twohy
Feat. Matthew Davis, Bruce Greenwood; A ghost–story set aboard a US submarine in 1943, that combines a spooky use of sound, darkness and psychology to keep it above the prowling…
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002): Dir. Justin Lin
Feat. Perry Shen, Jason J. Tobin, Sung Kang…; Spinning a novel twist on a few cliches, this parable concerns a group of bored Asian–American high schoolers in Orange County, California who…
Blade 2 (2002): Dir. Guillermo Del Toro
Feat. Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman…; Surpassing the original in both imagination and thrills, thanks primarily to dir. Del Toro (CRONOS), we again ride with…
Blood Work (2002): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Anjelica Huston, Jeff Daniels; FBI–profiler Clint Eastwood is coaxed out of retirement when he learns of the background of the heart transplant he has just undergone after a…
Bourne Identity, The (2002): Dir. Doug Liman
Feat. Matt Damon, Franke Potente, Chris Cooper…; A stylish transcription of the Robert Ludlum thriller, with amnesiac CIA super–agent Matt Damon scrambling to survive as he’s hunted…
Changing Lanes (2002): Dir. Roger Michell
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck, Toni Collette…; After a rush hour fender–bender between lawyer Ben Affleck and insurance agent Samuel L Jackson, a tit for tat game of ‘get even’ for high…
Chaos (2002): Dir. Coline Serreau
Feat. Vincent Lindon, Catherine Frot; A witty French thriller where, through a chance meeting, a middle–class woman comes to the rescue of an Algerian–born prostitute who is…
Cherish (2002): Dir. Finn Taylor
Feat. Robin Tunney, Tim Blake Nelson, Jason Priestley…; A self–consciously offbeat ‘indie’ about a retro–pop obsessed misfit (Robin Tunney in a winning, flaky performance) who finds…
City By the Sea (2002): Dir. Michael Caton-Jones
Feat. Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand; Robert De Niro faces a personal and professional dilemma as a decent cop/bad father who discovers that the prime suspect in the murder of his partner…
City of Ghosts (2002): Dir. Matt Dillon
Feat. Matt Dillon, James Caan, Natascha McElhone…; A moody debut for dir. Dillon, unfolding a familiar thriller of dueling lowlifes in the exotic–chaotic scenery of presentday…
City of God (Cidade de Deus) (2002): Dir. Fernando Mierelles
Feat. Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmano da Hora, Phellipe Haagensen; An incendiary Brazilian drama depicting two decades of blood–drenched rivalry between two youth gangs who control a slum area of Rio De…
Code, The (La Mentale) (2002): Dir. Manuel Boursinhac
Feat. Samuel Le Bihan; Convincingly gritty crime drama set in the drab outer zone of Paris' apartment estates and trailer parks, with a recently paroled hood (Le Bihan)…
Confidence (2002): Dir. James Foley
Feat. Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia…; In order to extricate himself from his last botched con, grifter Ed Burns enacts a monster scam against a crooked banker for mobster Dustin…
Crime and Punishment (TV Mini-series) (2002): Dir. Julian Jarrold
Feat. John Simm, Kate Ashfield, Lara Belmont…; Lyrical TV adaptation of the great Dostoevsky novel focused on a young murderer struggling to escape his feelings of guilt and paranoia before they…
CSI Miami (TV Series) (2002): Feat. David Caruso, Rory Cochrane; Episodes from the first series of the Florida–based spinoff from the successful forensic procedural series. David Caruso follows William…
Cupid's Prey (2002): Dir. Dale G. Bradley
Feat. Joanna Pacula; Low end US production filmed in New Zealand, in which a young woman holidays with her boyfriend's troublesome family. Strictly run of the mill.
Cypher (2002): Dir. Vincenzo Natali
Feat. Jeremy Northam, Lucy Liu; A striking, coolly managed thriller, where future corporations mount elaborate espionage missions against each other using specially trained…
Dancer Upstairs, The (2002): Dir. John Malkovich
Feat. Javier Bardem; John Malkovich debuts as a director with this slow–burn police thriller played out in the humid atmosphere of an unamed South American…
Dark Blue (2002): Dir. Ron Shelton
Feat. Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames, Brendan Gleeson…; Unexpectedly sharp police drama lifted from a James Ellroy story and placed into Los Angeles on the eve of the 1992 riots. Expressing the…
Demonlover (2002): Dir. Olivier Assayas
Feat. Connie Nielsen, Charles Berling, Chloe Sevigny…; An insinuating future–shock Euro–thriller, with Connie Neilsen as an attractive corporate executive caught in the…
Dirty Deeds (2002): Dir. David Caesar
Feat. Bryan Brown, John Goodman, Sam Neill…; A brassy Aussie cousin to SNATCH, this fun Aussie thriller sees the thriving criminal empire of Bryan Brown in late 60s Sydney scouted by Mafia…
Dirty Pretty Things (2002): Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou, Sergi Lopez; A tightly–wound, satisfying British melodrama about illegal immigrants in London that find themselves exploited by a medical scam. Chiwetel…
Dog Soldiers (2002): Dir. Neil Marshall
Feat. Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd; Ripping werewolf thriller, where a team of British soldiers (led by Sean Pertwee) who are training in the Scottish highlands find the grisly remains…
Double Vision (Shuang tong) (2002): Dir. Chen Kuo Fu
Feat. David Morse, Tony Leung (Kar-fai), Rene Liu; A slickly effective horror film, in which cross–cultural cop buddies Leung and Morse hunt a demonic serial killer in Taiwan. Imbued with a…
DreamCatcher (2002): Dir. Lawrence Kasdan
Feat. Morgan Freeman, Jason Lee, Tom Sizemore…; Four childhood friends, who share psychic powers and an annual appointment to go male–bonding in the Maine backwoods, are inadvertantly drawn…
El Bonaerense (2002): Dir. Pablo Trapero; An authentically macho tale about the notoriously clannish and corrupt police force of Buenos Aires (members are known as 'el Bonaerense') which…
Enough (2002): Dir. Michael Apted
Feat. Jennifer Lopez, Billy Campbell, Juliette Lewis…; As a battered housewife fighting back, Jennifer Lopez gives a reasonably appealing performance in a story that adds dashes of violence to the core…
Fear Dot Com (Fear.com) (2002): Dir. William Malone
Feat. Stephen Dorff, Stephen Rea, Natascha McElhone; Incoherent horror flick that goes on–line with the plot of Japanese horror film RING, this will be most compared to the American remake of that…
Femme Fatale (2002): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Antonio Banderas, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos; Best viewed as a campy homage to the film noir genre, this snaky thriller revels in the multiple plot twists of its tale of diamond thieves and…
Foyle's War (TV Series) (2002-2015): Feat. Michael Kitchen, Honeysuckle Weeks, Anthony Howell; A distinguished drama series of mysteries set at the dawn of World War II, from the makers of Midsomer Murders. Michael Kitchen stars as charismatic…
Gangs of New York (2002): Dir. Martin Scorsese
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz…; Dir. Martin Scorsese’s messy yet resonant epic based on a 19th century chapter that witnessed mass civil unrest in NYC is painted with the…
Good Thief, The (2002): Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Nick Nolte, Ralph Fiennes; This woozy, lightly stylised thriller finds Nick Nolte as the titular gambling thief looking to go into retirement by heisting expensive paintings…
Hard Word, The (2002): Dir. Scott Roberts
Feat. Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, Damien Richardson…; A lean comic thriller taking its attitude from LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS, but given stubbled Aussie charm by leads Guy Pearce and Rachel…
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (A la Folie pas du Tout) (2002): Dir. Laetitia Colombani
Feat. Audrey Tautou, Samuel Le Bihan; A slyly–structured tale of adultery which uses the ambiguous qualities of actress Audrey Tautou (AMELIE) to deliver some thrilling…
Heaven (2002): Dir. Tom Tykwer
Feat. Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi; An art–thriller worked from a script by the late Krzysztof Kieslowski which follows the enigmatic trail of recently widowed and vengeful Cate…
Hunted, The (2002): Dir. William Friedkin
Feat. Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen; Hunt–and–kill thriller with Del Toro playing a psychically wounded veteran of Kosovo, who back in America begins stalking deer hunters in…
Hypnotic (Doctor Sleep) (2002): Dir. Nick Willing
Feat. Goran Visnjic, Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson…; The smouldering Visnjic (THE DEEP END) plays a hypnotherapist who has the gift of receiving startling visualisations from the minds of his…
Infernal Affairs (2002): Dir. Wai Keung Lau, Siu Fai Mak
Feat. Andy Lau, Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Anthony Wong…; This dynamic cops ‘n’ robbers spectacle is populist Hong Kong film–making at its most slick and sophisticated. Infused with more than a…
Inner Senses (Yee do hung gaan) (2002): Dir. Chi-Leung Law
Feat. Leslie Cheung, Karena Lam, Maggie Poon; A loner psychologist (Cheung) falls for a suicidal woman he is treating for her constant, gloomy visions of the dead, in this stylish Asian riff on…
Insomnia (2002): Dir. Christopher Nolan
Feat. Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank…; Consummate thriller from the director of “Memento” is an exemplary remake that follows closely yet deftly refines the well–regarded yet…
John Q (2002): Dir. Nick Cassavetes
Feat. Denzel Washington, Ray Liotta, Robert Duvall…; Denzel Washington plays a cash–strapped pillar–of–decency who can’t afford his son’s heart–transplant in the mercenary US…
K19 - Widowmaker (2002): Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Feat. Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson; Solid actioner revisits the long–censored account of a Russian super–submarine which had a disastrous reactor meltdown…
Kaante (Thorns) (2002): Dir. Sanjay Gupta
Feat. Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty; From a new generation of Bollywood film–making comes a kinetic heist picture, shot and located in LA in which six Indian suspects plot a…
Killing Me Softly (2002): Dir. Chen Kaige
Feat. Heather Graham, Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone…; The first and only English language film from respected Chinese director Chen Kaige (TOGETHER) is this erotic thriller based on the 1999 novel of the…
L'Homme du Train (Man on the Train) (2002): Dir. Patrice Leconte
Feat. Jean Rochefort, Johnny Hallyday; An elegantly amusing role–switching tale that's equal parts social comedy, existential drama and subtle thriller, tinged with melancholy…
Laramie Project, The (2002): Dir. Moisés Kaufman
Feat. Steve Buscemi, Clea Duvall, Jeremy Davies…; Moisés Kaufman directs this film based on his own play, set in the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, an openly gay college student in…
Life of David Gale, The (2002): Dir. Alan Parker
Feat. Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet, Laura Linney; Ingenious though slightly muddled thriller, enacts the leadup to death–rower Kevin Spacey's arrest, trial for murder and imminent…
Mary Higgins Clark - Collection Two (Lucky Day, Pretend You Don't See Her, You Belong to Me) (2002): Feat. Amanda Donohoe, Emma Samms, Lesley-Anne Down; Three telemovie thrillers from the prolific pen of "Queen of Suspense" Mary Higgins Clark, which generally revolve around a female protagonist who…
Mataku (TV Series) (2002-2005): Dir. Michael Bennett, Peter Berger
Feat. Temuera Morrison; A well–mounted anthology of contemporary one–off dramas, adapted from the unique and mystical world of Maori supernatural legends. The…
Minority Report (2002): Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow…; An exhilarating science fiction thriller that lavishly realizes (and embellishes) a Philip K. Dick short story with the corporate muscle and…
Missing Gun, The (Xun qiang) (2002): Dir. Chuan Lu
Feat. Wen Jiang; Wound–up thriller set in a small and eccentric Chinese village, where a policeman wakes one morning with a hangover to find his…
Monk (TV Series) (2002-2004): Feat. Tony Shalhoub, Ted Levine; A curious detective series, in which the brilliant lead sleuth must not only crack some devious and bizarre crimes, but also contend with his own…
Mothman Prophecies, The (2002): Dir. Mark Pellington
Feat. Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Will Patton…; Drawing on an actual event and mythical explanation, this eerie tale concerns widower reporter Richard Gere, who becomes embroiled in the hunt for a…
Murder By Numbers (2002): Dir. Barbet Schroeder
Feat. Sandra Bullock, Christopher Penn, Ryan Gosling…; Two affluent, nihilistic high–school students plot to “derange the world” with a perfectly planned and executed murder, which flinty…
My Little Eye (2002): Dir. Marc Evans
Feat. Kris Lemche, Sean C.W. Johnson, Jennifer Sky…; Deftly exploiting the sinister recesses of both reality television and web technology, this innovative, edgy horror–thriller spies on the five…
Narc (2002): Dir. Joe Carnahan
Feat. Ray Liotta, Jason Patric; Both raw–boned and stylish, this low–budget policier explores the brutal killing of an undercover cop and the uncertain motives of the…
Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002): Dir. Shane Meadows
Feat. Robert Carlyle, Kathy Burke, Ricky Tomlinson…; The bittersweet dramatics of dir. Meadows (ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS) get a fresh telling in this Nottingham drama, with the added spin of some ironic…
One Hour Photo (2002): Dir. Mark Romanek
Feat. Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan…; In a nifty piece of gimmick casting, Robin Williams shows his darker side as a lonely, middle–aged photolab assistant who develops an unhealthy…
Orphans and Angels (2002): Dir. Harold Brodie
Feat. Emmeline Hawthorne, Christopher Brown, Cal Wilson; Risk–taking psychodrama set in a fairytale version of Auckland's seamy subcultures, and possibly NZ's most lurid excursion since ANGEL…
Pact of Silence, The (Le Pacte du Silence) (2002): Dir. Graham Guit
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Elodie Bouchez; Glossy Euro–thriller in which a priest of doubtful faith (Depardieu) investigates twin sisters – one in prison, the other in a convent…
Panic Room (2002): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam…; Gifted visual stylist David Fincher downsizes a little with a dark, Hitchcockian chamber piece that pushes enough of the right buttons to make it a…
People I Know (2002): Dir. Daniel Algrant
Feat. Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, Ryan O'Neal…; A NYC publicist personally and professionally crashing helps out a high–profile client and ends up trapped in a warren of drug fuelled scandal…
Phone Booth (2002): Dir. Joel Schumacher
Feat. Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes…; A lean, claustrophobic and entertaining thriller with the cute gimmick of a single location and played out in real time – Colin Farrell plays a…
Quickie, The (2002): Dir. Sergei Bodrov
Feat. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Vladimir Mashkov, Henry Thomas…; A middling US debut for the dir. of PRISONER OF THE MOUNTAINS, this weaves a drama of moral corruption around a troubled Russian mob family festering…
Quiet American, The (2002): Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Rade Serbedzija; True to the spirit of Graham Greene’s novel, this cautionary tale of American interference in 50s French Vietnam is an involving,…
Red Dragon (2002): Dir. Brett Ratner
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes…; Betraying the odds after the lackluster “Hannibal”, this accomplished ‘prequel’ based on Thomas Harris’ novel of the same name more than…
Reign of Fire (2002): Dir. Rob Bowman
Feat. Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey; Fire–breathing dragons are woken from their millennial slumbers by repairmen in the London Underground, and begin laying waste to the earth in…
Relative Evil (Ball in the House) (2002): Dir. Tanya Wexler
Feat. Jonathan Tucker, Jennifer Tilly, David Strathairn…; Deceptively marketed as a kind of "wicked stepmother" thriller, this is instead a well–constructed, paranoid black comedy about a teenage…
Road To Perdition (2002): Dir. Sam Mendes
Feat. Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law…; Handsomely–mounted Chicago gangland flick that casts Tom Hanks against type as a mob hitman who becomes an ‘angel of vengeance’ after he is…
Salton Sea, The (2002): Dir. D. J. Caruso
Feat. Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Goldberg…; Striking thriller from the lowlife perspective of the methamphetamine trade, invigorated by performances of Val Kilmer and Vincent…
Savage Messiah (2002): Dir. Mario Azzapardi
Feat. Luc Picard; Fact–based account of a cult leader who presides over a quasi–religious commune, which includes his eight wives and 26 children. Luc…
Shield, The (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins, C.C.H. Pounder…; Daring police series with a controversially dark streak about an elite LAPD strike team that “knock down the doors that other cops don’t want…
Spider (2002): Dir. David Cronenberg
Feat. Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne…; One to relish for those with a taste acquired for the stark, uncompromising visions of David Cronenberg (CRASH, NAKED LUNCH, etc.), this is both…
Spooks - Season 1 (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, Peter Firth…; Watchable and fast–paced teledrama set around the activites of Britain's official spy agency, MI5. Based around half a dozen characters in…
Spun (2002): Dir. Jonas Akerlund
Feat. Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo…; A cinematically exhilarating depiction of existence among a group of methamphetamine (P) addicts in Los Angeles, that is sure to divide audiences as…
Stick Up, The (2002): Dir. Rowdy Herrington
Feat. James Spader, David Keith, Leslie Stefanson; James Spader robs a small–town bank wearing a clown mask, in this heist thriller with a few noir pretensions. Another one that has fallen…
Sum of All Fears, The (2002): Dir. Phillip Alden Anderson
Feat. Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Philip Baker Hall; A nightmarish post–9/11 thriller from Tom Clancy, with Ben Affleck taking the place of Harrison Ford as CIA–man Jack Ryan, here hunting…
Swimfan (2002): Dir. John Polson
Feat. Jesse Bradford, Erika Christensen, Shiri Appleby; A teen exploitation version of FATAL ATTRACTION, in which champion swimmer Jesse Bradford is stalked, seduced and menaced by his “number one…
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002): Dir. Park Chan-Wook
Feat. Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin, Doona Bae; Incredibly bleak suspenser witnesses the disastrous efforts of a deaf–mute man and his girlfriend (who is on the fringes of a terrorist cell)…
Ted Bundy (2002): Dir. Matthew Bright
Feat. Michel Reilly Brooke; For those not wearied of the serial–killer genre, this is a memorable portrait of America’s first acknowledged specimen, Ted Bundy…
Transporter, The (2002): Dir. Corey Yuen
Feat. Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Francois Berleand; Slick, highly kinetic action with Jason Statham playing a mob courier on the French Riviera who stumbles into complications involving…
Truth About Charlie, The (2002): Dir. Jonathan Demme
Feat. Mark Wahlberg, Thandiwe Newton, Tim Robbins…; A remake of the 1963 classic CHARADE, in which a widow realises after her husband's death that he was involved in espionage. Interesting revival…
Unfaithful (2002): Dir. Adrian Lyne
Feat. Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Olivier Martinez; Another slick sex melodrama from genre specialist, Adrian Lyne, this loose remake of Chabrol’s “La Femme Infidele” is a…
Welcome to Collinwood (2002): Dir. Joe Russo, Anthony Russo
Feat. William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, Sam Rockwell…; A comic 'heist' satire in which Luis Guzman and his girlfriend land in a snowballing mess when trying to spring him from prison to do a big…
Wire in the Blood (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Robson Green, Hermione Norris, Simone Lahbib; Terrific tough–as–nails UK detective show focused on a compassionate clinical psychologist (Green) and an ambitious Detective Inspector…
Wire, The - Season 1 (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Dominic West, Idris Elba, Wood Harris…; Tough, patient HBO TV policier (from David Simon, creator of HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREETS) follows the Baltimore drug scene from both the police and…
Without a Trace (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Anthony LaPaglia, Marianne Jean-Baptiste; Television crime drama from the Jerry Bruckheimer stable (see also CSI) that traces the investigations of the FBI's Missing Persons Squad, led by the…
3000 Miles to Graceland (2001): Dir. Demian Lichenstein
Feat. Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell, Christian Slater…; Kevin Costner snarls as the leader of a gang of bank–robbers whose gimmick is to dress as Elvis impersonators. Long on music–video…
8 Women (8 Femmes) (2001): Dir. Francois Ozon
Feat. Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart…; In the classic whodunnit mould, this whimsical French "thriller" starts with a man’s dead body in a snowbound Alpine manse in the 1950s, and eight…
Anti-Trust (2001): Dir. Peter Howitt
Feat. Ryan Phillippe, Tim Robbins, Rachael Leigh Cook…; Dot.com billlionaire Tim Robbins (modelled on Bill Gates) tries to buy the soul of computer whizz Ryan Phillippe in this competent hacker thriller,…
Bandits (2001): Dir. Barry Levinson
Feat. Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett…; Genuine wit is visited upon this comedy–drama built around the unlikely character alliance of successful bank–robbers Bruce Willis and…
Bank, The (2001): Dir. Robert Connolly
Feat. David Wenham, Anthony LaPaglia; When computer geek David Wenham presents a system that can predict stockmarket fluctuations to avaricious banking chief Anthony LaPaglia, the scene…
Blow (2001): Dir. Ted Demme
Feat. Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ray Liotta…; ‘Cocaine biopic’ of Pablo Escobar’s American partner, George Jung (Johnny Depp), who graduated from low–level…
Buffalo Soldiers (2001): Dir. Gregor Jordan
Feat. Joaquin Phoenix, Anna Paquin, Ed Harris…; Broadly subversive drama set among the bored US Army Corp guarding West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Chiefly tracks…
Bunker, The (2001): Dir. Rob Green
Feat. Jason Flemyng; Unpretentious and mostly effective horror, unusually set around a Nazi platoon during WW2, who are retreating across the Ardennes in 1944. Taking…
Chain of Fools (2001): Dir. Traktor
Feat. Salma Hayek, Steve Zahn, Jeff Goldblum…; Comic–thriller concerning a stash of stolen gold, notable more for a great cast than for comic thrills, though it has its admirers.
Comic Book Villains (2001): Dir. James Dale Robinson
Feat. Natasha Lyonne; A comic thriller set in the 'pocket world' of comic–book fans and store owners. Gathers some good black comedy and in–jokes on its fairly…
Deep End, The (2001): Dir. Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Feat. Tilda Swinton; Immaculate remake of Max Ophuls’ ‘The Reckless Moment’ follows the original closely but scores bonus points from Tilda Swinton’s taut…
Domestic Disturbance (2001): Dir. Harold Becker
Feat. John Travolta, Vince Vaughn, Teri Polo; John Travolta’s heart races as a Dad who realises his 11–year old son’s stepfather (Vince Vaughn) is one scary (though wealthy)…
Don't Say a Word (2001): Dir. Gary Fleder
Feat. Michael Douglas, Sean Bean, Jennifer Esposito…; “Threatened–family” thriller, with psychiatrist Michael Douglas rising to the challenge – outwit the kidnappers of his daughter, who…
Double Whammy (2001): Dir. Tom DiCillo
Feat. Denis Leary, Steve Buscemi, Luis Guzman…; Indie twist on classic genre material by dir. Dicillo (LIVING IN OBLIVION), with ‘rotten–luck’ cop Denis Leary enduring dodgy partners…
Enigma (2001): Dir. Michael Apted
Feat. Kate Winslet, Dougray Scott, Jeremy Northam…; Superior period–thriller, loosely set around the dedicated cryptanalysts of Bletchley Park who led the race to crack the Nazi’s Enigma code…
Experiment, The (Das Experiment) (2001): Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
Feat. Moritz Bleibtreu, Maren Eggert, Christian Berkel; Twenty men volunteer for a paid two–week simulated study that divides them into the roles of prisoners and guards in a ‘controlled’…
Forever Mine (2001): Dir. Paul Schrader
Feat. Ray Liotta, Gretchen Mol, Joseph Fiennes; The victim of a squelched distribution deal, this film–noir romance from dir. Schrader (AFFLICTION) is one of the most notable films to ever go…
Formula 51 (The 51st State) (2001): Dir. Ronnie Yu
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer…; Super drug–chemist Jackson embarks to the UK on the deal of a lifetime, but is quickly embroiled in murky underworld plots in…
Four Days (2001): Dir. Curtis Wehrfritz
Feat. Colm Meaney, Lolita Davidovich, Kevin Zegers…; This accomplished 'existential thriller', based on 60s crime novel by John Buell, fuses genre conventions with weightier concerns about loneliness…
Fourth Angel, The (2001): Dir. John Irvin
Feat. Jeremy Irons, Forest Whitaker, Charlotte Rampling…; The inimitable Jeremy Irons plays a magazine editor whose family are killed in a terrorist attack by a Serbian man, and he decides to seek justice…
Friends and Family (2001): Dir. Kristen Coury
Feat. Tony Lo Bianco, Greg Lauren; An unassuming, mostly ticklish comedy, in which a gay couple in New York are visited by relations and have to conceal their careers as Mafia hitmen.…
From Hell (2001): Dir. Hughes Brothers
Feat. Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm; Johnny Depp goes Goth again, this time buttoned–up in Victorian garb, as a drug–afflicted cockney detective hired to sniff out legendary…
Gang Tapes (2001): Dir. Adam Ripp; An original twist on the largely moribund 'gangbanger' thriller, in which the camcorder home–videos of a ghetto–based gang member are…
Gosford Park (2001): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Maggie Smith…; A handsome recital of Agatha Christie–style whodunnit and ‘upstairs–downstairs’ class–drama set in the confines of an English…
Hannibal (2001): Dir. Ridley Scott
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Ray Liotta; Anthony Hopkins reprises his iconic role as Hannibal Lechter in this controversially gruesome sequel to the serial killer classic, SILENCE OF THE…
Heartbreakers (2001): Dir. David Mirkin
Feat. Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ray Liotta…; Sparky, though a little overlong, this teams Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt as a mother–daughter con–women team. Initially…
Heist (2001): Dir. David Mamet
Feat. Gene Hackman, Ricky Jay, Delroy Lindo…; The heisting of Swiss–Bank bullion by professional thieves Gene Hackman, Ricky Jay and Delroy Lindo is given enjoyably intricate spins by…
High Crimes (2001): Dir. Carl Franklin
Feat. Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Jim Caviezel…; Ashley Judd is a little confused when ex–Army hubby Jim Caviezel is arrested for massacres in Latin America under a different name. Soon she…
In the Bedroom (2001): Dir. Todd Field
Feat. Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl…; Both deservingly nominated for Oscars, Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson hardly miss a beat as the middle–aged couple forced to deal with the…
Inspector Lynley Mysteries, The (TV Series) (2001-2008): Feat. Nathaniel Parker, Sharon Small, Lesley Vickerage; British crime drama based on the novels by American writer Elizabeth George centred around the detective work and personality and class clash of the…
Intacto (2001): Dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Feat. Max von Sydow, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Guillermo Toledo; A finely devised Spanish thriller, in which particularly obsessed gamblers contest their 'Luck' in various absurd, dangerous and creepy…
Invisible Circus, The (2001): Dir. Adam Brooks
Feat. Cameron Diaz, Jordana Brewster, Christopher Eccleston…; Even–toned, detached political thriller that follows the disappearance of free–spirit Cameron Diaz in the late 1960s and the search by…
Knockaround Guys (2001): Dir. Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Feat. Dennis Hopper, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper…; SOPRANOS–influenced crime drama, which follows aspiring NYC wiseguy Barry Pepper, son of a famous mafioso, but stuck in a menial role.…
Last Castle, The (2001): Dir. Rod Lurie
Feat. Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo; Solid followup to THE CONTENDER for dir. Lurie, set in a military stockade where war–hero General Robert Redford has been sent for disobeying…
Law and Order: Criminal Intent (TV Series) (2001-2004): Feat. Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Jamey Sheridan…; One of the various spin–offs to the long–running crime drama LAW AND ORDER, in which D'Onofrio and Erbe track down the bad guys for the…
Love the Hard Way (2001): Dir. Peter Sehr
Feat. Adrien Brody, Pam Grier; Big–city fable with Brody playing a snakeskin–jacketed thief with some polished one–liners, who nurses a secret ambition to be a…
Made (2001): Dir. Jon Favreau
Feat. Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Famke Janssen…; The hotly–awaited follow–up to SWINGERS from Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau looks to resurrect the easy–going swing and…
Man Who Wasn't There, The (2001): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini…; The Coen Brothers chalk up another film in love with film, an attractive but slender paean to 1950s pulp melodramas, with its nostalgia–soaked…
Mary Higgins Clark - Collection One (All Around Town, Haven't We Met Before?, Loves Music Loves to Dance) (2001-2002): Feat. Nastassja Kinski, Nicollette Sheridan; Two telemovie thrillers from the prolific pen of Mary Higgins Clark which generally revolve around a female protagonist who must resolve a difficult…
Merci Pour Le Chocolat (Nightcap) (2001): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Isabelle Huppert; Slyly subversive psychodrama, with Isabelle Huppert excelling as the owner of a Swiss chocolate–business, who also happens to be a…
Messiah (TV Series) (2001-2005): Feat. Ken Stott, Frances Grey, Michelle Forbes; Grisly BBC serial in the tradition of PRIME SUSPECT and CRACKER shadows the case solving of a partially–deaf detective with a disturbed nose…
Monkey's Mask, The (2001): Dir. Samantha Lang
Feat. Susie Porter, Kelly McGillis; Steamy, stylish thriller has P.I. Susie Porter tracking down the killer of a nymphomaniac teenage girl, whose explicit poems are a major clue.…
Mortal Transfer (2001): Dir. Jean-Jacques Beineix
Feat. Jean-Hugues Anglade, Miki Manojlovic, Helene de Fougerolles…; Freudian psycho–thriller with analyst Anglade finding himself a little too attracted to masochistic patient de Fougerolles. Delirious visuals…
Mr. In-Between (The Killing Kind) (2001): Dir. Paul Sarossy
Feat. Andrew Howard, Geraldine O’Rawe, Andrew Tiernan; Intense British crime drama adapted from the debut novel of Neil Cross (LUTHER). Andrew Howard plays a tough hitman who is ultimately forced to save…
Mulholland Drive (2001): Dir. David Lynch
Feat. Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Justin Theroux; Dir. David Lynch returns to the defiantly enigmatic mode of ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Lost Highway’ with an absurdist Tinseltown satire that probably…
Murder In Mind (TV Series) (2001): Excellent star–studded series of self–contained stories on the theme of murder, generally centered around apparently 'normal people' who…
Murphy's Law (TV Series) (2001-2007): Feat. James Nesbitt, Mark Benton, Claudia Harrison…; BBC TV drama starring James Nesbitt as a tough talking, maverick Irish cop who moves to London and takes on the criminal underworld after his…
Night at the Golden Eagle (2001): Dir. Adam Rifkin
Feat. Vinnie Jones, James Caan, Ann Magnuson…; A grimly satisfying, verbally violent drama set in a fleabag hotel in L.A. where two aging hoods plan their migration to the not–so–mean…
Ocean's Eleven (Ocean's 11) (2001): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts…; Remodelling the not–so–great ‘Rat Pack’ original from 1960, dir. Soderbergh slickens his heist thriller with a spot–on sense of…
Ordinary Decent Criminal (2001): Dir. Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Feat. Kevin Spacey, Linda Fiorentino, Peter Mullan…; Fairly decent, but ordinary rerun of the same events covered by Boorman's THE GENERAL, detailing the colourful life of Irish gangster Martin Cahill…
Prime Gig, The (2001): Dir. Gregory Mosher
Feat. Ed Harris, Vince Vaughn, Julia Ormond…; A soberly played drama–thriller, in which Vince Vaughn is drawn into a shady telemarketing scam operated by philosophising villain Ed…
Read My Lips (Sur Mes Levres) (2001): Dir. Jacques Audiard
Feat. Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos; Sturdy, unconventional French thriller about an insecure, partially–deaf office clerk who tries to help an irascible ex–con integrate…
Roadkill (Joy Ride) (2001): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Steve Zahn, Paul Walker, Leelee Sobieski; A popcorn thriller that breathes white–knuckle life into road movies well travelled – a practical joke involving CB radios has sinister…
Session 9 (2001): Dir. Brad Anderson
Feat. Peter Mullan, David Caruso, Josh Lucas…; A “haunted house” movie with a difference, this is an intense, thinking person’s spook session involving a team of tradesmen hired to clean up…
Sexy Beast (2001): Dir. Jonathan Glazer
Feat. Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane…; Retirement in sunbaked Spain is going nicely for mellowed–out ex–crim Ray Winstone, that is, until a poison–tongued Ben Kingsley…
Shiner (2001): Dir. John Irvin
Feat. Michael Caine, Martin Landau, Frances Barber…; A contemporary British gangster film with a showcase role for Michael Caine as a blindly ambitious, fast–talking East End boxing promoter…
Sleepless (Non ho Sonno) (2001): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Max von Sydow, Stefano Dionisi, Chiara Caselli; A welcome return to his 'giallo' roots by dir. Argento, turning a tangled tango between a serial–killer and recently–retired detective…
Snakeskin (2001): Dir. Gillian Ashurst
Feat. Melanie Lynskey, Dean O'Gorman, Boyd Kestner…; Searching for a little excitement in those hills due west of Christchurch, NZ, Melanie Lynsky and Dean O’Gorman are sucked into a series of private…
Spy Game (2001): Dir. Tony Scott
Feat. Brad Pitt, Robert Redford, Catherine McCormack; King–of–flash, dir. Scott (TOP GUN) contrives a drama around super–spy Robert Redford’s last day on the job, having to rescue…
Swordfish (2001): Dir. Dominic Sena
Feat. John Travolta, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman…; Slick and stupid action–thriller in the post–Bruckheimer mould, teaming Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and John Travolta for a bank job (with…
Thirteen Days (2001): Dir. Roger Donaldson
Feat. Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Dylan Baker; The thirteen tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis – the 1962 showdown between Kennedy and Krushchev – are invested with heroic intensity by…
Till Human Voices Wake Us (2001): Dir. Michael Petroni
Feat. Guy Pearce, Helena Bonham Carter; A supernaturally–tinged drama in which psychiatrist Guy Pearce returns his hometown and the spectres of a doomed teenage romance. Mourning…
To End All Wars (2001): Dir. David L Cunningham
Feat. Robert Carlyle, Kiefer Sutherland, Ciaran McMenamin; Underrated drama based around the infamous building of the bridge over the River Kwai by allied POWs during WW2, 'encouraged' by their Japanese…
Training Day (2001): Dir. Antoine Fuqua
Feat. Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Snoop Dogg…; Denzel Washington luxuriates in an Oscar–winning performance as a slimeball LA cop, who casually metes out brutal street–justice at every…
Tunnel, The (2001): Dir. Roland Suso Richter
Feat. Heino Ferch, Nicolette Krebitz; An extended though by no means deep excavation of German Cold War history, in which an East German swimmer (Ferch) defects to West Berlin in 1961 and…
Vanilla Sky (2001): Dir. Cameron Crowe
Feat. Tom Cruise, Jason Lee, Cameron Diaz…; A straight Hollywood remake of the Spanish sci–fi thriller OPEN YOUR EYES by the director of ALMOST FAMOUS – the result of which plays like…
Vector File, The (2001): Dir. Eliot Christopher
Feat. Casper Van Dien, Catherine Oxenberg; A scientific–political thriller concerning a mutant strain of smallpox virus sought after by Russian bio–terrorists. B–grade…
Way of the Gun (2001): Dir. Christopher McQuarrie
Feat. Benicio Del Toro, Ryan Phillippe, Juliette Lewis…; A kidnap–chase down Mexico way, featuring “live–by–the–gun” crims Benicio Del Toro, Ryan Phillipe and abductee…
Wendigo (2001): Dir. Larry Fessenden
Feat. Patricia Clarkson, Jake Weber, Erik Per Sullivan; Elaborating on a renowned ‘urban legend’ with a refined script and a no–nonsense commitment to storytelling, this is a project fostered in…
When Strangers Appear (Shearer's Breakfast) (2001): Dir. Scott Reynolds
Feat. Radha Mitchell, Barry Watson, Kevin Anderson…; A piquant little thriller set at a lonely country rest–stop – Foxton standing in for Oregon – with dir. Reynold’s (HEAVEN, THE…
Yards, The (2001): Dir. James Gray
Feat. Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron…; Shot through with epic ambitions, this crime–drama, set amid the corruption of a New York subway–repair yards, boasts a compelling lead…
Along Came a Spider (2000): Dir. Lee Tamahori
Feat. Morgan Freeman, Michael Wincott, Monica Potter; Morgan Freeman returns as the grizzled manhunter from KISS THE GIRLS, here investigating the mysterious kidnapping of a senator’s daughter.…
American Psycho (2000): Dir. Mary Harron
Feat. Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto…; Mercifully sanitised adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis' controversial novel, that wallowed in the depraved mind/antics of a homicidal Wall Street…
Auggie Rose (2000): Dir. Matthew Tabak
Feat. Jeff Goldblum, Anne Heche, Nancy Travis…; Bearing witness to the death of an ex–convict triggers midlife anxiety for insurance agent Jeff Goldblum, who proceeds to assume his identity…
Beautiful Creatures (2000): Dir. Bill Eagles
Feat. Rachel Weisz, Susan Lynch; An ultra–violent Scottish twist on THELMA AND LOUISE, with Rachel Weisz and Susan Lynch leaving Glasgow in a shower of blood, and heading out…
Boiler Room (2000): Dir. Ben Younger
Feat. Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Affleck, Vin Diesel…; Bullish morality–tale set in the stockmarket boom–world of 1990s America, where the hi–tech stock–bubble was hyped by…
Brother (2000): Dir. Takeshi Kitano
Feat. Takeshi Kitano, Omar Epps; Dir. Kitano’s first US film fuses his touch for wincingly intense violence with a ironical, comic streak that plays off the dynamics of the…
Burnside (TV Series) (2000): Feat. Christopher Ellison; Bearable Detective spin–off series of THE BILL, with Christopher Ellison reprising the riveting character of Detective Frank Burnside, who…
Circus (2000): Dir. Rob Walker
Feat. Famke Janssen, John Hannah, Eddie Izzard…; Famke Janssen and hubby John Hannah engage in some tongue–in–cheek British criminality in a Brighton ruled by Brian Conley. With a broad…
Contender, The (2000): Dir. Rod Lurie
Feat. Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges…; Strongly performed political thriller centred around the confirmation of Vice–Presidential candidate Joan Allen, whose enemies try every trick…
Crimson Rivers, The (2000): Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
Feat. Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel; A bizarre murder in the French Alps draws detectives Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel into the killing–cycle of a particularly grisly…
Croupier (2000): Dir. Mike Hodges
Feat. Clive Owen, Alex Kingston; Leaving for dead most of the so–called ‘Brit–Crime’ genre, this return–to–notice gem from the director of GET CARTER…
CSI (TV Series) (Crime Scene Investigation) (2000-2001): Feat. William Petersen; Highly watchable forensic TV drama that follows the fortunes of a police unit in Las Vegas who use tiny clues and the latest scientific methods to…
Dead or Alive 2 (Tobosha) (2000): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Sho Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, Shinya Tsukamoto; Understated yet rewarding sequel to the mind–blowing gangster actioner follows on from the 'end of the world' with an unrelated story, with…
Dogwatch (2000): Dir. Laurie McInnes
Feat. Steven Vidler, John Brumpton; A tale of lost souls set on a drifting merchant–ship in the Triad–infested South China Sea during the 1960s, this floats over some clunky…
Don Matteo (TV Series) (2000): Feat. Terence Hill; A uniquely comedic riff on the detective genre, with the series' titular Father Matteo spreading God’s message by day, while moonlighting as a…
Exposure (2000): Dir. David Blyth
Feat. Ron Silver, Alexandra Paul, Paul Gittins…; Moody thriller about a former war photographer, now washed up doing nude shots in New Zealand, who becomes embroiled in a murder…
Eye of the Beholder (2000): Dir. Stephan Elliot
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Ashley Judd, k.d. Lang…; Intriguing in concept, this surveillance thriller sees British agent Ewan McGregor tracking the movements of vicious serial killer Ashley Judd from…
Fail Safe (2000): Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Richard Dreyfuss; A TV–movie with a difference, this remake of Sidney Lumet's 1964 feature, was acted and broadcast live on American TV, heightening the…
Frequency (2000): Dir. Gregory Hoblit
Feat. John Caviezel, Dennis Quaid; Time–travel thriller tuned to an interesting premise – a NYPD cop speaks to his dead father via a ham radio. Features some…
Gossip (2000): Dir. Davis Guggenheim
Feat. Lena Headey, Kate Hudson, Norman Reedus…; Three media students decide to create a story out of pure, unfounded gossip, targeting a affluent and prudish classmate. The story of her sexual…
Harry, He's Here to Help (With a Friend Like Harry,Who Needs Enemies?) (2000): Dir. Dominik Moll
Feat. Sergi Lopez, Laurent Lucas; French festival–hit that invokes the delicious menace of Alfred Hitchcock with its insidious central character, Harry (Sergi Lopez) who invites…
Hole, The (2000): Dir. Nick Hamm
Feat. Thora Birch, Daniel Brocklebank, Desmond Harrington…; Thora Birch (AMERICAN BEAUTY) delivers a convincing English accent for this Brit variation of Teenage Gothic, emerging as the only survivor of a…
Hollow Man (2000): Dir. Paul Verhoeven
Feat. Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, James Brolin…; Unpleasant, one–dimensional sci–fi thriller that lavishes astonishing, groundbreaking special effects on a script that doesn't deserve…
Jericho (2000): Dir. Merlin Miller
Feat. Mark Valley, R. Lee Ermey; Low–budget western mystery in which a man with severe memory loss goes to work on a cattle ranch where he begins to recall his surreptitious…
Lock Stock and Four Stolen Hooves (TV Series) (2000): Dir. Sheree Folkson; Tele–sequel to the hit movie LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS, gives a reasonably funny riff on the bumbling quartet of lads on the make,…
Lost Son, The (2000): Dir. Chris Menges
Feat. Nastassja Kinski, Katrin Cartlidge, Daniel Auteuil; Noir–ish excursion into the world of child sex–slavery rings in the London criminal underworld, has Daniel Auteuil (A HEART IN WINTER) as…
Love, Honour and Obey (2000): Dir. Dominic Anciano, Ray Burdis
Feat. Jonny Lee Miller, Ray Winstone, Jude Law…; Jonny Lee Miller is appealing as a mischief–making wannabe–crim in this half–serious set of London gangster moves, that basically…
Memento (2000): Dir. Christopher Nolan
Feat. Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano…; A sensational twist on the 'amnesiac' thriller that perfectly matches its subject with an intricate narrative that unfolds almost completely from…
Mexican, The (2000): Dir. Gore Verbinski
Feat. Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, James Gandolfini; Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts entangle in this offbeat comic–thriller, with Pitt fulfilling a criminal contract in Mexico and James Gandolfini…
Mr. Rice's Secret (2000): Dir. Nicholas Kendall
Feat. David Bowie; David Bowie is the 400–yr old ‘friend’ of a terminally ill boy who is directed into a magical adventure in this British–Canadian…
Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes (TV Series) (2000): Dir. Paul Seed
Feat. Ian Richardson, Robin Laing, Charles Dance; A rather fascinating speculation which dramatises the real–life relationship between "Sherlock Homes"–author Arthur Conan Doyle (Laing)…
Nine Queens (Nueve Reinas) (2000): Dir. Fabian Bielinsky
Feat. Gaston Pauls, Ricardo Darín; An Argentian congame thriller which uses a fresh, edgy setting to bolster its David Mamet–by–way–of–Quentin Tarantino…
Nurse Betty (2000): Dir. Neil LaBute
Feat. Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock…; Part fairy–tale comedy, part edgy thriller, this perhaps qualifies as the perfect date movie. Due to the trauma of witnessing her…
O (Othello) (2000): Dir. Tim Blake Nelson
Feat. Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles; Continuing recent trends, this ‘updating’ of Shakespeare’s ”Othello” transfers the dialogue and setting into the US schoolyard, where Josh…
One Hundred Steps, The (I Cento Passi) (2000): Dir. Marco Tullio Giordana; Expansive, fact–based drama set around a young man's fight against local mafiosos in the small Sicilian village of Cinisi in the…
Original Sin (2000): Dir. Michael Cristofer
Feat. Antonio Banderas, Angelina Jolie; Candlelit plantation melodrama set in late 19th century Cuba, that ignites a ‘sight–unseen’ marriage between owner Antonio Banderas and…
Our Lady of the Assassins (la Virgen de los Sicarios) (2000): Dir. Barbet Schroeder
Feat. Anderson Ballesteros, Juan David Restrepo; A middle aged author returns to his native Colombian village to find that it has been overrun by violence and corruption. After his young male lover…
Panic (2000): Dir. Henry Bromell
Feat. William H. Macy, Neve Campbell, Tracey Ullman…; There is more than meets the eye in this curiously pitched black comedy concerning a well–dressed contract killer (Macy) who seeks refuge from…
Pledge, The (2000): Dir. Sean Penn
Feat. Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright, Helen Mirren…; Sean Penn as director's pledge to the stuff of raw drama pays off with a thriller/parable centred round a powerhouse turn from Jack Nicholson. As…
Princess and the Warrior, The (2000): Dir. Tom Tykwer
Feat. Franke Potente; Follow–up and companion piece to dir. Tykwer’s RUN LOLA RUN, is a 'Snow White'–inspired tale of a psychiatric nurse who is hit by a…
Proof of Life (2000): Dir. Taylor Hackford
Feat. Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, David Morse; South American ransom thriller with Meg Ryan seeking to extricate her rich husband (David Morse) from the jungle, and Russell Crowe as the…
Rancid Aluminium (2000): Dir. Edward Thomas
Feat. Rhys Ifans, Joseph Fiennes, Tara Fitzgerald…; A minor Britcrime thriller that, despite some amateurish production, has its own peculiar vein of comedy that may strike one as quite amusing in the…
Reindeer Games (2000): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron…; Parolee Ben Affleck may wish he was back in his cell after impersonating his dead cellmate and landing in various spots of leftover bother, namely…
Risk (2000): Dir. Alan White
Feat. Tom Long, Bryan Brown, Claudia Karvan; With an assured sense of style and atmosphere, the dir. of ERSKINVILLE KINGS crafts a thriller with more than the usual depth. Tom Long is an…
Seance (2000): Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Feat. Koji Yakusho; A hybrid of crime thriller and ghost story, this remake of the British classic "Seance on a Wet Afternoon" reinstates the supernatural emphasis of…
Secret Agent Man (TV Series) (2000): Feat. Costas Mandylor, Dondre Whitfield, Dina Meyer…; Short lived quasi–remake of DANGER MAN, this has three agents working for the mysterious 'Agency' in order to quell evildoers and their plans.…
Series 7: The Contenders (2000): Dir. Daniel Minahan
Feat. Brooke Smith, Marylouise Burke; The scourge of ‘reality–TV’ gets its comeuppance (or homage?) in this ultraviolent satire. We’re in the near–future,…
Sight, The (2000): Dir. Paul Anderson
Feat. Andrew McCarthy, Honor Blackman, Kevin Tighe; Reasonably crafted TV suspenser, has McCarthy playing an American architect on the trail of vicious serial–killer in London, with only his…
Sins, The (TV Mini-series) (2000): Feat. Pete Postlethwaite, Geraldine James, Frank Finlay…; BBC miniseries with Pete Postlethwaite playing an aging getaway driver who decides to go straight – after one last robbery. A light hearted…
Skulls, The (2000): Dir. Rob Cohen
Feat. Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker, Craig T. Nelson; In the bowels of an Ivy League Campus, is an elite, secret society that entices young men with luxury trappings and primes them for important…
Stickmen (2000): Dir. Hamish Rothwell
Feat. Robbie Magasiva, Scott Wills, Simone Kessell…; A crowd–pleasing and assured sports–fetish movie, this doesn't shy from being dubbed 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Pool Cues', with its…
Tailor of Panama, The (2000): Dir. John Boorman
Feat. Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush, Jamie Lee Curtis…; Sly, cynical little spy–thriller, unfolds with a morally–dubious UK spy Pierce Brosnan stitching together a big–score in Panama by…
Takedown (2000): Dir. Joe Chappelle
Feat. Skeet Ulrich, Tom Berenger; This telemovie depiction of infamous computer hacker Kevin Mitnick, who went on the run in the 1990s, is less flashy than expected, with some…
Tell Me Something (2000): Dir. Chang Yoon-Hyung
Feat. Han Suk-gyu, Shim Eun-ha; A fine slice of Korean “giallo”, this is detective pulp of the lacquered–black, rain–drenched variety, with perverse/macabre…
Traffic (2000): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones…; A masterful, suitably complex address of the ‘drug problem’ and how it enslaves consumers, dealers, policy–makers and law–enforcers…
Turbo (TV Series) (2000-2001): Feat. Roberto Farnesi; Addictive mystery series with the canine detective Turbo tracking villains against the sun–drenched vistas of Tuscany.
Unbreakable (2000): Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Feat. Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright; The sceptre of THE SIXTH SENSE hangs over this follow–up from writer/director Shyamalan, whose status as a Hollywood golden boy has arguably…
Unit One (TV Series) (Rejseholdet) (2000-2004): Feat. Mads Mikkelsen; CONTRABAND TITLE. Series 1 to 4 are not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of…
Waking The Dead (TV Series) (2000): Feat. Trevor Eve, Sue Johnston, Wil Johnson; Flash and cerebral British series has a 'cold case' police squad of professional but complex investigators assigned to research unsolved crimes. With…
Watcher, The (2000): Dir. Joe Charbanic
Feat. James Spader, Keanu Reeves, Marisa Tomei; Breakneck–paced cat–and–mouse thriller has FBI agent James Spader tormented by psycho Keanu Reeves, who sends him photographs of…
Weight of Water, The (2000): Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Feat. Elizabeth Hurley, Catherine McCormack, Sean Penn…; Time–twist thriller, that intercuts a gothic murder–mystery of the late 19th century with present–day marital intrigue. Set on…
What Lies Beneath (2000): Dir. Robert Zemeckis
Feat. Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford; Affluent couple Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford have their watertight marriage spring a leak when the neighbours start acting suspiciously and…
When The Sky Falls (2000): Dir. John Mackenzie
Feat. Joan Allen, Pete Postlethwaite, Patrick Bergin; A gritty suspense with Joan Allen portraying Irish journalist Vernoica Guerin who risked her life to take down Dublin's criminal underworld and bring…
Where the Money Is (2000): Dir. Marek Kanievska
Feat. Paul Newman, Linda Fiorentino, Dermot Mulroney; A still–charismatic Paul Newman is an aged bank–robber esconsed in a nursing home after suffering a stroke, though his nurse Linda…
Whole Nine Yards, The (2000): Dir. Jonathan Lynn
Feat. Matthew Perry, Bruce Willis, Rosanna Arquette…; Innocent humdrum dentist Matthew Perry (FRIENDS) gets involved with his neighbour Bruce Willis, a semi–retired hitman, for a series of comical…
Xchange (2000): Dir. Allan Moyle
Feat. Kyle MacLachlan, Stephen Baldwin; With more than a few IQ points, this MATRIX–like thriller centres round the concept of body–swapping, in which one changes bodies to cut…
6ixtynin9 (Sixtynine; Ruang talok 69) (1999): Dir. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Feat. Lalita Panyopas; Second feature film by the Thai writer–director Pen–Ek Ratanaruang (LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE), following a woman who is laid off during…
Arlington Road (1999): Dir. Mark Pellington
Feat. Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Hope Davis…; Intelligent terrorist thriller, seemingly inspired by events at Waco and Oklahoma City, weaves a complex tale of deception and paranoia around…
Astronaut's Wife, The (1999): Dir. Rand Ravich
Feat. Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron; In orbit, Astronaut Johnny Depp goes offline for several minutes; back on the ground wife Charlize Theron finds him subtly changed for the…
Best Laid Plans (1999): Dir. Mike Barker
Feat. Reese Witherspoon, Alessandro Nivoli, Josh Brolin; A chain of outrageous twists carry out from a questionable set up – a one night stand that ends with accusations of date rape for a…
Bone Collector, The (1999): Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie; Denzel Washington's acting skills are put to the test playing a quadriplegic forensics expert helping to track down a particularly grisly serial…
Brokedown Palace (1999): Dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Feat. Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman; OE–gone–awry flick has an impetuous Claire Danes and demure Kate Beckinsale land in major difficulties during their Thai holiday after…
Channeling Baby (1999): Dir. Christine Parker
Feat. Danielle Cormack, Kevin Smith; 'First sight' romance between a blind pacifist and a shell–shocked soldier in the 70s ended in heartbreak after the tragic 'disappearance' of…
Civil Action, A (1999): Dir. Steven Zaillian
Feat. John Travolta, Robert Duvall, William H. Macy…; Fact–based account of a protracted courtroom duel between two corporations and small–town folk, whose children have been affected by…
Criminal, The (1999): Dir. Julian Simpson
Feat. Bernard Hill, Stephen Mackintosh, Eddie Izzard…; Brit–crime without the big flashy style, instead opting for a classic prime–suspect–on–the–run plotline, underworld…
Cruel Intentions (1999): Dir. Roger Kumble
Feat. Sarah Michelle Geller, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon; Spoiled and randy step–siblings Sarah Michelle Geller and Ryan Phillipe raise the amorality stakes by betting that he can deflower the prim…
Dead or Alive (Hanzaisha) (1999): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Sho Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, Ren Osugi; A jaw–dropping, wickedly amoral revenge thriller from the dir. of AUDITION, who blows the dust (and the roof) off gangster movie cliches and…
Debt Collector, The (1999): Dir. Anthony Neilson
Feat. Billy Connolly, Francesca Annis; Billy Connelly plays it straight as former hard man who finds latter day respectability as a novelist and sculptor, but the resentful, dishonoured…
Desert Blue (1999): Dir. Morgan J. Freeman
Feat. Brendon Sexton III, Kate Hudson, Christina Ricci…; Various moods of isolation pervade the Californian desert–town setting of this comical melange of cliché and eccentricity, contrived around an…
Double Jeopardy (1999): Dir. Bruce Beresford
Feat. Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones; Entertaining revenge–potboiler that sets a ruthless pace with Ashley Judd, framed for her husband's murder, pursuing the true villains with the…
East / West (Est / Ouest) (1999): Dir. Regis Wargnier
Feat. Sandrine Bonnaire, Oleg Menshikov, Sergei Bodrov Jr…; A 'woman's picture' in the proudest sense of the term, this lush historical melodrama from the dir. of INDOCHINE again finds a French woman in a…
Entrapment (1999): Dir. Jon Amiel
Feat. Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones; Veteran cat burglar Sean Connery meets his match in insurance investigator Catherine Zeta–Jones in this glossy fusion of international heist…
Envy (1999): Dir. Julie Money
Feat. Anna Lise Phillips, Linda Cropper, Wade Osborne; A family is devastated in the aftermath of the ‘rape’ of her teenage son at the hands of a trio of young crims – mother Linda Cropper then…
Essex Boys (1999): Dir. Terry Winsor
Feat. Charlie Creed-Miles, Sean Bean; One of the present wave of British crime–films, this tale of trainee cabbie Charlie Creed–Miles going to work for volatile hard–man…
Extremely Dangerous (TV Series) (1999): Feat. Sean Bean; British thriller miniseries finds Sean Bean a man escaped, pursued by authorities as he fights to prove his innocence upon discovering wife and…
Felicia's Journey (1999): Dir. Atom Egoyan
Feat. Bob Hoskins, Elaine Cassidy, Arsinee Khanjian; Canadian auteur Atom Egoyan takes a sideways step to adapt the Birmingham–set novel by William Trevor, a portrait of a serial killer of the…
Fight Club (1999): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Edward Norton, Brad Pitt; Those grim forebodings of the pre–millennial zeitgeist form a backdrop to this flawed but thoroughly unique thriller–satire. Office…
Following (1999): Dir. Christopher Nolan; A dazzling debut for dir. Christopher Nolan (MEMENTO), this quicksilver suspenser concerns a writer who begins to 'follow' people around London,…
General's Daughter, The (1999): Dir. Simon West
Feat. John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Woods; Gathering suspense from the 'closed–world' ethics of the US military, this thriller from the writer of A FEW GOOD MEN concerns a gruesome,…
Ghost Dog (1999): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman…; Dir. Jim Jarmusch refines his zen–like poise in this weird, laidback comedy. Solemn hitman Forest Whitaker follows an ancient samurai code,…
Gun Shy (1999): Dir. Eric Blakeney
Feat. Liam Neeson, Sandra Bullock, Oliver Platt…; Implausible and cartoonish, this crime comedy has the novelty of Liam Neeson trying out a comedy role – as stressed–out undercover cop…
Heaven (1999): Dir. Scott Reynolds
Feat. Martin Donovan, Joanna Going, Danny Edwards…; Banished into virtual anonymity by Miramax studio indifference, we can only assume they found this 'arty' thriller too slippery to pigeonhole and…
I Want You (1999): Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Feat. Rachel Weisz, Alessandro Nivola; Determinedly stylish mystery set in a British seaside town explores various permutations of unrequited love and sexual frustration in drawing up to…
If… Dog… Rabbit… (1999): Dir. Matthew Modine
Feat. Matthew Modine, Bruce Dern, John Hurt…; Directorial debut for actor Matthew Modine (who also stars), coming up with a by now rather familiar gangster caper, set among an eccentric bunch of…
Insider, The (1999): Dir. Michael Mann
Feat. Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer…; A brooding masterpiece from dir. Mann (HEAT), who finally wrestles down a topic of sufficient weight to justify the peerless brilliance of his…
Inspector Montalbano (TV Series) (Commissario Montalbano) (1999-2018): Feat. Luca Zingaretti, Katharina Böhm, Cesare Bocci; Based on the global bestsellers by Andrea Camilleri, this series of telemovies is set around a world–weary, though not cynical, Sicilian…
Inugami (1999): Dir. Masato Harada
Feat. Yuki Amami, Atsuro Watabe, Eugene Harada; Quietly impressive suspenser set in a remote mountain village in Japan, where a young local woman and a visiting school teacher become aware of the…
Jerry and Tom (1999): Dir. Saul Rubinek
Feat. Joe Mantegna, Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy…; Adding mileage to the crime–caper genre, Joe Mantegna plays a hitman who puts used–car salesman Sam Rockwell (LAWN DOGS) through a droll…
Kin (1999): Dir. Elanie Proctor
Feat. Miranda Otto, Isaiah Washington, Chris Chameleon; A game–keeper of elephants in the Namibian desert, Miranda Otto hovers between passions for brother Chris Chameleon and American newcomer…
Kolobos (1999): Dir. Daniel Liatowitsch, David Todd Ocvirk; Five youths accept the offer of inhabiting an isolated house while being filmed, only to discover it is filled with creepy…
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) (SVU) (1999-2004): Feat. Richard Belzer, Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay…; Another batch of law–enforcers plie their grim vocation, in this LAW AND ORDER satellite series, wherein a special team investigate…
Life Before This, The (1999): Dir. Jerry Ciccoritti
Feat. Sarah Polley, Stephen Rea, Joe Pantoliano…; Based loosely on a real–life shootout in Toronto, this ambitious drama postulates life as a mosaic of interconnected actions, where often…
Limbo (1999): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio; John Sayles, the doyen of American independents, succeeds all Johnny–Come–Lately's with an arresting, multi–layered fable that…
Limey, The (1999): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzman…; A muscular revenge picture steered by a gifted director not afraid to experiment, Terrence Stamp plays an aging Cockney career criminal who, fresh…
Manor, The (1999): Dir. Ken Berris
Feat. Greta Scacchi, Gabrielle Anwar, Peter O'Toole…; Comical murder mystery set in a creaky English manor where an investigator searches for the killer of a stable boy, however runs into obstacles when…
Million Dollar Hotel, The (1999): Dir. Wim Wenders
Feat. Mel Gibson, Jeremy Davies, Milla Jovovich…; Dir. Wim Wenders (WINGS OF DESIRE) works–up his latest narrative of modern alienation in the scuzzy, titular hotel (which actually exists in…
Minus Man, The (1999): Dir. Hampton Fancher
Feat. Owen Wilson, Mercedes Ruehl, Janeane Garofalo…; Comic actor Owen Wilson is sort–of cast against type as an impassive, child–like drifter with a penchant for random poisonings, settling…
Missing, The (1999): Dir. Manuela Alberti
Feat. Rebecca Frith; Linking, with some difficulty, the closeted world of a Vatican City priest to a quasi–supernatural murder mystery set in the Australian…
Mod Squad, The (1999): Dir. Scott Silver
Feat. Claire Danes, Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps; In LA Clubland Claire Danes and fellow teen–delinquents Giovanni Ribisi and Omar Epps, are pressed into a crime–fighting role, proceeding…
Nameless, The (Los Sin Nombre) (1999): Dir. Jaume Balaguero
Feat. Emma Vilarasau, Karra Elejalde; A family, devastated by the murder of their daughter, are sent into a fresh spin by her seeming re–appearance five years later in this visually…
Omega Code, The (1999): Dir. Rob Marcarelli
Feat. Casper Van Dien, Michael York, Michael Ironside…; Casper Van Dien plays an academic in on a global conspiracy overseen by Michael York – who has managed to decode hidden predictions in the Bible.
Pups (1999): Dir. Ash
Feat. Burt Reynolds; A frustrated thirteen–year–old comes across the family firearm, prompting him to hold up the local bank with his reluctant girlfriend in…
Pushing Tin (1999): Dir. Mike Newell
Feat. John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett…; The title is Air Traffic Controller jargon for getting all the jumbo–jets landing on time, and typifies the haywire humour of this workplace…
Redball (1999): Dir. Jon Hewitt
Feat. Belinda McClory, John Brumpton; Blistering low–budget Australian cop thriller centered around detective JJ Wilson (Belinda McClory) and her attempts to bring a child killer to…
Room for Romeo Brass, A (1999): Dir. Shane Meadows
Feat. Paddy Considine; This extraordinary coming–of–age story places two twelve–year–old boys in the company of a well–meaning but…
Roswell (TV Series) (1999): Feat. Brendan Fehr, Katherine Heigl, Colin Hanks; A unique melding of science fiction, rites–of–passage drama and teen comedy, this television series, like BUFFY, developed a similiar…
Sample People (1999): Dir. Clinton Smith
Feat. Kylie Minogue, Ben Mendelsohn; Four groups of Sydney–siders sample the city's wares on a hot summer weekend in this hi–energy, determinedly funky Aussie youth pic that…
Scarfies (1999): Dir. Robert Sarkies
Feat. Neill Rea, Taika Waititi, Willa O'Neill…; Kiwi icons – Dunedin, rugby, Flying Nun music, student life – upholster a formula but well–executed crime plot in which five…
Shiri (Swiri) (1999): Dir. Kang Je-Gyu
Feat. Min-sik Choi, Yunjin Kim, Kang-ho Song…; South Korean actioner from director Kang Je–gyu (BROTHERHOOD OF WAR) in which a pair of agents are tracking down female assassin from North…
Simpatico (1999): Dir. Matthew Warchus
Feat. Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, Sharon Stone…; Two former criminal–partners replay the old grudges in this thriller–cum–drama based on Sam Shepard's play. Nick Nolte and Jeff…
Sopranos, The (TV Series) - Season 1 (1999): Dir. Nick Gomez, John Patterson, David Chase
Feat. James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco…; Groundbreaking TV–series that ironically portrays the life of a New Jersey Mafia clan as a parade of suburban neurosis, pop–culture…
Suicide Kings (1999): Dir. Peter O'Fallon
Feat. Christopher Walken, Denis Leary; Post–PULP FICTION black–comedy, that does better than most in juggling a crime setting, a mystery and various comical dialogues, with a…
Talented Mr. Ripley, The (1999): Dir. Anthony Minghella
Feat. Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow…; Dashing, murderous fun from the makers of THE ENGLISH PATIENT, fashioning another esteemable literary piece, derived here from Patricia Highsmith's…
Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999): Dir. Kevin Williamson
Feat. Helen Mirren, Marisa Couglan, Barry Thomas…; Falsely accused of cheating, bright spark student Katie Holmes and pals resort to holding the vindictive teacher responsible to ransom, but…
Thick As Thieves (1999): Dir. Scott Sanders
Feat. Alec Baldwin, Rebecca De Mornay, Janeane Garofalo; Crime drama following a mob–affiliated professional thief (Alec Baldwin) who seeks revenge on a gangster that double–crossed him, a quest…
Thirteenth Floor, The (1999): Dir. Josef Rusnak
Feat. Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl; Handsomely designed but meandering virtual reality thriller with a now second–hand premise that flits between 1937 and 1999 and ultimately…
Thomas Crown Affair, The (1999): Dir. John McTiernan
Feat. Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo; Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo spruce up the 1968 romantic thriller as respective millionaire art thief and insurance investigator magnetised against…
True Crime (1999): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, James Woods; Implausible but fun, this is Clint Eastwood relaxing his usually rigorous standards with a hokey thriller–by–numbers stocked with…
Two Hands (1999): Dir. Gregor Jordan
Feat. Heath Ledger, Bryan Brown, Steve LaMarquand; Mobster Bryan Brown finds work for Heath Ledger's idle hands, who fumbles the ball and finds himself deep in the crapper… Overcoming the…
Vice, The (TV Series) (1999): Feat. Caroline Catz, Marc Warren, Ken Scott; Edgy Bafta Award Winning TV detective drama series focusing on the London Metro Squad examining crime and unsolved murder in the sex industry.
Waiting Time, The (1999): Dir. Stuart Orme
Feat. John Thaw, Zara Turner; Cracking cat–and–mouse telemovie, in which a solicitor's clerk investigating why an otherwise levelheaded intelligence officer has…
8mm (1998): Dir. Joel Schumacher
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini…; First Hollywood effort at generating thrills from the dubious (and probably mythical) subculture of 'snuff movies', where actors are deliberately…
A Simple Plan (1998): Dir. Sam Raimi
Feat. Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton, Bridget Fonda; A simple premise – three smalltown guys stumble across $4,000,000 in an undiscovered plane–crash and decide to keep it – out of…
Apt Pupil (1998): Dir. Bryan Singer
Feat. Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro; Creepy version of the Stephen King novella uses its pungent story–hook about a teenager discovering and blackmailing an ex–Nazi living in…
Body Count (1998): Dir. Robert Patton-Spruill
Feat. David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino, John Leguizamo…; Derivative thriller following a group of thieves coping with the aftermath of a botched museum heist. RESERVOIR DOGS with a B–list cast, but…
Brown's Requiem (1998): Dir. Jason Freeland
Feat. Michael Rooker, Selma Blair, Kevin Corrigan; Initially promising requiem for the sacred conventions of classic film noir, with an excellent Michael Rooker moonlighting as a P.I. and getting a…
Bullet Ballet (1998): Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto
Feat. Shinya Tsukamoto, Hisashi Igawa; After his fiancee commits suicide, a young man tries to obtain a gun so that he can do the same, and in the process becomes embroiled in warfare…
Clay Pigeons (1998): Dir. David Dobkin
Feat. Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix, Janeane Garofalo; Vince Vaughn's crazy cowpoke killer slices up the Montana natives and finds a fall guy in gullible yokel Joaquin Phoenix (who turns in a mercifully…
Complicity (1998): Dir. Gavin Millar
Feat. Jonny Lee Miller, Brian Cox, Paul Higgins…; A story of serial–killing from the pen of Iain Banks, pits left–wing journalist Jonny Lee Miller (TRAINSPOTTING) alongside a maniac with…
Confession, The (1998): Dir. David Jones
Feat. Alec Baldwin, Ben Kingsley, Amy Irving; Fairly standard–issue moral dilemmas in the courtroom for attorney Baldwin, involved in a complex case of guilt, redemption and retribution in…
Cube (1998): Dir. Vincenzo Natali
Feat. Nicole De Boer, Nicky Guadagni, David Hewlett…; More than meets the eye of this enthralling dark–horse B–movie from Canada. Five strangers find themselves thrown together in a…
Dark City (1998): Dir. Alex Proyas
Feat. Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Jennifer Connelly…; Advancing on earlier efforts like THE CROW, director Alex Proyas, fabricates a shadowy urban jungle, replete with echoes of earlier sci–fi…
Divorcing Jack (1998): Dir. David Caffrey
Feat. David Thewlis; David Thewlis (NAKED) does what he does best as a hard–drinking, hard–bitten hack who, after a rotten series of luck, musters up the…
Enemy of the State (1998): Dir. Tony Scott
Feat. Will Smith, Jon Voight, Gene Hackman; Lawyer Will Smith unwittingly receives proof of a high–ranking assassination, and becomes not so much the enemy of the state as of…
Final Cut (1998): Dir. Dominic Anciano, Ray Burdis
Feat. Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Ray Winstone; A sordidly comic tale of sex, lies and 8mm film – eleven 'friends' gather for the funeral of a film–maker (Jude Law) and discover that…
Gingerbread Man, The (1998): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davidtz, Robert Duvall…; Script by the courtroom–obsessed John Grisham is here assigned to auteurist Robert Altman (THE PLAYER, SHORT CUTS), who manages to…
Goodbye Lover (1998): Dir. Roland Joffe
Feat. Patricia Arquette, Dermot Mulroney, Ellen DeGeneres…; Dark neo–noir comedy with a group of 90's yuppie types embroiled in a tangled web of seduction, adultery and a murder plot, until cynical…
Heat of the Sun (TV Mini-Series) (1998): Feat. Trevor Eve; The seedier side of Kenya's expatriate community is laid bare in this classic British police procedural set in 1930s Nairobi.
Hush (1998): Dir. Jonathan Darby
Feat. Jessica Lange, Gwyneth Paltrow, Johnathon Schaech; Familiar variation on the mother–in–law–from–hell model, with an above–average cast unable to pull it out of the…
In Dreams (1998): Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Annette Bening; Clairvoyant mother Annette Bening starts having visions through the eyes of a serial killer. Rising far above its no – I'm not crazy!''…
In God's Hands (1998): Dir. Zalman King; A moody visual style distinguishes this ride on the hummungest waves of the world surf–scene – Bali, Mexico and of course, Hawaii.…
In the Winter Dark (1998): Dir. James Bogle
Feat. Miranda Otto, Brenda Blethyn, Ray Barrett…; The spooky qualities of the Australian Outback enhance this tale from Tim Winton's novel, which has an unknown marauder attacking stock in a remote…
Interview, The (1998): Dir. Craig Monahan
Feat. Hugo Weaving; Sleek, edgy Aussie drama works a detailed script and a sharp cast to pile layers of ambiguity and guilt into a standard interrogation premise. Winner…
Jackal, The (1998): Dir. Michael Caton-Jones
Feat. Bruce Willis, Sidney Poitier, Richard Gere; When shadowy assassin and master–of–disguises Bruce Willis lines up a top US government official in his sights, FBI director Sidney…
Jackie Brown (1998): Dir. Quentin Tarantino
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Robert De Niro, Pam Grier…; Quentin Tarantino follows–up the fireworks of PULP FICTION with a laidback ode to lowlife dreamers and schemers that reclines comfortably into…
Judas Kiss (1998): Dir. Sebastian Guitierrez
Feat. Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Carla Gugino…; Kidnapping–gone–wrong thriller that trades off the curious casting of Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman as the American cops in pursuit.…
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998): Dir. Guy Ritchie
Feat. Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng, Nick Moran…; The independent hit of 1998 is a massively assured directing debut and an entertainment sensation. Cocked with sharp dialogue, intricate plotting,…
Love And Rage (1998): Dir. Cathal Black
Feat. Greta Scacchi, Daniel Craig, Stephen Dillane; Tantalising Irish melodrama starring Greta Scacchi as an English aristocrat who hires Daniel Craig as manager for her sumptuous estate and ends up…
Miss Monday (1998): Dir. Benson Lee
Feat. James Hicks, Andrea Hart; An improving indie thriller sets its improbable but well–realised story around a struggling screenwriter, who sneaks into a woman's apartment…
Negotiator, The (1998): Dir. F. Gary Gray
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, J.T. Walsh; A touch angry after being framed for corruption, Samuel L. Jackson kidnaps the responsible party and squares off against the formidable eyeballs of…
Nightwatch (1998): Dir. Ole Bornedal
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Nick Nolte, Patricia Arquette; Ewan MacGregor checks in for morgue attendance in this Anglo remake of the director's own Danish thriller. Must confess, we never watched this…
One Tough Cop (1998): Dir. Bruno Barreto
Feat. Stephen Baldwin, Christopher Penn, Gina Gershon; Based on the NYPD memoirs of Bo Dietl, this proficient thriller benefits from the machismo of hardline cops Stephen Baldwin and partner Chris Penn,…
Out of Sight (1998): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames; Neatly complementing JACKIE BROWN, novelist Elmore Leonard is adapted here in purely cinematic terms by the director of SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE. An…
Perfect Murder, A (1998): Dir. Andrew Davis
Feat. Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen; Unconvincing Hitchcock homage/remake of the master's DIAL M FOR MURDER, with Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow as paranoid spouses, trying to play…
Pi (1998): Dir. Darren Aronofsky
Feat. Sean Gullette; Super–inventive, grungy portrait of a maths genius who slides into a maelstrom of paranoia as he get closer to 'cracking the code' that may or…
Players Club, The (1998): Dir. Ice Cube
Feat. Monica Calhoun, Lisa Raye, Jamie Foxx…; Proving a talent on his first directorial outing, actor–rapper Ice Cube enlists a no–name cast in this seriocomic glimpse into a tawdry…
Proposition, The (1998): Dir. Lesli Linka Glatter
Feat. Kenneth Branagh, John Hurt, Madeleine Stowe; A less than saintly love–tryst involves man of the cloth, Kenneth Branagh, with rich, love–starved couple William Hurt and Madeleine…
Psycho (1998): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore; Colour remake of Hitchcock's most famous film closely follows the original but never comes close to being anything other than a cheap gimmick. The…
Quiet Family, The (Choyonghan kajok) (1998): Dir. Ji-woon Kim
Feat. Kang-ho Song, Min-sik Choi; A deliciously deadpan black comedy in which a respectable family decide to leave the rat race behind, buy a hotel in remote mountains and lead more…
Red Corner (1998): Dir. Jon Avnet
Feat. Richard Gere, Ling Bai, Bradley Whitford; Corporate globetrotter Richard Gere becomes a murder–suspect during a trade visit to China, then lands further afoul when he escapes while on…
Return to Paradise (1998): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix, Anne Heche; The Third World fears of America are played out in this knotty variation on MIDNIGHT EXPRESS. Vince Vaughn has to decide whether to save his buddy…
Rounders (1998): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Malkovich…; Once–bitten card sharp Matt Damon is lured into another hand by reckless pal Edward Norton, setting them back on a road paved with suckers,…
Run Lola Run (1998): Dir. Tom Tykwer
Feat. Franke Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu; Runaway foreign–language hit clocks up mileage from a simple conceit – flame–haired punkette Lola has twenty minutes to go like the…
Secret Defense (1998): Dir. Jacques Rivette
Feat. Sandrine Bonnaire; A Hitchcockian thriller in which dir. Rivette, better known for his surreal excursions, knowingly toys with the conventions of the suspense genre,…
Shattered Image (1998): Dir. Raul Ruiz
Feat. William Baldwin, Anne Parillaud, Graham Greene; Dir. Raul Ruiz gives the lurid straight–to–video thriller (a staple of the 90s) an eccentric, if compromised twist, in this sleazy noir…
Snake Eyes (1998): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise; Morally dubious cops Nicolas Cage and Gary Sinise investigate an assassination during a pro–boxing match. Esteemed hack Brian De Palma…
Snow Falling On Cedars (1998): Dir. Scott Hicks
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Sam Shepard, Max von Sydow; The seemingly perfect conjunction of David Guterson's best–selling novel and dir. Hicks (SHINE), results in a technically magnificent, but…
So Close To Paradise (Biandan, guniang) (1998): Dir. Wang Xiaoshuai
Feat. Wang Tong, Shi Yu, Guo Tao; Chinese film set in the city of Wuhan before it was a household name, where two young migrant workers become embroiled in the city's criminal…
Spanish Prisoner, The (1998): Dir. David Mamet
Feat. Campbell Scott, Ben Gazzara, Steve Martin; Brain–teasing thriller of the highest order from renowned playwright/auteur David Mamet (HOUSE OF GAMES, OLEANNA), vaunts a Chinese Box…
Stalker's Apprentice, The (1998): Dir. Marcus D.F. White
Feat. Peter Davison, James Bolam, Kathleen Turner; A book editor uses a writer's manuscript about a serial killer as a template for his own homicidal fantasies in this punchy, at times lurid British…
Such a Long Journey (1998): Dir. Sturla Gunnarsson
Feat. Om Puri, Roshan Seth, Naseeruddin Shah; Set in the turbulent India of 1971, just prior to the war with Pakistan, this artfully fashioned drama centres on the political and personal crises…
Thursday (1998): Dir. Skip Woods
Feat. Thomas Jane, Aaron Eckhart, Paulina Porizkova…; Architect Thomas Jane has his suburban life up–ended when his drug–dealing past catches up with him in the form of Aaron Eckhart and his…
Ultraviolet (Mini Series) (1998): Dir. Joe Ahearne
Feat. Jack Davenport, Philip Quast; Set in the drab, menacing atmosphere of South London, a detective quests for his missing partner and turns up a frightening cabal of powerful…
Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, The (1998): Dir. Anthony Shaw
Feat. Angela Lansbury, Ed Bishop, Peter Bland; Game old lady Angela Lansbury fulfils her life ambition to be a CIA–spy when she's accidentally sent on a mission to Morocco. Although this has…
Versace Murder, The (1998): Dir. Menahem Golan
Feat. Franco Nero, Steven Bauer; Hackmeister General Golan is at it again with this predictably schlocky treatmenr of the tragic slaying of fashion designer Versace. Franco Nero…
Very Bad Things (1998): Dir. Peter Berg
Feat. Jon Favreau, Christian Slater, Cameron Diaz…; Jon Favreau's (SWINGERS) stag party pals accidently kill a call–girl during a cocaine–fueled Las Vegas bender, and once they've…
Wild Things (1998): Dir. John McNaughton
Feat. Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Matt Dillon…; Rattle–brained thriller sets highschool minxes Neve Campbell and Denise Richards into action, putting honest–Joe sailing instructor Matt…
Wisdom of Crocodiles, The (1998): Dir. Po-Chi Leong
Feat. Jude Law, Elina Lowensohn, Kerry Fox…; Suave vampire Jude Law cruises London looking for a cure to his soul–sickness in this slick–looking thriller with literary…
Advocates, The (TV Series) (1997): Feat. Ewan Stewart, Isla Blair, Rachel Weisz…; Obscure Scottish legal drama contrasting high powered lawyers with the sleazy underbelly of Edinburgh's streets, and the inevitable merging of the…
American Perfekt (1997): Dir. Paul Chart
Feat. Robert Forster, Amanda Plummer, David Thewlis; The most familiar of premises, an American desert road–trip entangling three motorists with a series of mysterious killings is elevated by an…
Assassin(s) (1997): Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
Feat. Mathieu Kassovitz, Michel Serrault; Disappointing followup to LA HAINE for dir./star Kassovitz, plumping for a story of an apprentice hitman (Kassovitz) to aging pro Michel Serrault,…
Blackout, The (1997): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Matthew Modine, Claudia Schiffer; Dir. Abel Ferrara spills more lurid behaviour all over the screen just like he did in BAD LIEUTENANT. Matthew Modine does the honours for this spin…
Blood and Wine (1997): Dir. Bob Rafelson
Feat. Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Jennifer Lopez…; Jack Nicholson dusts off his cynical, scowling persona of the 70s, as a desperate, philandering Florida wine merchant who enlists Michael Caine for a…
Blood Oranges, The (1997): Dir. Philip Haas
Feat. Charles Dance, Sheryl Lee, Colin Lane…; An obscure indie–psychodrama from the dir. of MUSIC OF CHANCE and ANGELS AND INSECTS, with Charles Dance and Sheryl Lee as a…
Breakdown (1997): Dir. Jonathan Mostow
Feat. Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan, J.T. Walsh; With Kurt Russell driving and Kathleen Quinlan in the passenger seat, buckle up for a tight, lean car–trip thriller that heads out across…
Brother (Brat) (1997): Dir. Aleksei Balabanov
Feat. Sergei Bodrov Jr; Grimily captivating thriller follows a baby–faced veteran of the Chechen war as he quietly 'assists' his brother in the St Petersburg…
Character (1997): Dir. Mike van Diem
Feat. Fedja Van Huet; A murderous confrontation bookends an elegantly told story of class, oppression and perseverance in 1920s Rotterdam, in which a young…
Conspiracy Theory (1997): Dir. Richard Donner
Feat. Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts; Mel Gibson plays a conspiracy–obsessed psychiatric patient, who bends the sympathetic ear of lawyer Julia Roberts, and uncovers a real one. A…
Deceiver (Liar) (1997): Dir. Josh Pate, Jonas Pate
Feat. Michael Rooker, Christopher Penn; Suspected of a gruesome homicide, troubled rich kid Tim Roth may or may not be running rings around not–so–clever cops Michael Rooker and…
Desperate Measures (1997): Dir. Barbet Schroeder
Feat. Andy Garcia, Michael Keaton; Cop Andy Garcia needs to secure a bone marrow donor for his son, and finds a perfect match in Michael Keaton, an incarcerated serial killer, who…
Devil's Advocate, The (1997): Dir. Taylor Hackford
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron; Invincible lawyer Keanu Reeves is tempted to join an elite law firm, but bossman Al Pacino has a firey temper and is looking for lifelong commitment,…
Devil's Own, The (1997): Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt; Sensitive cop Harrison Ford discovers his befriended border (Brad Pitt) has devout connections to the IRA. Moral conundrums ensue as Ford wrestles…
Dobermann (1997): Dir. Jan Kounen
Feat. Tcheky Karyo, Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci…; Frenetic French crime thriller filled with over the top gun play and colourful yet grimy characters. Vincent Cassel plays a bank robber known as…
Donnie Brasco (1997): Dir. Mike Newell
Feat. Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen…; Riveting, true–life tale of an FBI agent's perilous infiltration of the New York Mafia in the 70s. A knife–edge dramatic tension is…
Duggan (TV Series) (Death in Paradise, Sins of the Fathers) (1997-1998): Dir. Yvonne MacKay
Feat. John Bach; Detective inspector John Bach heads up these made–for–TV policiers as a recluse drawn into a murder cases near his Marlborough Sounds…
Event Horizon (1997): Dir. Paul Anderson
Feat. Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill; This sleek monstrosity is worth a look for some reasonably scary special effects or if you just want reminding of what a masterpiece ALIEN really is.…
Eye of God (1997): Dir. Tim Blake Nelson
Feat. Martha Plimpton, Kevin Anderson, Hal Holbrook; A firm patch of Southern Gothic, this cautionary tale examines spousal and religious abuse in sombre and convincing detail, secured by deft multiple…
Face (1997): Dir. Antonia Bird
Feat. Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone, Phillip Davis; The wily Robert Carlyle plays lead 'face' of an armed–robbery gang, in a tense, grabby thriller that more than holds its own in…
Full Alert (1997): Dir. Ringo Lam
Feat. Lau Ching-wan, Francis Ng; Quality police thriller with realistic drama, bracing action and strong sense of locale – regarded as one of the last 'classics' from the…
Funny Games (1997): Dir. Michael Haneke
Feat. Ulrich Muhe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering…; Michael Haneke’s disturbing, self–reflexive examination of violence, and violence as entertainment, in which two young men dressed in tennis…
Game, The (1997): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, Deborah Kara Unger…; Tycoon–loner–who–has–everything Michael Douglas receives a birthday present with a difference – an elaborate 'game'…
Gattaca (1997): Dir. Andrew Niccol
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman; The big league writer/directing debut of ex–pat Wellingtonian and former London adman Niccol, is a highly intriguing thriller about the scary…
Gravesend (1997): Dir. Sal Stabile
Feat. Thomas Brandise, Tom Malloy, Michael Parducci…; Following a desperate night among four buddies in the run–down New York neighbourhood of Gravesend on the fringe of Coney Island, this…
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997): Dir. George Armitage
Feat. John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd…; Sporting a sideways sense of humour, this sardonic comedy has likeable, babbling hitman John Cusack shyly fronting up to his 10–year highschool…
Head Above Water (1997): Dir. Jim Wilson
Feat. Cameron Diaz, Harvey Keitel, Craig Sheffer…; An island respite turns afoul for Cameron Diaz, who adds to her multiple man troubles with a gush of fateful coincidences. Frantic suspense farce has…
Innocent Lies (Halcyon Days) (1997): Dir. Patrick DeWolfe
Feat. Joanna Lumley, Stephen Dorff, Gabrielle Anwar…; An English detective arrives in pre–WWII France to unravel a murder–mystery in a household fraught with Freudian overtones: matriarch…
Insomnia (1997): Dir. Erik Skjoldbjaerg
Feat. Stellan Skarsgard; An edgy, ingeniously plotted psychological thriller about an amoral Swedish detective whose murder investigation in Northern Norway (where the sun…
Jonathan Creek (TV Series) (1997): Feat. Alan Davies, Caroline Quentin; Odd coupling Alan Davies and Caroline Quentin play nerdy magician and blunt–edged journalist respectively in this British series of…
Keys to Tulsa (1997): Dir. Leslie Greif
Feat. Eric Stoltz, James Spader, Deborah Kara Unger…; A strong ensemble cast enliven this archetypal 90's crime film set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, making up the mostly unsavoury characters who complicate the…
Kiss or Kill (1997): Dir. Bill Bennett
Feat. Frances O’Connor, Matt Day; Many critics confounded our suspicions that this was going to be yet another vapid, pretentious, cheap–shot road–movie that exploits the…
Kiss the Girls (1997): Dir. Gary Fleder
Feat. Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd; Raincoated detective Morgan Freeman and bottle–brunetted Ashley Judd seek the psychotic 'Casanova', who kidnaps beautiful woman for his…
L.A. Confidential (1997): Dir. Curtis Hanson
Feat. Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey…; Slam–bang adaptation preserves the lacerating edge of James Ellroy's crime novel while polishing up the sheen of 50s Hollywood. Antipodean boys…
La Vie de Jesus (Life of Jesus) (1997): Dir. Bruno Dumont; Virtuoso bleakness from the dir. of TWENTYNINE PALMS, in his debut study of alienated existence for a group of unruly skinheads in rural Flanders who…
Lakes, The (TV Series) (1997): Feat. John Simm, Emma Cunniffe, Kaye Wragg…; Gritty British drama following a compulsive gambler from Liverpool who moves to the Lake District and encounters the secrets, lies and crimes that…
Live Flesh (1997): Dir. Pedro Almodovar
Feat. Javier Bardem, Francesca Neri, Liberto Rabal; Five aggrieved characters get wrapped in a sticky web of consequence after a fateful incident leaves one paralysed and another in jail. Dir.…
Locusts, The (1997): Dir. John Patrick Kelley
Feat. Vince Vaughn, Kate Capshaw, Ashley Judd; Tawdry, mostly shallow slice of Southern 'Faulkner–esque' pulp has Vince Vaughn (SWINGERS) drifting into a hot spot of small–town trouble…
Lost Highway (1997): Dir. David Lynch
Feat. Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty…; Welcome to Lynchland. Where picket fences surround troubled, violent, sexual twisted souls who converse in awkwardly measured rhythms. David Lynch…
Lost Valley (1997): Dir. Dale G Bradley
Feat. Andrea Thompson, Meg Foster, Mandie Gillette…; Straight–to–video local thriller concerning two backpackers (Meg Foster and Andrea Thompson) and their daughters (Mandie Gillette and…
Maker, The (1997): Dir. Tim Hunter
Feat. Johnathon Rhys-Myers, Matthew Modine, Fairuza Balk…; To all appearances a straightforward crime–film, the dir. of RIVER'S EDGE distinguishes the coming–of–age tale of troubled teen…
Melissa (TV Mini-series) (1997): Feat. Tim Dutton, Julie Walters, Adrian Dunbar…; Alan Bleasdale cleverly reworks Francis Durbridge's famous novel, relocating its thriller premise of a man who falls in love with a mysterious,…
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. John Cusack, Kevin Spacey; John Cusack and Kevin Spacey convene for Clint Eastwood's moody adaptation of John Berendt's fact–based novel – a complex, atmospheric…
Midsomer Murders (TV Series) (1997): Feat. John Nettles, Daniel Casey, Jane Wymark…; A worthwhile British police drama in the tradition of Agatha Christie's MISS MARPLE, in which a veteran detective Inspector Barnaby (Nettles) and his…
Mimic (1997): Dir. Guillermo Del Toro
Feat. Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam; A mutant strain of humanoid bugs come back to taunt entomologist Mira Sorvino, who enters into a fierce confrontation through the dank, falteringly…
Murder in Mind (1997): Dir. Andrew Morahan
Feat. Mary-Louise Parker, Nigel Hawthorne; Mary Louise Parker wakes up clutching a bloodied knife, her murdered husband beside her, and suffering from complete amnesia. Turning to…
Night Falls On Manhattan (1997): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Richard Dreyfuss, Andy Garcia, Lena Olin; Poking around among the NYPD's rotten apples, this unsettling thriller gouges up about as much police corruption and moral dry–rot as you can…
Office Killer (1997): Dir. Cindy Sherman
Feat. Cindy Sherman, Molly Ringwald, Barbara Sukowa; A bloody revenge fantasy – a mousy secretary gets her own back on intimidating office co–workers – informed by a stylised,…
Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos) (1997): Dir. Alejandro Amenabar
Feat. Eduardo Noriega, Penelope Cruz, Chete Lera; A surrealistic nightmare unfurled with Hitchcockian precision and irony, Eduardo Noriega plays a young–man–who–has–everything…
Pale Horse, The (1997): Dir. Charles Beeson
Feat. Colin Buchanan, Jayne Ashbourne, Hermione Norris…; When the body of a neighbourhood priest is discovered by Mark Easterbrook in a dark alley, it starts an investigation that touches him more than he…
Perfect Blue (1997): Dir. Satoshi Kon; Coherent and mature product of Japanese 'anime' is an unsettling psycho–drama about a burnt–out teen pop idol, simultaneously plagued by…
Playing God (1997): Dir. Andy Wilson
Feat. David Duchovny; Diverting psycho–thriller for David Duchovny, playing a doctor struck–off for malpractice. After flirting with skid–row he lands in…
Port Djema (1997): Dir. Eric Heumann
Feat. Jean-Yves Dubois, Nathalie Boutefeu, Christophe Odent…; A Paris surgeon gets into the thick of dangerous politics at an East African colonial port as he traces the footsteps of a murdered friend. Won Best…
Rainmaker, The (1997): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. Matt Damon, Danny De Vito, Jon Voight…; John Grisham's novel is spared from the airport–novel–as–movie–fodder assembly line by a refined Coppola script that attends…
Resurrection Man (1997): Dir. Marc Evans
Feat. Stuart Townsend; Cut–above Irish thriller based around the notorious 1970s razor–gang Shankill Butchers, who dealt in drugs and intimidation with Stanley…
She's So Lovely (1997): Dir. Nick Cassavetes
Feat. Robin Wright, Sean Penn, John Travolta; As a low–life couple whose romantic intensity borders on madness, married double–act Robin Wright and Sean Penn off–handedly…
Smilla's Feeling for Snow (Smilla's Sense of Snow) (1997): Dir. Bille August
Feat. Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, Richard Harris; From Peter Hoeg's acclaimed novel, Julia Ormond glistens in the plumb role of the frosty, feisty half–eskimo woman who over–concerns…
Sunset Heights (1997): Dir. Colm Villa
Feat. Toby Stephens, James Cosmo; Bloodthirsty thriller tinted with black comedy in which two rival 'punishment squads' (ie. gangs) in Belfast try to track down a…
Touching Evil (TV Series) (1997-1999): Feat. Robson Green, Nicola Walker; Crime TV drama following an Organised & Serial Crime Unit, created by Paul Abbott (CRACKER) and Russell T. Davies (QUEER AS FOLK). Disc 1 –…
Traveller (1997): Dir. Jack N. Green
Feat. Bill Paxton, Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Margulies…; 'One–last–score' movie in which a young man, desperate to be accepted by a clan of Irish grifters teams up with a veteran con who wants…
Trigger Effect, The (1997): Dir. David Koepp
Feat. Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue, Dermot Mulroney…; Urban chaos slowly encroaches on couple Kyle MacLachlan and Elisabeth Shue following a major metropolitan power failure. Tight thriller manages to…
Twentyfour Seven (1997): Dir. Shane Meadows
Feat. Bob Hoskins; The cockney director of low–budget miracle SMALL TIME, enters the ring with a few more bob and a larger cast, delivering a warm, yet…
Twilight (1997): Dir. Robert Benton
Feat. Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman…; Star wattage brightens this old–fashioned, autumnal mystery–drama, reuniting NOBODY'S FOOL director Benton with Paul Newman as a…
U-Turn (1997): Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte…; The Drifter, Sean Penn, swerves into a small desert town for a round of duelling tangos with Femme Jennifer Lopez and local Kingpin Nick Nolte, while…
Ulee's Gold (1997): Dir. Victor Nunez
Feat. Peter Fonda, Patricia Richardson, Jessica Biel; Peter Fonda gives good grace as an ageing, emotionally reticent beekeeper who is much less at ease with what's going on in his family's hive, a unit…
Unforgettable (1997): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Ray Liotta, Linda Fiorentino; A modern noir with a conceit lifted straight out of a sci–fi B–movie, cop Ray Liotta's obsession to learn the truth about his wife's…
Winner, The (1997): Dir. Alex Cox
Feat. Vincent D'Onofrio, Rebecca De Mornay, Frank Whaley…; Punk director Alex Cox about breaks even with this stageplay custom fitted for the screen. The action revolves around Las Vegas 'winner' Vincent…
Wintersleepers (1997): Dir. Tom Tykwer
Feat. Ulrich Matthes, Marie-lou Sellem, Floriane Daniel; The paths of five people on the German skifield of Berchtesgaden intersect following a car accident, resulting in a precise, chilly thriller from RUN…
Woman In White, The (1997): Dir. Tim Fywell
Feat. Tara Fitzgerald, Justine Waddell, Ian Richardson…; Suitably creepy, if not entirely faithful, BBC adaptation of Wilkie Collins' gothic tale of murder, love and greed, in which a pair of half sisters…
Absolute Power (1996): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Judy Davis…; Cat–burglar Clint Eastwood witnesses the US President murder his friend's wife after a bout of infidelity, and is hunted down by a deadly…
Albino Alligator (1996): Dir. Kevin Spacey
Feat. Matt Dillon, Viggo Mortensen, Faye Dunaway…; Directing debut for Kevin Spacey, reupholsters a classic crime plot, with all the mordant, cold–blooded wit of his acting. Matt Dillon and his…
Arrival, The (1996): Dir. David Twohy
Feat. Charlie Sheen; Radio astronomer Charlie Sheen detects signs of intelligent life in outer space, and soon discovers hostile ET's, already intent on…
Before and After (1996): Dir. Barbet Schroeder
Feat. Liam Neeson, Meryl Streep; Moral dilemmas loom large for Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep as the distressed parents of a teenager suspected of murdering his girlfriend. Thrills…
Beyond Hypothermia (Sip si 32 doe) (1996): Dir. Patrick Leung
Feat. Lau Ching Wan; A master Hong Kong hitwoman is contracted to bump off top–level crime lords in this brooding suspenser, directed by a longtime assistant to…
Bound (1996): Dir. Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
Feat. Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon; Modern film noir madeover in lesbian chic – Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon pout, titillate and conspire their way through the moral marshlands…
Chamber, The (1996): Dir. James Foley
Feat. Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway; Pedestrian John Grisham adaptation again has a whitebread lawyer involved in truth, justice and moral conundrums in the heartless Deep…
City Hall (1996): Dir. Harold Becker
Feat. Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda; Good old–fashioned ethics melodrama with fine perfs from Al Pacino and John Cusack lending the required lustre to plot intricacies involving…
Copycat (1996): Dir. Jon Amiel
Feat. Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, Harry Connick Jnr.; Psychologist Sigourney Weaver and cop Holly Hunter collaborate to track a serial killer who stages his murders like famous crimes of the past. Much…
Crimetime (1996): Dir. George Sluzier
Feat. Stephen Baldwin, Pete Postlethwaite, Sadie Frost…; An educated, grisly thriller from director of THE VANISHING, set in a near–future where TV re–enacts, week by week, the latest efforts of…
Dalziel and Pascoe (TV Series) (1996): Feat. Warren Clarke, Colin Buchanan; Adapted from a series of novels by Reginald Hill, Clarke and Buchanan play a pair of mismatched Yorkshire detectives whose clash in personal and…
Devil in a Blue Dress (1996): Dir. Carl Franklin
Feat. Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore; The director's follow–up to ONE FALSE MOVE is a black man's noir, some fifty years overdue! We're in 40s LA, where reluctant gumshoe Denzel…
Diabolique (1996): Dir. Jeremiah Chechik
Feat. Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Chazz Palminteri; Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani and Chazz Palminteri star in this flashy remake of the 1955 French classic, LES DIABOLIQUES. Strictly for those that…
Extreme Measures (1996): Dir. Michael Apted
Feat. Hugh Grant, Gene Hackman, Sarah Jessica Parker…; Hugh Grant sniffs out conspiracy in the corridors of medicine. The potential intrigue of scientific ethics is undone by the melodramatic hyperbole…
Eye for an Eye (1996): Dir. John Schlesinger
Feat. Sally Field, Kiefer Sutherland, Ed Harris; Grief and anger manifest in retribution for Sally Field as the mother of a murdered child who sees the killer released on a technicality. Weighty…
Famous Five, The (TV Series) (1996): Dir. John Gorrie
Feat. Jemima Rooper, Marco Williamson, Paul Child…; The most recent TV incarnation of Enid Blyton's outstanding series of childrens books, in which four intrepid English youngsters and their dog, solve…
Fan, The (1996): Dir. Tony Scott
Feat. Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes; Robert De Niro reprises his trademark psycho–loser schtick, as a rueful, embittered baseball fan who decides to violently 'help out' his…
Fargo (1996): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy; The gifted Coen Brothers cross two of their previous treasures – RAISING ARIZONA and BLOOD SIMPLE for this lovingly mocking tale of insurance…
Fear (1996): Dir. James Foley
Feat. Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, Alyssa Milano…; Thriller from the Hollywood cookie–cutter about a chaste Daddy's girl who gets involved with creep Mark Wahlberg, who just gets creepier by…
Funeral, The (1996): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Christopher Walken, Christopher Penn, Annabella Sciorra…; Indie iconoclast Abel Ferrara delves deeper into the troubled psyches of men–on–the–edge with a brooding chamber–piece.…
Gotti (1996): Dir. Robert Harmon
Feat. Armand Assante, William Forsythe, Anthony Quinn; Armand Assante picked up an Emmy Award for his convincing impression of the legendary mobster John Gotti, who ruled the New York Mafia during the…
Gridlock'd (1996): Dir. Vondie Curtis Hall
Feat. Tim Roth, Tupac Shakur, Vondie Curtis Hall…; Keyboardist Tim Roth and bassist Tupac Shakur jam out a squalid riff of muso–junkie blues. With girlfriend in a coma, the bureaucratic road to…
Hard Eight (Sydney) (1996): Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Feat. Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow…; Cucumber–cool first feature set in the thick of Reno's casino culture, boasts four superb character–based performances and extended…
Heaven's Prisoners (1996): Dir. Phil Joanou
Feat. Alec Baldwin, Eric Roberts, Teri Hatcher; Cajun ex–cop Alec Baldwin investigates his wife's death, and encounters old pal turned crime–lord Eric Roberts lurking in the Bayou.…
Homicide - The Movie (1996): Dir. Jean De Segonzac
Feat. Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer…; A special movie–length episode of the cult TV crime series "Homicide – Life on the Streets", which was probably the grittiest and…
I.D. (1996): Dir. Philip Davis
Feat. Reece Dinsdale, Saskia Reeves, Sean Pertwee…; Criminally overshadowed by the likes of TRAINSPOTTING and SMALL FACES, this is a white–knuckle cautionary tale about football hooliganism and…
In Cold Blood (1996): Dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Feat. Sam Neill, Anthony Edwards, Eric Roberts; Mini–series adaptation of Truman Capote's novel about the real–life murders of a family in a sleepy Kansas town. Solid but not a patch on…
Inspector Wexford Collection, The (TV Mini-series) (1996-2000): Feat. George Baker, Sadie Frost; Collection of commended adaptations based on the Ruth Rendell novels and centred on the recurring Rendell character of Inspector Wexford – an…
Island of Dr. Moreau (1996): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer, Temuera Morrison; HG Wells' ever–timely tale of the perils of genetic science, featuring big–name Hollywood talent and a troubled production record, it…
Jaded (1996): Dir. Caryn Krooth
Feat. Carla Gugino, Rya Kihlstedt, Christopher McDonald…; Putting a hefty, controversial twist on the subject of rape, this psychodrama has smalltown loner Carla Gugino sexually abused, not by a man, but by…
Jason's Lyric (1996): Dir. Doug McHenry
Feat. Allen Payne, Jada Pinkett Smith, Forest Whitaker…; If you can't get enough boys in the 'hood, there's plenty of bloodshed and moral penance to be found in this tale of doomed lovers struggling to…
Juror, The (1996): Dir. Brian Gibson
Feat. Demi Moore, Alec Baldwin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt…; Struggling artist and mother Demi Moore is summoned to jury service and is singled out by the mob defendants to swing the verdict in their favour.…
Kansas City (1996): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte; An all–star cast jam out on the multiple storylines of Robert Altman's homage to the 30s jazz–mecca of Kansas City. The old master stirs…
Keeper, The (1996): Dir. Joe Brewster
Feat. Giancarlo Esposito, Isaach de Bankole, Regina Taylor…; An idealistic black corrections officer bails out and offers shelter to a Haitian immigrant unjustly accused of rape, a gesture that will profoundly…
Killer: a Journal of Murder (1996): Dir. Tim Metcalfe
Feat. James Woods, Robert Sean Leonard, Ellen Greene; James Woods plays America's first official serial killer, Carl Panzram, but his demonic energies seem wasted on a simplistic film that offers scant…
Lone Star (1996): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, Matthew McConaughey…; John Sayles' searching character study set in a dusty New Mexican town crosses multiple characters and time frames across three ethnic cultures.…
Lowball (1996): Dir. Demian Lichenstein
Feat. Peter Greene; Grimy, low–budget drama pursues NY cop Peter Greene through the mire of his deep cover assignment, as the various temptations of the scumbag…
Midnight in St. Petersburg (1996): Dir. Douglas Jackson
Feat. Michael Caine, Jason Connery, Michael Sarrazin…; Formulaic final outing for Harry Palmer as a consignment of plutonium falls into the hands of the Russian Mafia.
Millennium (TV Series) (1996-1999): Feat. Lance Henriksen, Megan Gallagher, Klea Scott; Occult sci–fi series from the creator of The X–Files) following the investigations of ex–FBI agent Frank Black (Lance Henriksen),…
Minette Walters - The Collection (The Ice House, The Echo, The Dark Room, The Sculptress, The Scold's Bridle) (1996-1999): Dir. Diarmuid Lawrence, David Thacker
Feat. Daniel Craig, Corin Redgrave, Clive Owen…; A box–set of five film adaptations of murder mysteries by English crime writer Minette Walters, from the BBC. All are psychological thrillers…
Mistrial (1996): Dir. Heywood Gould
Feat. Bill Pullman, Robert Loggia, Blair Underwood…; Frustrated by the legal system, cop Bill Pullman pours gasoline on community tensions by kidnapping a judge and jury – to put a suspected…
Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead (1996): Dir. Agustin Diaz Yanes
Feat. Victoria Abril, Pilar Bardem; Alcoholic and reluctant whore Victoria Abril turns a few clever tricks on a Mexican mob's laundering operation. A Spanish pulpy fiction grafted with…
Normal Life (1996): Dir. John McNaughton
Feat. Ashley Judd, Luke Perry, Kate Walsh…; Based on a true story of a by–the–book cop who turns to bank–robbing with a bit of encouragement from his off–the–boil…
Passion of Darkly Noon (1996): Dir. Philip Ridley
Feat. Ashley Judd, Brendan Fraser, Viggo Mortensen…; The director of the underrated THE REFLECTING SKIN revisits the bayou for another round of redneck neurosis, repressed desire and violent madness. A…
Primal Fear (1996): Dir. Gregory Hoblit
Feat. Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton; Hotshot Chicago attorney Richard Gere defends, with difficulty, an altar boy accused of brutally murdering a much–loved archbishop. The…
Pure Formality, A (Una pura formalità) (1996): Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Roman Polanski; A chilling interrogation of an elusive murder suspect transpires under weather most foul. Roman Polanski and Gerard Depardieu face–off…
Pusher (1996): Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Feat. Kim Bodnia, Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen; Intense Danish thriller follows a fast–living drug dealer's (Bodnia) downward arc after he inadvertantly loses a load of product and tries to…
Ransom (1996): Dir. Ron Howard
Feat. Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Gary Sinise…; Kidnappers post a nasty ultimatum to airline mogul Mel Gibson, who didn't get to where he is today by responding kindly to threats. Hi–gloss…
Secret Agent, The (1996): Dir. Christopher Hampton
Feat. Bob Hoskins, Gerard Depardieu, Patricia Arquette…; Faithful period adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel concerning political intrigues in Edwardian London. Russian spy Bob Hoskins is ordered out…
Silent Witness (TV Series) (1996): Feat. Amanda Burton, Emilia Fox, William Gaminara; Acclaimed, long–running BBC forensic series, originally focused around expert pathologist Dr Sam Ryan (Burton). This is darker and more complex…
Sleepers (1996): Dir. Barry Levinson
Feat. Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Dustin Hoffman; Based on a purportedly fact–based novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra, a disastrous prank lands four schoolboys in a borstal where they suffer…
Tesis (Thesis) (1996): Dir. Alejandro Amenabar
Feat. Ana Torrent, Fele Martinez, Eduardo Noriega; Intelligent chiller has a film student researching violence drawn into a violent mystery when her Professor dies after watching what may be an…
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1996): Dir. Gary Fleder
Feat. Andy Garcia, Christopher Walken, Gabrielle Anwar…; Things get messy for 'good guy' Andy Garcia under the sadistic tutelage of crippled crime–boss Christopher Walken. Cool and confident…
This World, Then the Fireworks (1996): Dir. Michael Oblowitz
Feat. Billy Zane, Gina Gershon, Chet Baker…; Billy Zane and Gina Gershon play bad seed twins seemingly bonded by irrational behaviour and an incestuous streak in 50s California. Stylised noir…
Time to Kill, A (1996): Dir. Joel Schumacher
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock…; A blue–eyed lawyer comes to the defence of a black man (Samuel L. Jackson) who murdered his daughter's rapists in the Deep South. This…
To Die For (1996): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix; A deft satire about ambition and the media is fashioned from the sensational true story of a woman who coaxed an impressionable schoolboy into…
Too Late (Prea Târziu) (1996): Dir. Lucian Pintilie
Feat. Razvan Vasilescu; Bleak, unflinching examination of Romanian society from dir. Pintilie focuses on an inexperienced investigator who discovers a myriad of corruption…
Two Days in the Valley (2 Days in the Valley) (1996): Dir. John Herzfeld
Feat. James Spader, Danny Aiello, Teri Hatcher…; Devilishly hip comedy fires off rounds of tension and big laughs with oozy confidence. A ruddy collection of LA stereotypes – hitmen, hustlers…
Water Rats (TV Series) (1996): Feat. Colin Friels, Catherine McClements, Steve Bisley…; Classic Aussie sea–going crime–fighting police action show from the 90s, somewhat like an antipodean version of Baywatch. Ran for six…
Bait, The (L'Appat) (1995): Dir. Bertrand Tavernier
Feat. Marie Gillain; A claustrophobic psychological thriller dealing with a trio of young friends who naively conspire to commit a home invasion, that becomes a study of…
Blue Murder (Mini-Series) (1995): Dir. Michael Jenkins
Feat. Richard Roxburgh, Tony Martin, Steve Bastoni…; Hard–nosed, confrontational broadside on the NSW police force, based on the illegal undertakings of a corrupt detective and a career criminal…
Bullet to Beijing (1995): Dir. George Mihalka
Feat. Michael Caine, Jason Connery, Mia Sara…; Fourth outing for Michael Caine as the dog–eared spy Harry Palmer, sent to Moscow, this time to recover a stolen 'Doomsday'–style…
Butterfly Kiss (1995): Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Feat. Amanda Plummer, Saskia Reeves; The twisted underbelly of the female–buddy movie. Bewitching and bloody road movie that traverses the wastelands (moral and otherwise) of '90s…
Carried Away (1995): Dir. Bruno Barreto
Feat. Dennis Hopper, Amy Irving, Amy Locane…; Rustic, brooding melodrama in which a middle–aged school–teacher (Dennis Hopper) crosses the line with his 17–year old student, and…
Citizen X (1995): Dir. Chris Gerolmo
Feat. Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, Max von Sydow; A suitably disturbing account of the world's most prolific serial killer, Viktor Burakov, a man whose eight year, 52–victim reign of terror…
Confessional, The (1995): Dir. Robert Lepage
Feat. Lothaire Bluteau, Kristin Scott Thomas; A man searches for lost relatives and missing pieces of family history, somehow linked to the making of Hitchcock's 'I Confess' in Quebec, 1953; past…
Crimson Tide (1995): Dir. Tony Scott
Feat. Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Viggo Mortensen; Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington clash ethics as Captain and deputy on a US submarine entering hostile waters of a Russian renegade. Nuclear war…
Dolores Claiborne (1995): Dir. Taylor Hackford
Feat. Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judy Parfitt…; After MISERY, this non–supernatural Stephen King adaptation displays yet another facet of Kathy Bates multiple screen personas – here she…
Fall Time (1995): Dir. Paul Warner
Feat. Mickey Rourke, Stephen Baldwin; A prank backfires for three teenagers who interrupt the plans of hardened gangsters. The innocence lost of '50s America is disturbingly mirrored as…
Get Shorty (1995): Dir. Barry Sonnenfeld
Feat. John Travolta, Danny De Vito, Gene Hackman…; Riding the wave of PULP FICTION, this is the most successful stab at translating Elmore Leonard for the screen. John Travolta is an amiable mobster…
Hackers (1995): Dir. Iain Softley
Feat. Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, Jesse Bradford…; Cyber–thriller accesses the Gen–X mindframe, with bluff Web–babble, Internet–criminals and environmentalism, all blended to a…
Haunted (1995): Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Feat. Aidan Quinn, Kate Beckinsale, John Gielgud; Sceptical investigator Aidan Quinn becomes steadily embroiled in the paranormal and the ambiguous inhabitants of a British country mansion.…
Homage (1995): Dir. Ross Kagan Marks
Feat. Frank Whaley, Sheryl Lee, Blythe Danner; Three superb performances and a savvy script make this stalker–murder drama a savoury find indeed. Not content simply to be an exploitationer…
Infiltrator, The (1995): Dir. John Mackenzie
Feat. Oliver Platt, Arliss Howard, Alex Kingston…; Israeli journalist Oliver Platt infiltrates the modern–day German neo–Nazi movement to his considerable peril. Made all the more gripping…
Innocent Sleep, The (1995): Dir. Scott Michell
Feat. Rupert Graves, Michael Gambon, Annabella Sciorra…; Rupert Graves makes a convincing derelict who unveils a complex international conspiracy after reporting a Thames–side murder to the police. An…
Jade (1995): Dir. William Friedkin
Feat. Linda Fiorentino, David Caruso, Chazz Palminteri…; Her sultriness Linda Fiorentino (LAST SEDUCTION) revamps for this did–she–or–didn't–she thriller from the lurid pen that…
Johnny Mnemonic (1995): Dir. Richard Longo
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Dina Meyer, Ice-T…; Keanu Reeves as futuristic cyber courier, dude! Aimed well below the high–concept, author William Gibson gleefully cannibalizes much of his…
Just Cause (1995): Dir. Arne Glimcher
Feat. Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburne, Ed Harris…; Power–attorney Sean Connery defends a death row prisoner despite the evidence against him, and butts heads with Larry Fishburne, the cop…
Kamikaze Taxi (1995): Dir. Masato Harada
Feat. Koji Yakusho, Kazuya Takahashi, Reiko Kataoka; An apprentice gangster fouls up his first major assignment and flees Tokyo in a taxi, the driver of which turns out to be a unlikely confident with a…
Kavanagh QC (TV Series) (1995-2001): Feat. John Thaw, Ray Winstone, Ewan McGregor; Clever Brit crime series, with INSPECTOR MORSE's John Thaw stepping easily back into the role of criminal investigator, this time as a London law…
L'Amour Molesto (Wounded Love) (1995): Dir. Mario Martone
Feat. Anna Bonaiuto, Angela Luce, Gianni Cajafa…; Filial difficulties between mother and daughter act as the centre of gravity for this Italian mystery that matches its edgy storyline with a…
L'Appartement (The Apartment) (1995): Dir. Gilles Mimouni
Feat. Vincent Cassel, Romane Bohringer, Monica Bellucci; Chic Parisian thriller lifts a few motifs from VERTIGO, but adds more than a few original flourishes. Vincent Cassel is about to settle down with…
La Ceremonie (Judgement in Stone, A) (1995): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Bonnaire, Jacqueline Bisset; Veteran new–wave director Chabrol takes this HEAVENLY CREATURES–ish tale of the unholy synergy between two women, adds some class theory,…
La Haine (Hate) (1995): Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
Feat. Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, Said Taghmaoui…; A distinctive French urban crime drama in which the idle hands of male youth form fisticuffs on mean urban streets. A whole lot punchier, intelligent…
Last Tattoo, The (1995): Dir. John Reid
Feat. Kerry Fox, Rod Steiger, Robert Loggia…; Kerry Fox stars in this American–Kiwi co–produced WW2 drama as a public health nurse who uncovers a murder mystery and conspiracy…
McCallum (TV Series) (1995-1998): Feat. John Hannah; Above–par crime series trails the private and professional life of the titular forensic pathologist as he becomes entangled in various murder…
Murder One (TV Series) (1995-1997): Feat. Daniel Benzali, Stanley Tucci, Mary McCormack…; A compelling crime drama whose chief novelty was basing each season around a single courtroom case, from indictment and jury selection, through to…
Net, The (1995): Dir. Irwin Winkler
Feat. Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam, Dennis Miller…; Sandra Bullock gets her well earned first leading role in this techno thriller that cautions the perils of life in the computerised age.
Nick of Time (1995): Dir. John Badham
Feat. Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken; Johnny Depp strives for action–hero big time with this cliff–hanger played out in real time. Randomly singled out of a crowd, he must…
Oliver's Travels (TV Mini-series) (1995): Feat. Alan Bates, Sinead Cusack, Bill Paterson; BBC oddity centered around Oliver (Bates), an ex–university lecturer with a passion for puzzles, who goes on a search to find legendary…
Op Centre (1995): Dir. Lewis Teague
Feat. Harry Hamlin, Patrick Bauchau, Kabir Bedi; Tightly directed made–for–TV action pic about a crisis involving a renegade KGB colonel who steals three nuclear warheads from the Yanks…
Outbreak (1995): Dir. Wolfgang Petersen
Feat. Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman…; A deadly disease breaks out in the US of A, and scientist Dustin Hoffman becomes the only man able to save its entire population. The little man…
Patriotes, Les (1995): Dir. Eric Rochant
Feat. Yvan Attal, Richard Masur, Allen Garfield…; Disillusionment erodes the ideals of a young Frenchman who emigrates to Israel to train for a career in their intelligence division. Its astute focus…
Seven (Se7en) (1995): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow…; Director David Fincher imbues the hackneyed serial–killer genre with astonishing directorial flair, while bringing an influential 'underground'…
She's Out (TV Mini-series) (1995): Dir. Ian Toynton
Feat. Ann Mitchell, Linda Marlowe, Maureen Sweeney…; Six–part crime drama written by Lynda La Plante (PRIME SUSPECT) as a sequel to her 1980's series, Widows. Ann Mitchell is superb as Dolly…
Strange Days (1995): Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Feat. Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis; Ralph Fiennes runs into all sorts of bother as a low–rent dealer of subversive pleasures encoded on diskettes. An ambitious,…
Suite 16 (1995): Dir. Dominique Deruddere
Feat. Pete Postlethwaite, Antoine Camerling, Géraldine Pailhas; Lurid psycho–sexual drama in which a gigolo is hired by a rich cripple to bed women for his voyeuristic pleasure. Almost interesting, if it was…
Underneath, The (1995): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, William Fichtner; A worldweary return to his home–town finds Peter Gallagher tempted all–too–easily into a dangerous criminal enterprise. A…
Usual Suspects, The (1995): Dir. Bryan Singer
Feat. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin…; Find out who 'Keyser Soze' is, or who you thought he was, in this utterly captivating, original caper movie that unfolds a series of flashbacks in…
Virtuosity (1995): Dir. Brett Leonard
Feat. Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington; Russell Crowe plays a computer–generated composite of 200 serial killers who escapes cyberspace and proves a formidable opponent for…
Wild Side (1995): Dir. Donald Cammell
Feat. Anne Heche, Christopher Walken, Joan Chen…; Bank exec Anne Heche moonlights as a hooker to service a debt and initiates a twisted game of role–playing with miscreants Christopher Walken…
Against the Wall (1994): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Kyle MacLachlan, Samuel L. Jackson, Frederic Forrest…; Gruelling true story of the uprising at Attica Prison in 1971 in which a new recruit to the prison service, along with several of his colleagues get…
Bad Company (1994): Dir. Damian Harris
Feat. Laurence Fishburne, Ellen Barkin; Disgraced CIA agent Larry Fishburne defects to a rebel intelligence bureau who service high–priced clients with no questions asked. Slick…
Blink (1994): Dir. Michael Apted
Feat. Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, James Remar; A blind woman (Madeleine Stowe) becomes a sole yet unreliable murder witness after successful eye surgery gives her troubling side–effects.…
Boy Meets Girl (1994): Dir. Ray Brady
Feat. Tim Poole, Danielle Sanderson, Margot Steinberg; For many years banned in the UK on video at least, this abrasive, low–budget drama plays out the wilfully unpleasant scenario of a man who gets…
Chase, The (1994): Dir. Adam Rifkin
Feat. Charlie Sheen, Kristy Swanson, Henry Rollins; An escaped convict takes a beautiful girl hostage in her car and is soon caught up in a high–speed race for the Mexican border, with the whole…
China Moon (1994): Dir. John Bailey
Feat. Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe; Contemporary film noir, replete with lust–struck fall–guy (Ed Harris), shadowy femme fatale (Madeleine Stowe), a murdered husband, and…
Client, The (1994): Dir. Joel Schumacher
Feat. Susan Sarandon, Brad Renfro, Tommy Lee Jones…; The best adaptation yet of a John Grisham legal–eagle novel. Susan Sarandon embraces the character–driven story that is mercifully free…
Color of Night (1994): Dir. Richard Rush
Feat. Bruce Willis, Jane March, Ruben Blades…; Bruce Willis plays a grief–stricken psychiatrist, and it's downhill from there in this post–BASIC INSTINCT misfire that can only be…
Dandelion Dead (TV Mini-Series) (1994): Dir. Mike Hodges
Feat. Michael Kitchen, Sarah Miles, David Thewlis…; A respected solicitor in a small country town poisons his wife – and expects to get away with it – in this riveting murder–mystery,…
Death and the Maiden (1994): Dir. Roman Polanski
Feat. Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley; Polanski exacts consummate control in rendering an electrifying stageplay for the screen. The dialogue blisters, the acting transfixes, the tension…
Death of a Cheerleader (A Friend to Die For) (1994): Dir. William A. Graham
Feat. Tori Spelling, Valerie Harper, Kellie Martin; Enjoyably trashy true story in which a mousy Catholic girl transfers to a public school and desperately attempts to befriend the most popular girl in…
Disclosure (1994): Dir. Barry Levinson
Feat. Michael Douglas, Demi Moore; Michael Douglas exposes himself to become the sexual prey of no–nonsense lady–boss Demi Moore and is forced to sue her for sexual…
Getting Gotti (1994): Dir. Roger Young
Feat. Lorraine Bracco, Ellen Burstyn, Anthony John Denison; Lorraine Bracco pre–SOPRANOS stardom takes on the role of a determined U.S. Attorney Assistant tracking down a Mafia Crime Boss that grew up in…
Hawk, The (1994): Dir. David Hayman
Feat. Helen Mirren; Helen Mirren brings edgy believablity as a mother–of–two who watches the evidence mount against her husband as the notorious serial…
Heavenly Creatures (1994): Dir. Peter Jackson
Feat. Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse; Peter Jackson follows his zombie trilogy with this Oscar–nominated tour–de–force based on the Parker–Hulme murders of the…
Innocent, The (1994): Dir. John Schlesinger
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Campbell Scott, Isabella Rossellini; Anthony Hopkins toplines WW2 espionage thriller about a British engineer (Campbell Scott) who becomes caught in the crossfire of suspicion during his…
Inspector Rex (TV Series) (1994-2004): Feat. Tobias Moretti; Austrian TV series, with a sizable cult following around the world (especially in Australia), in which a lone policeman and his German Shepherd…
Killer (1994): Dir. Mark Malone
Feat. Anthony LaPaglia, Mimi Rogers; Ace hitman Anthony LaPaglia is hired to bump off glamour informant Mimi Rogers, whom he discovers is suicidal. Pacey and atmospheric, with an…
Kiss of Death (1994): Dir. Barbet Schroeder
Feat. David Caruso, Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson…; David Caruso (NYPD Blue) does fine in his big–screen debut as a redeemed petty crook lured back into the void between the cops and the…
Little Odessa (1994): Dir. James Gray
Feat. Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Vanessa Redgrave…; Fugutive assassin Tim Roth returns home to the Russian quarter of New York, where personal problems compound the stresses of the job. Portrait of a…
Love and Human Remains (1994): Dir. Denys Arcand
Feat. Thomas Gibson, Ruth Marshall, Cameron Bancroft…; A fascinating hybrid of twentysomething romantic comedy, cynical social satire and mystery thriller, adapted from an accomplished stageplay by the…
Machine, La (1994): Dir. Francois Dupeyron
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye; Gerard Depardieu goes into mad–doctor mode for this high–tech mind–transplant thriller, as a shrink/inventor whose fleeting…
Man in Uniform, A (I Love a Man in Uniform) (1994): Dir. David Wellington
Feat. Tom McCamus; This sharp, brooding satire is reminiscent of TAXI DRIVER but has a flavour and agenda all of its own. A meek bank clerk gets an acting break in…
Murder in the First (1994): Dir. Marc Rocco
Feat. Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman; Powerhouse acting enlivens fact–based proceedings that led to the closure of Alcatraz. Kevin Bacon plays a victimised prisoner pushed to the…
Mute Witness (1994): Dir. Anthony Waller
Feat. Marina Zudina, Fay Ripley, Evan Richards; An American filmcrew, shooting on the cheap in Moscow, get into deep and very scary trouble with the locals. This superlative B–movie borrows…
Night Train to Venice (1994): Dir. Toni Hirtreiter
Feat. Hugh Grant, Malcolm McDowell; A scenic holiday in Italy probably tempted Hugh Grant and Malcolm McDowell to appear in this eurotrash excursion that takes a few leaves from another…
Nightwatch (1994): Dir. Ole Bornedal
Feat. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau; A student (Nikolaj Waldau) takes a job as nightwatchman in a morgue so he can swat for his exams, but is dragged into trouble by an unruly companion…
No Ordinary Love (1994): Dir. Doug Witkins
Feat. Smith Forte, Erika Klein, Robert Pecora…; Intriguing clash of styles marks this MELROSE PLACE spoof as one to watch, with five sexy and possibly dangerous housemates coping with a unexpected…
River Wild, The (1994): Dir. Curtis Hanson
Feat. Meryl Streep, Joseph Mazzello, David Strathairn…; Troubled marrieds Meryl Streep and David Strathairn embark on a river–rafting holiday with son and dog in tow, but in true DELIVERANCE style,…
Romeo Is Bleeding (1994): Dir. Peter Medak
Feat. Gary Oldman, Annabella Sciorra, Juliette Lewis…; Petty corrupt cop Gary Oldman gets into all sorts of bother with the mob and his three women – Annabella Sciorra, Juliette Lewis and…
Shadow, The (1994): Dir. Russell Mulcahy
Feat. Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller…; Alec Baldwin plays the suave superhero based on the pulp fiction character created by Walter B. Gibson in 1931. Considered an elegant flop, the…
Shallow Grave (1994): Dir. Danny Boyle
Feat. Kerry Fox, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston; Kerry Fox, Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston are flatmates whose opportunistic prayers are answered when a guest drops dead with a suitcase…
Silent Fall (1994): Dir. Bruce Beresford
Feat. Richard Dreyfuss; An autistic child is the only witness to a brutal murder. The job of bringing him out of his shell falls to discredited child psychologist Richard…
Six Days, Six Nights (1994): Dir. Diane Kurys
Feat. Anne Parillaud, Beatrice Dalle; Favourite French fatales Anne Parillaud and Beatrice Dalle brood into Polanski territory, finding sibling and sexual rivialry, and possibly madness…
Speed (1994): Dir. Jan De Bont
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock…; A jaw–dropping, state–of–the–art spectacle in which new slim–line action hero Reeves battles wits with a…
Torment (L'Enfer) (1994): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Emmanuelle Beart, Francois Cluzet; Based on an unproduced H.R. Clouzot screenplay from the 1950s, and not quite up to the standard of its follow–up, A JUDGEMENT IN STONE, but a…
Trial by Jury (1994): Dir. Heywood Gould
Feat. Armand Assante, Joanne Whalley, Gabriel Byrne…; A ruthless mob boss (Armand Assante) on trial for multiple murders employs strong–arm tactics to 'influence' mother–of–two…
Wolf (1994): Dir. Mike Nichols
Feat. Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader; Jack Nicholson moons through this as a timid book editor–turned–lycanthrope. This is an 'adult' reworking of familiar material that can't…
Wycliffe (TV Series) (1994): Dir. Jack Shepherd
Feat. Bill Nighy, Jack Shepherd; Edgy novel based detective drama following the feats of a conventional trench coat clad superintendent investigating small town crime. Effectively…
A Crime (Un Crime) (1993): Dir. Jacques Deray
Feat. Alain Delon; Vintage courtroom vehicle for the ice cool Delon, sturdy in its workmanlike screenplay and no–nonsense attitude.
Assassin, The (Point of No Return) (1993): Dir. John Badham
Feat. Bridget Fonda, Gabriel Byrne, Dermot Mulroney…; Hollywood goes for the sure thing with this virtual frame–by–frame remake of NIKITA. Bridget Fonda does the best she can as the sexy…
Blind Side (1993): Dir. Geoff Murphy
Feat. Rutger Hauer, Rebecca De Mornay, Ron Silver; Geoff Murphy directs this efficient thriller in which Rutger Hauer reprises his psycho–turn from THE HITCHER. Creepy events mount after…
Blood In, Blood Out (Bound by Honour) (1993): Dir. Taylor Hackford
Feat. Benjamin Bratt; Melodramatic but exciting depiction of Hispanic prison gangs at war in San Quentin, California during the 1980s. Set around two brothers and their…
Boxing Helena (1993): Dir. Jennifer Lynch
Feat. Sherilyn Fenn, Julian Sands; Ludicrous psycho–sexual drama in which an obsessed surgeon keeps his reluctant object of desire (Sherilyn Fenn) all 'boxed' in. David Lynch's…
Chain of Desire (1993): Dir. Temistocles Lopez
Feat. Linda Fiorentino, Malcolm McDowell; A 'chain' of sexual encounters between numerous partners, brought full circle before the stinging twist in its tale. Linda Fiorentino and Malcolm…
Consenting Adults (1993): Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Kevin Kline, Kevin Spacey, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio…; Kevin Kline becomes spooked by his high–living neighbour (Kevin Spacey) who's into such things as insurance scams and wife–swapping. His…
Cracker (TV Series) (1993-1994): Dir. Michael Winterbottom, Andy Wilson, Julian Jarrold
Feat. Robbie Coltrane, Christopher Eccleston, Adrian Dunbar…; Justifiably acclaimed, often grim television drama centred round the forensic exploits of troubled, gambling–addict psychologist Robbie…
Crush, The (1993): Dir. Alan Shapiro
Feat. Alicia Silverstone, Cary Elwes, Jennifer Rubin; Psycho–brat Alicia Silverstone, all pert and pout at only fourteen, tries to ensnare her new neighbour of twice her age. Curious adolescents…
Darkness in Tallinn (1993): Dir. Ilka Jarvilaturi
Feat. Elina Aasa, Milena Gulbe, Juri Jarvet; In liberated Estonia, gangsters plan the elaborate ambush of gold bullion being restored from a Paris vault. A humble electrician has the pivotal job…
Diagnosis Murder (TV Series) (1993): Feat. Dick Van Dyke, Scott Baio, Charlie Schlatter…; Dick Van Dyke is on duty as Dr. Mark Sloan, a good–natured, unconventional and sometimes zany physician with a nose for murder. A…
Equinox (1993): Dir. Alan Rudolph
Feat. Matthew Modine, Lara Flynn Boyle, Marisa Tomei…; Matthew Modine plays good and evil identical twins whose parallel lives intersect. The eclectic mix of styles may strike one's fancy in the right…
Fallen Angels Vol. 1 & 2 (1993): Dir. Alfonso Cuaron, Phil Joanou, Tom Hanks
Feat. James Woods, Peter Gallagher, Isabella Rossellini…; A–list talent lend their names to this crime series set in Hollywood's golden age. The actors fill the hats and coats, with a few famous names…
Falling Down (1993): Dir. Joel Schumacher
Feat. Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey…; Powerhouse black comedy in which Michael Douglas finally turns in a noteworthy performance. Striking back for the oppressed WASP male, he blows his…
Fatherland (1993): Dir. Christopher Menaul
Feat. Rutger Hauer, Miranda Richardson; Ambitious film posits an alternative history in which Germany controls Europe and is locked in a cold war with the U.S. twenty years after winning…
Firm, The (1993): Dir. Sydney Pollack
Feat. Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman…; Tom Cruise ain't bad as a prodigal law graduate offered a six–figure salary with a prestigious but corrupt law firm. A reasonable meal is made…
Flesh and Bone (1993): Dir. Steve Kloves
Feat. James Caan, Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan; Southern gothic mood piece with James Caan and Dennis Quaid as estranged father and son that share a sinister secret involving Meg Ryan. This won't…
Fugitive, The (1993): Dir. Andrew Davis
Feat. Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward…; Dynamic reprise of the '60s TV serial with Harrison Ford taking up the stride of the doctor mistakenly convicted of his wife's murder. Highly…
Ghost in the Machine (1993): Dir. Rachel Talalay
Feat. Karen Allen, Chris Mulkey; Computer effects ala THE LAWNMOWER MAN punctuate this high–tech thriller in which a serial–killer does some heavy–duty destruction…
Golden Gate (1993): Dir. John Madden
Feat. Matt Dillon, Joan Chen, Bruno Kirby; Rookie FBI agent Matt Dillon is assigned to expose subversives in McCarthy–era San Fransisco, but years later becomes embroiled with the…
Good Son, The (1993): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. Elijah Wood, Macaulay Culkin; Mild gothic tale of two cousins – goody–good Elijah Wood, and psychotic bad seed Macaulay Culkin, who attempts to shrug off typecasting…
Guilty As Sin (1993): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Rebecca De Mornay, Don Johnson, Stephen Lang…; Attorney Rebecca De Mornay finds herself unable to discharge her suave lady–killing client (Don Johnson – perfectly cast). Never as…
In the Line of Fire (1993): Dir. Wolfgang Petersen
Feat. Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo…; Clint Eastwood's ageing, guilt–ridden bodyguard plays a dangerous cat–and–mouse game with a chameleonic assassin (John Malkovich)…
In the Name of the Father (1993): Dir. Jim Sheridan
Feat. Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Emma Thompson; Daniel Day–Lewis gives a devastating performance in this powerhouse re–creation of the tragedy that beset Jerry Conlon, his family and…
Intersection (1993): Dir. Mark Rydell
Feat. Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Lolita Davidovich; Compelling shaggy–dog tale of an architect caught between his stale marriage and fiery mistress. Richard Gere and Sharon Stone star but its…
Jack Be Nimble (1993): Dir. Garth Maxwell
Feat. Alexis Arquette; Alexis Arquette gets his American tongue around a Kiwi accent to portray an abused twin who finally reunites with his estranged sister. Though this…
Joh's Jury (1993): Dir. Ken Cameron
Feat. Simon Bossell, Noah Taylor, Gerry Connolly; Intensively researched teledrama about the sensational trial of Queensland state premier Joh Bjelke–Petersen (Connolly) for perjury in…
Judgment Night (1993): Dir. Stephen Hopkins
Feat. Emilio Estevez, Cuba Jr. Gooding, Denis Leary…; Enjoyable, if conventional late–night thriller has four yuppies in an RV take a detour on the way to a boxing match, ending up in the wrong…
Kalifornia (1993): Dir. Dominic Sena
Feat. Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny…; Crime–movie–on–wheels that rises above its fashionably glossy veneer with a script and performances that progressively whitens the…
La Scorta (1993): Dir. Rick Tognazzi
Feat. Ennio Morricone; Bold dramatic thriller draws from real events surrounding the indictment of Mafia collaborators with the focus on the four bodyguards of a maverick…
Last Seduction, The (1993): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, J.T. Walsh…; Magnificent modern noir in which Linda Fiorentino offers the most brazen female performance in years, power–driving her way through a script…
Malice (1993): Dir. Harold Becker
Feat. Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman; An unlikely but nonetheless ripping yarn unfolds when a brilliant but dubious doctor is sued for medical negligence by his college pal's wife.…
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993): Dir. Woody Allen
Feat. Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Alan Alda…; Woody Allen reunites with Diane Keaton as insecure marrieds who get involved in solving what could be a neighbourhood murder. Alan Alda and Anjelica…
Money for Nothing (1993): Dir. Ramon Menendez
Feat. John Cusack, Debi Mazar, Michael Madsen…; Fact–based account of an unemployed Philadelphia dockworker who scooped up US$1.2 million that fell out the back of an armoured car and decided…
Music of Chance, The (1993): Dir. Philip Haas
Feat. James Spader, Mandy Patinkin, Charles Durning…; Impressively cast against type, James Spader's slimy card shark entices broken family man Mandy Patinkin to accept a poker challenge by two eccentric…
Nun and the Bandit (1993): Dir. Paul Cox
Feat. Chris Haywood, Gosia Dobrowolska; Cox returns with regulars Chris Haywood and Gosia Dobrowolska for a tale of industrial disputes, revenge and kidnapping in the Australian bush.
NYPD Blue (TV Series) (1993): Feat. David Caruso, Dennis Franz, Amy Brenneman…; "Groundbreaking" TV cop show that wasn't so much groundbreaking as a slick 90s rehash of the likes of 'Hill Street Blues'. But despite all the fast…
Pelican Brief, The (1993): Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington; Julia Roberts mugs through this leaden adaptation of John Grisham's novel as a genius law student whose thesis about two top–level…
Perfect World, A (1993): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Laura Dern, Kevin Costner; Sheriff Clint Eastwood and criminologist Laura Dern clash egos in pursuit of Kevin Costner, who's imperfectly cast as an escaped convict with an…
Public Access (1993): Dir. Bryan Singer
Feat. Ron Marquette, Burt Williams, Leigh Hunt; An enigmatic loner unsettles an apple–pie US township through his controversial access television show. This debut feature of the team behind…
Real McCoy, The (1993): Dir. Russell Mulcahy
Feat. Kim Basinger, Val Kilmer; You've heard this one before: a paroled bank robber wants to go straight, but is persuaded to pull off one last heist. Kim Basinger and Val Kilmer…
Red Rock West (1993): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle; Throw a hapless hero, a femme fatale and a greedy bastard into a desert town seething with infidelity, guns, stolen loot, and set it to a bluesy…
Red Squirrel (La Ardilla Roja) (1993): Dir. Julio Medem
Feat. Emma Suarez, Nancho Novo; On the cusp of suicide, a young man befriends the amnesiac victim of a motorcycle accident. Under a shroud of deceit, the couple 'renew' their…
Rising Sun (1993): Dir. Philip Kaufman
Feat. Wesley Snipes, Sean Connery, Harvey Keitel; Wesley Snipes and Sean Connery are buddy–cops with a murder–mystery on their hands in Tokyo. A glitzy, unsubtle working of Michael…
Shadow of Doubt, A (1993): Dir. Aline Issermann
Feat. Mireille Perrier, Alain Bashung, Sandrine Blancke; A painfully credible exploration of how a father's alleged crime against his young daughter affects a middle class family. Well researched and…
Sliver (1993): Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Sharon Stone, William Baldwin, Tom Berenger; Sharon Stone rents an apartment which has not only hosted a number of in–house murders, but is also under constant surveillance by a perverted…
Suture (1993): Dir. Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Feat. Dennis Haysbert, Mel Harris, Sab Shimono…; This retro–modern thriller redefines the term 'stylish' in conveying its devishly cute conceit; a white murder suspect hatches a scheme to fake…
Vanishing, The (1993): Dir. George Sluzier
Feat. Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis…; The director remakes his classic Dutch thriller for subtitle–phobes. Keifer Sutherland anguishes while Jeff Bridges hams it up as the eccentric…
Voyage (1993): Dir. John Mackenzie
Feat. Rutger Hauer, Karen Allen, Eric Roberts; A great black comedy B–movie with Rutger Hauer and Karen Allen as long–marrieds who share their yacht with old 'friends'. They soon…
Young Americans, The (1993): Dir. Danny Cannon
Feat. Harvey Keitel, Viggo Mortensen, Keith Allen; L.A. cop Keitel is roped in to crack a sadistic drug ring that has rooted itself in the London club scene. Thoughtful, suspenseful film with the…
A Touch of Frost (TV Series) (1992-1995): Feat. David Jason; An old–fashioned but thoroughly reliable British detective series set around a Detective Inspector with the 'common touch'. David Jason's…
Accompanist, The (1992): Dir. Claude Miller
Feat. Richard Bohringer, Romane Bohringer; A humble pianist is hired to accompany a wealthy soprano in occupied France, but their partnership becomes fraught with rivalry and…
Afraid of the Dark (1992): Dir. Mark Peploe
Feat. James Fox, Fanny Ardant, Paul McGann; A bespectacled youngster bares witness to a number of killings on blind women in this bizarre, stylised British entry which uses the mind of a child…
Basic Instinct (1992): Dir. Paul Verhoeven
Feat. Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas; Sharon Stone leapt into fame, fortune and notoriety with her raunchy portrayal of the sultry crime novelist who may or may not be living out her…
Benny's Video (1992): Dir. Michael Haneke
Feat. Arno Frisch, Ulrich Muhe; This middle installment in Michael Haneke’s ‘Glaciation Trilogy’ considers under a familiar milieu of urban dread the effects of mediated…
Between the Lines (TV Series) (1992): Feat. Neil Pearson, Tom Georgeson, Siobhan Redmond…; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Body of Evidence (1992): Dir. Uli Edel
Feat. Madonna, Willem Dafoe, Joe Mantegna…; Madonna does the femme fatale thing. Willem Dafoe does the lawyer whose penis clouds his judgement thing. Did she bonk the old geyser to death for…
Body Parts (1992): Dir. Eric Red
Feat. Jeff Fahey; Criminal psychologist Jeff Fahey loses his arm in a car accident and becomes the recipient of an homicidal donor arm! Unsettling thriller soon takes…
Cold Heaven (1992): Dir. Nicolas Roeg
Feat. Nicolas Roeg, Theresa Russell; Typically enigmatic fare from Nic Roeg posits his wife, Theresa Russell, as an adulterous wife whose husband conveniently dies in an accident before…
Damage (1992): Dir. Louis Malle
Feat. Jeremy Irons, Juliette Binoche, Miranda Richardson; Jeremy Irons plays a Tory cabinet minister who becomes entangled, (especially physically) with his son's fiancee – a chic,…
Diary of a Hitman (1992): Dir. Roy London
Feat. Forest Whitaker, Sherilyn Fenn, Sharon Stone; An off–beat psychological study of a professional killer (Forest Whitaker) who fatally falls for his 'target' (Sherilyn Fenn). Wordy script is…
Dirty Weekend (1992): Dir. Michael Winner
Feat. Lia Williams; 'Death Wish' director Winner tweaks a familiar–sounding plot: here a stressed–out Lia Williams weekends in Brighton, to both relax and…
Flight of the Innocent (1992): Dir. Carlo Carlei
Feat. Manuel Colao, Federico Pacifici, Sal Borgese; A swirling steady–cam follows the chase of a young boy across Northern Italy after his family are slaughtered by a kidnapping ring. Thriller is…
Framed (1992): Dir. Geoffrey Sax
Feat. Penelope Cruz, Timothy Dalton, Timothy West…; Psychological thriller by award winning screenwriter / author Lynda La Plante (PRIME SUSPECT) mapping a battle of minds between a young cop and an…
Guncrazy (1992): Dir. Tamra Davis
Feat. Drew Barrymore, James LeGros, Billy Drago…; Drew Barrymore and James LeGros are tearaway teens who find solace in each other, but together sink further into the mire of trouble. Maturely…
Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The (1992): Dir. Curtis Hanson
Feat. Rebecca De Mornay, Annabella Sciorra, Julianne Moore…; Scheming psycho–nanny Rebecca De Mornay dismantles the idyllic homelife of Annabella Sciorra, to compensate her own miscarriage. Slick suspense…
Ip5 (1992): Dir. Jean-Jacques Beineix
Feat. Yves Montand, Olivier Martinez, Sotigui Kouyate…; Beineix's visual flair props up this slight story of a graffiti artist and his young pal who journey in search of escape and/or love. They meet an…
Jennifer 8 (1992): Dir. Bruce Robinson
Feat. Andy Garcia, Lance Henriksen, Uma Thurman…; Dark tale in which cop Andy Garcia falls for blind girl Uma Thurman who may be a serial killer's next victim. Mostly engrossing and often scary. John…
Jumpin' at the Boneyard (1992): Dir. Jeff Stanzler
Feat. Tim Roth, Alexis Arquette; Tim Roth and Alexis Arquette both give knock–out performances in this powerful drama about a violent man trying to clean–up his…
Knight Moves (1992): Dir. Carl Schenkel
Feat. Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane, Tom Skerritt…; Chess champion Christopher Lambert finds his psychological profile and alibi make him a prime murder suspect. A battle of intelligent wits ensues…
L627 (1992): Dir. Bertrand Tavernier
Feat. Didier Bezace, Jean-Paul Comart; A sharp, unsentimental depiction of the daily grind that a Paris drugs–squad detective must endure, contending with dealers, addicts and…
La Sentinelle (The Sentinel) (1992): Dir. Arnaud Desplechin
Feat. Emmanuel Salinger, Thibault de Montalembert, Jean-Louis Richard…; French chiller from director Arnaud Desplechin (A CHRISTMAS TALE) about a forensic medicine student who finds himself mysteriously in possession of a…
Laws of Gravity (1992): Dir. Nick Gomez
Feat. Peter Greene, Edie Falco, Adam Trese…; Remarkably authentic Brooklyn street story follows a couple of aimless pals, their girlfriends and a volitile circle of hoods. The four leads are…
Light Sleeper (1992): Dir. Paul Schrader
Feat. Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany…; Writer of TAXI DRIVER delivers a complex, understated character study of an ex–junkie drug–courier (Willem Dafoe) unable to escape the…
Love Field (1992): Dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Feat. Michelle Pfeiffer, Dennis Haysbert; Michelle Pfeiffer plays a forlorn housewife who befriends a black man and his daughter en route to JFK's funeral. Confederate cronies and bitter…
Maigret (TV Series) (1992-1993): Feat. Michael Gambon, Jack Galloway; Michael Gambon plays Chief Inspector Jules Maigret of the Paris Surete in this realistic crime series centred on Maigret's investigations into…
Overkill: The Aileen Wournos Story (1992): Dir. Peter Levin
Feat. Jean Smart; Jean Smart vividly incarnates the infamous female 'serial killer' who, at the time of this film, was awaiting execution on death row. Solid TV movie.
Player, The (1992): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Whoopi Goldberg…; A glittering Tinseltown satire that manages to be an intricate, clever, surprising and entertaining thriller all at the same time, with a cast of…
Poison Ivy (1992): Dir. Katt Shea
Feat. Sara Gilbert, Drew Barrymore, Tom Skerritt…; An affluent family's problems escalate with the destructive influence of a teenage brat. Drew Barrymore is effortlessly convincing in the title role.
Public Eye, The (1992): Dir. Howard Franklin
Feat. Joe Pesci, Barbara Hershey, Richard Riehle; Fascinating 40s film noir homage with Joe Pesci in a taylor–made role as a tabloid photographer whose seedy contacts enable him to be first on…
Raising Cain (1992): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, Steven Bauer…; De Palma's tongue–in–cheek return to the psycho–thriller contains many flashy set pieces including an elaborate ten–minute…
Redheads (1992): Dir. Danny Vendramini
Feat. Claudia Karvan, Catherine McClements, Alexander Petersons; With nothing in common except auburn locks, two women – a rookie barrister and a murder witness – join forces to unravel a mystery that…
Ruby (1992): Dir. John Mackenzie
Feat. Danny Aiello; The story of the man who shot the man who shot JFK, with Danny Aiello perhaps too likeable in the title role. Worthy slant on an increasingly…
Rush (1992): Dir. Lili Fini Zanuck
Feat. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jason Patric; This sordid but engaging parable posits Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jason Patric as narcotics cops who slip into a drug–addicted mire whilst…
Single White Female (1992): Dir. Barbet Schroeder
Feat. Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh; Bridget Fonda shares her flat with a lonely neurotic who turns out be her psychotic nemesis. Another triumph for Jennifer Jason Leigh, on her way to…
Sneakers (1992): Dir. Phil Alden Robinson
Feat. Robert Redford, Ben Kingsley, Sidney Poitier…; This reworks the spy–caper genre to dazzling effect as an endearing team of security crackpots attempt to outwit bad egg Ben Kingsley whose…
Thunderheart (1992): Dir. Michael Apted
Feat. Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Graham (Actor) Greene…; Part–Sioux FBI agent Val Kilmer is awakened to his heritage when assigned to investigate a murder on a reservation. An absorbing account of a…
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992): Dir. David Lynch
Feat. Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Moira Kelly…; The big–screen prequel charts a surreal path of events preceding the murder of Laura Palmer. Without the constraints of TV censorship Lynch…
Under Suspicion (1992): Dir. Simon Moore
Feat. Liam Neeson, Kenneth Cranham, Laura San Giancomo; In 50s Brighton, a disgraced policeman–turned–private eye (Liam Neeson) becomes prime suspect when his wife and a wealthy painter are…
White Sands (1992): Dir. Roger Donaldson
Feat. Willem Dafoe, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Mickey Rourke…; When Deputy Willem Dafoe discovers a dead man and half a million bucks, we know something is mighty queer. Enter Mickey Rourke and all is explained.
A Murder of Quality (1991): Dir. Gavin Millar
Feat. Denholm Elliott, Glenda Jackson, Joss Ackland…; Tele–movie based on the novel by John le Carré, who also served here as screenwriter, following the fictional character George Smiley…
After Dark, My Sweet (1991): Dir. James Foley
Feat. Jason Patric, Rachel Ward, Bruce Dern; A punch drunk drifter befriends a mysterious couple in a sun–blasted desert town. A smoulderingly atmospheric tale based on the novel by Jim…
Autobus (1991): Dir. Eric Rochant
Feat. Yvan Attal, Kristin Scott Thomas; A desperate, attention–seeking young man (Yvan Attal – superb) hijacks a school bus, taking its two adults and little passengers hostage.…
Billy Bathgate (1991): Dir. Robert Benton
Feat. Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, Bruce Willis; Tempers flare as loyalties are betrayed in this solid gangland tale concerning the indoctrination of a teenager into the mob.
Cape Fear (1991): Dir. Martin Scorsese
Feat. Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange…; Excruciating but masterful telling of a convicted rapist (Robert De Niro) who calculates revenge on his former attorney by way of his family. Scores…
Company Business (1991): Dir. Nicholas Meyer
Feat. Gene Hackman, Mikhail Baryshnikov; Cold–war era spy thriller where ex–CIA agent Hackman teams up with Soviet spy Baryshnikov after being double–crossed by their own…
Dark Wind, The (1991): Dir. Errol Morris
Feat. Lou Diamond Phillips, Gary Farmer, Fred Ward…; Doco man Errol Morris turns his hand to fiction with this moody thriller about a rookie cop who encounters murder, drugs and mysticism on an Indian…
Dead Again (1991): Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Feat. Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson; Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson go Stateside for this askewed whodunnit about a P.I. who is hired to help an amnesia victim, seemingly haunted by…
Deceived (1991): Dir. Damian Harris
Feat. Goldie Hawn, John Heard; Goldie Hawn in her first dramatic role plays a mother–of–two who learns that Hubby is not who she thought he was. Nothing new here, but…
Desperate Hours (1991): Dir. Michael Cimino
Feat. Mickey Rourke, Anthony Hopkins, Mimi Rogers; Remake of a Bogart thriller in which escaped convict/psycho Mickey Rourke awaits his connection to freedom at an innocent family's home.
Final Analysis (1991): Dir. Phil Joanou
Feat. Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman; Modern attempt at an old–fashioned mystery is more ambitious than it is convincing. Fans of Richard Gere and Kim Basinger may think otherwise.
FX 2 (1991): Dir. Richard Franklin
Feat. Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy; Far–fetched sequel has special effects genius Bryan Brown come out of retirement, only to become entangled in an elaborate police…
Highway Patrolman (1991): Dir. Alex Cox
Feat. Roberto Sosa, Bruno Bichir, Vanessa Bauche; A wayward film–maker returns to form in using road–movie conventions to enrich this tale of poverty, drugs, prostitution and rampant…
Homicide (1991): Dir. David Mamet
Feat. Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, Natalija Nogulich…; An absorbing, sophisticated psychological drama from the playwright–turned–director who blessed the genre with HOUSE OF GAMES. Joe…
Hors La Vie (Life on Hold) (1991): Dir. Maroun Bagdadi
Feat. Hippolyte Girardot, Rafic Ali Ahmad, Nidal Ashkov…; A fictionalised depiction of a freelance photographer's ten months in Shi'ite custody. Charged with political anger but unsensationalist and…
In Broad Daylight (1991): Dir. James Steven Sadwith
Feat. Brian Dennehy, Cloris Leachman, Marcia Gay Harden…; True account of how a group of townsfolk took revenge on a barbaric bully whose unlawful antics kept them at his mercy. Brian Dennehy incarnates the…
Indecent Woman, The (1991): Dir. Ben Verbong
Feat. Jose Way, Coen Van Vrijberghe de Coningh, Huub Stapel; A married violinist is drawn into a no–holds–barred relationship with a mystery man. A decent erotic parable that perceptively explores…
Kiss Before Dying, A (1991): Dir. James Dearden
Feat. Matt Dillon, Sean Young, Max von Sydow…; Handsome remake of the 1956 thriller stars Matt Dillon as an ambitious young sicko who charms and murders his way into a powerful family. Sean Young…
Liebestraum (1991): Dir. Mike Figgis
Feat. Kevin Anderson, Pamela Gidley, Kim Novak; The dir.'s followup to INTERNAL AFFAIRS is an art–thriller about an architect drawn into a noir–ish puzzle of murder, fate and…
Lovers (1991): Dir. Vincente Aranda
Feat. Victoria Abril; Almodovar–regular Victoria Abril brings her sultry star presence to this smouldering tale of illicit lovers who conspire to a horrendous crime…
Medicine Man (1991): Dir. John McTiernan
Feat. Sean Connery, Lorraine Bracco; Sean Connery plays a crotchety mad scientist whose tinkerings in the Amazon rainforest result in a cure for cancer – but then he just as soon…
Mortal Thoughts (1991): Dir. Alan Rudolph
Feat. Demi Moore, Glenne Headly, Bruce Willis…; Less idiosyncratic than cult director Alan Rudolph's 1980's output, this earnest dramatic thriller stars Demi Moore (hot off the smash hit, GHOST) as…
Nirvana Street Murder (1991): Dir. Aleksi Vellis
Feat. Mark Little, Ben Mendelsohn; Raw, inventive street story that juggles cultural conflict with matters of the heart as two disparate brothers find themselves in a scrape with Greek…
Not Without My Daughter (1991): Dir. Brian Gilbert
Feat. Sally Field, Alfred Molina; Sally Field stars in this gripping true story of a woman who accompanied her Iranian–born husband to his homeland, and became his permanent…
Pacific Heights (1991): Dir. John Schlesinger
Feat. Melanie Griffith, Matthew Modine, Michael Keaton; Part of a mini–wave of couple–in–peril thrillers, this better example has what it takes to tie your tum in knots. Melanie Griffith…
Prime Suspect (TV Series) (1991-2003): Dir. Christopher Menaul
Feat. Helen Mirren, Tom Bell, Tom Wilkinson…; Helen Mirren stars as DCI Tennison in seven award–winning (Emmy and BAFTA) mini–series from the pen of Lynda La Plante.
Proof (1991): Dir. Jocelyn Moorhouse
Feat. Hugo Weaving, Russell Crowe, Genevieve Picot; Near–perfect little drama makes the most of its intriguing premise; a blind photographer interprets the world by having his photographs…
Returning, The (1991): Dir. John Day
Feat. Phillip Gordon, Alison Routledge, Max Cullen; An enigmatic thriller following the fortunes of a high–strung attorney who inherits a rural homestead and finds himself drawn into an obsessive…
Ricochet (1991): Dir. Russell Mulcahy
Feat. Denzel Washington, John Lithgow; High–faluten cop turned D.A. Washington becomes the target of a vengeance mission from a psychopath he incriminated years earlier. Gruesome…
Shattered (1991): Dir. Wolfgang Petersen
Feat. Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins, Greta Scacchi…; Tom Berenger plays an amnesia victim perturbed with the fragments of his former life and the suspicious antics of his friends. An innocent victim or…
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991): Dir. Jonathan Demme
Feat. Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn…; Celebrated adaptation of Thomas Harris' novel follows the hunt of a gruesome serial killer by a rookie cop (Jodie Foster), 'aided' by an incarcerated…
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin, Kevin Anderson; Julia Roberts tries to escape her sadistic husband by faking her death and assuming a new identity miles from home.
Storyville (1991): Dir. Mark Frost
Feat. James Spader, Joanne Whalley, Jason Robards Jr.…; The directing debut from TWIN PEAKS' co–creator. Upstart political candidate James Spader becomes involved in illicit activity. A gumbo of red…
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991): Dir. James Cameron
Feat. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong; The ultimate Sci–fi action picture, it shamelessly flaunts its $100 million budget with Big Arnie playing second fiddle to a plethora of…
True Colours (1991): Dir. Herbert Ross
Feat. John Cusack, James Spader, Imogen Stubbs…; Political drama in which John Cusack and James Spader's law school friendship turns to sour grapes when they graduate to Washington's corridors of…
Unlawful Entry (1991): Dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Feat. Kurt Russell, Ray Liotta, Madeleine Stowe; Ray Liotta makes a perfect cop from hell, abusing his civil privileges to manifest obsessions with the wife of the man he is hired to protect. A…
Zandalee (1991): Dir. Sam Pillsbury
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Judge Reinhold; Tongues fly and panties are abandoned frequently in this steamy outing in which Nicholas Cage's loins go wild at the expense of jealous hubby Judge…
Zentropa (Europa) (1991): Dir. Lars Von Trier
Feat. Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa, Udo Kier…; A multi–lingual visual essay from upstart director Von Trier, who unfolds his story of post–war European unease through metaphor and a…
Adventures of Ford Fairlane, The (1990): Dir. Renny Harlin
Feat. Andrew Dice Clay, Wayne Newton, Priscilla Presley; Andrew Dice Clay plays a P.I for the music biz in Hollywood. Both ray–ban clad cool and foul–mouthed bigot, his brand of humour will…
Ambulance, The (1990): Dir. Larry Cohen
Feat. Eric Roberts, James Earl Jones, Richard Bright…; Enjoyable though minor genre effort from B–movie maestro Larry Cohen about a New York comic book artist (Eric Roberts) who discovers that their…
Bad Influence (1990): Dir. Curtis Hanson
Feat. Rob Lowe, James Spader; A shady Rob Lowe encourages mild–mannered yuppie James Spader to liberate himself from polite formality. A nightmarish journey ensues as…
Catchfire (1990): Dir. Alan Smithee
Feat. Dennis Hopper, Jodie Foster; An engaging oddity directed by Dennis Hopper under a pseudonym, after producers cut the film from its original 3hr length. Hopper himself plays a…
Chancer (TV Series) (1990): Feat. Clive Owen, Leslie Phillips; Clive Owen is all boyish charm as a suave, swindling con artist infiltrating a dodgy sports car business. Firmly established Clive as one to…
Class Action (1990): Dir. Michael Apted
Feat. Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio; A lawyer becomes forced to prosecute a case in which his estranged daughter will act for the defence. Courtroom ethics are violated in style by Gene…
Cluedo (1990): Dir. Terry McDonough
Feat. James Bellini, Richard Madeley; Unique British game show based on the board game, where celebrity guests watch a re–enactment of a murder, then try to identify the murderer…
Cup Final (1990): Dir. Eran Riklis
Feat. Moshe Ivgy, Mohamed Bakri, Salim Dau; An engaging Israeli film about a soccer player whose dreams of representing his country at the World Cup in Spain are shattered by war. He is…
Deadly Mr. Frost (1990): Dir. Philip Setbon
Feat. Jeff Goldblum; Intriguing black comedy with Jeff Goldblum well cast as a smug serial killer who breaks a two year silence to confide in a psychiatrist that he is…
Delusion (1990): Dir. Carl Colpaert
Feat. Jim Metzler, Jennifer Rubin, Kyle Secor…; Quirky cousin of ROADSIDE PROPHETS and HIGHWAY 61 adds a suspense element to its road–bound trio of odd–balls; a computer nerd with a…
Doctor Petiot (1990): Dir. Christian De Chalonge
Feat. Michel Serrault, Pierre Romans, Berangere Bonvoisin; A dark, expressionistic account of a depraved physician who, in occupied Paris, used his practise to facilitate emigration for hopeful Jews, only to…
Elegant Criminel, L' (1990): Dir. Francis Girod
Feat. Daniel Auteuil, Jean Poiret, Jaques Weber; Daniel Auteuil stars in this irreverent and witty biography of suave petty thief and condemned killer Pierre Lacenaire, whose brief flame burned…
Everybody Wins (1990): Dir. Karel Reisz
Feat. Debra Winger, Nick Nolte, Will Patton…; Arthur Miller's first screenplay since THE MISFITS tells the story of a private eye, hired for a murder enquiry by a strange woman who claims to know…
Fourth War, The (1990): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Roy Scheider, Jurgen Prochnow, Harry Dean Stanton; Cold War thriller set during the early days of detente has Scheider and Prochnow as two border commanders whose friendly rivalry on the…
Godfather Part 3, The (1990): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. Al Pacino; The conclusion of the epic Corleone trilogy, with an aging Al Pacino looking to legitimise his business activities, and find a suitable successor.…
Grifters, The (1990): Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Annette Bening; Small time con–artists Anjelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Bening cross paths but come to discover little honour among thieves. A quirky,…
Havana (1990): Dir. Sydney Pollack
Feat. Robert Redford, Lena Olin; A gracefully ageing Robert Redford seeks his fortune on the verge of the Cuban revolution, while romantic entanglement with Lena Olin has political…
Hidden Agenda (1990): Dir. Ken Loach
Feat. Brian Cox, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif…; Perhaps dir. Loach’s most genre–based film, this political thriller about sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s involves…
Horseplayer (1990): Dir. Kurt Voss
Feat. Brad Dourif, Sammi Davis, Max Perlich; Interesting item stars the incomparably strange Brad Dourif as a loner being manipulated by bored neighbours. Unfortunately for them, Brad turns out…
Hot Spot, The (1990): Dir. Dennis Hopper
Feat. Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly…; Don Johnson drifts into nowheresville, where things are more than a little strange and everybody chainsmokes. Steamy modern noir with a sultry blues…
Hunt for Red October (1990): Dir. John McTiernan
Feat. Sean Connery, Adam Baldwin, Scott Glenn…; Sean Connery plays a renegade Soviet captain of a high–tech submarine who deviates into Western waters. Is he hostile or is he trying to…
Impulse (1990): Dir. Sondra Locke
Feat. Theresa Russell, Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza; Theresa Russell plays a cop who yields to corruption while undercover as a streetwalker. Under–rated police thriller is intelligently played…
Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, The (TV Series) (1990): Feat. Patrick Malahide; Detective series plucked from the novels of famed crime writer Ngaio Marsh follows Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn as he suavely solves crime in…
Internal Affairs (1990): Dir. Mike Figgis
Feat. Richard Gere, Andy Garcia, Nancy Travis…; Richard Gere plays a repugnant cop that will do just about anything for a buck, or a kick. Andy Garcia is the investigator who adopts a personal…
Jacob's Ladder (1990): Dir. Adrian Lyne
Feat. Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello…; Tim Robbins plays a Vietnam vet who begins to suffer from progressively frightening hallucenations. An intense, gripping journey into the unknown…
Krays, The (1990): Dir. Peter Medak
Feat. Billie Whitelaw, Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp; Excellent biographical account of the rise and fall of London's notorious Kray twins, with Spandau Ballet's Kemp brothers doing an admirable job in…
Miller's Crossing (1990): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. Gabriel Byrne, John Turturro; Crossings and double–crossings punctuate this complex yet rewarding mobster flick loaded with heart–pounding violence and black humour.
Misery (1990): Dir. Rob Reiner
Feat. James Caan, Kathy Bates; You'll have a far from miserable experience watching novelist James Caan nursed back to health by his psychotic number one fan (Kathy Bates in an…
Narrow Margin (1990): Dir. Peter Hyams
Feat. Gene Hackman, Anne Archer, James B. Sikking…; Gene Hackman stars in this remake of the 1952 classic about a protected witness who must testify against a mob killing. All set on a fast moving…
Nikita (La Femme Nikita) (1990): Dir. Luc Besson
Feat. Anne Parillaud, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Tcheky Karyo…; A stylish thriller if ever there was one. The director combines the visual ostentation from his THE BIG BLUE with the plot mechanics of a classic…
One False Move (1990): Dir. Carl Franklin
Feat. Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, Billy Bob Thornton; Naive county sheriff Bill Paxton gets a chance at the big–time when two vicious criminals sweep through his sleepy town. Things lighten up…
Paper Mask (1990): Dir. Chris Morahan
Feat. Paul McGann, Amanda Donohoe; A frustrated hospital porter (Paul McGann) embarks on an outrageous bluff, assuming the identity of a deceased doctor. A truly scary indictment of…
Presumed Innocent (1990): Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raul Julia…; Scott Turow's best seller is faithfully adapted here with Harrison Ford cast as the D.A. who finds himself accused of the rape and murder of a…
Q & A (1990): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Nick Nolte, Armand Assante, Timothy Hutton…; Lengthy, sometimes incoherent thriller from genre specialist Sidney Lumet, set amid a not entirely unfamiliar cesspit of NYC corruption. Notable for…
Reflecting Skin, The (1990): Dir. Philip Ridley
Feat. Viggo Mortensen; An eerie and perverse tale of a young boy's unsettling experiences growing up in the prairie farmlands of Idaho, where the adults are weird and the…
Revenge (1990): Dir. Tony Scott
Feat. Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe…; Pulpy action thriller from director Tony Scott (TOP GUN) about a U.S. Navy aviator (Kevin Costner) who falls in love with the wife of Mexican crime…
Russia House, The (1990): Dir. Fred Schepisi
Feat. Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer; Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer star in this cat–and–mouse drama involving Western intelligence's use of a publisher to liaise with an…
Total Recall (1990): Dir. Paul Verhoeven
Feat. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone; From the heyday of the Schwarzenegger craze, this eccentric sci–fi thriller boasts a massive f/x budget that proves (literally) eye popping,…
Two Jakes, The (1990): Dir. Jack Nicholson
Feat. Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel; Long–awaited sequel to CHINATOWN, with Jack Nicholson reprising his role as the laconic P.I. whose petty burrowing upturns homicide and…
Undercover (1990): Dir. Yvonne MacKay
Feat. William Brandt; Telemovie depiction of the lifestyle of an undercover detective in NZ's drug underworld. A bit rough around the edges, but perhaps worth a look.
Wild at Heart (1990): Dir. David Lynch
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Diane Ladd…; Disturbing, provocative and always stylish, the director parodies himself and many other great film–makers in this mother of all road movies.…
Agatha Christie's Poirot (TV Series) (1989-2002): Feat. David Suchet; Solid TV adaptation of Agatha Christie's series of detective novels featuring the fussily eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot as he goes about…
Apartment Zero (1989): Dir. Martin Donovan
Feat. Colin Firth, Hart Bochner; Weird tale in which a loner (Colin Firth) rents half of his apartment to a man of dubious motives and background (Hart Bochner). Pays homage to many…
Black Rain (1989): Dir. Ridley Scott
Feat. Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura…; Unrelenting violence made impressive by Scott's visual flair, sees Michael Douglas as a NY cop in Japan assigned to deliver a dangerous mobster.
Brotherhood Of The Rose (Mini-Series) (1989): Feat. Robert Mitchum, David Morse, Peter Strauss…; Mini–series from author David Morrell about two orphans raised to be super–soldier CIA operatives who become embroiled in an…
Campion (TV Series) (1989-1990): Feat. Peter Davison, Brian Glover, Andrew Burt; Eccentric detective series sees Peter Davison play the titular Albert Campion, who, along with his melancholy sidekick Lugg, solve mind–bending…
Cat Chaser (1989): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Peter Weller, Kelly McGillis, Charles Durning…; The director atypically sidesteps controversy in adapting Elmore Leonard's political novel about a Miami hotel owner who courts danger when he…
Club Extinction (Dr. M) (1989): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Alan Bates, Jennifer Beals, Jan Niklas…; Chabrol’s re–examination of Fritz Lang’s DR MABUSE is set in a future Berlin saturated with Big Brother messages and a plague of…
Criminal Law (1989): Dir. Martin Campbell
Feat. Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Tess Harper…; Hot shot lawyer Gary Oldman successfully defends psycho–killer Kevin Bacon, only to find he had made a costly misjudgement.
Dark Woods, The (1989): Dir. Jacques Deray
Feat. Beatrice Dalle; Beatrice Dalle (BETTY BLUE) marries a stranger on a whim, and lives to regret it when her affections for his brother leads to a brutal crime of…
Dead Calm (1989): Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman, Billy Zane; A married couple are terrorised by a charmer with a bad case of sea–stroke in this riveting sea–bound thriller. A unique genre entry with…
Diamond Skulls (1989): Dir. Nick Broomfield
Feat. Gabriel Byrne, Amanda Donohoe; This brittle stab at fiction from renowned documentarian Nick Broomfield about "sex, class and obsession" suffers from unsympathetic…
Fellow Traveller (1989): Dir. Philip Saville
Feat. Ron Silver, Hart Bochner; A classy political thriller concerning the traumas of a blacklisted writer exiled in London during the McCarthy era.
Johnny Handsome (1989): Dir. Walter Hill
Feat. Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern…; Mickey Rourke plays a deformed petty criminal who takes the rap for a major robbery. In prison he is given a new handsome face and proceeds to avenge…
Kill Me Again (1989): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Joanne Whalley, Michael Madsen, Val Kilmer; Joanne Whalley–Kilmer asks naive P.I. Val Kilmer to fake her death to throw short–fused Michael Madsen off her trail. Plot nicely twists…
Kill Off, The (1989): Dir. Maggie Greenwald
Feat. Andrew Lee Barrett, Jorja Fox, Ralph Graff; In a small New Jersey town, everyone has a motive to kill off the town gossip. Fascinating, off–beat story based on Jim Thompson's novel. A…
Kinjite - Forbidden Subjects (1989): Dir. J. Lee Thompson
Feat. Charles Bronson, Juan Fernandez, Perry Lopez…; Warped thriller with Bronson as a vice cop out to bust a teen prostitution ring. Bronson and Thompson's ninth and final collaboration is a sordid…
Kitchen Sink (1989): Dir. Alison Maclean
Feat. Theresa Healy, Peter Tait, Anagretta Christian; Three shorts from director Alison Maclean. Her 1989 award–winning Gothic horror is here paired with two earlier works, TALKBACK (1987), and the…
Master of the Marionettes, A (1989): Dir. Pedr James
Feat. Kenneth Cranham, Carol Drinkwater; Effective though modest BBC drama–thriller posits a 'Twilight Zone' scenario of a salesman suspected of stabbing a man he has rescued. As…
Music Box (1989): Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Jessica Lange, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Frederic Forrest…; Jessica Lange plays the attorney daughter of a Hungarian immigrant (Mueller–Stahl), now accused of WW2 war crimes. Her quest for the truth…
Next of Kin (1989): Dir. John Irvin
Feat. Patrick Swayze, Adam Baldwin, Helen Hunt…; Patrick Swayze is at his two–fisted best as a tough Chicago cop who teams with his hillbilly kinfolk when a young brother is brutally murdered…
Nocturne Indien (1989): Dir. Alain Corneau
Feat. Jean-Hugues Anglade, Clémentine Célarié, Otto Tausig; Moody drama from dir. Corneau (TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE) sees a young Frenchman travel to India to search for a missing friend, and get lost in…
Package, The (1989): Dir. Andrew Davis
Feat. Gene Hackman, Tommy Lee Jones, Joanna Cassidy…; Sharp geo–political thriller with an anti–nuclear bent. Gene Hackman plays a veteran Army Sgt. assigned to escort a military prisoner…
Peter Gunn (1989): Dir. Blake Edwards
Feat. Peter Strauss, Barbara Williams; A telemovie reprise of the iconic 'Private Investigator' series of the late 50s and 60s, with original director Edwards and that famous Mancini tune…
Pink Cadillac (1989): Dir. Buddy Van Horn
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Bernadette Peters, Timothy Carhart; Minor Clint Eastwood comic vehicle about a bail–bond bounty hunter who helps out the spouse of a target by rescuing her kidnapped baby from the…
Red King, White Knight (1989): Dir. Geoff Murphy
Feat. Tom Skerritt, Max von Sydow, Helen Mirren; Tough HBO telemovie places Mikhail Gorbachev at the centre of an assasination plot; Skerritt and von Sydow, CIA and KGB agents respectively, must put…
Sea of Love (1989): Dir. Harold Becker
Feat. Ellen Barkin, Al Pacino, John Goodman; Murder suspect Ellen Barkin and detective Al Pacino have a very dangerous liaison in this sexy, hi–tension whodunnit. A first class entry with…
Siesta (1989): Dir. Mary Lambert
Feat. Ellen Barkin, Jodie Foster, Gabriel Byrne…; An enigmatic, arty thriller with a terrific cast, gorgeous lensing and Miles Davis soundtrack. Possibly meaningless, but a pleasure to watch the cast…
Summer's Lease (TV Mini-series) (1989): Feat. Susan Fleetwood, John Gielgud, Michael Pennington; BBC "masterpiece theatre" drama–mystery series set in Tuscany, based on the novel by John Mortimer (RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY) and adapted by the…
True Believer (1989): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. James Woods, Robert Downey, Kurtwood Smith; A jaded attorney and an idealistic young clerk defend a Korean man who is in jail for a murder he may not have committed. Woods as usual plays a…
Who's Harry Crumb? (1989): Dir. Paul Flaherty
Feat. John Candy, Annie Potts, Jeffrey Jones…; Comedy–mystery vehicle for John Candy, who plays an often incompetent, sometimes genius, private investigator in search of a kidnapping victim.
Amsterdamned (1988): Dir. Dick Maas
Feat. Huub Stapel, Monique Van de Ven, Serge-Henri Valcke; Around the canals of the Dutch capital, an elusive serial killer is manhunted. Huub Stapel stars in this sleek, exotic thriller from genre stylist…
Appointment with Death (1988): Dir. Michael Winner
Feat. Peter Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, John Gielgud; Agatha Christie mystery with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, and Lauren Bacall, John Gielgud among the suspects.
As Tears Go By (Wong gok ka moon) (1988): Dir. Wong Kar-Wai
Feat. Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung; Dir. Wong Kar–Wai debuted with this ambitious remake of MEAN STREETS, where best buddies Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung struggle through the…
Betrayed (1988): Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Debra Winger, Tom Berenger, John Heard…; FBI agent Debra Winger must infiltrate a vicious white supremacist network, apparently run by the handsome, affable Tom Berenger. Murky plotting gets…
Bourne Identity, The (Mini-series) (1988): Dir. Roger Young
Feat. Richard Chamberlain, Jaclyn Smith, Anthony Quayle…; Mini–series based on Robert Ludlam's best–seller about an injured, unconscious man who washes ashore in a small French town and discovers…
D.O.A. (1988): Dir. Rocky Morton, Annabel Jankel
Feat. Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, Charlotte Rampling; After being fed a slow poison, Dennis Quaid endeavours to find his killer before he meets his maker. Remake of the 1950 classic.
Dead Ringers (1988): Dir. David Cronenberg
Feat. Jeremy Irons, Genevieve Bujold; You'll share in Jeremy Irons' nightmares as twin gynaecologists, both brilliant and respected in their trade, who succumb to perverse mid–life…
For Queen and Country (1988): Dir. Martin Stellman
Feat. Denzel Washington, George Baker, Amanda Redman; Denzel Washington plays a retired paratrooper who struggles to adapt to civilian life after returning home from the Falklands War. Crime drama…
Frantic (1988): Dir. Roman Polanski
Feat. Harrison Ford, Emmanuelle Seigner, Betty Buckley…; Harrison Ford plays a surgeon who becomes involved in the Paris underworld when his wife disappears on their first day abroad. A clever and…
Grasscutter, The (1988): Dir. Ian Mune
Feat. Terence Cooper, Joel Tobeck, Martin Maguire; A new life and identity in Dunedin proves to be no escape for a former IRA gunman who gave evidence that put 23 fellow terrorists behind bars.…
Grievous Bodily Harm (1988): Dir. Mark Joffe
Feat. Colin Friels, Bruno Lawrence, John Waters; Police thriller from Australia following a school teacher who becomes convinced that his lover did not die in a car accident as officially stated.
Incident at Raven's Gate (1988): Dir. Rolf De Heer
Feat. Celine O'Leary, Ritchie Singer, Vincent Gil…; Off–beat mystery concerning the strange goings–on in a remote rural outpost. Who or what is responsible for the electric disturbances and…
Jack the Ripper (TV Mini-series) (1988): Dir. David Wickes
Feat. Michael Caine, Armand Assante, Jane Seymour; This British television series adds a new solution to the ever–intriguing and grisly case of Jack the Ripper, who preyed on women in Victorian…
Just Ask for Diamond (1988): Dir. Stephen Bayly
Feat. Colin Dale, Dursley McLinden, Saeed Jaffrey…; Whimsical British spoof on 'The Maltese Falcon' that tells the story of a precocious private eye and his kid brother who are given £200 to guard a…
Kansas (1988): Dir. David Stevens
Feat. Matt Dillon, Andrew McCarthy, Leslie Hope…; Thriller sees Andrew McCarthy play a drifter who inadvertently gets mixed up in the plans of Matt Dillon's psychopath. Paint–by–numbers…
Masquerade (1988): Dir. Bob Swaim
Feat. Rob Lowe, Meg Tilly, Kim Cattrall; Smooth sailor Rob Lowe charms the pants off Hampton heiress Meg Tilly, but is more concerned with whats in her pockets. Also features a young Kim…
Mississippi Burning (1988): Dir. Alan Parker
Feat. Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe; Three boys mysteriously disappear in Ku Klux Klan country in 1964. This film details the FBI investigation based on true events. A…
Monkey Shines (1988): Dir. George Romero
Feat. Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil; A first–rate thriller about an invalid who loses control over his pet monkey that has been subjected to cerebral experiments. Intelligent…
Monsieur Hire (1988): Dir. Patrice Leconte
Feat. Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire; A lonely, middle–aged tailor becomes obsessed with a glamourous but suspicious woman, whom he observes from his opposing apartment. Melancholy…
Paperhouse (1988): Dir. Bernard Rose
Feat. Charlotte Burke, Jane Bertish, Samantha Cahill; Beautifully photographed English spook story about a schoolgirl who can enter a netherworld by simply drawing it on paper. A thinking person's…
Rampage (1988): Dir. William Friedkin
Feat. Michael Biehn, Alex McArthur, Nicholas Campbell; This grapples with the psychology of murder and the moral dilemma surrounding the death penalty. A vicious serial killer is prosecuted but how will…
Short Takes: Dark Tales (1988-1994): Dir. Scott Reynolds, Simon Bare, Don McGlashan; A choice selection of short and shady New Zealand films: Game With No Rules (Dir. Scott Reynolds) 17m. Eau De La Vie (Dir. Simon Bare) 13m. The…
Tenth Man, The (1988): Dir. Jack Gold, Richard T. Heffron
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Brenda Bruce, Derek Jacobi…; A measured TV–movie adaptation of the novel by Graham Greene about a French lawyer who saves himself from being executed during the Nazi…
Tequila Sunrise (1988): Dir. Robert Towne
Feat. Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell, Michelle Pfeiffer…; Wandering yet amiable thriller replicates the trashy romanticism of Old Hollywood, with drug–dealer Mel Gibson trying to go straight under the…
Vanishing, The (1988): Dir. George Sluzier
Feat. Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Berroets, Johanna Ter Steege; A genuinely creepy psychological thriller – a woman vanishes while on holiday in France, later her boyfriend is taunted in a battle of wits…
Windmills of the Gods (1988): Dir. Lee Phillips
Feat. Jaclyn Smith, Robert Wagner, Ian McKellen…; As the Cold War rages, the president names Professor Mary Ashley as the new Ambassador to Romania. Mike Slade is appointed to be her assistant. As…
Without A Clue (1988): Dir. Thom Eberhardt
Feat. Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Jeffrey Jones…; A nicely contrived send–up of the Sherlock Holmes stories, with Kingsley playing Doctor Watson, who in fact has invented the character of…
21 Jump Street (TV Series) (1987-1991): Feat. Johnny Depp, Frederic Forrest, Peter DeLuise…; Iconic, lightly–rendered youth thriller series, in which four young–looking undercover cops infiltrate high schools to expose various…
After Pilkington (1987): Dir. Christopher Morahan
Feat. Bob Peck, Miranda Richardson, Barry Foster; The exhilirating complications and barbed wit of Simon Gray's stageplay survive this BBC thriller, about an Oxford professor (Bob Peck) drawn into a…
Angel Dust (1987): Dir. Edouard Niermans
Feat. Bernard Giraudeau, Fanny Bastien, Fanny Cottencon; Accomplished thriller in the film noir tradition about an out–of–luck cop who falls for a woman he later begins to suspect of murder.
Angel Heart (1987): Dir. Alan Parker
Feat. Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Charlotte Rampling; Things get increasingly bizarre for Mickey Rourke as a sleazy P.I. on the trail of a mysterious jazz singer. Genuinely creepy American gothic carries…
Bedroom Window, The (1987): Dir. Curtis Hanson
Feat. Steve Guttenberg, Isabelle Huppert, Elizabeth McGovern…; Steve Guttenberg becomes perilously entrapped in Hitchcockian mode.
Bellman and True (1987): Dir. Richard Loncraine
Feat. Bernard Hill, Derek Newark, Richard Hope; From the director of RICHARD III, an intriguing little thriller whose main character, an alcoholic computer expert, is drawn into the world of…
Best Seller (1987): Dir. John Flynn
Feat. Brian Dennehy, James Woods, Victoria Tennant; An arresting thriller with Brian Dennehy and an on–form James Woods.
Big Easy, The (1987): Dir. Jim McBride
Feat. Ellen Barkin, Dennis Quaid; Highly enjoyable detective romp with Ellen Barkin and Dennis Quaid providing steamy moments both in and out of bed. A terrific cajun music score…
Billionaire Boys Club (1987): Dir. Marvin J. Chomsky
Feat. Judd Nelson, Ron Silver; Glossy but compulsive TV mini–series about a preppy blue–blood who persuades his well–connected classmates to join his investment…
Brimstone and Treacle (1987): Dir. Barry Davis
Feat. Michael Kitchen, Denholm Elliott; Recorded for the BBC in 1976 but not broadcast until 1987, this pointed Dennis Potter stageplay of an unwelcome houseguest who believes he's the…
China Girl (1987): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. David Caruso, James Russo; Dir. Abel Ferrara’s violent riff on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (and WEST SIDE STORY for that matter) set around rival Chinese and Italian street gangs…
Dangerous Orphans (1987): Dir. John Laing
Feat. Peter Stevens, Michael Hurst, Jennifer Ward-Lealand; Three orphans act on their plan to avenge the death of their father but must undermine an elaborate crime ring to carry it out. With Peter Stevens,…
Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries (TV Series) (Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night) (1987): Feat. Harriet Walter, Edward Petherbridge, Richard Morant; A series of BBC TV adaptations of three novels by Dorothy L. Sayers that follow the aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey's romance with the crime…
Ebony Tower, The (1987): Dir. Robert Knights
Feat. Laurence Olivier, Roger Rees, Greta Scacchi…; Self–conscious but watchable satire has a young art critic finding himself attracted to the unusual lifestyle of a reclusive painter. Based on…
Echoes In The Darkness (TV Mini-series) (1987): Dir. Glenn Jordan
Feat. Peter Coyote, Stockard Channing, Robert Loggia…; The true life murder of Pennsylvanian woman Susan Reinert and her two children in the 1970s gets a successful treatment in this taut…
Epidemic (1987): Dir. Lars Von Trier
Feat. Lars Von Trier; Typically divisive earlier Lars von Trier effort concerns the making of a low–budget horror movie about a highly contagious disease, thrown…
Fatal Attraction (1987): Dir. Adrian Lyne
Feat. Glenn Close, Michael Douglas; Glenn Close and Michael Douglas star in this, the ultimate yuppie cautionary tale, about a married man who has a weekend fling that turns his life…
Fatal Beauty (1987): Dir. Tom Holland
Feat. Whoopi Goldberg, Sam Elliott, Ruben Blades; Whoopi Goldberg stars in this action–comedy thriller as a tough narc cop with a wig for every occasion. Clearly modelled after the BEVERLY…
Father Dowling Mysteries (TV Series) (Father Dowling Investigates) (1987): Feat. Tom Bosley, Mary Wickes, Tracy Nelson; Soul food for the mystery buff. Steadily paced and written series concerns the crime solving feats of a Chicago Catholic Priest (HAPPY DAYS' Tom…
Fourth Protocol, The (1987): Dir. John Mackenzie
Feat. Pierce Brosnan, Michael Caine, Ned Beatty…; Based on the novel by famed thriller writer Frederick Forsyth (DAY OF THE JACKAL), this posits Brosnan as a Russian agent intent on infiltrating…
Ground Zero (1987): Dir. Bruce Myles, Michael Pattinson
Feat. Colin Friels, Jack Thompson, Donald Pleasence; Colin Friels reveals a high–level government cover–up involving radioactive contamination in this brisk Australian thriller. Based on…
Hiding Out (1987): Dir. Bob Giraldi
Feat. Jon Cryer, Annabeth Gish, Keith Coogan…; 80's comedy blending adult and teenage themes, with Jon Cryer playing a stock broker who disguises himself as a high school student in order to hide…
Honeymoon (1987): Dir. Patrick Jamain
Feat. Nathalie Baye, John Shea, Richard Berry; A French woman marries through an agency in order to stay in America. Soon a man she's never met knocks on her door with the groceries! A real…
House of Games (1987): Dir. David Mamet
Feat. Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna; Psychiatrist Lindsay Crouse is lured into the world of charming con–racketeer Joe Mantegna, where trust is a fragile concept. David Mamet…
Jake and the Fatman (TV Series) (1987): Feat. William Conrad, Joe Penny; Eighties primetime crime show starring William Conrad (CANNON) as a generously plump former cop turned maverick district attorney who teams with a…
Julia and Julia (1987): Dir. Peter Del Monte
Feat. Kathleen Turner, Gabriel Byrne, Sting; Kathleen Turner leads a double (love) life with husband Gabriel Byrne and toy–boy photographer Sting.
Loner, The (Le Solitaire) (1987): Dir. Jacques Deray
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Pierre Malo, Pierre Vernier; Sub–par Belmondo outing has him play the routine jaded cop out to avenge his partner's death. Low on stunts but high on cruelty this is one for…
Masques (1987): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Philippe Noiret, Bernadette Lafont; Showbiz thriller with an offbeat setting and treatment typical of the director. Phillip Noiret excels as a vain and complacent TV celebrity, with…
No Way Out (1987): Dir. Roger Donaldson
Feat. Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young; Hollywood success for expat Kiwi Donaldson. Well–executed conspiracy thriller stars Kevin Costner.
Prayer for the Dying (1987): Dir. Mike Hodges
Feat. Mickey Rourke, Bob Hoskins, Alan Bates…; Adaptation of Jack Higgins' novel in which Mickey Rourke plays a retired IRA hitman who is enticed into one final killing, with disasterous…
Robocop Trilogy, The (1987-1993): Dir. Paul Verhoeven, Irvin Kershner, Fred Dekker
Feat. Peter Weller, Nancy Allen; Contains all three Robocop movies.
Ruth Rendell Mysteries (TV Mini-series) (1987-2000): Feat. Colin Firth, Robert Urquhart, Leslie Phillips…; Well–loved British mystery series consisting of adapted stories from celebrated crime writer Ruth Rendell, brought to life by an impressive…
Slamdance (1987): Dir. Wayne Wang
Feat. Tom Hulce, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Virginia Madsen…; Quirky, stylishly–shot thriller, with graphic artist Tom Hulce framed for murder.
Someone to Watch Over Me (1987): Dir. Ridley Scott
Feat. Tom Berenger, Mimi Rogers, Lorraine Bracco…; East–side married cop Tom Berenger finds his fidelity in serious disrepair when he is hired to protect a rich and glamorous witness. Romantic…
Steel Dawn (1987): Dir. Lance Hool
Feat. Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Anthony Zerbe…; Cheesy post–apocalyptic western with Mr. Patrick Swayze as Nomad the Warrior – a man wandering the desert with a large sword seeking to…
Stepfather, The (1987): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. Terry O'Quinn, Shelley Hack; This psycho doesn't waste time with marriage guidance when a few waves of a machete is the quick and easy solution! Superior…
Stormy Monday (1987): Dir. Mike Figgis
Feat. Melanie Griffith, Tommy Lee Jones, Sting…; Mix some American mobsters with Polish avant–garde jazz musicians and set it in Newcastle, England and you have something of a one–off…
Suspect (1987): Dir. Peter Yates
Feat. Cher, Liam Neeson, Dennis Quaid…; Solid courtroom thriller proffers Cher as the defence for derelict murder–accused Liam Neeson, who’s helped out by a juror who smells a rat…
Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987): Dir. Norman Mailer
Feat. Ryan O'Neal, Isabella Rossellini; This curious black comedy–come–film noir enigma will provide fascinating viewing for some. Based on the director's novel, it marked a…
White of the Eye (1987): Dir. Donald Cammell
Feat. David Keith, Cathy Moriaty, Art Evans…; Smartly executed, disturbing thriller set in a small Arizona town where a psychotic balances his marital problems with his penchant for homicide.
Wiseguy (TV Series) (1987-1990): Feat. Ken Wahl, Kevin Spacey, Tim Curry…; Influential 80's crime series featuring the appealing Ken Wahl as an undercover FBI agent attempting to infiltrate the Mafia and destroy them from…
52 Pick Up (1986): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret; A sleak and mean adaptation of Elmore Leonard's crime novel, with Roy Scheider blackmailed over a brief sexual liason by a trio of murderous,…
8 Million Ways to Die (1986): Dir. Hal Ashby
Feat. Rosanna Arquette, Jeff Bridges; Late–career crime–thriller from dir. Ashby, lending his skills to the woozily–atmospheric tale of Florida cocaine deals gone wrong.…
Black Widow (1986): Dir. Bob Rafelson
Feat. Debra Winger, Theresa Russell, Sami Frey…; Husband–murdering Theresa Russell, is cautiously snooped by Debra Winger.
Blue Velvet (1986): Dir. David Lynch
Feat. Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern…; David Lynch's ground–breaking, brilliantly controlled work tells the story of a pure teenager (Kyle Maclachlan) whose curiosity embroils him in…
Bridge to Nowhere (1986): Dir. Ian Mune
Feat. Bruno Lawrence; Young backpackers go bush and find themselves in a conflict of survival with bad–egg Bruno Lawrence.
Camorra (1986): Dir. Lina Wertmuller
Feat. Angela Molina, Harvey Keitel; Complicated but well–judged thriller about the Naples underworld and specifically the use of children in the drug trade. More conventional than…
Cassandra (1986): Dir. Colin Eggleston
Feat. Tegan Charles, Tessa Humphries, Dylan O'Neill…; Quite watchable Aussie horror is set around a young woman's visions of her brother stabbing somebody to death during her childhood years. Using a…
Crawlspace (1986): Dir. David Schmoeller
Feat. Klaus Kinski, Talia Balsam, Barbara Whinnery; Horror thriller with the always charismatic Klaus Kinski playing a psychopathic son of a Nazi doctor who is obsessed with torturing young women to…
Dead End Drive-In (1986): Dir. Brian Trenchard-Smith; Low–budget Ozploitation thriller set in a post–apocalyptic world where an unwitting young couple get themselves interned with fellow…
Edge of Darkness (TV Mini-series) (1986): Dir. Martin Campbell
Feat. Bob Peck, Joe Don Baker, Joanne Whalley…; Multi award–winning suspense drama journeys into the secret, high–stakes world of the nuclear state. This is television at its most…
Fantasist, The (1986): Dir. Robin Hardy
Feat. Moira Harris, Christopher Cazenove, Timothy Bottoms; Belated and little known second film from the director of “The Wicker Man” about a rural Irishwoman whose teaching stint in Dublin finds…
FX (F/X) (1986): Dir. Robert Mandel
Feat. Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy; Some ingenious set pieces and explosive effects highlight this superior action–suspenser. An FX expert is employed to fake the death of a VIP,…
Gladiator, The (1986): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Ken Wahl, Robert Culp, Nancy Allen; Telemovie excursion for Abel Ferrara (BAD LIEUTENANT), pummeling viewers with a patented and occasionally intriguing exercise in petrolhead…
Half Moon Street (1986): Dir. Bob Swaim
Feat. Michael Caine, Sigourney Weaver; Michael Caine and Sigourney Weaver play British diplomat and call–girl who become locked in escalating political intrigue.
Hitcher, The (1986): Dir. Robert Harmon
Feat. Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh…; One of the best and most terrifying thrillers to be made in the '80s. A superbly controlled, often shocking account of a young motorist who is…
Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986): Dir. Penny Marshall
Feat. Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Collins, Carol Kane…; Amiable escapade with trouble aplenty for Goldberg after she starts receiving S.O.S messages from a British spy trapped in Soviet Russia. When she…
Legal Eagles (1986): Dir. Ivan Reitman
Feat. Robert Redford, Debra Winger, Daryl Hannah…; Light rom–com thriller set in New York's art world with Winger and Redford as feuding attorneys.
Manhunter (1986): Dir. Michael Mann
Feat. Brian Cox, William Petersen; Brooding 'psycho'–drama based on Thomas Harris' novel 'Red Dragon', featuring an appearance of the pre–iconic Hannibal Lechter character…
Matlock (TV Series) (1986): Feat. Andy Griffith, Linda Purl; Updating the "Perry Mason" blueprint with rumpled Southern charm, the ultra laid–back Andy Griffith plays Ben Matlock, an Atlanta defense…
Mona Lisa (1986): Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Bob Hoskins, Michael Caine; Gritty British crime thriller, with Bob Hoskins in great form as a crim fresh out of prison.
Morning After, The (1986): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges, Raul Julia; Jane Fonda is implicated for murder after waking up next to a dead man. With Jeff Bridges.
Name of the Rose, The (1986): Dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud
Feat. Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham, Christian Slater…; A haunting medieval chiller with Sean Connery as a monk who discovers a series of bizarre deaths are not the work of evil spirits, as commonly…
No Mercy (1986): Dir. Richard Pearce
Feat. Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Jeroen Krabbe…; Swampy helping of neo–noir with Gere as a Chicago cop commissioned to to take out a New Orleans crime boss.
River's Edge (1986): Dir. Tim Hunter
Feat. Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye…; Terrifying drama about a group of school friends who discover that one of them has murdered a classmate. Major cult film from the '80s with its lurid…
Whistle Blower, The (1986): Dir. Simon Langton
Feat. Michael Caine, James Fox, Nigel Havers…; Michael Caine gives one of his best performances in a reasonably realistic spy drama, as the father of a GCHQ officer bumped off during a Cold War…
Alfred Hitchcock Presents… (1985): Dir. Various
Feat. Ned Beatty, John Huston, Steven Bauer…; Four episodes from the TV–series, posthumously endorsed by Hitch, which replicate his blend of suspense, macabre humour and brutal…
At Close Range (1985): Dir. James Foley
Feat. Sean Penn, Christopher Walken; Sean Penn plays a wayward youth who reunites with his gangland father (Christopher Walken) with violent consequences. Sordid yet solid drama.
Beiderbecke Affair, The (TV Series) (1985): Feat. James Bolam, Barbara Flynn, Dudley Sutton; Character–centric Brit TV series that was the first in the 'Beiderbecke Trilogy' following a couple of Leed's teachers ensconced in a…
Blackout (1985): Dir. Douglas Hickox
Feat. Richard Widmark, Keith Carradine; Above–average stalker whodunit.
Boys Next Door, The (1985): Dir. Penelope Spheeris
Feat. Charlie Sheen, Maxwell Caulfield; Early feature film by celebrated underground film maker Penelope Spheeris (DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILISATION), with Charlie Sheen Maxwell Caulfield…
Death in a French Garden (1985): Dir. Michel Deville
Feat. Anemone , Richard Bohringer, Nicole Garcia…; A guitar tutor arrives at the house of a beautiful nymphette and her suspicious mother, where games of sex, power and manipulation unfold ultimately…
Defence of the Realm (1985): Dir. David Drury
Feat. Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott…; Atmospheric nuclear conspiracy thriller of the old–school.
Falcon and the Snowman (1985): Dir. John Schlesinger
Feat. Sean Penn, Timothy Hutton; A composed intellectual convinces his wayward friend to sell federal secrets to the Russians. Stunning political drama featuring a stand–out…
Fletch (1985): Dir. Michael Ritchie
Feat. Chevy Chase, Joe Don Baker, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson…; Arguably considered his best feature comedy, Chevy Chase plays the titular newspaper reporter with a penchant for changing his identity who stumbles…
Holcroft Covenant, The (1985): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Michael Caine, Anthony Andrews, Victoria Tennant…; Michael Caine globe–trots to find clues that will lead him to recover the multi–million dollar legacy of his Nazi forebearers.
Into the Night (1985): Dir. John Landis
Feat. Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum, Dan Aykroyd…; Good–natured chase flick with Pfeiffer as a mysterious woman pursued by hired assassins and secret police. Film buffs will delight in a…
Jagged Edge (1985): Dir. Richard Marquand
Feat. Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, Peter Coyote…; Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges star in this compelling courtroom thriller about a defence attorney who romances her client who is on trial for a brutal…
Lost Tribe, The (1985): Dir. John Laing
Feat. John Bach, Darien Takle, Martyn Sanderson…; John Bach's performance is the highlight of this mysterious drama in which he plays a man suspected of murdering his anthropologist brother who has…
MacGyver (TV Series) (1985-1992): Feat. Richard Dean Anderson; One of the 1980s most enduring TV success stories, in which Anderson played a wiry secret agent armed only with his bottomless ingenuity and…
Mean Season, The (1985): Dir. Phillip Borsos
Feat. Kurt Russell, Mariel Hemingway, Richard Jordan…; Hack reporter Kurt Russell's propensity for a story edges him dangerously close to crazed psycho Richard Jordan.
Mesmerized (1985): Dir. Michael Laughlin
Feat. Jodie Foster, John Lithgow, Michael Murphy…; Jodie Foster plays a young woman in colonial NZ who flees an orphanage but finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage to a much older business man…
Mr. Wrong (1985): Dir. Gaylene Preston
Feat. Heather Bolton; A young woman acquires a Mark 2 Jaguar that appears to be harbouring the ghost a past owner. Some well executed thrills keep Heather Bolton…
P.D. James Collection, The (TV Series) (1985-1998): Feat. Roy Marsden; Award winning drama collections written by P.D. James detailing the challenges of a disciplined detective commander solving a series of scandalous…
Police (1985): Dir. Maurice Pialat
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Sophie Marceau, Richard Anconina; Brilliantly idiosyncratic crime thriller co–written by French auteurs Maurice Pialat (who also directs) and Catherine Breillat (A MA SOEUR!),…
Price, The (TV Mini-series) (1985): Feat. Peter Barkworth, Harriet Walter, Aingeal Grehan; UK miniseries building a chilling web of intrigue around a priviledged dilettante wife (Harriet Walter) who finds herself caught between IRA thugs…
Sherlock Holmes (TV Series) (1985-1993): Feat. Jeremy Brett, Edward Hardwicke; The long–running British TV Series which comprehensively stages the various cases of proto–detective Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan…
Should I Be Good or Should I Be Evil? (1985): Dir. Graham McLean
Feat. Beaver , Harry Lyon; Musos Beaver and Harry Lyon from Hello Sailor have a bash at acting in a story based on the Mr Asia drug–ring. Music by Hammond Gamble.
Stick (1985): Dir. Burt Reynolds
Feat. Burt Reynolds, Candice Bergen, George Segal…; Moody action flick with a paroled Reynolds becoming embroiled in drug–running with an old friend. Unintentionally campy fun based on the Elmore…
Subway (1985): Dir. Luc Besson
Feat. Christopher Lambert, Isabelle Adjani; Fast paced action thriller set in the Paris underground. A cool rebel–hero (Christopher Lambert) teams up with Isabelle Adjani in stylish…
Time for Murder (1985): Feat. Claire Bloom, Charles Dance, Sylvia Syms…; This unheralded, one–off British crime series commissioned six authors to conceive a series of murder mysteries for the small screen. A superb…
White Nights (1985): Dir. Taylor Hackford
Feat. Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski…; Baryshnikov and Hines try to dance themselves free from Soviet oppression in this amusing dated thriller. The dance sequences still hold up though.
Witness (1985): Dir. Peter Weir
Feat. Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Josef Sommer…; Cop Harrison Ford goes undercover at an Amish community after one of their young witnesses a murder. Consummate Hollywood thriller, quite brilliantly…
Year of the Dragon (1985): Dir. Michael Cimino
Feat. Mickey Rourke, John Lone; Mickey Rourke leads a clean–up of corruption in New York's Chinatown. An arresting melodrama with gut–wrenching violence in the league of…
Against All Odds (1984): Dir. Taylor Hackford
Feat. Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges, James Woods; Modern film noir experiment is a loose remake of Out of the Past.
Bill, The (TV Series) (1984-2006): One of the longest–running TV series in history, this surprisingly realistic drama is set around the comings and goings of the Sun Hill Police…
Blood Simple (1984): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya…; A humdinger debut from the Coen Brothers, who teasingly draw out the sinister activities of shady activities of shady rednecks before nailing things…
Body Double (1984): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry; A sleazy but thoroughly fascinating tale of how one man's voyeurism leads him to witness a murder. In an attempt to track down the psychopath, he…
City Heat (1984): Dir. Richard Benjamin
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Jane Alexander…; Effective self–parody from Eastwood and Reynolds as unlikable cops who team together to clean up gangster–ridden Kansas City in the…
Crimes of Passion (1984): Dir. Ken Russell
Feat. Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins; An outrageous, kinky psycho–drama in which Kathleen Turner portrays a high–class hooker, shadowed by crackpot priest Anthony Perkins…
Dreamscape (1984): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer; Psychic Dennis Quaid treks through the dreams and nightmares of others, ultimately confronting the nihilistic visions of the President. Works well…
Element of Crime, The (1984): Dir. Lars Von Trier
Feat. Michael Elphick; A detective’s unconventional methods qualify him for the investigation of child murders in a dark, decaying, post–apocalyptic Germany.…
Fear City (1984): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Tom Berenger, Abel Ferrara, Melanie Griffith…; Pimp Tom Berenger hunts through the neon–lit NY night for a stripper–slaying serial killer. Early item from dir. Abel Ferrara…
Hit, The (1984): Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Terence Stamp, John Hurt, Tim Roth; Stool pigeon Terence Stamp gives a pair of hired killers a run for their money when they discover his 10–year hideaway.
Jigsaw Man, The (1984): Dir. Terence Young
Feat. Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier, Susan George…; Squandered reteaming of SLEUTH adversaries Olivier and Caine finds the latter, playing a double agent, evading the manhunt of British and Russian spy…
Little Drummer Girl (1984): Dir. George Roy Hill
Feat. Diane Keaton, Klaus Kinski; Diane Keaton excels in this politically even handed labyrinthine terrorist thriller. The screenplay was adapted with the assistance of John Le Carre…
Miss Marple (TV Series) [Joan Hickson] (1984-2002): Dir. Julian Amyes
Feat. Joan Hickson, Paul Eddington, Kevin Whatley…; Best–loved BBC series featuring Agatha Christie's 'Miss Marple', played definitively by the great Joan Hickson. Set in the sleepy, yet…
Mitch (TV Series) (1984): Feat. John Thaw; John Thaw plays a crime reporter whose hard–nosed attitude sees him get dangerously close to the criminals he's investigating. Ten episodes.
Murder Rock (Dancing Death) (1984): Dir. Lucio Fulci
Feat. Olga Karlatos, Ray Lovelock, Claudio Cassinelli; Enjoyably bonkers Italian giallo horror with a retro–futuristic vibe, set in a prestigious New York ballet school beset by a series of sexually…
Murder, She Wrote (TV Series) (1984-1990): Feat. Angela Lansbury; The archetypal amateur sleuth series, this long–running show starred the indomitable Angela Lansbury as a mystery…
Special Effects (1984): Dir. Larry Cohen
Feat. Zoë Tamerlis, Eric Bogosian; Enjoyably lurid horror–thriller from Larry Cohen stars Eric Bogosian (TALK RADIO) as a film director who casts a woman in a crime movie based…
Terminator, The (1984): Dir. James Cameron
Feat. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton; Breakthrough film for Schwarzenegger and its director, it's a high–powered action fantasy that set a precedent for the genre. And 'I'll be…
Trial Run (1984): Dir. Melanie Read
Feat. Annie Whittle; Eerie occurences manifest into the worst nightmare for a wildlife photographer posted at an isolated cottage. Annie Whittle gives it heck as the…
Widows (TV Series) (1984): Feat. Ann Mitchell, Ann Mitchell; Gritty crime TV from the writer of PRIME SUSPECT, Lynda La Plante, about the widows of three armed robbers who take over their husbands' crime busines
Agatha Christie: Partners in Crime (TV Series) (1983): Feat. Francesca Annis, James Warwick, Reece Dinsdale; Crisp adaptation of some of Dame Agatha's lesser known short mysteries. The protagonists here are husband and wife sleuths Tommy and Prudence…
Breathless (1983): Feat. Richard Gere, Art Metrano; Jazzed–up remake of Godard's UN BOUT DE SOUFFLE with a hyperactive Gere on the lam, with his half–hearted girlfriend in tow. Now an…
Chiefs (TV Mini Series) (1983): Dir. Jerry London
Feat. Charlton Heston, Keith Carradine, Brad Davis…; A well–regarded television series stretching across three generations of policemen in a small city in the American South, beset by changing…
Corrupt (a.k.a Copkiller; Order Of Death; L'assassino Dei Poliziotti) (1983): Dir. Roberto Faenza
Feat. Harvey Keitel, John Lydon, Nicole Garcia…; Surprisingly intense thriller has Harvey Keitel playing a dodgy NYC detective taunted by disturbed youth John Lydon (formerly 'Johnny Rotten' of the…
Finally Sunday (Vivement Dimanche!) (1983): Dir. Francois Truffaut
Feat. Fanny Ardant, Jean-Louis Trintignant; A businessman in trouble with the police over the murder of his wife's lover finds solace in his secretary who decides to investigate the case…
Fourth Man, The (1983): Dir. Paul Verhoeven
Feat. Jeroen Krabbe; Jeroen Krabbe is a gay alchoholic writer prone to hallucinations who suspects his hairdresser of triple murder. Weird and stylish…
Gorky Park (1983): Dir. Michael Apted
Feat. William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy…; William Hurt plays a brooding Russian detective investigating horrific murders in Moscow. Meaty, convincing thriller.
Hammett (1983): Dir. Wim Wenders
Feat. Frederic Forrest, Peter Boyle, Marilu Henner…; A chequered production history – conflict between director Wenders and exec producer Coppola, money problems – basically rendered the…
Hitchhiker, The (TV Series) (1983): Feat. Page Fletcher, Gary Busey, Peter Coyote…; An early HBO series of mystery–thriller stories, related only by the character of The Hitchhiker (Page Fletcher), who introduces and closes…
Hostage (Savage Attraction) (1983): Dir. Frank Shields
Feat. Kerry Mack, Ralph Schicha, Gabriella Barraket; True crime thriller set in the 70's about Christine Maresch, the Australian woman who married a West German man in the city of Wollongong before…
Hound of the Baskervilles, The (1983): Dir. Douglas Hickox
Feat. Ian Richardson, Martin Shaw, Denholm Elliott…; Ian Richardson (HOUSE OF CARDS) plays Sherlock Holmes in this crafted version of Conan Doyle’s most famous mystery, in which a monstrous…
House on Sorority Row, The (1983): Dir. Mark Rosman
Feat. Kate McNeil, Harley Jane Kozak, Eileen Davidson…; Cult 80's slasher set in a sorority house, where the sisters pull a graduation prank that backfires and leads to them being stalked and murdered one…
Jamaica Inn (Mini Series) (1983): Dir. Lawrence Gordon Clark
Feat. Jane Seymour, Patrick McGoohan, Trevor Eve
Moon in the Gutter (1983): Dir. Jean-Jacques Beineix
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Nastassja Kinski, Victoria Abril…; Dockworker Gerard Depardieu befriends Nastassja Kinski as he hunts for the killer of his sister. Pompous or excellent? Watch and decide for yourself.…
Outside Man, The (Le Marginal) (1983): Dir. Jacques Deray
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Henry Silva, Tcheky Karyo; Big–budget actioner has rogue cop Belmondo raising hell and the ire of his colleagues as he pursues drug kingpin Silva. A huge hit in…
Phantom of the Opera (1983): Dir. Robert Markowitz
Feat. Maximilian Schell, Jane Seymour, Michael York; Nicely–produced TV version of the Gaston Leroux classic, that while straying far from the source, puts perhaps the darkest twist on the story…
Reilly Ace Of Spies (TV Mini-series) (1983): Dir. Martin Campbell, Jim Goddard
Feat. Sam Neill, Peter Egan, Ian Charleson…; Quintessential 1980s mini–series follows the adventures of a real life British superspy Sidney Reilly in the turbulent Russia, Europe and Asia…
Scales of Justice (TV Mini-series) (1983): Dir. Michael Jenkins
Feat. John Hargreaves, Bill Hunter, Isabelle Anderson…; A three–part crime drama which links tales of drug–dealing, organised crime, police corruption and political conspiracy in 1980s…
Scarlet and the Black, The (1983): Dir. Jerry London
Feat. Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer, John Gielgud…; Thrilling cat–and–mouse tale of Vatican attempts to save Allied POWs and downed Allied airman from Nazi imprisonment.
Taggart (TV Series) (1983-2010): Feat. Mark McManus, John Hannah, Alan Cumming; The rugged and tenacious Scottish detective (McManus) investigates the grim underside of Glasgow in a long–running series of murder cases for…
Vigilante (1983): Dir. William Lustig
Feat. Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, Joe Spinell…; Gritty, solid Reagan–era variation on DIRTY HARRY, featuring strong performances by Willamson and Forster amid typical Lustig violence.
Angel (1982): Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Stephen Rea, Marie Kean, Ray McAnally; The gritty feature debut of Irish director Neil Jordan stars Stephen Rea as a saxophonist who witnesses the gangland murder of the band's manager and…
Balance, La (1982): Dir. Bob Swaim
Feat. Nathalie Baye, Philippe Leotard, Richard Berry; Money, loyalty and death hang in the balance in this gritty, Cesar–winning thriller. A crime king–pin is exposed by an…
Brimstone and Treacle (1982): Dir. Richard Loncraine
Feat. Sting, Joan Plowright, Denholm Elliott…; Scripted by Dennis Potter, this cult psychodrama is set in the unstable household of Joan Plowright and Denholm Elliot, which is invaded by an…
Cagney and Lacey (TV Series) (1982): Feat. Sharon Gless, Tyne Daly; Women’s Lib. makes headway into New York’s crime fighting ranks in this sturdy eighties policier propelled by two staunch female detectives in a…
Crosstalk (1982): Dir. Mark Egerton
Feat. Gary Day, Penny Downie, John Ewart; Gary Day plays a wheelchair–bound computer genius who devises a system that significantly advances AI technology, but appears to be taking…
Dead Easy (1982): Dir. Bert Deling
Feat. Scott Burgess, Rosemary Paul, Tim McKenzie; Little–known, but in its own way quite unique thriller in which a crime plot underpins various comic and romantic twists. Burgess plays a…
Death Wish 2 (1982): Dir. Michael Winner
Feat. Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Vincent Gardenia…; Sequel to the revenge thriller, with Charles Bronson returning as the architect–turned–vigilante, hunting down the people who murdered…
Death Wish 3 (1982): Dir. Michael Winner
Feat. Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland; Gratuitous threequel to the vigilante–revenge thriller, Bronson travelling back to New York for more of the same.
Deathtrap (1982): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Joe Silver…; A clever, self–referential comedy based around a failing writer of crime playwright who plans to murder his student for his brilliant whodunnit…
Diva (1982): Dir. Jean-Jacques Beineix
Feat. Frederic Andrei, Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez, Richard Bohringer…; Stylish romantic thriller in which an opera–intoxicated youth bootlegs a concert of an unrecorded opera star which leads to trouble with shady…
Enigma (1982): Feat. Martin Sheen, Sam Neill, Brigitte Fossey…; Iron curtain defector Alex Holbeck (Martin Sheen) returns to East Germany on a CIA mission to save five dissidents by stealing an exemplary of the…
Far East (1982): Dir. John Duigan
Feat. Bryan Brown, Helen Morse, John Bell…; Colourful Aussie CASABLANCA set in the politically unstable Phillipines with Bryan Brown as a seedy disco bar owner and Helen Morse as the…
Hound of the Baskervilles, The (1982): Dir. Peter Duguid
Feat. Tom Baker; Former Doctor Who Tom Baker plays Inspector Holmes in this serviceable adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan's most famous Sherlock mystery.
Missing (1982): Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron…; Jack Lemmon goes in search of his missing son in volatile Latin America (based on Chile), where even the American representives seem to be concealing…
New York Ripper (1982): Dir. Lucio Fulci
Feat. Jack Hedley, Daniela Doria; A sadistic tale from Italian dir. Fulci (THE BEYOND) which concerns a killer roaming New York City and murdering women while babbling like 'Donald…
Next of Kin (1982): Dir. Tony Williams
Feat. Jacki Kerin, John Jarratt, Alex Scott; Moody Australian haunted house flick about a young woman who inherits a retirement home possibly contaminated with a malevolent spirit. Not a classic…
Remington Steele (TV Series) (1982): Feat. Pierce Brosnan, Stephanie Zimbalist; A pre–Bond Pierce Brosnan oozes smarm and charm as Remington Steele, the fictitious head of a struggling private eye firm run by the sultry…
Scarecrow, The (1982): Dir. Sam Pillsbury
Feat. Jono Smith, Tracey Mann, Daniel McLaren…; A fine film adaptation of Ronald Hugh Morrieson's classic New Zealand novel about a crazed killer who instills fear and paranoia in a small rural…
Still of the Night (1982): Dir. Robert Benton
Feat. Meryl Streep, Roy Scheider; Hitchcock–style thriller about a psychiatrist who falls in love with a woman who may have brutally murdered one of his patients.
Tales of the Unexpected (TV Series) (1982- 1983): Dir. Various
Feat. Peter Cushing, Brenda Blethyn, Liza Goddard…; Fondly remembered British television series of self–contained stories – each with a twist – inspired by the adult macabre of Roald…
Tenebrae (Unsane) (1982): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Anthony Franciosa, Daria Nicolodi; Compelling Argento thriller, with a typically contorted plot design – about a crime writer, whose books stimulate copycat killings – used…
Wrong is Right (1982): Dir. Richard Brooks
Feat. Sean Connery, George Grizzard, Robert Conrad…; Patchy media satire with Connery as a newsman on the trail of two nuclear weapons that have fallen into terrorist hands. Some fine supporting turns…
Angel of Vengeance (Ms.45) (1981): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Zoë Tamerlis, Jack Thibeau; Surreal drama about a deaf–mute who seeks revenge after two sexual assaults. Taut and disturbing, with minimal dialogue, it has the distinction…
Bad Blood (1981): Dir. Mike Newell
Feat. Jack Thompson, Carol Burns, Denis Lill; A gripping drama based on the factual account of Stan Graham, who in 1941 murdered four policemen and sparked one of the greatest manhunts in New…
Bergerac (TV Series) (1981): Feat. John Nettles, Terence Alexander; Classic of its kind. Roguish Bergerac races around Jersey trying to thwart jewel thieves, terrorists, murderers and general no gooders. Great fun,…
Blow Out (1981): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow; A seemingly ordinary car–crash is found by sound–recordist John Travolta to have sinister overtones when he rewinds his chance taping of…
Body Heat (1981): Dir. Lawrence Kasdan
Feat. William Hurt, Kathleen Turner; Loose remake of DOUBLE INDEMNITY is a noir classic in itself. William Hurt and Kathleen Turner embark on a torrid affair and conspire to murder her…
Border, The (1981): Dir. Tony Richardson
Feat. Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Valerie Perrine…; Rather underrated drama set along the Texas–Mexico borderlands, where a soiled but still–idealistic cop (Nicholson) becomes embroiled…
Coup de Torchon (Clean Slate) (1981): Dir. Bertrand Tavernier
Feat. Philippe Noiret, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Pierre Marielle…; Mordantly humourous suspense set in dusty French Senegal, with Noiret playing a much–abused police chief who begins to have dreams of…
Dead Kids (Strange Behaviour) (1981): Dir. Michael Laughlin
Feat. Michael Murphy, Louise Fletcher; Minor cult item concerning a series of nasty murders in a small town, which may be connected to a deranged scientist and his psychology experiments.…
Evil Under the Sun (1981): Dir. Guy Hamilton
Feat. Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, Colin Blakely…; Murder at a resort hotel, with Peter Ustinov as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. An all–star cast and top production values, with sun and sea…
Eye of the Needle (1981): Dir. Richard Marquand
Feat. Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Christopher Cazenove; Donald Sutherland plays a German agent with a deadly secret in this above–average WW2 suspense yarn that builds to an impressive,…
Green Ice (1981): Dir. Ernest Day
Feat. Ryan O'Neal, Anne Archer, Omar Sharif; Cheesy, outlandish heist romance finds Ryan O'Neal embroiled in the high–stakes world of emerald smuggling. Omar Sharif is good value as an…
Looker (1981): Dir. Michael Crichton
Feat. Albert Finney, James Coburn, Susan Dey…; Sci–fi thriller written and directed by Michael Crichton that comments upon and satirizes media, advertising, TV's effects on the populace, and…
Night Crossing (1981): Dir. Delbert Mann
Feat. John Hurt, Jane Alexander, Beau Bridges…; A gripping account of the true attempt by two East German families to flee to the West in 1979 using a home–made hot air balloon. Cast all lend…
Night Hawks (1981): Dir. Bruce Malmuth
Feat. Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Rutger Hauer…; Two undercover NYC cops are faced with the unenviable task of tracking down Europe's number one terrorist in this underrated 80's action flick.…
Prince of the City (1981): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Treat Williams; A rookie cop is victimised and ostracised after blowing the whistle on a corruption ring in his own precinct. This epic, highly detailed treatment of…
Professional, The (1981): Dir. Georges Lautner
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo; Action and humour alternate in this carefree Belmondo vehicle, in which the French larrikin plays a secret service agent out for revenge.
Road Games (1981): Dir. Richard Franklin
Feat. Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis; Inventive and at times intense, this road thriller has truckdriver Keach traversing the outback, while a serial killer is on the loose. Effectively…
Seven Dials Mystery, The (1981): Dir. Tony Wharmby
Feat. Cheryl Campbell, James Warwick, John Gielgud…; Detective Bundle enters into the world of espionage when she sets off to solve the grizzly murders of two Foreign Officers.
Sharky's Machine (1981): Dir. Burt Reynolds
Feat. Burt Reynolds, Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith…; Burt Reynolds assumed directing duties for this sleazy cop–thriller about political corruption. Mixes exciting, gory action–scenes with…
Taps (1981): Dir. Harold Becker
Feat. Sean Penn, Timothy Hutton, George C. Scott…; A surprise box–office smash about a group of cadets who take over their military college, which is on the brink of being closed down. Inspired…
Tattoo (1981): Dir. Bob Brooks
Feat. Bruce Dern, Maud Adams, Leonard Frey; An unbalanced tattoo–artist becomes obsessed with a supermodel, believing the temporary tattoos he paints on her should become permanent! Murky…
Thief (1981): Dir. Michael Mann
Feat. James Caan, Tuesday Weld; Exhilarating, distinctive portrait of a criminal professional, here a safecracker played with wired conviction by James Caan. A scorching…
Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980): Dir. John Laing
Feat. David Hemmings, John Hargreaves; Probing account of events surrounding the much–publicised Crew murders that put an innocent farmer, Arthur Allan Thomas, behind bars for ten…
Brubaker (1980): Dir. Stuart Rosenberg
Feat. Robert Redford, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Alexander…; Straight–edged prison drama based around the true story of a warden who disguised himself as a convict in order to expose the corruptions of…
Contraband (The Smuggler) (1980): Dir. Lucio Fulci
Feat. Fabio Testi; A slight change of pace for dir. Fulci, here concocting a vicious criminal thriller about rival smugglers on the Naples waterfront, but which manages…
Cruising (1980): Dir. William Friedkin
Feat. Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen; Controversial, grimy thriller places cop Al Pacino undercover in New York's gay community in an effort to ensnare a serial killer, but the job begins…
Dressed to Kill (1980): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Angie Dickinson, Michael Caine, Nancy Allen; A slick video nasty involving a murderer, a prostitute, a psychiatrist, a bored housewife and her resourceful son. In reworking PSYCHO, De Palma…
First Deadly Sin, The (1980): Dir. Brian G. Hutton
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Faye Dunaway, Bruce Willis…; Probably Ol' Blue Eyes' last decent film, giving an understated, effective performance as a pressured NYC detective hunting a serial killer and…
Formula, The (1980): Dir. John G. Avildsen
Feat. Marlon Brando, George C. Scott, Marthe Keller…; Muddled thriller with Scott as a detective caught up in a conspiracy to manipulate world fuel prices. Brando –only in three scenes– does…
From the Life of the Marionettes (1980): Dir. Ingmar Bergman
Feat. Robert Atzom, Heinz Bennent, Martin Benrath; A dark themed and intricately plotted drama from dir. Bergman's later period, concerning a businessman who commits the sex–murder of a…
Gloria (1980): Dir. John Cassavetes
Feat. Gena Rowlands, Buck Henry, Julie Carmen; Rowlands is devastating as a gangster moll who runs from the Mob after taking protective custody of a neighbour's son, whose parents have fallen…
Hangar 18 (1980): Dir. James L. Conway
Feat. Robert Vaughn, Darren McGavin, Gary Collins…; Hokey Sci–Fi riffs on the Roswell incident with two astronauts determined to prove the U.S government is in possession of a flying saucer.
Hopscotch (1980): Dir. Ronald Neame
Feat. Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston…; Walter Matthau carries this cat–and–mouse comedy as a demoted CIA operative who enjoys being a target after publishing a spiteful memoir…
Hussy (1980): Dir. Michael Chapman
Feat. Helen Mirren, John Shea, Paul Angelis; A prostitute working in a posh London nightclub begins an affair with a mysterious American and is pulled further into the criminal underworld she is…
Island, The (1980): Dir. Michael Ritchie
Feat. Michael Caine, David Warner; Underrated high–seas adventure, based on the novel by JAWS author Peter Benchley, concerning an investigate reporter and his son who crash land…
Juliet Bravo (TV Series) (1980): Feat. Stephanie Turner, David Ellison, Noel Collins; Massively popular – although rather dated – UK police series focused on a female police officer who takes charge of a fictional…
Little Miss Marker (1980): Dir. Walter Bernstein
Feat. Walter Matthau, Julie Andrews, Tony Curtis…; Comedy set in the 30's, following a gloomy, cantankerous bookie (Walter Matthau) running a gambling operation, who finds himself with a 6–year…
Long Good Friday, The (1980): Dir. John Mackenzie
Feat. Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren; Electrifying, influential account of hoodlum rivalry in contemporary London with Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren matching an intelligent, gritty script.
Magnum P.I. (TV Series) (1980): Dir. Roger Young
Feat. Tom Selleck, John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley…; After a tour of duty in Vietnam, the ever–affable Tom Selleck cruises Hawaii in his Porsche as a private investigator. Classic,…
McVicar (1980): Dir. Tom Clegg
Feat. Roger Daltrey, Adam Faith, Cheryl Campbell…; Based on the true story of infamous UK criminal John McVicar, this gritty thriller stars Daltrey as the bad boy sent to a maximum security prison…
Mirror Crack'd, The (1980): Dir. Guy Hamilton
Feat. Angela Lansbury, Geraldine Chaplin, Tony Curtis…; Pleasant fun, this Agatha Christie whodunit concerns a quartet of 50s movie stars – played by four real movie stars – embroiled in…
North Sea Hijack (Ffolkes) (1980): Dir. Andrew V. McLaglen
Feat. Roger Moore, James Mason, Anthony Perkins…; Roger Moore's attempt to distance himself from his typecasting as a cheeky playboy by playing an eccentric anti–terrorism expert who volunteers…
Octagon, The (1980): Dir. Eric Karson
Feat. Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson, Lee Van Cleef…; Economical Chuck Norris martial arts adventure focusing on a retired karate champion recruited to take out a group of Central American terrorists he…
Oppenheimer (TV Mini-series) (1980): Dir. Barry Davis
Feat. Sam Waterston, Shane Rimmer, David Suchet; Excellent mini–series starring Waterson as nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helped build the atomic bomb for the 'Manhattan…
Raise the Titanic (1980): Dir. Jerry Jameson
Feat. Richard Jordan, Jason Robards Jr., David Selby…; As ill–fated as the original vessel, this expensive adaptation of Clive Cussler's potboiler concerns the efforts of a salvage crew to refloat…
Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (TV Series) (1980): Feat. Ben Vereen, Jeff Goldblum; Comedic detective show from the 80's following the unlikely crime–fighting partnership between a con–man and an accountant who dreams of…
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1980): Dir. Tony Wharmby
Feat. James Warwick, Francesca Annis, John Gielgud…; A classic Agatha Christie TV adaptation in which a vicar sets out to discover the meaning behind "Why didn't they ask Evans?", the last words spoken…
A Force Of One (1979): Dir. Paul Aaron
Feat. Chuck Norris, Jennifer O'Neill, Clu Gulager…; Passable crime thriller with Chuck Norris near the start of his career playing a karate champion assisting the police to hunt down a…
Armchair Thriller Collection (1979-1981): Feat. Ian McKellen, James Bolam, Alun Armstrong; With memorably unsettling opening credits and exceptional performances and direction, this anthology series became a significant hit for Thames…
Bloodline (1979): Dir. Terence Young
Feat. Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, James Mason…; Suspense–lite, Sidney Sheldon–based outing for Audrey Hepburn, with the ageless movie icon battling hostile takeovers from within a newly…
Cat and the Canary, The (1979): Dir. Radley Metzger
Feat. Honor Blackman, Michael Callan, Edward Fox…; The classic spooky–house mystery by John Willard is here adapted for the fifth time. The relatives a recently–deceased man gather to hear…
Cribb (TV Series) (1979-1980): Feat. Alan Dobie; Superior crime series set in Victorian London, following the wry Detective Sergeant Cribb, a member of Scotland Yard's newly formed CID unit, as he…
Driller Killer (1979): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Abel Ferrara; Somewhat notorious as a 'video nasty' of the 80s video boom, this debut from bad boy auteur Abel Ferrara was perhaps misunderstood (like The Texas…
Egouts Du Paradis, Les (The Sewers of Paradise) (1979): Dir. Jose Giovanni
Feat. Francis Huster, Jean-François Balmer, Lila Kedrova; Romantic dramatization of "The Great Drain Robbery" of 1976, in which the Societe Generale Bank of France was robbed of over $10 million dollars by a…
Escape from Alcatraz (1979): Dir. Don Siegel
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom…; Clint Eastwood uses a pair of nail–clippers to stage his bid for freedom, in this memorable, understated thriller based on the only successful…
Human Factor, The (1979): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi…; Otto Preminger last film is a mild espionage affair, concerning a low–level British informant suspected of being a double agent. A hefty cast…
Lady Vanishes, The (1979): Dir. Anthony Page
Feat. Elliott Gould, Cybill Shepherd, Angela Lansbury…; Curious, though lackluster remake of Hitchcock's classic train thriller. Angela Lansbury plays the vanishing lady whose disappearance is investigated…
Murder by Decree (1979): Dir. Bob Clark
Feat. Christopher Plummer, James Mason, David Hemmings…; Sherlock Holmes and the ever faithful Watson are back, this time investigating the notorious Jack the Ripper and his gruesome fascination with…
S.O.S. Titanic (1979): Dir. William Hale
Feat. Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, David Janssen…; Solid telemovie depiction of the notorious sinking of the Big Ship in 1912, with an approach that distinguishes it from the other versions. Involving…
Snapshot (One More Minute) (1979): Dir. Simon Wincer
Feat. Chantal Contouri, Sigrid Thornton, Robert Bruning; Offbeat, low–budget thriller from Oz stars Sigrid Thornton as a 20–something lured into the sleazy world of topless modelling. While she…
Winter Kills (1979): Dir. William Richert
Feat. Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins…; Low–key but satisfying 'redux' of the Kennedy assassination posits a parallel scenario where the half–brother of an assassinated…
39 Steps, The (Thirty-Nine Steps, The) (1978): Dir. Don Sharp
Feat. Robert Powell, David Warner, Eric Porter…; Perhaps the most literally faithful of the various adaptations of John Buchan's classic suspense novel. Powell plays the man on the run in…
Absolution (1978): Dir. Anthony Page
Feat. Richard Burton, Billy Connolly
Boys from Brazil, The (1978): Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner
Feat. Laurence Olivier, Gregory Peck, James Mason…; Ira Levin's novel makes for an ingenious if implausible thriller with obsessed Nazi–hunter Laurence Olivier trying to scupper super–Nazi…
Brass Target (1978): Dir. John Hough
Feat. Sophia Loren, John Cassavetes, Robert Vaughn…; A classic 70's all–star cast feature in this post–World War II suspense film that suggests that the German automobile crash involving…
Capricorn One (1978): Dir. Peter Hyams
Feat. Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro…; Intriguing, thought–provoking thriller, with astronauts Sam Waterston and OJ Simpson helping NASA to fake a manned landing on Mars, unknowing…
Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, The (1978): Dir. Fred Schepisi
Feat. Tommy Lewis, Freddy Reynolds, Jack Charles; Powerful adaptation of Thomas Keneally's fact–based novel about an exploited half–caste Aborigine who eventually erupts in tragic…
China Syndrome, The (1978): Dir. James Bridges
Feat. Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas, Jack Lemmon; Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas pair as TV journalists who become involved in the cover–up of a major malfunction at a nuclear power plant.…
Coma (1978): Dir. Michael Crichton
Feat. Genevieve Bujold, Michael Douglas, Elizabeth Ashley…; Numerous patients fall into a permanent coma, arousing the suspicions of maverick doctor Genevieve Bujold. Excellent thriller unfolds its queasy…
Death of a Snowman (Black Trash) (1978): Dir. Christopher Rowley
Feat. Nigel Davenport, Ken Gampu, Peter Dyneley; A rare blaxploitation movie to be made outside of America, this South African film stars Nigel Davenport and Ken Gampu as a white policeman and black…
Death on the Nile (1978): Dir. John Guillermin
Feat. Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, David Niven…; An overlong yet none–the–less charming version of the Agatha Christie whodunnit. Peter Ustinov, as the definitive Hercule Poirot, holds…
Eyes of Laura Mars (1978): Dir. Irvin Kershner
Feat. Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif…; A tightly made popcorn suspenser, with Dunaway playing a fashion photographer who believes she can see through the eyes of a serial killer as he…
Fingers (1978): Dir. James Toback
Feat. Harvey Keitel, Tisa Farrow, Jim Brown…; Harvey Keitel conjures up the required intensity for this portrait of a frustrated concert pianist with a violent temper. The nerve–shredding…
Fury, The (1978): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes; Despite a barmy sci–fi plot concerning telekinetic teenagers being used for military experiments, this Brian de Palma–directed thriller…
Gray Lady Down (1978): Dir. David Greene
Feat. Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Ned Beatty; Corny–but–entertaining disaster flick sees Charlton Heston play a nuclear submarine captain stuck with his crew on the precipice of an…
Hazell (TV Series) (1978): Feat. Nicholas Ball; Paying homage to classic film noir this ITV crime series centres around a charismatic private detective who tackles blackmail, missing persons cases,…
Medusa Touch, The (1978): Dir. Jack Gold
Feat. Richard Burton, Lee Remick, Derek Jacobi…; Garbled but entertaining thriller stars Burton as a paranormally–gifted writer who psychiatrist (Remick) tries to wean him from his murderous…
Money Movers (1978): Dir. Bruce Beresford
Feat. Terence Donovan, Bryan Brown; Violent thriller has a group of security–guards arranging an inside–job, while the police and criminal–world circle like vultures…
Night The Prowler, The (1978): Dir. Jim Sharman
Feat. Ruth Cracknell, John Frawley, Kerry Walker; Based on a play by Patrick White, this stylised drama concerns a sexually repressed young woman (Walker), under the thumb of her domineering snobbish…
Patrick (1978): Dir. Richard Franklin
Feat. Robert Thompson, Sir Robert Helpmann, Susan Penhaligon; Shrill Aussie B–movie about a comatose hospital patient who utilizes his psychokinetic powers to inflict pain and death. Takes its time to…
Second Awakening of Christina Klages, The (Das zweite Erwachen der Christa Klages) (1978): Dir. Margarethe von Trotta; A young woman robs a bank to pay for her daughter’s day–care. On the run, she is pursued by the police along with the cashier she has taken…
Silent Partner, The (1978): Dir. Daryl Duke
Feat. Elliott Gould, Susannah York, Christopher Plummer…; A clever twister about a bank heist during the Christmas season involving crafty teller Elliot Gould and psychotic hoodlum Christopher Plummer. A…
Summer of Fear (Stranger in the House) (1978): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Linda Blair, Lee Purcell, Jeremy Slate…; One of dir. Wes Craven's early commercial successes (initially a telemovie), sees teenager Linda Blair suffer the perils of occult forces in suburban…
Sweeney 2 (1978): Dir. Tom Clegg
Feat. John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Denholm Elliott; Sequel to the 1977 movie SWEENEY, continuing the adventures of members of the Flying Squad, a division of London's Metropolitan Police. This time the…
Vegas (TV Series) (Vega$) (1978): Feat. Robert Urich, Tony Curtis; Although Michael Mann is credited as creator of this splashy 70s detective series (in which Sin City is at its gaudy and ostentatious best), the…
Who'll Stop The Rain? (Dog Soldiers) (1978): Dir. Karel Reisz
Feat. Nick Nolte, Tuesday Weld, Michael Moriarty…; Classic post–Vietnam War thriller has journalist Moriarty ditching his journalistic career for heroin–smuggling, recruiting wife Weld and…
Backroads (1977): Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Bill Hunter; This short road–movie was a moody debut for dir. Noyce, laying out the tale of two drifters (one black, one white) who steal a car for an…
Bad (Andy Warhol's Bad) (1977): Dir. Jed Johnson
Feat. Carroll Baker, Perry King, Susan Tyrrell; The last Andy Warhol production before his death is a pleasingly demented soap–opera directed by Jed Johnson, a man who originally worked…
Black Sunday (1977): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller…; A suspenseful, violent terrorist thriller based on Thomas Harris' fictional novel about the pro–Palestinian "Black September" group who…
Death Weekend (1977): Dir. William Freut
Feat. Brenda Vaccaro, Don Stroud, Chuck Shamata; Four sleazeballs invade a couple's country retreat and proceed to make things rather unpleasant. Well–acted shocker in the wake of the…
Demon Seed, The (1977): Dir. Donald Cammell
Feat. Julie Christie; The thought of a woman (Julie Christie) being literally impregnated by a machine may be a dodgy premise for a movie, but it all works surprisingly…
Domino Principle, The (1977): Dir. Stanley Kramer
Feat. Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, Richard Widmark…; A thoroughly minor entry in the 1970s cycle of 'conspiracy thrillers', with Hackman playing an ex–Army marksman who is, sprung from prison by…
Fight For Your Life (1977): Dir. Robert A. Endelson
Feat. William Sanderson, Robert Judd; A racist hillbilly and two sadistic jail–breakers terrorize a black minister and his family, who eventually fight back and take bloody…
Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, The (TV Series) (1977): Feat. Shaun Cassidy, Parker Stevenson, Pamela Sue Martin; Teen dreamboats Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson teamed up as the dogged Hardy Boys in this popular seventies serialization of the paperback…
Late Show, The (1977): Dir. Robert Benton
Feat. Art Carney, Lily Tomlin, Bill Macy; A grumpy semi–retired private investigator partners with a quirky female client to catch the people who murdered his partner.
Long Weekend (1977): Dir. Colin Eggleston
Feat. John Hargreaves, Briony Behets; In remote coastal Australia, a couple go camping to patch–up their marriage, but find themselves victims of isolation, foreboding forces and…
Murder Most English (TV Series) (The Flaxborough Chronicles) (1977): Feat. Anton Rodgers, Christopher Timothy; Based on the Colin Watson mysteries, this Ever–so–English detective series follows two English detectives as they solve particularly…
Rhinemann Exchange, The (TV Mini-Series) (1977): Dir. Burt Kennedy
Feat. Stephen Collins, Larry Hagman, Roddy McDowall…; Vintage spy thriller follows a US intelligence agent (Collins) on a mission to oversee the exchange of high–altitude gyroscope plans. A little…
Rolling Thunder (1977): Dir. John Flynn
Feat. William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones; A classic of 70's exploitation, this gritty revenge thriller follows a Vietnam vet who returns home a hero, but soon embarks on a mission of bloody…
Silver Bears (1977): Dir. Ivan Passer
Feat. Michael Caine, Cybill Shepherd, Louis Jourdan…; Low–key crime comedy caper with Michael Caine playing a financial wizard working with a crime boss to launder money from a Swiss bank.
Sorcerer (1977): Dir. William Friedkin
Feat. Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal; Second film adaptation of the French novel WAGES OF FEAR, following the fates of four outcasts who take on a job transporting a cargo of unstable…
Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centrefold Model? (1977): Dir. Russ Mayberry
Feat. Barbara Eden, Joseph Mascolo, Joan Hackett…; "Edgy" TV movie with Barbara Eden as female private detective going undercover as a porno actress to find a millionaire's missing daughter.
Summerfield (1977): Dir. Ken Hannam
Feat. John Waters, Charles Tingwell, Nick Tate; A low–key but atmospheric mystery from the Australian New Wave of the 1970s, in which a well–meaning replacement teacher (Tate) arrives…
Sweeney! (1977): Dir. David Wickes
Feat. John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Barry Foster; An officer in the Flying Squad, a division of London's Metropolitan Police, becomes embroiled in a political scandal when he investigates the death…
All the President's Men (1976): Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford; Chilling account of events that led to the publicising of the Watergate scandal, as uncovered by two reporters. A key film of the 1970s. Bluray…
American Friend, The (1976): Dir. Wim Wenders
Feat. Bruno Ganz, Samuel Fuller, Nicholas Ray; Twisting thriller stars Bruno Ganz as an apparently terminally–ill man duped into murder. Dennis Hopper plays the American 'friend', while…
Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976): Dir. Mark L. Lester
Feat. Lynda Carter, Marjoe Gortner, Jesse Vint…; Crime drama starring Lynda Carter (WONDER WOMAN) as an aspiring country music star who falls in with a young hustler who sees himself as a modern day…
Body Of My Enemy, The (Le Corps De Mon Ennemi) (1976): Dir. Henri Verneuil
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bernard Blier, Marie-France Pisier; Slow burning thriller with Belmondo as a man wrongly imprisoned for drug trafficking looking to exact revenge on those who framed him. Trading…
Boomerang (Comme un boomerang) (1976): Dir. Jose Giovanni
Feat. Alain Delon, Carla Gravina, Dora Doll; French crime film with Alain Delon playing an ex–gangster and father of a delinquent teen, who is determined to clear his son's name after he…
Chinese Roulette (Chinesisches Roulette) (1976): Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Feat. Anna Karina, Margit Carstensen, Brigitte Mira…; Daunting Fassbinder drama concerning a cheating mother and father unwittingly convinced by their disabled daughter to each take their lovers on a…
Drowning Pool, The (1976): Dir. Stuart Rosenberg
Feat. Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward; Paul Newman returns as P.I Harper to help client Joanne Woodard out of a tight spot before unveiling corruption among the well–to–do in…
End Play (1976): Dir. Tim Burstall
Feat. John Waters, Ken Goodlet, George Mallaby; Aussie thriller adapting the1972 novel of the same name by Russell Braddon. A merchant sailor and his wheelchair bound brother attract the suspicions…
Family Plot (1976): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Bruce Dern, William Devane; Hitch's last film treads lightly but expertly through a set of small–scale intrigues. Bruce Dern comes up against the creepy William Devane and…
Futureworld (1976): Dir. Richard T. Heffron
Feat. Peter Fonda, Yul Brynner; WESTWORLD sequel is set in a 1985 'fool–proof' theme–park that spawns a new generation of robot doubles threatening to take over the…
Helter Skelter (1976): Dir. Tom Gries
Feat. Steve Railsback, George DiCenzo; Frightening television dramatisation of the Manson Family murders in Los Angeles, that in Steve Railsback (THE STUNTMAN) finds an actor capable of…
Hunter Will Get You (L'Alpagueur) (1976): Dir. Philippe Labro
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bruno Cremer; Ice–cool Belmondo thriller about government mercenary who poses undercover as a prisoner to smoke out an insidious criminal mastermind.
Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, The (1976): Dir. Buzz Kulik
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Martin Balsam, Cliff DeYoung…; A TV film dramatising the events of the Lindbergh kidnapping, in which the son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh was abducted…
Lipstick (1976): Dir. Lamont Johnson
Feat. Margaux Hemingway, Chris Sarandon, Perry King…; A trashy yet compulsive thriller in which a gorgeous fashion model (Margaux Hemingway) is raped by a seemingly benign admirer, who dabbles in bizarre…
Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, The (1976): Dir. Nicolas Gessner
Feat. Martin Sheen, Jodie Foster, Alexis Smith; A precocious Jodie Foster, 13–years–old and home alone, attempts to ward off nosy neighbours and a perverted Martin Sheen in this…
Marathon Man (1976): Dir. John Schlesinger
Feat. Laurence Olivier, Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider…; Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman display their thespian prowess in this dark tale of a marathon runner entangled in international espionage. One…
Mikey and Nicky (1976): Dir. Elaine May
Feat. Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Ned Beatty…; Loosely improvised drama, with a wild–eyed John Cassavetes calling on old pal Peter Falk to help escape the Mob. Turns out he may not be such a…
Murder by Death (1976): Dir. Robert Moore
Feat. Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco…; A classic whodunnit premise is taken within an inch of its life by a knockout cast, here playing a gaggle of famous sleuths and sidekicks who convene…
Peeper (1976): Dir. Peter Hyams
Feat. Michael Caine, Natalie Wood, Kitty Winn…; Patchy noir send–up with Caine as a poor man's Phillip Marlowe struggling to find a missing woman, with his biggest obstacle being himself.
Rocky Boxset (Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky V, Rocky Balboa) (1976-2006): Feat. Sylvester Stallone; The complete Rocky legacy in one box–set, including Stallone's final recent swansong in the career–defining role.
Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976): Dir. Boris Sagal
Feat. Roger Moore, Patrick Macnee, John Huston…; Fun addition to the Holmes canon with the great detective pursuing his arch rival Moriarty through New York after his nemesis pulls off a daring bank…
Silver Streak (1976): Dir. Arthur Hiller
Feat. Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh…; Considered the first and best pairing of Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, this is an unusual yet relaxed mix of comedy, romance, action thriller and…
St. Ives (1976): Dir. J. Lee Thompson
Feat. Charles Bronson, John Houseman, Jacqueline Bisset…; Enjoyable riff on 1940s private–eye noir (especially THE MALTESE FALCON), in which a wouldbe novelist–gumshoe (Bronson) gets way out of…
Two Minute Warning (1976): Dir. Larry Peerce
Feat. Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, Martin Balsam…; Questionable Charlton Heston thriller set in a pro–football stadium, where a group of cops must take down a sniper in the crowd before he opens…
3 Days of the Condor (Three Days of the Condor) (1975): Dir. Sydney Pollack
Feat. Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson…; A polished thriller from the heyday of the 70s conspiracy genre, with Robert Redford as the hunted CIA operative who knows 'too much'. Going on…
Best French Crime Flicks (1975-1981): Dir. Georges Lautner, Jose Giovanni, Alain Corneau
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Yves Montand; Three seminal French crime dramas in one collection: THE PROFESSIONAL (1981), THE GYPSY (1975), and CHOICE OF ARMS (1981).
Brannigan (1975): Dir. Douglas Hickox
Feat. John Wayne, Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson…; Effective late–career casting for Wayne, playing a Chicago cop who pursues a criminal across the Atlantic to London. Although featuring a…
Bullet Train, The (1975): Dir. Jun'ya Sato
Feat. Ken Takakura, Sonny Chiba; Unstoppable, no–holds–barred action vehicle finds Sonny Chiba steering a passenger train rigged with a bomb to explode if its speed drops…
Dog Day Afternoon (1975): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Al Pacino; Al Pacino is stunning as a deluded no–hoper who robs a New York bank to finance his lover's sex change operation. Riveting drama based on a…
Farewell, My Lovely (1975): Dir. Dick Richards
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland…; With a nailbitten Robert Mitchum as a weathered Marlowe, this complex Raymond Chandler story is an impressive homage to '40s film noirs.
Gypsy, The (Le Gitan) (1975): Dir. Jose Giovanni
Feat. Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, Paul Meurisse; Alain Delon humours the plight of the gypsy as a gangster with a nomadic past. An obscure, moody crime vehicle.
Hanged Man, The (TV Series) (1975): Feat. Colin Blakely, Michael Williams; Colin Blakely plays a rich industrialist whose success has made him the death target of his shady competitors. Series follows Blakely pretending to…
Hustle (1975): Dir. Robert Aldrich
Feat. Burt Reynolds, Catherine Deneuve, Eddie Albert…; A case–hardened Los Angeles detective finds himself drawn into a dark, complex puzzle involving the death of a teenage girl, but his…
Inside Out (1975): Dir. Peter Duffell
Feat. Telly Savalas, Robert Culp, James Mason…; UK action thriller film, shot in West Berlin and The Netherlands. Thirty years after World War II, a team of former soldiers from both the US and…
Le Orme (Footprints on the Moon) (1975): Dir. Luigi Bazzoni
Feat. Florinda Bolkan, Peter McEnery, Klaus Kinski…; Italian B–movie with director Luigi Bazzoni following in Argento's footsteps to tell a story of the psychological unraveling of an isolated…
Lost Honor of Katherina Blum, The (1975): Dir. Volker Schlondorff
Feat. Angela Winkler, Jurgen Prochnow; Taken from the novel by Heinrich Boll, this reproach to the powers–that–be in mid–70s West Germany portrays the hardheaded…
Murder On Flight 502 (1975): Dir. George McCowan
Feat. Robert Stack, Farrah Fawcett, Fernando Lamas…; A cheesy yet effective '70s disaster flick that terrified viewers when it first aired as an American TV movie. A passenger is murdered on board a…
Night Moves (1975): Dir. Arthur Penn
Feat. Gene Hackman, Susan Clark, Melanie Griffith; Underrated private–eye yarn with Gene Hackman tracking down a then very young Melanie Griffith. Intelligent fare that leads to a stunning…
Obsession (1975): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold, John Lithgow; The director imitates Hitchcock once again, but does it well. This time it's VERTIGO, with an obsessed Cliff Robertson in the Jimmy Stewart role.…
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975): Dir. Peter Weir
Feat. Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse…; Simply one of the best Australian films ever, this elegant mystery, based on the novel by Joan Lindsay, centres around the disappearance of several…
Rosebud (1975): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, Peter Lawford…; Preminger's penultimate film is sadly a mess. Members of the Palestinian Liberation Army kidnap five heiresses in order to bring attention to their…
Stepford Wives, The (1975): Dir. Bryan Forbes
Feat. Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson…; Beautifully understated, bizarre satire on suburbia and the feminist movement in which the inhabitants of a small town seem curiously contented. …
SWAT (TV Series) (S.W.A.T.) (1975): Feat. Steve Forrest, Robert Urich; One of the tough cop shows of the seventies that follows the covert missions of the LAPD's elite force. Season 1 (13 episodes) available over 3…
Wilby Conspiracy, The (1975): Dir. Ralph Nelson
Feat. Sidney Poitier, Michael Caine, Nicol Williamson…; Activists Poitier and Caine are stalked by a sadistic policeman in this Apartheid–era suspenser, in which thrills take precedence over politics.
And Then There Were None (Ten Little Indians) (1974): Dir. Peter Collinson
Feat. Oliver Reed, Elke Sommer, Richard Attenborough…; Agatha Christie’s "Ten Little Indians" receives a clunky, if still entertaining makeover in this stacked international adaptation of the macabre…
Black Windmill, The (1974): Dir. Don Siegel
Feat. Michael Caine, Delphine Seyrig, Donald Pleasence…; Michael Caine is in second–hand Harry Palmer–mode as a lone British espionage agent whose son is kidnapped and ransomed for diamonds by a…
Conversation, The (1974): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield…; Absorbing account of a bugging–device expert who develops a conscience and slowly uncovers a political scandal in a seemingly normal…
Day of the Dolphin, The (1974): Dir. Mike Nichols
Feat. George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Paul Sorvino…; An ecological sci–fi thriller, based on a French novel by Robert Merle. George C Scott stars as a scientist who has trained two dolphins to…
Father Brown (TV Series) (Father Brown, Detective; Sanctuary of Fear) (1974): Feat. Kenneth More; Popular ITV mystery series centred on a crime–solving Catholic priest in provincial 1950s England. The decent storylines and witty dialogue…
French Screen Icons: Alain Delon 2 (Icy Flesh, The Gypsy, Like a Boomerang, A Crime) (1974-1993): Feat. Alain Delon; Four films starring French leading–man Alain Delon.
Gambler, The (1974): Dir. Karel Reisz
Feat. James Caan, Paul Sorvino, Lauren Hutton…; A typically gritty 70s crime drama, adapted from a story by Dostoevsky, that boasts a fine performance by James Caan as a well–respected…
Godfather Part 2, The (1974): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton…; The Corleone saga continues with the same passion and exacting standards, it both broadens the scope and bolsters the stature of the original. Hailed…
Icy Flesh (Icy Breasts; Les seins de glace) (1974): Dir. Georges Lautner
Feat. Alain Delon, Mireille Darc, Claude Brasseur; Alain Delon potboiler, with the French leading man succumbing to the wiles of an alluring, if deadly femme fatale. Better known as 'Icy Breasts'.
Inn of the Damned (1974): Dir. Terry Bourke
Feat. Dame Judith Anderson, Lionel Long; An unusual hybrid of Western and horror mystery set in 1890s Australia around an isolated hostel run by a vengeful Austrian (!) couple. Arriving into…
Juggernaut (1974): Dir. Richard Lester
Feat. Richard Harris, Omar Sharif, David Hemmings…; Richard Harris leads a bomb disposal squad in a race against time to save an ocean liner and its 1200 passengers from disaster. Fine nail–biter…
Klansman, The (1974): Dir. Terence Young
Feat. Richard Burton, Lee Marvin, Cameron Mitchell…; Samuel Fuller co–wrote this trashy Southern potboiler, graced with the acting chops of Richard Burton and Lee Marvin as landowner and sheriff…
Macon County Line (1974): Dir. Richard Compton
Feat. Alan Vint, Jesse Vint, Cheryl Waters…; An under–rated, gritty kids vs. rednecks thriller in the EASY RIDER tradition about three youngsters pursued on Georgian byways for a gruesome…
McQ (1974): Dir. John Sturges
Feat. John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur…; John Wayne plays it tough in this neo–noir as a grizzled Seattle cop investigating the murder of his best friend and the corruption within the…
Melissa (TV Mini-series) (1974): Dir. Peter Moffatt
Feat. Peter Barkworth, Moira Redmond; Riveting BBC mystery thriller series adapted from the Francis Durbridge novel that tells the tale of a husband who begins to uncover the mysterious…
Murder On the Orient Express (1974): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam…; Extravagent production of Agatha Christie's mystery with Albert Finney as Poirot rounding up an all–star cast of suspects.
Nuits Rouges (1974): Dir. Georges Franju
Feat. Jacques Champreux, Gayle Hunnicutt; Another Franju masked adventure launched from Louis Feuillade serials and his own excellent JUDEX, only this time in filmed in a garish, exagerrated…
Odessa File, The (1974): Dir. Ronald Neame
Feat. Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, Maria Schell…; Jon Voight plays a German journalist on the trail of Nazi war criminals. From Frederic Forsyth's bestseller.
Parallax View, The (1974): Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, Paula Prentiss; Intelligent, stylish paranoia thriller with Warren Beatty as a renegade reporter investigating an unfolding political conspiracy involving a covert…
Rockford Files, The (TV Series) (1974-1975): Feat. James Garner, Noah Jr. Beery, Joe Santos…; In the spirit of 'Cold Case' this detective thriller series stars James Garner as an easy going plaid jacket attired investigator pursuing unsolved…
Smile Jenny, You're Dead (1974): Dir. Jerry Thorpe
Feat. David Janssen, Jodie Foster, Andrea Marcovicci; David Janssen plays a cop turned private sleuth who is on the trail of the psychopath who is targeting his ex–partner's supermodel daughter.
Taking of Pelham 123, The (1974): Dir. Joseph Sargent
Feat. Robert Shaw, Walter Matthau, Martin Balsam…; Superlative '70s heist movie – four gunmen hi–jack a train and threaten to kill one passenger for every minute the ransom is late. Taut,…
Tamarind Seed, The (1974): Dir. Blake Edwards
Feat. Julie Andrews, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quayle…; Languid romantic thriller plays out against the backdrop of the Cold War looming. Andrews plays a British civil servant on holiday in the Caribbean…
Terrorists, The (Ransom) (1974): Dir. Caspar Wrede
Feat. Sean Connery, Ian McShane, Jeffry Wickham; Improbable thriller with Connery as a Norwegian colonel charged with liberating a plane full of hostages in the "country" of Scandinavia.
Truck Turner (1974): Dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Feat. Isaac Hayes, Yaphet Kotto, Alan Weeks…; Neo–noir blaxploitation with soul singer Isaac Hayes playing a professional football player who suffers an injury and turns to bounty hunting…
Badlands (1973): Dir. Terrence Malick
Feat. Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek; Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek are a knock–out as deluded teenage fugitives who chalk up a hefty body count as they flee across country. Based…
Barnaby Jones (TV Series) (1973): Feat. Buddy Ebsen, Lee Meriwether; Forced out of retirement to solve the murder of his son, lanky, milk–drinking Detective Jones is back doing what he does best – catching…
Burned Barns, The (Les granges brulées) (1973): Dir. Jean Chapot
Feat. Alain Delon, Simone Signoret; Moody provincial drama of death and betrayal reunites Delon and Signoret, this time on opposite sides of the law. More a character study than a…
Callan - The Movie (1973): Dir. Voytek
Feat. Edward Woodward, Eric Porter, Peter Egan; Expanded from the first episode of the hit British TV Series, this feature film depicts secret agent Callan (Edward Woodard) at his wordly…
Cauldron Of Death (Ricco) (1973): Dir. Tulio DeMicheli
Feat. Christopher Mitchum, Barbara Bouchet, Malisa Longo; Masquerading as a B–grade horror, this is actually a melodramatic Italian revenge thriller concerning the son of a murdered mobster who is…
Charley Varrick (1973): Dir. Don Siegel
Feat. Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker, Felicia Farr…; Walter Matthau makes for a fascinating, unconventional armed robber in this punchy heist picture, trademarked by Don Siegel's famously pacey…
Day of the Jackal (1973): Dir. Fred Zinnemann
Feat. Edward Fox, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair…; Taut, clinical adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's best–seller with Edward Fox as the icy hit–man who meticulously prepares for the…
Dillinger (1973): Dir. John Milius
Feat. Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman…; A tough portait of the Depression–era bank robber that like BONNIE AND CLYDE, invests the criminal with the mythic qualities of the outlaw.…
Don is Dead, The (1973): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Anthony Quinn, Frederic Forrest, Robert Forster; A botched drug deal is at the centre of this competent mafioso film, one of many spawned in the wake of THE GODFATHER's success.
Executive Action (1973): Dir. David Miller
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Will Geer; Rogue intelligence agents, right–wing politicians, greedy capitalists, and free–lance assassins plot and carry out the JFK assassination…
Friends of Eddie Coyle, The (1973): Dir. Peter Yates
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan…; A superlative, cold–hearted, downright unforgiving crime classic of the 70s, with Robert Mitchum (never better) as an aging Boston gunrunner…
Harry O (TV Series) (1973-1976): Feat. David Janssen, Henry Darrow, Anthony Zerbe; TV series set in San Diego and Los Angeles following a cop who turns to private detective work after a bullet in the back forces him to retire from…
Kojak (TV Series) (1973-1978): Dir. Joseph Sargent
Feat. Telly Savalas, Ned Beatty; Popular 70s cop show that turned Telly Savalas's funky, lollipop sucking, glow–domed police lieutenant into a cultural icon. Highly quotable,…
Kojak Collection, The (The Marcus-Nelson Murders, The Belarus File, The Price of Justice) (1973-1987): Dir. Joseph Sargent, Robert Markowitz, Alan Metzger
Feat. Telly Savalas, Marjoe Gortner, Jose Ferrer…; Telly Savalas stars as the tough but witty sleuth who became a small screen icon in the 1970's. This set features the three feature–length TV…
Laughing Policeman, The (1973): Dir. Stuart Rosenberg
Feat. Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Anthony Zerbe; Police procedural loosely based on the Swedish novel of the same name, set in the aftermath of a horrific shootout on a public bus. A detective…
Le Magnifique (1973): Dir. Philippe de Broca
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jacqueline Bisset, Vittorio Caprioli; Jean–Paul Belmondo stars in this slapstick spoof of B–movie espionage films and novels, playing a frustrated writer working in this genre…
Long Goodbye, The (1973): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Elliott Gould, Sterling Hayden, Nina Van Pallandt; Elliot Gould portrays a '70s Philip Marlowe, a wildly unkempt version of Chandler's legendary detective. Altman's film noir pastiche is equally…
Mackintosh Man, The (1973): Dir. John Huston
Feat. Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, James Mason; Old–fashioned cold war thriller with Paul Newman playing a British intelligence agent who goes undercover to infiltrate a spy organisation. A…
Nothing But the Night (The Resurrection Syndicate) (1973): Dir. Peter Sasdy
Feat. Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Diana Dors…; Lee and Cushing are sent by Scotland Yard to investigate a fatal bus crash and how it relates to the going–ons at a creepy orphanage.…
Revolver (Blood in the Streets) (1973): Dir. Sergio Sollima
Feat. Oliver Reed, Fabio Testi; Equal turns punchy and preposterous, this 'spaghetti crime thriller' involves a prison warden (Reed) who is drawn into an intricate web of deceit…
Scorpio (1973): Dir. Michael Winner
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Paul Scofield…; Burt Lancaster plays the CIA agent in this solid suspense yarn set at the height of the Cold War. Plotwise this is a little overcomplicated, but…
Seven-Ups, The (1973): Dir. Philip D' Antoni
Feat. Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Victor Arnold…; Underrated action flick with Roy Scheider on as a tough NYC cop on the trail of his partner's killers. Salty thriller has atmosphere to spare and…
Shock Treatment (Traitement de Choc) (1973): Dir. Alain Jessua
Feat. Alain Delon, Annie Girardot; Pointed medical chiller set in an anti–aging clinic overseen by Delon. This minor genre film is memorable for Girardot and Delon's risque beach…
Sting, The (1973): Dir. George Roy Hill
Feat. Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Robert Shaw…; Classic vehicle for Robert Redford and Paul Newman playing two Depression–era conmen. Winner of seven Oscars including Best Picture. Music by…
Thriller (TV Series) (1973-1976): Producer of THE AVENGERS, Brian Clemens, lent his midas touch to this mildly gothic anthology of horror and suspense stories, fronted by such British…
Baffled (1972): Dir. Philip Leacock
Feat. Leonard Nimoy, Susan Hampshire, Vera Miles…; Following a disturbing 'vision', racing–car driver Leonard Nimoy becomes engulfed in a supernatural vortex of baffling incidents, haunted…
Bonnie's Kids (1972): Dir. Arthur Marks
Feat. Tiffany Bolling, Scott Brady, Alex Rocco…; Grindhouse thriller about a pair of sisters who murder their abusive step father and escape to Los Angeles, where they find themselves in trouble…
Carey Treatment, The (1972): Dir. Blake Edwards
Feat. James Coburn, Pat Hingle; 70s thriller starring James Coburn as Dr Peter Carey, a pathologist who becomes an amateur detective when he investigates an accidental death at his…
Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (1972): Dir. Samuel Fuller
Feat. Glenn Corbett, Anton Diffring, Stephane Audran; German police procedural directed by Samuel Fuller, made as part of the television series Tatort but also given a theatrical release in the USA. An…
Dirty Money (Un Flic) (1972): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Alain Delon, Richard Crenna, Catherine Deneuve; Final film by the suspense–specialist Melville (LE SAMOURAI), spins a familiar tale of cops and bank–robbers involving Alain Delon,…
Don't Torture a Duckling (1972): Dir. Lucio Fulci
Feat. Barbara Bouchet, Florinda Bolkan, Tomas Milian…; A compelling Giallo mystery from Italian master Lucio Fulci (THE BEYOND) following a detective investigating a series of child murders in a southern…
Emergency! (TV Series) (1972): Feat. Randolph Mantooth, Kevin Tighe, Julie London; Thrilling medical drama concerning firefighting paramedics weaves nonsensical medical jargon and elaborate novelty accidents with the one–two…
Endless Night (1972): Dir. Sidney Gilliat
Feat. Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Britt Ekland…; Riveting Agatha Christie mystery based around the union of a chauffeur and heiress who end up moving into a cursed home. Heightened Hitchcockian…
French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 2 (The Inheritor, Scoumoune: Mafia Warfare, The Body of My Enemy) (1972-1976): Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo; Three films starring French leading–man Jean–Paul Belmondo.
French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 3 (The Professional, The Outside Man, The Loner, Amazone) (1972-1987): Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo; Four films starring French leading–man Jean–Paul Belmondo.
Frenzy (1972): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster…; Hitchcock's last really great thriller, concerning a Cockney strangler plaguing the streets of London and setting up Jon Finch as the wrong man.…
Fright (1972): Dir. Peter Collinson
Feat. Honor Blackman, Susan George, Dennis Waterman…; A 'babysitter in peril' suspenser set around the menacing of Blackman by an escaped mental patient. Not bad as a precursor to the 'slasher' genre.
Godfather, The (1972): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro…; Adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel is a vivid and immaculately staged chronicle of a Sicilian family's ascension to NY gangland dominance. Seamlessly…
Gumshoe (1972): Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Albert Finney, Billie Whitelaw, Frank Finlay…; Paying sly homage to Bogart, Chandler and Hammett, this sly detective spoof is the directorial debut of prolific British director Stephen Frears.…
Hammer (1972): Dir. Bruce D. Clark
Feat. Fred Williamson, Bernie Hamilton, Vonetta McGee…; Blaxploitation film about a hotheaded dock worker who rises up the ranks as a boxer, but his manager has links with the mafia and soon his girlfriend…
Images (1972): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Susannah York, Cathryn Harrison; A stark and daring portrait of descending madness, Susannah York gives a seismic performance as a woman troubled by disturbing hallucinations. Filmed…
Inheritor, The (L'Heritier) (1972): Dir. Philippe Labro
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Carla Gravina, Jean Rochefort; Shadowy thriller in which a wealthy industrialist dies in an air crash but his son suspects foul play. Soon he finds his own life in peril. Set…
Lord Peter Wimsey (TV Series) (1972): Feat. Ian Carmichael; Dorothy L. Sayers's archetypal British gentleman detective sleuths murders and crimes of passions in this sophisticated and subtly satirical BBC…
Moonstone, The (1972): Dir. Robert Bierman
Feat. Kathleen Byron, Robin Ellis, Basil Dignam…; Atmospheric whodunit drama, based on the Wilkie Collins novel, which tells the tale of an investigation into the theft of a precious Indian jewel…
Night Stalker, The / Night Strangler, The (1972-1973): Dir. John Llewellyn Moxey, Dan Curtis
Feat. Darren McGavin, Carol Lynley, Simon Oakland…; Two excellent and groundbreaking tele–movies from the early 70s starring Darren McGavin as wise–cracking 'regular guy' reporter Carl…
Prime Cut (1972): Dir. Michael Ritchie
Feat. Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, Sissy Spacek…; Gritty underworld thriller set in the fields and meat–packhouses of Kansas, where mob enforcer Marvin is sent to collect money from local…
Pulp (1972): Dir. Mike Hodges
Feat. Michael Caine, Mickey Rooney, Lionel Stander…; After completing the phenomenal GET CARTER Caine and dir. Hodges reteamed for this lightweight, yet highly watchable comedy thriller. Caine plays…
Salzburg Connection, The (Top Secret) (1972): Dir. Lee H. Katzin
Feat. Barry Newman, Anna Karina, Klaus Maria Brandauer…; Entertaining espionage tale has Newman tangling with neo–Nazis and spies both in pursuit of the identity of German war criminals. Densely…
Savages (1972): Dir. James Ivory
Feat. Sam Waterston, Lewis J. Stadlen, Anne Francine…; Merchant Ivory's most unexpected film is an allegorical story of a primitive jungle tribe who are interrupted, mid human–sacrifice, by a…
Sleuth (1972): Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Feat. Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier; A supremely cunning, self–reflexive mystery satire based on the hit West End play, with Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine as affable…
Snoop Sisters, The (TV Series) (1972): Feat. Helen Hayes, Mildred Natwick; Two elderly spinsters put down their mystery writing pens to catch perps for real in this dotty, genteel crime series. Starring former Miss Marple,…
Trouble Man (1972): Dir. Ivan Dixon
Feat. Ivan Dixon, Robert Hooks, Paul Winfield…; Blaxploitation movie about a hard–edged but elegant private detective who wades into a drug war in South Central Los Angeles. A studio budget…
Van Der Valk (TV Series) (1972-1992): Feat. Barry Foster, Joanna Dunham, Michael Latimer…; A hugely popular police procedural series starring Barry Foster as Van der Valk, a no–nonsense Dutch detective and head of the Amsterdam CID…
Whodunnit? (TV Series) (1972-1974): This fondly–remembered primetime panel game from the 1970's invited viewers to play detective by pitting their wits against a panel of…
You'll Like My Mother (1972): Dir. Lamont Johnson
Feat. Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy, Richard Thomas; Patty Duke plays a heavily pregnant woman who travels to rural Minnesota to meet her late husband's mother–in–law, who turns out to have…
10 Rillington Place (1971): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt…; Richard Attenborough re–creates the activities of UK serial–killer John Christie.
A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971): Dir. Lucio Fulci
Feat. Florinda Bolkan, Sir Stanley Baker, Jean Sorel…; Psychosexual giallo horror from director Lucio Fulci (THE BLACK CAT). Set in London, where the repressed wife of a lawyer is having erotic dreams…
A Reflection of Fear (1971): Dir. William A. Fraker
Feat. Robert Shaw, Mary Ure, Sally Kellerman…; A giallo inspired psychological thriller set in a seaside mansion in Eastern Canada. A young girl's mental health declines rapidly when her…
Anderson Tapes, The (1971): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam…; An inventive, if over–ambitious thriller in which a master–thief (Connery) recently released from prison plans a difficult heist, without…
Born To Win (Addict) (1971): Dir. Ivan Passer
Feat. George Segal, Paula Prentiss, Karen Black…; Obscure, but charmingly unique drama–comedy about a former NYC hairdresser (Segal), who has turned street hustler to finance his destructive…
Cat O' Nine Tails (1971): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Karl Malden, James Franciscus; Unrestrained melodrama with Karl Malden as a blind reporter on a trail of blood. Argento's second feature, rooted in 'giallo' (Italian pulp fiction)…
Duel (1971): Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Dennis Weaver, Tim Herbert, Charles Peel…; Steven Spielberg's first feature film and still one of his best, about a man pursued by a faceless psychopath in a huge diesel truck. Required…
Ellery Queen (TV Series) (Don't Look Behind You) (1971-1975): Feat. Jim Hutton, Peter Lawford; Whodunnit series stars Jim Hutton as a mystery writer whose sleuthing know–how is regularly called upon by his Police Inspector…
Firechasers, The (1971): Dir. Sidney Hayers
Feat. Chad Everett, Anjanette Comer, Roy Kinnear…; Brit–crime flick has an insurance investigator chasing down an arsonist, along the way he meets and works with a beautiful newspaper reporter…
Get Carter (1971): Dir. Mike Hodges
Feat. Michael Caine; A small–time London hood takes on tough Northerners while investigating his brother's death. Exciting, violent thriller shows off the once…
Grissom Gang, The (1971): Dir. Robert Aldrich
Feat. Kim Darby, Scott Wilson, Tony Musante…; Crime noir set in Missouri during the Depression, following the kidnapping of a priviledged meat heiress by notorious amateur hoodlums the Grissom…
Hustler Squad / Wild Riders (1971-1976): Dir. Cesar Gallardo, Richard Kanter
Feat. Alex Rocco, Elizabeth Knowles, Sherry Bain…; A double feature of 70s drive–in "classics". WILD RIDERS (1971) has Alex Rocco playing a misogynistic biker who goes on a sleazy killing…
Klute (1971): Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi…; A genuine psychological thriller that won Jane Fonda an Oscar for her brilliant portrayal of a New York call–girl who is the focus of a missing…
Madame Sin (1971): Dir. David Greene
Feat. Bette Davis, Denholm Elliott, Robert Wagner…; Criminal mastermind Bette Davis casts her heavily mascaraed eye on nuclear submarines and the like. A cheesy pleasure.
Max and the Junkmen (Max Et Les Ferrailleurs) (1971): Dir. Claude Sautet
Feat. Romy Schneider; French crime drama set in the noir shaded streets of Paris follows a frustrated detective getting tangled up in a love triangle after commissioning a…
Persuaders, The (TV Series) (Persuaders!, The) (1971): Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Roger Moore, Tony Curtis; Roger Moore and Tony Curtis play a debonair duo who lend their status and charm to dissuade the criminal fraternity. Wonderfully corny. DVD 'Box…
Play Misty for Me (1971): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills…; The film that inspired FATAL ATTRACTION stars Clint Eastwood as a late night radio talkhost whose female fan goes way over the line.
Sacco & Vanzetti (1971): Dir. Giuliano Montaldo
Feat. Gian Maria Volonte, Cyril Cusack, Geoffrey Keen; Based on the true story of the trial and execution of Italian–American anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, widely considered to be…
See No Evil (Blind Terror) (1971): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Mia Farrow, Dorothy Alison, Robin Bailey…; An especially effective suspenser, with Farrow playing a blind woman on a country farm who gradually suspects – then confirms – that her…
Straw Dogs (1971): Dir. Sam Peckinpah
Feat. Dustin Hoffman, Susan George; With dir. Sam Peckinpah in top form, this powerful study of male territorial instincts pushed out the boundaries of movie violence in the…
Villain (1971): Dir. Michael Tuchner
Feat. Richard Burton, Ian McShane, Nigel Davenport…; Violent London gangster movie released on the tail of Performance and Get Carter, but not as well received as either. Surprisingly, written by sitcom…
Wake In Fright (Outback) (1971): Dir. Ted Kotcheff
Feat. Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence, Chips Rafferty…; After many years in obscurity, this drama has been dusted off and deservingly reappraised as an Australian classic – a waking nightmare of…
When Eight Bells Toll (1971): Dir. Etienne Périer
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Jack Hawkins, Robert Morley…; Expert hokum from the pen of Alistair Maclean has Anthony Hopkins as a secret agent on a mission to determine the whereabouts of a ship that…
Widow Couderc, The (La veuve Couderc) (1971): Dir. Pierre Granier-Deferre
Feat. Alain Delon, Simone Signoret; Rustic thriller with Delon as a brooding stranger embroiled in a torrid affair with hard–bitten widow Signoret. Witty adaptation of a George…
Airport (1970): Dir. George Seaton, Henry Hathaway
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg…; A big–city airport is disrupted one hectic night, with hijackings, bombings, stowaways etc. The whole cast struggle to cope. Adapted from…
American Soldier, The (Der Amerikanische Soldat) (1970): Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Feat. Karl Scheydt, Elga Sorbas, Jan George…; The third in a loose trilogy of gangster films directed by prolific German iconoclast Rainer Werner Fassbinder early in his career. A…
And Soon the Darkness (1970): Dir. Robert Fuest
Feat. Pamela Franklin, Michele Dotrice; Minor slasher thriller concerns a pair of holidaying Brits who run into nasty perils on the backroads of rural France. Not as interesting as dir.…
Borsalino (1970): Dir. Jacques Deray
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Michel Bouquet; Delightful seriocomic film of two likeable hoods who become gangland chieftains in 1930s Marseilles. Music by Claude Bolling.
Callan (TV Series) (1970): Dir. James Goddard, Voytek
Feat. Edward Woodward; The bold British TV spy series with Edward Woodward as the cold–blooded but very human secret agent.
Cercle Rouge, Le (The Red Circle) (1970): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonte, Yves Montand…; A precisely–crafted colour 'noir' from the French master, dir. Melville, which rejigs the usual ingredients into an exemplary heist…
Cold Sweat (De La Part Des Copains) (1970): Dir. Terence Young
Feat. Charles Bronson, Liv Ullmann, James Mason; Tight Charles Bronson vehicle see the tough guy play a retired convict who lives with his wife and daughter in the idyllic French Rivera, until some…
Conformist, The (Conformista, Il) (1970): Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
Feat. Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin…; Dazzling images and a potent brew of sex and politics merge seamlessly in this milestone of cinema about a submissive Italian Fascist recruited to…
Eyewitness (1970): Dir. John Hough
Feat. Mark Lester, Lionel Jeffries, Susan George; A “boy who cried wolf” suspenser, centred on an imaginative youngster whose placid existence on the island of Malta is shaken when he witnesses…
Figures in a Landscape (1970): Dir. Joseph Losey
Feat. Robert Shaw, Malcolm McDowell; A unique ‘chase’ thriller from dir. Losey, taking place in an enigmatic near future – with Malcolm Macdowell and Robert Shaw fleeing a menacing…
Gods of the Plague (Götter der Pest) (1970): Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Feat. Hanna Schygulla, Margarethe von Trotta, Harry Baer…; The second in a loose trilogy of gangster films directed by prolific German iconoclast Rainer Werner Fassbinder early in his career. In this…
La Rupture (The Breach) (1970): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Stephane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jean-Claude Drouot…; Stéphane Audran plays a good mother with a chequered past who divorces her deadbeat husband and is targeted by her aggrieved in–laws. In a bit…
Liberation of L.B. Jones, The (1970): Dir. William Wyler
Feat. Roscoe Lee Browne, Lee J. Cobb, Lee Majors…; The final film by William Wyler, depicting racial tensions in a fictional Tennessee town, where a successful African–american businessman…
Man Who Haunted Himself, The (1970): Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Roger Moore; In one of his rare serious roles, Roger Moore plays the survivor of a car crash who discovers his doppelganger has been released into the…
McCloud (TV Series) (1970-1977): Feat. Dennis Weaver, J.D. Cannon, Ken Lynch…; Nicely executed crime series following an ex–sheriff from "out west" that joins up with a New York City police squadron to nab the baddies by…
Night Gallery (TV Series) (1970-1973): Feat. Rod Serling; Spooky suspense series, hosted by Rod Serling, with each episode adapted from a sci–fi and horror short story. While not up to Serling's…
Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The (1970): Dir. Billy Wilder
Feat. Robert Stephens, Colin Blakely, Genevieve Page…; Late period Billy Wilder (THE APARTMENT) applies his ironic sensibility, with less acid than usual, to the mind of Conan Doyle's detecting hero and…
Rider on the Rain (Le passager de la pluie) (1970): Dir. Rene Clement
Feat. Marlène Jobert, Annie Cordy, Charles Bronson; Stylish psychosexual French mystery thriller in obvious homage to Hitchcock, with Charles Bronson playing a US Army colonel hunting down an escaped…
Shadows of Fear (TV Series) (1970): Feat. Sheila Hancock, Ronald Hines, Edward Fox…; Featuring some of Britain's most renowned stage and TV performers, this anthology series brings together eight plays with a 'chilling Hitchcockian…
They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970): Dir. Gordon Douglas
Feat. Sidney Poitier, Martin Landau, Juano Hernandez; The first sequel to IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT has Sidney Poitier’s detective now settled in San Francisco and investigating a girl’s…
Assassination Bureau, The (1969): Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas…; Spirited crime caper which translates Jack London's novel of the same name to Europe on the cusp of WWI. Diana Rigg plays an aspiring journalist…
Boucher, Le (The Butcher) (1969): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Stephane Audran, Jean Yanne; Psychological thriller probes the perhaps dangerous liaison between a celibate school–teacher and a murder suspect, the local butcher. Rich in…
Chairman, The (1969): Dir. J. Lee Thompson
Feat. Gregory Peck, Anne Heywood, Arthur Hill…; Engrossing and utterly preposterous spy flick with Peck as a scientist who must sneak into communist China to steal a secret formula, and to…
Femme Infidele, La (The Unfaithful Wife) (1969): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Michel Bouquet, Stephane Audran, Maurice Ronet; French bourgeoisie couple Michel Bouquet and Stephane Audran form a murderous love–triangle with seducer Maurice Ronet, revealing the hidden…
Love is Colder Than Death (Liebe ist kälter als der Tod) (1969): Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Feat. Ulli Lommel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Hanna Schygulla…; The first in a loose trilogy of gangster films directed by prolific German iconoclast Rainer Werner Fassbinder early in his career. Fassbinder…
Michael Kohlhaas (1969): Dir. David Warner
Feat. David Warner; Bizarre high drama about a 16th Century horse–dealer who leads a revolt against an unscrupulous Baron overlord. David Warner inhabits the title…
Public Eye (TV Series) (1969-1971): Feat. Alfred Burke; British drama series starring Alfred Burke as Frank Marker, a jaded private investigator who deals with a variety of cases. A more realistic and…
Que La Bete Meure (This Man Must Die) (1969): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Michel Duchaussoy, Jean Yanne, Caroline Cellier; Thriller based on the book called The Beast Must Die by Cecil Day–Lewis (under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake), about a man who becomes involved…
Some Girls Do (1969): Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Richard Johnson, Daliah Lavi, James Villiers…; Return outing for Richard Johnson's 'Bulldog Drummond' pits the Bond–wannabe against a cabal of mini–skirted fembots and his…
Strange Report (TV Series) (1969): Feat. Anthony Quayle, Kaz Garas, Anneke Wills; Wily Anthony Quayle is Adam Strange, ex–police officer turned criminologist charged with cleaning up murder sprees and other unsolvable cases…
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969): Dir. Abraham Polonsky
Feat. Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Robert Blake…; This Western comeback from blacklisted director Polonsky (FORCE OF EVIL) focuses (rather ironically) on the manhunt of Robert Blake, who here plays…
A Lovely Way to Die (1968): Dir. David Lowell Rich
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Eli Wallach, Sylva Koscina; Dramatic suspense in which a retired vigilante NYC cop hired to look after a potential murderess ends up unprofessionally mixing business and…
Billion Dollar Brain (1968): Dir. Ken Russell
Feat. Michael Caine, Karl Malden, Ed Begley…; The third 'Harry Palmer' spy caper taken from Len Deighton's series, with the bespectacled Caine this time chasing a meglomaniac Texas…
Boston Strangler, The (1968): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy; Undeniably fascinating but somewhat static docudrama about placid 1960s serial–killer Albert De Salvo (Tony Curtis), who underwent…
Bride Wore Black, The (La Mariée était en noir) (1968): Dir. Francois Truffaut
Feat. Jeanne Moreau, Michel Bouquet, Jean-Claude Brialy…; Traumatised by her fiance's death, moments before due to be wed, Jeanne Moreau dedicates herself to a long–term plan of revenge, hunting and…
Champions, The (TV Series) (1968-1969): Feat. Anthony Nicholls; A superior, if earnest, sci–fi thriller series with an Anglo–American cast, created by spy–genre guru Monty Berman (The Baron,…
Claude Chabrol Boxset Vol. 1 (Les Biches, Le Boucher, Que La Bete Meure, La Femme Infidele) (1968-1969): Dir. Claude Chabrol; Four classic films from the French master of suspense's late sixties output. Also includes the documentary GRAND MANEGE: THE LIFE AND WORK OF CLAUDE…
Coogan's Bluff (1968): Dir. Don Siegel
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb; Pre–DIRTY HARRY thriller has tough Arizona ranger Clint Eastwood dealing out the law his way in pursuit of an escaped suspect. Exciting action,…
Dandy in Aspic, A (1968): Dir. Anthony Mann
Feat. Laurence Harvey, Tom Courtenay, Mia Farrow; A curious failure, Anthony Mann’s final film, completed by star Laurence Harvey after the director died during filming, muddles the deception of a…
Danger Diabolik (1968): Dir. Mario Bava
Feat. John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli…; Cat–burgling cool from the pop–art 1960's, outfitted in futuristic chic and the effortless glamour of John Phillip Law and blonde…
Deadfall (1968): Dir. Bryan Forbes
Feat. Michael Caine, Giovanna Ralli, Eric Portman…; Somewhat lumpy thriller with Caine recruited by a husband and wife to pull of a daring diamond heist. The actual robbery is cross–cut with a…
Detective, The (1968): Dir. Gordon Douglas
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker…; Interestingly dark and unsentimental policier has Frank Sinatra play an embattled cop investigating the murder of a wealthy homosexual while trying…
Farewell, Friend (Honor Among Thieves) (1968): Dir. Jean Herman
Feat. Alain Delon, Charles Bronson; Dependable French caper, centered on an elaborate heist, with warhorses Branson and Delon thick as thieves in vying to crack the same high security…
Ice Station Zebra (1968): Dir. John Sturges
Feat. Rock Hudson, Patrick McGoohan, Ernest Borgnine; Good old–fashioned Cold War intrigue based on the Alistair Maclean novel. An all–bloke ensemble battle against human and natural force,…
It Takes a Thief (TV Series) (1968): Feat. Robert Wagner; A super–cool product of sixties spy style, with Robert Wagner globe–trotting as a world–class cat burglar recruited by the U.S…
Lady in Cement (1968): Dir. Gordon Douglas
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker…; Second–tier detective flick with Ol' Blue Eyes as a private dick hired to find the murderer of a beautiful young woman found underwater,…
Les Biches (Bad Girls) (1968): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jacqueline Sassard, Stephane Audran; A love–triangle between an heiress, an architect and a young woman, is tested to unsettling effect in this psychological drama. Chabrol…
Magus, The (1968): Dir. Guy Green
Feat. Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, Candice Bergen…; A difficult, if beguiling adaptation of John Fowles’ supposedly unfilmable novel about a troubled schoolteacher (Caine) who arrives on a Greek…
Night of the Following Day, The (1968): Dir. Hubert Cornfield
Feat. Marlon Brando, Richard Boone, Rita Moreno…; An unusual thriller (filmed in France), in which a seedy kidnap plot goes awry. Brando plays the ringleader who must not only run the show, but deal…
No Way to Treat a Lady (1968): Dir. Jack Smight
Feat. Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal…; Macabre cat–and–mouse thriller from the pen of suspense–master William Goldman (MARATHON MAN), about a psychotic master of disguise…
Pretty Poison (1968): Dir. Noel Black
Feat. Anthony Perkins, Tuesday Weld; A fan of PSYCHO? Then check out Anthony Perkins in this chilling tale of a couple of psychos in love. Tuesday Weld glitters as a teenage bad seed.
Randall and Hopkirk Deceased (TV Series) (1968): Dir. Various
Feat. Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope, Annette Andre; Cult 60s British comedy–thriller in which Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope play investigators, one of whom happens to be dead. Complete series…
Sherlock Holmes (TV Series) (A Study In Scarlet, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Sign of Four, The Blue Carbuncle) (1968): Feat. Peter Cushing, Nigel Stock; One of the best to ever play Sherlock Holmes (formerly, in Hammer's HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES), Peter Cushing steps back into the shoes of the famed…
Thomas Crown Affair, The (1968): Dir. Norman Jewison
Feat. Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway; Split–screen pyrotechnics accord this 60s–chic pastiche of exotic crime thriller and steamy romance. Steve McQueen is the…
Twisted Nerve (1968): Dir. Roy Boulting
Feat. Hywel Bennett, Hayley Mills; Hywel Bennett is suitably creepy as a homicidal youth who befriends a nubile Hayley Mills. Unnerving gothic melodrama is well served by Bernard…
Z (1968): Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Irene Papas; Pioneering conspiracy thriller based on the true story of the murder of a doctor and the raw sore of Greek political corruption it exposes. Oscars…
Bonnie and Clyde (1967): Dir. Arthur Penn
Feat. Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman…; One of the seminal films of the late 1960s, an artful depiction of the exploits of Depression–era bank–robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde…
Champagne Murders, The (Le scandale) (1967): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Anthony Perkins, Maurice Ronet, Yvonne Furneaux…; Claude Chabrol transitions into his revered period of thrillers with this potboiler about a champagne tycoon's partner who suspects his partner's…
Circus of Fear (1967): Dir. John Llewellyn Moxey
Feat. Christopher Lee, Klaus Kinski, Suzy Kendall; Not so much a horror film as a murder–mystery about a super–criminal who hides out in a circus. With various red herrings in the plot, a…
Diabolically Yours (Diaboliquement vôtre) (1967): Dir. Julien Duvivier
Feat. Alain Delon, Senta Berger, Sergio Fantoni; Creepy thriller has amnesiac Delon recovering in his opulent mansion with beautiful wife Berger, living the good life. Trouble comes when he begins…
Dragnet (TV Series) (1967): Feat. Jack Webb, Harry Morgan; The classic hard–case, ultra–realistic sixties police procedural, with officers Friday and Gannon cleaning up the mean streets of…
French Screen Icons: Alain Delon 1 (Diabolically Yours, The Burned Barns, The Widow Coudrec, Shock Treatment) (1967-1973): Feat. Alain Delon; Four films starring French leading–man Alain Delon.
Grand Slam (Ad Ogni Costo) (1967): Dir. Giuliano Montaldo
Feat. Janet Leigh, Klaus Kinski, Edward G. Robinson; Smooth–running thriller about an international criminal gang who attempt a gruelling diamond heist during the chaotic Carnival in Rio de…
In Cold Blood (1967): Dir. Richard Brooks
Feat. Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe…; A masterpiece of crime fiction adapted from Truman Capote’s novel about events surrounding the senseless murder of an innocent family by two…
In the Heat of the Night (1967): Dir. Norman Jewison
Feat. Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger; Oscar winning thriller starring Sidney Poitier as an urban black detective brought in to investigate a murder in a racist southern town. Rod Steiger…
Incident, The (1967): Dir. Larry Peerce
Feat. Martin Sheen, Tony Musante, Beau Bridges…; This stark, hard–hitting melodrama depicts two young thugs who drunkenly taunt and terrorize their fellow passengers on a New York subway…
Le Samourai (The Samurai) (1967): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Alain Delon; Alain Delon plays an ultra–cool assassin whose flawless disposition is impenetrable to the Gendarmerie but not to a sexy key witness. Steely…
Point Blank (1967): Dir. John Boorman
Feat. Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn…; Fascinating, at times jarring, thriller has underworld hitman Lee Marvin hunting for those who double–crossed him in The Organisation, only to…
President's Analyst, The (1967): Dir. Theodore J. Flicker
Feat. James Coburn; Madcap comedy suspense tracking a hapless guy awarded the task of being the president's assistant, who then must deal with bribes and death threats…
Robbery (1967): Dir. Peter Yates
Feat. Sir Stanley Baker, Joanna Pettet, James Booth…; Topnotch heist film is a tension filled reconstruction of "The Great Train Robbery" with Stanley Baker in the Ronnie Biggs role. Film gets off to…
Sadisterotica (1967): Dir. Jess Franco
Feat. Janine Reynaud, Rosanna Yanni, Adrian Hoven; Eurotrash comedy–thriller about a foxy private eye whose insignia is imprint of her red lips!? She teams with another babe to pursue a nasty…
Targets (1967): Dir. Peter Bogdanovich
Feat. Boris Karloff, Peter Bogdanovich; The influential first feature from a young Peter Bogdanovich, that effectively contrasts the story of a retiring horror actor (played by Boris…
Wait Until Dark (1967): Dir. Terence Young
Feat. Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna; A blind Audrey Hepburn is trapped in her apartment by psycho–beatnik Alan Arkin, who's looking for hidden heroin. Based on a stageplay, this…
Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection, The (Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy, Family Plot.) (1966-1976): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock; Four Hitchcock masterpieces made during his later years after he returned to Britain..
Baron, The (TV Series) (1966-1967): Dir. Roy Ward Baker, Robert Asher
Feat. Steve Forrest, Sue Lloyd, Colin Gordon; The escapades of John Mannering, aka "The Baron", a Texan–born ranch owner based in London, once a thief, but now reformed as an operative for…
Blow Up (Blow-Up) (1966): Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni
Feat. David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles…; Nothing–is–what–it–seems in this slow yet absorbing account of a fashion photographer's suspicion that he may have witnessed…
Brides of Fu Manchu (1966): Dir. Don Sharp
Feat. Christopher Lee, Douglas Wilmer, Rupert Davies; First sequel to the brilliant revival of Sax Rohmer's 1920s serial in FACE OF FU MANCHU, again with Lee cooking up a dastardly plot – here to…
Catacombs (The Woman Who Wouldn't Die) (1966): Dir. Gordon Hessler
Feat. Gary Merrill, Jane Merrow; A minor British thriller in which a domineering woman (Merrow), whose existence becomes inconvenient for her husband (Merrill) and a blackmailed…
Chase, The (1966): Dir. Arthur Penn
Feat. Marlon Brando, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda…; Action–packed Southern potboiler set around the attempts of a sheriff to protect an escaped convict from mob–justice in smalltown…
Deadlier Than the Male (1966): Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Richard Johnson, Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina…; Retro adventure spy flick compiled of alluring girls with spear guns in trouble after knocking off a couple of oil industry big wigs. This thriller…
Defector, The (1966): Dir. Raoul Levy
Feat. Montgomery Clift, Hardy Kruger, Macha Meril…; Thriller about an American physicist who is blackmailed by the CIA into travelling to East Germany, where he must acquire a microfilm from a…
Fantastic Voyage (1966): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Donald Pleasence, Raquel Welch, Stephen Boyd…; A team of 'experts' are miniaturized and injected into a high–ranking scientist as a last resort to repair his medical condition. An…
Funeral in Berlin (1966): Dir. Guy Hamilton
Feat. Michael Caine, Oscar Homolka; Sequel to THE IPCRESS FILE again features Michael Caine as the Harry Palmer, hero of Len Deighton's novel series. This time the espionage functionary…
Gambit (1966): Dir. Ronald Neame
Feat. Shirley Maclaine, Michael Caine; Charming, clever heist flick about a Cockney conman and a kooky showgirl whose brilliantly elaborate plan to steal an invaluable sculpture backfires…
Harper (1966): Dir. Jack Smight
Feat. Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris…; Paul Newman is laconic as a P.I. in the Bogart tradition, investigating the disappearance of Lauren Bacall’s husband. Sleek, witty entertainment…
How to Steal a Million (1966): Dir. William Wyler
Feat. Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Eli Wallach…; A top cast lifts this romantically–inclined suspense caper, wherein Hepburn must steal a forged sculpture belonging to her own family before it…
Le Deuxieme Souffle (Second Breath) (1966): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Raymond Pellegrin; A gangster escapes from prison and returns to his criminal ways, but a determined inspector is on his tail. Has all the style and restraint we can…
Made in U.S.A (1966): Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Feat. Anna Karina, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Marianne Faithful; Further political horseplay from Godard in the skin of a Nouvelle Vague alternate reality: this time, Anna Karina plays a war journalist on the hunt…
Man in a Suitcase (TV Series) (1966): Feat. Richard Bradford, Donald Sutherland, Felicity Kendall…; Perhaps lesser known (and less innovative) than other suspense series of the 1960s, this ITC production still packs a gritty punch. Bradford plays…
Quiller Memorandum, The (1966): Dir. Michael Anderson
Feat. George Segal, Max von Sydow, Alec Guinness; Cold War thriller given an edge through the expert scripting of Harold Pinter, mapping out a game of psychological cat–and–mouse between…
Rage (1966): Dir. Gilberto Gazcón
Feat. Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, David Reynoso; Sweaty Mexican American thriller with Glenn Ford playing a self–pitying alcoholic doctor who lives alone in a border town, and finds himself…
Theatre of Death / Rasputin - The Mad Monk (1966-1973): Dir. Samuel Gallu, Don Sharp
Feat. Christopher Lee; A 'Midnight Movie' double–feature of two low–budget British horrors starring Christopher Lee. THEATRE OF DEATH (1973) – A tale…
Torn Curtain (1966): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Paul Newman, Julie Andrews; Atom–bomb boffin Paul Newman defects across the Iron Curtain of the title to East Germany, testing the boundaries of trust for true–blue…
10 Little Indians (Ten Little Indians) (1965): Dir. George Pollock
Feat. Hugh O'Brian, Shirley Eaton, Fabian…; Swinging London 60s version of the much–filmed Agatha Christie whodunnit 'And Then There Were None...' set in an isolated Alpine manse, where…
A Study in Terror (1965): Dir. James Hill
Feat. John Neville, Robert Morley, Donald Houston…; Carefully crafted, though at times crude and bloody, Sherlock Holmes mystery (not by Conan Doyle), with the sleuth pursuing the murderous Jack the…
Blindfold (1965): Dir. Philip Dunne
Feat. Rock Hudson, Claudia Cardinale, Jack Warden…; Rock Hudson stars in this wry thriller as a psycho–analyst caught up in an international spy plot after one of his patients knows more than…
Bunny Lake is Missing (1965): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Keir Dullea, Carol Lynley, Laurence Olivier…; Deeply eccentric chiller centred on the hunt for a missing child who the police begin to suspect may never have existed at all. Both a finely…
Collector, The (1965): Dir. William Wyler
Feat. Terence Stamp, Samantha Eggar; Terence Stamp plays a disturbed butterfly collector who kidnaps a girl in the hope that she will grow to love him. Truly memorable chiller maintains…
Face of Fu Manchu (1965): Dir. Don Sharp
Feat. Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, James Robertson-Justice; Revival of Sax Rohmer's 1920s suspense tales based around arch–villain Fu Manchu's attempts to take over the West. This first outing with…
Flight of the Phoenix, The (1965): Dir. Robert Aldrich
Feat. James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch…; One of the great survival–adventure films has an all–star cast crash landing their cargo plane deep in the Sahara, with no obvious means…
Ipcress File, The (1965): Dir. Sidney J. Furie
Feat. Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman…; An academic James Bond–style thriller involving kidnapping, espionage, mysterious tapes and corrupt authorities. Stylised photography and an…
Major Dundee (1965): Dir. Sam Peckinpah
Feat. Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Dana (Jim) Hutton…; Important homage–critique of the Western from dir. Peckinpah, with Heston playing a misanthropic prison warden who pursues a murderous Apache…
Mirage (1965): Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Gregory Peck, Diane Baker, Walter Matthau…; An excellent example of the Hitchcockian thriller with Peck an amnesiac caught up in the murder of a philanthropist.
Oshima's Outlaw Sixties (Pleasures of the Flesh, Violence at Noon a.k.a. Violence at High Noon, Sing a Song of Sex, Japanese Summer: Double Suicide, Three Resurrected Drunkards) (1965-1968): Dir. Nagisa Oshima; Five films from provocative Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, all from the 60's, when he formed his own film production company and enjoyed the most…
Pierrot Le Fou (Crazy Pete) (1965): Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina; A striking example of the French New Wave. It's kiss, kiss, bang, bang all the way with Jean Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina as maverick intellectual…
Dead Ringer (1964): Dir. Paul Henreid
Feat. Bette Davis; Enjoyable, high camp star vehicle for Bette Davis who is driven by jealousy to murder her twin sister in order to assume her identity. Bette, of…
Diamonds of the Night (1964): Dir. Jan Nemec
Feat. Ladislav Jansky, Antonin Kumbera, Irma Bischofova; Extraordinarily intense account, told with almost no dialogue, of two Jewish teenagers running for their lives after escaping from a train bound for…
Fail Safe (1964): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman; Henry Fonda plays the American president struggling to avert an imminent nuclear holocaust, due to a computer malfunction. A nailbiting Cold War…
Gideon's Way (TV Series) (1964-1965): Feat. John Gregson; Superior mid–60s documentary–style police series that centres around the criminal investigations of Commander George Gideon of Scotland…
Hamlet (1964): Dir. Grigori Kozintsev
Feat. Innokenti Smoktunovsky; The legendary Russian version of Shakespeare's play, which visually at least, stands as the greatest yet. Staged amidst the massive battlements of…
High Bright Sun, The (McGuire, Go Home!) (1964): Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, George Chakiris, Susan Strasberg…; Convoluted espionage tale with Bogarde on the trail of a Cypriot freedom fighter with an American Archaeology student holding the key to his…
Hot Enough For June (1964): Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Sylva Koscina, Robert Morley…; A struggling young writer is plunged into a terrifying world of international espionage while on a seemingly innocent commercial assignment to Prague.
Killers, The (1964): Dir. Don Siegel
Feat. Lee Marvin, Clu Gulager, Angie Dickinson…; Transposed into the garish 60s, Ernest Hemingway's famous story is transformed into a harder, more callous exercise in casual violence and sexual…
Kitten with a Whip (1964): Dir. Douglas Heyes
Feat. Ann-Margret, John Forsythe, Peter Brown…; Ann–Margaret brings white–hot intensity to this cult classic about a teenage girl on the run from the law who blackmails a clueless…
Lady in a Cage (1964): Dir. Walter Grauman
Feat. Olivia de Havilland, James Caan, Ann Sothern…; A wealthy, though incapacitated de Havilland gets stuck in her own private lift and is terrorised by a group of menacing youths, led by Caan. This…
Marnie (1964): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Sean Connery, Tippi Hedren, Martin Gabel…; Rich businessman Sean Connery blackmails kleptomaniac secretary Tippi Hedren into marrying him, thence free to try out his own brand of experimental…
Moon Spinners, The (1964): Feat. Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach, Peter McEnery…; A Hitchcockian thriller for the younger set from Disney in which a young girl (Hayley Mills) becomes involved in a jewel theft in Crete.
Murder Ahoy (1964): Dir. George Pollock
Feat. Margaret Rutherford, Lionel Jeffries, Charles Tingwell…; Rutherford dons Miss Marple's hat again, this time boarding a ship to uncover more murders and a ring of thieves.
Murder Most Foul (1964): Dir. George Pollock
Feat. Margaret Rutherford, Ron Moody, Charles Tingwell…; Fourth and final film in the Agatha Christie/MGM set. Rutherford appears again as Miss Marple, defiant as the only member of a jury who believes the…
Satan Bug, The (1964): Dir. John Sturges
Feat. Alistair Maclean, Richard Basehart; Set in a hushed desert landscape of secret government laboratories and ominous rock–formations, this Cold War paranoia–thriller…
Seance On a Wet Afternoon (1964): Dir. Bryan Forbes
Feat. Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough; This British classic boasts a rare performance by the amazing Kim Stanley as a gently off–her–rocker matron who goads her meek husband…
Seven Days in May (1964): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster; Kirk Douglas stumbles upon a conspiracy led by General Burt Lancaster, to bring down the US President (who goes and signs treaties with the…
Topkapi (1964): Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov, Maximilian Schell…; A classy comic–romantic spin on the director’s RIFIFI shot on location in Turkey and Greece, that climaxes with another brilliantly exacted…
Birds, The (1963): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy…; Hitch's masterful rendering of Daphne Du Maurier's novella contains some of his most memorable set pieces, as the population of a seaside resort come…
Doulos, Le (The Finger Man) (1963): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani; Eschewing the French New Wave movement in favour of homage to the then ‘passe’ genre of film noir, dir. Jean–Pierre Melville adds shades of…
Francis Durbridge Presents... (1963): Feat. Nigel Hawthorne, Denis Quilley, Gerald Harper…; A collection of mystery writer Francis Durbridge's works for BBC television. Billed as 'event' thrillers they featured an enjoyable mix of…
High and Low (1963): Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Toshiro Mifune; Adapted from a crime–novel by Ed McBain, this kidnapping–thriller is a central work in dir. Kurosawa’s series of film noirs, combining…
Judex (1963): Dir. Georges Franju
Feat. Edith Scob, Channing Pollock, Francine Bergé; Georges Franju's magical remake of Louis Feuillade’s 1916 serial, in which a masked crime fighter seeks revenge on a corrupt banker. A lyrical…
List Of Adrian Messenger, The (1963): Dir. John Huston
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, Tony Curtis…; An intelligence officer is on the trail of a psychopath intent on working his bloody way through a seemingly unrelated list of…
Man from the Diners' Club, The (1963): Dir. Frank Tashlin
Feat. Danny Kaye, Cara Williams, Martha Hyer…; Comedy with Danny Kaye playing a meek clerk who gets into trouble when he approves a Diner's Club card for a mobster running a racketeering…
Murder at the Gallop (1963): Dir. George Pollock
Feat. Margaret Rutherford, Robert Morley, Dame Flora Robson…; Agatha Christie on film with Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. Suspicions mount as relatives gather for the reading of a dead man's will.
Prize, The (1963): Dir. Mark Robson
Feat. Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer; Paul Newman plays an alcoholic writer in Stockholm to collect his Nobel Prize who drunkenly stumbles upon an overly complicated spy plot.
Sadist, The (1963): Dir. James Landis
Feat. Arch Hall Jr.; Like BADLANDS, this little–known drive–in flick is based on the infamous Starkweather murder spree of the late 50s, and is never less…
Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The (TV Series) (1962-1965): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, various; Picking up directly from where 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' left off, this three season series expands Hitch's iconic mystery anthology to 50 minute…
Cape Fear (1962): Dir. J. Lee-Thompson
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck; The original chiller that inspired the recent remake, complete with Bernard Herrmann's bombastic score. Robert Mitchum plays the ex–con…
Day the Earth Caught Fire, The (1962): Dir. Val Guest
Feat. Edward Judd, Leo McKern; A solidly old–fashioned 'disaster film' in which H–Bomb test knock the Earth of its axis, leading to terrifying and accelerating climate…
Devil's Hand, The (1962): Dir. William J. Hole Jnr
Feat. Linda Christian, Robert Alda, Neil Hamilton; Hammy low–budget horror of a man seduced by a blonde vixen who forces him to become involved in a mysterious satanic cult she holds allegiance…
Dr. Crippen (1962): Dir. Robert Lynn
Feat. Donald Pleasence, Coral Browne, Samantha Eggar; This well paced drama centered around Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen's murder of his wife was originally billed as a horror, but is actually a rather…
Five Miles to Midnight (1962): Dir. Anatole Litvak
Feat. Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Gig Young…; Unfocused but intriguing murder–mystery with Anthony Perkins as a domineering, jealous husband who convinces his wife (Loren) to collect…
Knife in the Water (1962): Dir. Roman Polanski
Feat. Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz; The old adage 'three is a crowd' is chillingly played out in Polanski's directing debut about a couple's troubled yachting weekend with a…
Le Combat Dans L'île (1962): Dir. Alain Cavalier
Feat. Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Henri Serre…; French drama exploring the tension between right and left wing politics in the early 60's, through the romantic conflict faced by a woman (Romy…
Lonely Are The Brave (1962): Dir. David Miller
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, Walter Matthau…; Kirk Douglas is on top form in this Dalton Trumbo–penned 'psychological' Western, playing an anti–establishment cowboy who purposefully…
Manchurian Candidate, The (1962): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh…; Politically–charged nail–biter with Frank Sinatra experiencing post–war paranoia about a fellow soldier who may have been…
Roman Polanski Collection, The (Knife in the Water, Repulsion, Cul-de-Sac) (1962-1966): Dir. Roman Polanski; The first three features of the Polish master – "Knife in the Water", "Repulsion" and "Cul–de–Sac".
A Man Called La Rocca (Un nommé La Rocca) (1961): Dir. Jean Becker
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Christine Kaufmann, Nico; French thriller with Jean Paul Belmondo playing an ex–gangster tracking down the man responsible for putting his friend in prison. Based on the…
Agatha Christie 'Miss Marple' Boxset (Murder She Said, Murder at the Gallop, Murder Most Foul, Murder Ahoy) (1961-1964): Dir. George Pollock
Feat. Margaret Rutherford; Four classic Agatha Christie stories from MGM's brief 'Miss Marple' phase, with the mercurial Margaret Rutherford doning the old spinster's detective…
Blast of Silence (1961): Dir. Allen Baron
Feat. Allen Baron; Grumpy, low–fi noir presides over the movements of a tetchy contract killer (dir. Baron) as he prepares to whack a two–bit mobster during…
Five Minutes To Live (Door-to-Door Maniac) (1961): Dir. Bill Karn
Feat. Johnny Cash, Cay Forrester, Donald Woods…; Little known B–movie thriller with Cash and Forrester playing hoods who complete a smalltown bank robbery, then start paying suburban house…
Frightened City, The (1961): Dir. John Lemont
Feat. Sean Connery, Herbert Lom, John Gregson; London becomes terrorised by protection racketeers who intend to amalgamate into one vast crime syndicate.
Innocents, The (1961): Dir. Jack Clayton
Feat. Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins…; Notable adaptation of Henry James' ghost story "The Turn of the Screw", featuring Deborah Kerr as a neurotic nanny. Taking a job at a spooky…
Murder She Said (1961): Dir. George Pollock
Feat. Margaret Rutherford, Arthur Kennedy, James Robertson-Justice…; Miss Marple sees a murder aboard a passing train. First of four accomplished Agatha Christie films starring Margaret Rutherford.
Two Sides of Johnny Cash (Five Minutes to Live + Johnny Cash: An Anthology) (1961): Dir. Bill Karn
Feat. Johnny Cash; Double disc DVD includes Cash's starring turn in sixities B–movie thriller FIVE MINUTES TO LIVE, plus JOHNNY CASH: AN ANTHOLOGY, a tribute…
Underworld U.S.A (1961): Dir. Samuel Fuller
Feat. Cliff Robertson; Revenge story about a 14–year–old who witnesses the murder of his father by four mobsters, and seeks retribution against them years later.
Victim (1961): Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms; As an English barrister blackmailed over his homosexual past, Dirk Bogarde gives a keynote performance, the first in what was to become a long line…
Young Savages, The (1961): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Dina Merrill, Edward Andrews…; Arresting crime drama set on the segregated streets of East Harlem and focused on a district attorney investigating the murder of a blind Puerto…
Classe Tous Risques (Consider All Risks) (1960): Dir. Claude Sautet
Feat. Lino Ventura, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sandra Milo; French–Italian gangster film following the exploits of a French mobster (Lino Ventura, based on a real life henchman for the French Gestapo)…
Criminal, The (1960): Dir. Joseph Losey
Feat. Sam Wanamaker, Gregoire Aslan; Joseph–Losey–directed crime drama of a con sent to prison after a profitable robbery who is tortured by his fellow prisoners to leak…
Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse (The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse) (1960): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Dawn Addams, Peter Van Eyck, Gert Frobe; The final film in Fritz Lang's DR. MABUSE series, which includes DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLER and THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE, is also the director's…
French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 1 (Moderato Cantabile, A Man Called La Rocca, Weekend at Dunkirk) (1960-1964): Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo; Three films starring French leading–man Jean–Paul Belmondo.
Le Trou (The Hole; The Night Watch) (1960): Dir. Jacques Becker
Feat. Marc Michel; Classic, noir–ish prison suspense in the mould of A MAN ESCAPED and RIFIFI chronicles an ambitious tunnel escape. Sparse and tense.
Midnight Lace (1960): Dir. David Miller
Feat. Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin…; Suave thriller with a strong dramatic performance for Day who plays a newly–wed in Paris taunted and pursued by a stalker.
Murder, Inc. (1960): Dir. Stuart Rosenberg, Burt Balaban
Feat. Stuart Whitman, Peter Falk, Simon Oakland; Cinemascope gangland film based on the true story of the eponymous Brooklyn gang that operated in the 1930s. It launched the careers of both Stuart…
October Man, The (1960): Dir. Roy Ward Baker
Feat. John Mills, Joan Greenwood, Edward Chapman…; Atmospheric pot–boiler in which John Mills plays an amnesiac accused of murder who fights to prove his innocence, apprehend the murderer and…
Peeping Tom (1960): Dir. Michael Powell
Feat. Karlheinz Bohm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey; While Hitchcock's PSYCHO received raves reviews and general acceptance, Michael Powell's equally contentious but brilliant film was condemned as…
Plein Soleil (Purple Noon) (1960): Dir. Rene Clement
Feat. Alain Delon, Marie Laforet, Maurice Ronet; The original adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's gripping novel 'The Talented Mr Ripley', who is here embodied by a sleek Delon in only his third…
Portrait in Black (1960): Dir. Michael Gordon
Feat. Lana Turner, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart…; Sudsy potboiler with Turner and Quinn murdering Turner's wealthy husband, unfortunately the perfect crime does not go undetected. Campy fun.
Rise and Fall of 'Legs' Diamond, The (1960): Dir. Budd Boetticher
Feat. Ray Danton, Karen Steele, Elaine Stewart…; A professionally–shot thriller about the career of New York gangster Jack 'Legs' Diamond, who rose to prominence in the 1920s and maintained…
39 Steps, The (1959): Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Kenneth More, Taina Elg; Colour copy of Hitchcock's spy thriller, this time with Kenneth More and Taina Elg as the innocents entangled in Scottish intrigue.
A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) (1959): Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Daniel Boulanger…; Godard's landmark first film pulls out all the stops in the style department – with Jean–Paul Belmondo as the romantic fugitive,…
Anatomy of a Murder (1959): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara…; Smalltown lawyer James Stewart defends a man accused of murdering a suspected rapist. The shifting ambiguities of the case make this more a…
Atomic Submarine (1959): Dir. Spencer Gordon Bennet
Feat. Arthur Franz, Dick Foran; Entertaining sci–fi thriller with a decent script and a believable cast, even if the small budget is plainly obvious.
Come Dance with Me (Voulez-Vous Danser Avec Moi?) (1959): Dir. Michel Boisrond
Feat. Brigitte Bardot, Dawn Addams; Surprisingly entertaining French mystery thriller tracking a wife attempting to clear her husband's name from involvement in a dance studio murder.…
Compulsion (1959): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Dean Stockwell, Bradford Dillman, Orson Welles…; As distinctive a rendition of the infamous Leopold–Loeb murder case as ROPE and SWOON, Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman playing the…
Crimson Kimono, The (1959): Dir. Samuel Fuller
Feat. Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta; Two detectives, one of Japanese heritage, both fall in love with the key witness in a murder case. Noted for its inclusion of an interracial romance…
Great St. Louis Bank Robbery, The (1959): Dir. Charles Guggenheim, John Stix
Feat. Steve McQueen; This noir thriller is one of McQueen's best early roles, and although somewhat obscure has a cult reputation for its shootout scenes and intense,…
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959): Dir. John Sturges
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones…; Underrated American Western telling the tale of a U.S. Marshal seeking revenge in the town of 'Gun Hill' after the racially charged rape and murder…
North by Northwest (1959): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason…; Cary Grant becomes a victim of mistaken identity and is chased across America by enemy agents, in one stylish set piece after another. One of Hitch's…
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959): Dir. Robert Wise
Feat. Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters…; Injecting race problems into a surefire thriller formula, this has an unstable criminal trio – ex–convict (Ryan), crooked cop (Begley)…
One Step Beyond (TV Series) (1959): Feat. John Newland; Classic television series billed as 'your guide to the supernatural' serves half–hour docudramas of unexplained, paranormal 'true events'.…
Sapphire (1959): Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Nigel Patrick, Yvonne Mitchell, Michael Craig…; Scandalous subject–wise for post–war Britain, where a murdered black woman is discovered to have been posing as white. Obviously dated…
Tiger Bay (1959): Dir. J. Lee Thompson
Feat. John Mills, Hayley Mills, Horst Buchholz; Haley Mills’ breakthrough is a memorable and mature British thriller; she plays witness to a murder by a Polish sailor, who she subsequent…
Untouchables, The (TV Series) (1959-1963): Feat. Robert Stack, Paul Picerni; An iconic crime series that once baited controversy for its escalation of television violence, this pulled out the stops to authentically…
Bonnie Parker Story, The (1958): Dir. William Witney
Feat. Dorothy Provine, Dick Bakalyan, Jack Hogan; Dorothy Provine is sensational in this low–budget telling the story of the tommy–gun toting 1930s gangster Bonnie Parker,…
Cry Terror! (1958): Dir. Andrew L. Stone
Feat. James Mason, Inger Stevens, Rod Steiger…; Crime thriller with Rod Steiger as a mad extortionist who forces a New York shop owner (James Mason) to collect a ransom after threatening to blow up…
Defiant Ones, The (1958): Dir. Stanley Kramer
Feat. Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier; That well known image of race–hatred – escaped black and white prisoners unwillingly handcuffed together – originated here, with…
It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958): Dir. Edward L. Cahn
Feat. Marshall Thompson, Kim Spalding, Shawn Smith; 50's sci–fi horror set in a future 1973. A hostile martian life form stows away on a rescue ship heading to Mars to recover survivors of an…
Party Girl (1958): Dir. Nicholas Ray
Feat. Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb…; Delicious Nicholas Ray–directed potboiler finds bum–legged Robert Taylor trying to cut ties with the mob. A slinky Cyd Charisse (tearing…
Sea of Sand (Desert Patrol) (1958): Dir. Guy Green
Feat. Richard Attenborough, Vincent Ball, Michael Craig…; Brit war thriller about an army team sent to destroy a German petrol dump in preparation for an attack who are confronted by their enemies in the…
Thunder Road (1958): Dir. Arthur Ripley
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Jacques Aubuchon…; Effective, gritty road movie about a mountain man moonshiner at war with both authorities and big–city competitors. An unusually personal…
Vertigo (1958): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes…; Hitchcock at his most daring and surreal weaves a complex tale of neurosis when Jimmy Stewart's detective begins trailing a mysterious woman (Novak).…
Across the Bridge (1957): Dir. Ken Annakin
Feat. Rod Steiger, Marla Landi, Noel Willman…; An underrated and little–known thriller with Steiger playing a shady accountant on the run from the FBI and Scotland Yard, who tries to make…
Fiend Without a Face (1957): Dir. Arthur Crabtree
Feat. Marshall Thompson, Kim Parker; Noteworthy 'alien invader' thriller in which creatures resembling the human brain run amok in a small town. Macabre proceedings are resolved in a…
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957): Dir. John Huston
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr; Kerr and Mitchum play a nun and Marine sergeant respectively, who are stranded on a desert island during WWII – the island happens to also be…
Hell Drivers (Hard Drivers) (1957): Dir. Cy Endfield
Feat. Patrick McGoohan, Sir Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom…; Stanley Baker plays a hard–nosed trucker forced to take on a dangerous long haul, through which a bitter rivalry develops with a fellow driver…
Night Passage (1957): Dir. James Neilson
Feat. James Stewart, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea…; A 'railroad western' with good guy Stewart defending the tracks against a gang of desperados led by Duryea. Tough cast give some distinction to a…
One That Got Away, The (Einer Kam Durch) (1957): Dir. Roy Ward Baker
Feat. Hardy Kruger, Colin Gordon, Terence Alexander…; Sturdy war thriller centred on the true story of German airman Franz von Werra – the only German POW to successfully escape from allied custody…
Perry Mason (TV Series) (1957-1966): Feat. Raymond Burr, William Hopper, William Talman…; Benchmark legal drama series which turned star Raymond Burr into a television institution as the near–invincible criminal lawyer, Perry…
River's Edge, The (1957): Dir. Allan Dwan
Feat. Ray Milland, Anthony Quinn, Debra Paget…; Tight crime drama with Milland as a murderous thief who forces Quinn to escort him safely across the desert to Mexico. There's a nice twist in the…
Time Without Pity (1957): Dir. Joseph Losey
Feat. Michael Redgrave, Leo McKern, Ann Todd…; Nervy noir has Michael Redgrave in top form as an alcoholic father racing against time to save his son from the gallows. Somewhat dated thriller…
Timelock (1957): Dir. Gerald Thomas
Feat. Sean Connery, Robert Beatty, Lee Patterson; Tense thriller based on a play by Arthur Hailey (AIRPORT), in which a young boy is locked in a bank vault by accident, which can only be opened…
Twelve Angry Men (12 Angry Men) (1957): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley…; Henry Fonda holds–out on a unanimous jury who wish to convict an alleged murderer. A sweltering tension is worked up as he struggles to…
Vicious Circle, The (Circle) (1957): Dir. Gerald Thomas
Feat. John Mills, Derek Farr, Lionel Jeffries; Neatly convoluted mystery has John Mills play an eminent medical specialist who is implicated in a murder when the body of a German actress turns up…
Witness for the Prosecution (1957): Dir. Billy Wilder
Feat. Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton…; Tense courtroom thriller, with Tyrone Power in the dock, defended by Charles Laughton, and consoled by wife Marlene Dietrich. Agatha Christie's story…
23 Paces To Baker Street (1956): Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. Van Johnson, Vera Miles, Cecil Parker…; Genuine nail–biter with Van Johnson as a blind writer who has the misfortune to overhear a kidnapping plot, enlisting his two friends he sets…
Backlash (1956): Dir. John Sturges
Feat. Richard Widmark, Donna Reed, William Campbell…; Richard Widmark and Donna Reed play the tough–talkin', rootin–tootin leads in this gritty horse opera, as they both seek vengeance for…
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer…; This bleak film noir from director Fritz Lang is a triumph of style and mood with a cynical take on fate and the human condition. An impeccably…
Killer is Loose, The (1956): Dir. Budd Boetticher
Feat. Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey; Film noir about a bank robber who escapes prison and sets out on a revenge mission to bring down the cop the killed his wife. Leaning heavily into…
Kiss Before Dying, A (1956): Dir. Gerd Oswald
Feat. Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Joanne Woodward…; The first and best version of Ira Levin's (ROSEMARY'S BABY) early novel, in which status–anxious student Wagner plots the murder of his…
Man Escaped, A (1956): Dir. Robert Bresson
Feat. Francois Leterrier; Bresson's films are all extremely controlled in style: no suspense, no histrionics, flat acting, spare and simple camerawork, yet this is an…
Man in the Vault (1956): Dir. Andrew V. McLaglen
Feat. William Campbell, Berry Kroeger, Karen Sharpe; Tommy Dancer is an ordinary man thrust into an extraordinary situation – a locksmith forced into a heist by a ruthless mobster and his…
Man Who Knew Too Much, The (1956): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. James Stewart, Doris Day; Hitchcock remakes his 1934 film and generally comes up trumps with James Stewart and Doris Day as the innocent victims of international espionage.…
Please Murder Me (Please Murder Me!) (1956): Dir. Peter Godfrey
Feat. Angela Lansbury, Raymond Burr, Dick Foran…; Raymond Burr and Angela Lansbury square off in this tough–minded noir about a lawyers who successfully defends his client only to discover…
Run for the Sun (1956): Dir. Roy Boulting
Feat. Richard Widmark, Trevor Howard, Jane Greer…; Righteous remake of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME has Widmark and Greer running through some almighty foliage desperate to evade smarmy baddie…
Unguarded Moment, The (1956): Dir. Harry Keller
Feat. Esther Williams, George Nader, John Saxon…; Film noir with MGM star Esther Williams playing a High School music teacher and unmarried 'career woman' who is targeted by a stalker. Although…
While the City Sleeps (1956): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders…; Considered a vastly under–rated Fritz Lang noir, this newspaper drama provides plenty of social commentary depicting the story of the "Lipstick…
Wrong Man, The (1956): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Henry Fonda; Henry Fonda plays a New York musician whose personal life is dismantled through being falsely accused of robbery. The documentary style well suits…
Yield to the Night (Blonde Sinner) (1956): Dir. J. Lee Thompson
Feat. Diana Dors, Yvonne Mitchell, Michael Craig; British crime drama film that features a celebrated performance by "blonde bombshell" Diana Dors. Bearing a coincidental resemblance to the Ruth…
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) (1955-1962): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, various
Feat. Vera Miles, Ralph Meeker, John Forsythe…; Pre–dating THE TWILIGHT ZONE by some years, the Master of Suspense created this iconic television series featuring self–contained tales…
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955): Dir. John Sturges
Feat. Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin…; An unflappable Spencer Tracy arrives in a desolate town to investigate a dormant missing–persons report, but the surly locals don't take to…
Bob Le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler) (1955): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Roger Duchesne, Isabelle Corney; Superb French noir from the dir. of LE SAMOURAI, here debuting with a taut plan to rob the Deauville casino, that grows ever more perilous for…
Confidential Report (Mr. Arkadin) (1955): Dir. Orson Welles
Feat. Orson Welles, Robert Arden, Paola Mori…; A typically Welles–ian shaggy dog story, with Welles himself playing a possibly insane, Kane–like billionaire, who hires a detective to…
Desperate Hours, The (1955): Dir. William Wyler
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Arthur Kennedy…; A bunch of escaped convicts, led by Bogart, hold a family hostage in this domestic noir thriller based on the Broadway play by Joseph Hayes.…
House Of Bamboo (1955): Dir. Samuel Fuller
Feat. Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, Shirley Yamaguchi…; Samuel Fuller directs this exciting Tokyo–set noir, about an American army cop who goes undercover to take down an organised crime ring lead by…
I Died A Thousand Times (1955): Dir. Stuart Heisler
Feat. Jack Palance, Shelley Winters, Lee Marvin…; Enjoyable remake of High Sierra that benefits from a fantastic cast and a rousing finale. Look for a young and uncredited Dennis Hopper.
Man with the Golden Arm, The (1955): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak; Cardsharp Frank Sinatra, is fresh out of 'the joint' with dreams of being a jazz drummer. Heroin though, is keeping him down, trapped in a…
Man Without A Star (1955): Dir. King Vidor
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Jeanne Crain, Claire Trevor; Character–driven Western sees Kirk Douglas plays a laconic gunslinger with a dark–side, who drifts from scrape to scrape while working…
Night My Number Came Up, The (1955): Dir. Leslie Norman
Feat. Michael Redgrave, Sheila Sim, Alexander Knox…; A prophetic nightmare about an ill–fated plane flight begins to play out as reality for 13 passengers aboard a British military aircraft in…
Pete Kelly's Blues (1955): Dir. Jack Webb
Feat. Jack Webb, Janet Leigh, Edmond O'Brien…; Musical set in 1920's Kansas which blends jazz, gangsters and political corruption. Directed by and starring Jack Webb as a cornet player who is…
Rififi (1955): Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Jean Servais, Jules Dassin, Magali Noel…; The French reclaim film noir with this methodical and stylish heist movie, famous for its 35 minute real–time bank robbery, executed in virtual…
Soldier of Fortune (1955): Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Clark Gable, Susan Hayward, Michael Rennie…; Mercenary Clark Gable is recruited to search for Hayward's lost husband in this proficient Hong Kong set thriller. Anti–communist thriller…
Storm Fear (1955): Dir. Cornel Wilde
Feat. Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Dan Duryea…; Crime noir about a gang member who seeks shelter with his brother's family after being wounded during a botched bank robbery. Once there, he…
Trouble with Harry, The (1955): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. John Forsythe, Shirley Maclaine; The trouble with Harry is that he's dead, and the townspeople, including a young John Forsyth and Shirley Maclaine, don't quite know how to deal with…
Violent Saturday (1955): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Victor Mature, Richard Egan, Stephen McNally…; Crisp southern noir in which a bank robbery gone wrong ignites trouble in amongst the morally corrupt citizens of a small town. Ripping dialogue and…
An Inspector Calls (1954): Dir. Guy Hamilton
Feat. Alastair Sim, Jane Wenham; Alastair Sim, superb here as the titular inspector, bears down on a smug upper crust family whose closely–guarded secrets are exposed to…
Caine Mutiny, The (1954): Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Humphrey Bogart; Solid action with unstable Ship's Captain Humphrey Bogart contending with mutinies and typhoons.
Dial M for Murder (1954): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Ray Milland, Grace Kelly; An ageing tennis champion arranges the death of his wife for her inheritance. Hitch adapts the chilling stageplay, obviously well at home with the…
Good Die Young, The (1954): Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Feat. Laurence Harvey, Sir Stanley Baker, Joan Collins…; Fiery British heist–noir with a debt–burdened Laurence Harvey leading a motley crew of down–on–their–luck military men…
Les Diaboliques (1954): Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
Feat. Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot, Paul Meurisse…; Simone Signoret stars as one of two women who conspire to murder the man they share – a sadistic schoolmaster. Iconic French thriller with a…
Life at Stake, A (1954): Dir. Paul Guilfoyle
Feat. Angela Lansbury, Keith Andes, Douglas Dumbrille…; Minor noir elevated by the presence of Lansbury as a seductress who's business proposition to a struggling architect may not be strictly financial.
Lifeboat (1954): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix; Enterprising thriller staged entirely within the confines of a lifeboat. Its simplistic anti–Nazi politic is perhaps redeemed by Tallulah…
Night People (1954): Dir. Nunnally Johnson
Feat. Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Anita Bjork…; Talky thriller with Gregory Peck as a Colonel trying to negotiate the release of a young G.I. held in East Germany. Plenty of political chicanery and…
Rear Window (1954): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. James Stewart, Grace Kelly; Convalescing photographer Jimmy Stewart observes what may have been a murder in an opposing apartment. A Hitchcock must.
Ring Of Fear (1954): Dir. James Edward Grant
Feat. Clyde Beatty, Mickey Spillane, Pat O'Brien…; Campy thriller with lion tamer Clyde Beatty and crime writer Mickey Spillane, appearing as themselves, teaming up to track a killer obsessed with a…
Sleeping Tiger (1954): Dir. Joseph Losey
Feat. Dirk Bogarde; Suave street–crim Dirk Bogarde is sheltered by one of his victims, a psychiatrist who attempts to cure Bogarde's 'illness'. Shot with a baroque…
Suddenly (1954): Dir. Lewis Allen
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden; Frank Sinatra impresses in an unsympathetic role: a sneering, cynical war–veteran out to practice his marksmanship on the President of the…
This Island Earth (1954): Dir. Joseph Newman
Feat. Rex Reason, Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue; Seriously cool sci–fi adventure with startling production values enriching its B–movie spirit. Rex Reason plays a scientist unwittingly…
To Catch a Thief (1954): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Cary Grant, Grace Kelly; Hitchcock takes a whimsical approach for this caper about a reformed cat burglar who sets about catching the thief that is imitating his old style.…
Witness to Murder (1954): Dir. Roy Rowland
Feat. Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill…; Film noir following a woman who doubts her sanity after witnessing a murder from her apartment window. While the cops think she is just some…
Beat the Devil (1953): Dir. John Huston
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lorre…; Spoofing their own suspense movies (such as CASABLANCA and MALTESE FALCON), Humphrey Bogart and dir. Huston produced this comic oddity with the help…
Hitch-Hiker, The (1953): Dir. Ida Lupino
Feat. Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman; Weekend hunters Edmond O’Brien (D.O.A.) and Frank Lovejoy are terrorised by a psychotic, mass–murdering passenger (William Talman) in this…
I Confess (1953): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden; Striking Wellesian cinematography and an excellent performance by proto–Method actor Montgomery Clift more than make up for minor shortcomings…
Man Who Watched Trains Go By, The (1953): Dir. Harold French
Feat. Claude Rains; Dutch office clerk Claude Rains hurtles on the Paris Express when he stumbles across stolen loot and his boss winds up dead. Based on the Georges…
Seminole (1953): Dir. Budd Boetticher
Feat. Rock Hudson, Barbara Hale, Anthony Quinn…; Superlative Western set against the backdrop of 1835 Florida, where Rock Hudson plays a West Pointer Lieutenant who, on the insistence of Richard…
Thunder Bay (1953): Dir. Anthony Mann
Feat. James Stewart, Joanne Dru, Gilbert Roland…; Stewart and Mann swap horses for oil–rigs – though its still very much a western – in this brawny adventure set in the Gulf of…
Wages of Fear (Salaire de la Peur, Le) (1953): Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
Feat. Yves Montand, Charles Vanel; A young Yves Montand leads a group of impoverished men over rocky Latin American terrain with a dangerous load of nitro–glycerine. Considered…
Angel Face (1952): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons; Jean Simmons is a woman possessed in this quietly unconventional film noir, playing a take–no–prisoners femme fatale who systematically…
Clash by Night (1952): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe; Simmering jealousies in a run–down fishing village provide downbeat fare from the pen of Clifford Odets. With Barbara Stanwyk, Robert Ryan and…
Don't Bother to Knock (1952): Dir. Roy Ward Baker
Feat. Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark; Marilyn Monroe in her first leading role plays a psychotic babysitter who lures an unwitting Richard Widmark into her world of delusion.
Five Fingers (5 Fingers) (1952): Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Feat. James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie…; Witty espionage thriller set during the Second World War with Mason as a status–hungry valet who hawks important documents to the Germans in…
Hunted (1952): Dir. Charles Crichton
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Kay Walsh, Geoffrey Keen…; Brit suspense trailing an orphan on the run from his foster parents wrath after an accident who is kidnapped by a wanted criminal who trys to prevent…
Kansas City Confidential (1952): Dir. Phil Karlson
Feat. Lee Van Cleef, John Payne, Coleen Gray…; A grimly tough crime drama set in the Kansas City underworld. Payne plays an ex–con who is jailed for an unrelated crime, and on release…
Narrow Margin (1952): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White…; A woman planning to testify against the mob must be protected against their assassins on the train trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Niagara (1952): Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters…; This bold film provided Marilyn with her first big part, and it's possibly her best. She's a scheming, faithless wife who plots to murder her husband…
Planter's Wife, The (Outpost in Malaya) (1952): Dir. Ken Annakin
Feat. Claudette Colbert, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel…; Claudette Colbert and Jack Hawkins star in this fiery actioner as plantation owners under siege from commie bandits. Colbert is a dab hand with a…
Scandal Sheet (1952): Dir. Phil Karlson
Feat. Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed, John Derek; When the editor of a sensationalist newspaper commits an accidental murder, his own staff start to report on the case, and gradually inch closer to…
Sniper, The (1952): Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz, Gerald Mohr…; Film noir shot on location in San Francisco, with Arthur Franz (THE CAINE MUTINY) playing a disturbed professional driver who harbours misogynistic…
Sudden Fear (1952): Dir. David Miller
Feat. Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame…; Enjoyable potboiler with Palance as an ambitious young actor who sets out to seduce and destroy wealthy playwright Crawford. Rollicking…
Venetian Bird (Assassin) (1952): Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Richard Todd, Eva Bartok, John Gregson…; Complex thriller with a detective sent to Venice by an insurance company finds himself on the run after being framed for a series of murders.…
Detective Story (1951): Dir. William Wyler
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, Cathy O'Donnell…; Kirk Douglas is his grizzled, hard–bitten self as one of several detectives trying to get through the work day at a busy Brooklyn…
He Ran All The Way (1951): Dir. John Berry
Feat. John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford; Tense film noir features John Garfield as a bank robber on the run and Shelly Winters as the woman who takes him into her home. Garfield's final…
On Dangerous Ground (1951): Dir. Nicholas Ray
Feat. Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond…; Grimly rewarding noir, with real–life tough guy Robert Ryan in one of his best roles. As a cop helping with a protracted rural manhunt, he…
Prowler, The (1951): Dir. Joseph Losey
Feat. Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes, John Maxwell…; This underseen "perv noir" deliciously subverts archetypes by twisting its menacing male lead (a terrific Van Heflin) into a 'homme fatale', replete…
Racket, The (1951): Dir. John Cromwell
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Lizabeth Scott…; An incorruptible police captain's attempts to clean up the streets of his town leads to confrontation with the local mob boss. Minor noir, previously…
Strangers On a Train (1951): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Robert Walker, Farley Granger; The Master of Suspense justifies his mantle with this consummate thriller. He executes one glorious set piece after another as psycho Robert Walker…
Thing, The (The Thing From Another World) (1951): Dir. Christian Nyby
Feat. Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite; Howard Hawksian macho men in leather tussle it out with men in cardies over how to protect themselves from the abomidable alien outside in the snow.…
When Worlds Collide (1951): Dir. Rudolph Mate
Feat. Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen…; When Earth faces imminent and total destruction from an errant star, scientists must organise an evacuation in time to save the human race. Thrilling…
Alfred Hitchcock - The Signature Collection (Dial M for Murder, I Confess, Stage Fright, The Wrong Man.) (1950-1957): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock; Box set contains four 50's classics from The Master of Suspense.
Blue Lamp, The (1950): Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Patrick Doonan, Jack Warner; A confident, precisely–judged thriller set in post–war London, with feral petty–crooks Dirk Bogarde and Patrick Doonan being hunted…
Clouded Yellow, The (1950): Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Jean Simmons, Trevor Howard, Kenneth More…; Superior British noir with Howard as a jaded ex–secret service agent pressed into service when he falls for the charms of mysterious young…
Damned Don't Cry, The (1950): Dir. Vincent Sherman
Feat. Joan Crawford, David Brian, Steve Cochran…; Loosely based on the relationship between Bugsy Siegel and Virginia Hill, this riveting film tells of a New York socialite's involvement with an…
Enforcer, The (1950): Dir. Bretaigne Windust
Feat. Humphrey Bogart; Gripping, well–characterized crime drama leads D.A. Humphrey Bogart into the seedy underworld to trail the leader of a notorious murder ring.
House by the River (1950): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Louis Hayward, Lee Bowman, Jane Wyatt…; Crime noir which chillingly evokes the Victorian era thanks to director Fritz Lang's characteristic attention to detail and mood. When a rich…
Panic in the Streets (1950): Dir. Elia Kazan
Feat. Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes…; Early New Orleans–set Kazan noir, follows the hunt for a killer who may be spreading a bubonic plague. Tense, detailed examination of morality…
So Long at the Fair (1950): Dir. Antony Damborough, Terence Fisher
Feat. Jean Simmons, Dirk Bogarde, David Tomlinson…; Spooky urban legend gets the cinematic treatment in this accomplished chiller. At the 1896 World Fair in Paris two siblings check into a hotel, in…
Stage Fright (1950): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding…; Aspiring actress Jane Wyman investigates her friend's claims of innocence after he's imprisoned for murder. A polished job from Hitch, notable for a…
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Dana Andrews, Karl Malden, Gary Merrill…; In one of his keynote roles, Dana Andrews plays an over–aggressive cop on the dirty sidewalks of New York who takes matters into his own hands…
Woman on the Run (1950): Dir. Norman Foster
Feat. Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe, Robert Keith…; Twisty, San Fransisco–set noir spins a gripping yarn around a mob witness on the run and his estranged wife in grave danger. Excellent and…
Black Magic (1949): Dir. Gregory Ratoff
Feat. Orson Welles, Nancy Guild, Akim Tamiroff; Orson Welles excels an 18th century hypnotist, part Gypsy charlatan, part demonic master of the black arts, who uses his powers for revenge against…
House of Strangers (1949): Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Feat. Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, Richard Conte…; A tour–de–force performance from Edward G. Robinson as a wealthy Italian American patriarch whose controlling presence in his sons' lives…
Man on the Eiffel Tower, The (1949): Dir. Burgess Meredith
Feat. Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Burgess Meredith…; Solid early outing for Inspector Maigret has Laughton in the iconic role pursuing a murderer against some splendid Parisian locales.
Obsession (The Hidden Room) (1949): Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Robert Newton, Phil Brown; Loaded film noir of jealously gone awry, with Robert Newton kidapping his wife’s latest adulterous fling, and threatening, among other things, a…
Reckless Moment, The (1949): Dir. Max Ophuls
Feat. James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks…; Masterful suspenser in which concerned parent Joan Bennett covers up an apparent murder in order to protect her vulnerable daughter and…
Shockproof (1949): Dir. Douglas Sirk
Feat. Cornel Wilde; Written by Samuel Fuller. A parole officer falls in love with a beautiful parolee, and tries to keep her away from her gambling ex–boyfriend.…
Thieves' Highway (1949): Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb…; One of dir. Dassin's early noir triumphs, this has Conte seeking to avenge his father's maiming at the hands of a corrupt Californian fruit…
Third Man, The (1949): Dir. Carol Reed
Feat. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard; Superb romantic thriller about a writer in post–war Vienna whose old friend fails to meet him – under mysterious circumstances. Justly…
Trapped (1949): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, John Hoyt; U.S. Treasury Department agents go after a ring of counterfeiters in this fast–paced B–noir.
Whirlpool (1949): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, Jose Ferrer…; Tierney stars as Mrs Ann Sutton, a beautiful woman who seems to be living the dream in LA with her successful psychoanalyst husband William (Conte),…
A Woman's Vengeance (1948): Dir. Zoltan Korda
Feat. Charles Boyer, Ann Blyth, Jessica Tandy…; Murder caper based on the short story "The Gioconda Smile" by Aldous Huxley. Charles Boyer (GASLIGHT) plays a philanderer who's accused of…
Blanche Fury (1948): Dir. Marc Allegret
Feat. Valerie Hobson, Stewart Granger, Michael Gough…; Gothic melodrama set around a sombre English country estate, soon to be home to upwardly–ambitious Valerie Hobson. When her secret lover…
Call Northside 777 (1948): Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. James Stewart, Lee J. Cobb, Richard Conte…; An enjoyable 'noir' yarn, based on the true story of a man unjustly imprisoned for the murder of a policeman in 1930s Chicago. Jimmie Stewart…
Cry of the City (1948): Dir. Robert Siodmak
Feat. Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Fred Clark…; Dying cop–killer Conte refuses to confess to a crime, and worries that childhood friend turned flinty cop Mature, will implicate his girlfriend…
Dick Barton Trilogy, The (Dick Barton Special Agent, Dick Barton Strikes Back, Dick Barton at Bay) (1948-1950): Dir. Godfrey Grayson, Alfred J. Goulding
Feat. Don Stannard, Sebastian Cabot, George Ford…; A collection of three campy spy thrillers from Hammer Studios during their successful post–war period, with Don Stannard playing the special…
Drunken Angel (Yoidore tenshi) (1948): Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura; The film that made Toshiro Mifune a star – playing a petty gangster with TB, who turns to an alcoholic doctor for help after a shoot–out.…
Fallen Idol, The (1948): Dir. Carol Reed
Feat. Ralph Richardson; Celebrated, tasteful British thriller about the muddled attempt of an 8–year–old ambassador's son to protect the embassy butler (Ralph…
Gun Crazy (1948): Dir. Joseph H. Lewis
Feat. John Dall, Peggy Cummins; Cocked with outstanding set pieces, daring twists and a desperate, exciting romanticism, this 'B–movie' thriller makes the grade with any of…
He Walked By Night (1948): Dir. Alfred L. Werker
Feat. Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts; High–tension film noir shot in semi documentary style follows Richard Basehart as a psychopathic loner being doggedly pursued by LAPD's finest.
My Brother's Keeper (1948): Dir. Alfred Roome
Feat. Jack Warner, Jane Hylton, David Tomlinson…; Rickety chase film from Gainsborough Pictures with two prisoners chained together making a dash for freedom.
Naked City, The (1948): Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart…; Classic crime thriller has its eye on a young woman's murder in the 'naked city' of New York, and the two veteran cops in charge of tracking down her…
Paradine Case, The (1948): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Gregory Peck, Alida Valli, Ann Todd; Lawyer Gregory Peck falls in love with the 'wrong woman', in this case Alida Valli, a client charged with murdering her blind husband. In classic…
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948): Dir. Anatole Litvak
Feat. Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster; The great Barbara Stanwyck cracks up in this crime melodrama, an enjoyably overrought 'visualisation' of what was a gripping and highly successful…
Street With No Name, The (1948): Dir. William Keighley
Feat. Mark Stevens, Richard Widmark, Lloyd Nolan…; One of the grittier film noirs of the 1940s, evokes its tale of corruption, mob violence and FBI infiltration with a semi–documentary surface.…
Velvet Touch, The (1948): Dir. Jack Gage
Feat. Rosalind Russell, Leon Ames, Leo Genn…; Film noir with Rosalind Russell (HIS GIRL FRIDAY) playing a Broadway star who accidentally kills her producer during an argument, then stands by as a…
A Double Life (1947): Dir. George Cukor
Feat. Ronald Colman, Signe Hasso, Shelley Winters…; Ronald Colman won a Best Actor Oscar as a Broadway idol who immerses himself in the role of Othello and allows his off–stage cruel streak to…
Born to Kill (1947): Dir. Robert Wise
Feat. Lawrence Tierney, Claire Trevor, Audrey Long…; Cracking, hard–edged B–movie thriller, with studly Lawrence Tierney as a ‘homme fatale’ who seduces his way into a cushy marriage in…
Brighton Rock (1947): Dir. John Boulting
Feat. Richard Attenborough, Hermione Baddeley, William Hartnell; One of the coolest British crime flicks sees Richard Attenborough give an attention–grabbing portrayal of a delinquent gang leader who wants…
Brute Force (1947): Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford…; Surprisingly visceral and violent for its time, this prison drama sees Lancaster play a tough inmate in Westgate Penitentiary who decides to wage war…
Crossfire (1947): Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan…; Controversial Best Picture nominee, with Robert Mitchum investigating an anti–Semitic murder committed amongst American soldiers recently…
Dark Passage (1947): Dir. Delmer Daves
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall; Smokey Bogie and Bacall noir thriller in which his convicted murderer flees prison and changes his face to prove his innocence. The first third is…
Desert Fury (1947): Dir. Lewis Allen
Feat. Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak, Burt Lancaster…; Small town Nevada desert set suspense focusing around a gambling empire obstinately led by a tough woman whose perfect monopoly is interrupted by her…
Golden Earrings (1947): Dir. Mitchell Leisen
Feat. Marlene Dietrich, Ray Milland, Murvyn Vye; Romantic spy film set the eve of World War II in which Ray Milland plays an English officer on an espionage mission in Nazi Germany to recover a…
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947): Dir. Robert Hamer
Feat. Googie Withers, John McCallum, Jack Warner; Overlooked masterpiece of British crime noir which blends kitchen sink realism with the poetic sensibilities of 30's French cinema. An escaped…
Kiss of Death (1947): Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray…; Fantastic film noir about a career criminal whose attempts to start a new life entangle him with a psychopathic murderer bent on revenge. Richard…
Odd Man Out (1947): Dir. Carol Reed
Feat. James Mason, Robert Newton; James Mason, in one of his best roles, plays a wounded IRA–gunman hunted by police through a nightmare city–scape that clearly…
Quai Des Orfevres (1947): Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
Feat. Louis Jouvet, Bernard Blier, Suzy Delair…; Romantically bleak French noir about an ambitious starlet and her protective husband who find themselves implicated in the murder of a lecherous…
Red House, The (1947): Dir. Delmer Daves
Feat. Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Dame Judith Anderson…; A man dares to unlock the mystery of the red house in the thick of the woods. Music, photography and Edward G. Robinson in a spooky key role combine…
Song of the Thin Man (1947): Dir. Edward Buzzell
Feat. William Powell, Myrna Loy, Keenan Wynn…; The Thin Man legacy is stretched out to a sixth film, with Nick and Nora busting one last case involving a dispute over owed money to a two–bit…
Two Mrs Carrolls, The (1947): Dir. Peter Godfrey
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith; Bogie plays the baddie in this tense psychodrama – a mad artist who paints his female models before killing them. Barbara Stanwyk is the latest…
Black Angel (1946): Dir. Roy William Neill
Feat. Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre…; The husband of a murdered woman and the wife of the man who was convicted for the killing (Duryea and Vincent) team up to prove his innocence, until…
Blue Dahlia, The (1946): Dir. George Marshall
Feat. Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix; Riveting Raymond Chandler noir teams Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake in their third on–screen pairing as an ex–bomber pilot accused of…
Dark Corner (1946): Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, Mark Stevens…; Expert film noir concerns a private detective (Stevens) living under the shadow of a murder frame–up concocted by villain Clifton Webb (LAURA).…
Dragonwyck (1946): Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Feat. Gene Tierney, Vincent Price, Walter Huston; 1940s gothic thriller. Gene Tierney gets married to the local lord of the manor, before discovering the skeletons in the closet of his big spooky…
Dressed To Kill (1946): Dir. Roy Neill
Feat. Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison; The final of the 14 Rathbone–Bruce 'Sherlock Holmes' adaptations concerning a criminal gang's pursuit of three music–boxes for mysterious…
Green for Danger (1946): Dir. Sidney Gilliat
Feat. Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Alastair Sim; Sly whodunit finds Trevor Howard and Sally Gray prime suspects in the death of a hospital patient. Cue Scotland Yard’s finest (Alistair Sim), whose…
I See a Dark Stranger (The Adventuress) (1946): Dir. Frank Launder
Feat. Deborah Kerr, Trevor Howard, Raymond Huntley…; Absorbing thriller with Deborah Kerr outstanding as a young Irish woman who despises England so much she becomes a Nazi spy.
Locket, The (1946): Dir. John Brahm
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Laraine Day, Brian Aherne…; Film noir set during the day of a wedding, where a surprise guest tries to convince the groom that his bride–to–be is in fact a murderer…
Man I Love, The (1946): Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Ida Lupino, Robert Alda, Bruce Bennett…; Romantic drama about a New York lounge singer who becomes homesick and decides to visit her siblings on the West Coast, where she unexpectedly falls…
MGM Film Noir Collection (The Stranger, He Walked By Night, He Ran All The Way, Odds Against Tomorrow ) (1946-1959): Dir. Orson Welles, John Berry, Robert Wise; Four vintage film noirs from the MGM vault.
Notorious (1946): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant; Sexy, suspenseful romantic thriller with Ingrid Bergman at her most radiant as an American spy who unwittingly falls in love with her contact, Cary…
Panique (1946): Dir. Julien Duvivier
Feat. Michel Simon, Viviane Romance; Exemplary French noir based on the novel Les Fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon, the source of the Patrice Leconte film, MONSIEUR HIRE…
Pink String And Sealing Wax (1946): Dir. Robert Hamer
Feat. Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Gordon Jackson; Brit film noir set in a dark and dirty Brighton sees a scheming landlady (Withers) befriend a young chemist's assistant in order to obtain poison to…
Somewhere in the Night (1946): Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Feat. John Hodiak, Nancy Guild, Lloyd Nolan…; Often underrated 'film noir' has an amnesiac soldier (Hodiak) return to Los Angeles from WW2 to rediscover his identity, only he may not want to... A…
Stranger, The (1946): Dir. Orson Welles
Feat. Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson; Orson Welles plays a Nazi war criminal who marries an unsuspecting American, but Edward G. Robinson is hot on his trail. Welles also directed this…
Terror By Night (1946): Dir. Roy Neill
Feat. Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Alan Mowbray; The penultimate Rathbone–Bruce "Sherlock Holmes", with the duo on the trail of a large diamond 'The Star of Rhodesia' which has gone missing…
Woman in Green, The (1946): Dir. Roy Neill
Feat. Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce; Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce play the definitive Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, in this updated (to the 40s) version of the original Conan Doyle…
And Then There Were None (1945): Dir. Rene Clair
Feat. Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward…; The best film version of Agatha Christie's novel, that is literally a by–the–numbers whodunnit. A little dated, but you'll have fun…
Blood On the Sun (1945): Dir. Frank Lloyd
Feat. James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney, Porter Hall; Minor Cagney suspense vehicle is distinguished by its unusual setup: Cagney plays a newspaper man in 1920s Japan who uncovers a military plot for…
Detour (1945): Dir. Edgar G. Ulmer
Feat. Tom Neal, Ann Savage; Often touted as the best B–movie ever made, this blistering film noir upstaged many of the Hollywood main features it was paired with. Short on…
Dillinger (1945): Dir. Max Nosseck
Feat. Lawrence Tierney; Lawrence Tierney stars in this robust B–Movie biopic as the notorious gangster who declared war on America's banking system.
Fallen Angel (1945): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Dana Andrews, Alice Faye, Linda Darnell; Follow–up to Preminger's film noir LAURA stars Andrews as a penniless drifter who falls in love with beautiful waitress Stella (Darnell) so…
Seventh Veil, The (1945): Dir. Compton Bennett
Feat. James Mason, Ann Todd; Renowned film serves up psychiatry in bite sized chunks as a concert pianist is cured of her complexes by a shrink intent on fixing her up with the…
Sherlock Holmes Collection (The Woman in Green, Terror by Night, Dressed To Kill) (1945-1946): Feat. Basil Rathbone; Three of Basil Rathbone's classic renditions of the Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes.
Spellbound (1945): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck; Beguiling Hitchcock, with Ingrid Bergman psychoanalyzing murder suspect Gregory Peck. Famed dream sequence by Salvador Dali.
Thin Man Goes Home, The (1945): Dir. Richard Thorpe
Feat. William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson…; Nick and Nora's reputation precedes them as they wrap up another murder mystery while visiting Nick's parents. The penultimate film in the popular…
Christmas Holiday (1944): Dir. Robert Siodmak
Feat. Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly; Considered one of the bleakest Film Noirs of the 1940s, casting musical star Deanna Durbin in a rare serious role as a woman who marries an…
Gaslight (1944): Dir. George Cukor
Feat. Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten; Menacing, atmospheric psycho–thriller in which Ingrid Bergman marries suave romantic Charles Boyer, unaware of his murderous obsession to find…
Ministry of Fear (1944): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond…; Fritz Lang's classic film noir focuses on a man who, upon being released from an insane asylum, unwittingly discovers a piece of microfilm intended…
Murder, My Sweet (Farewell, My Lovely) (1944): Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley…; An iconic 'noir' whose unsavoury storyline is taken from Raymond Chandler's classic novel. Powell plays a detective dragged into a murky case of…
Phantom Lady (1944): Dir. Robert Siodmak
Feat. Alan Curtis, Ella Raines, Virginia Brissac…; Dark little treat of a thriller focused on a married man who spends a night with a mysterious lady and subsequently finds his wife murdered. The…
Hangmen Also Die (1943): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee…; Moody political thriller with Donlevy on the run after assassinating a prominent Nazi and finding shelter with a Czech family as the manhunt consumes…
Le Corbeau (1943): Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
Feat. Pierre Fresnay; Fascinating as a wartime allegory made under the German Occupation of France, a small town becomes a hot–bed of paranoia following a rash of…
Ox Bow Incident, The (Strange Incident) (1943): Dir. William A. Wellman
Feat. Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes…; Superlative moral drama in a Western setting, where three lynched cattle rustlers are later proven innocent by the upstanding Henry Ford. Although…
Power of the Press (1943): Dir. Lew Landers
Feat. Guy Kibbee, Lee Tracy, Otto Kruger; Based on a story by Samuel Fuller. During World War II, a newspaper publisher investigates the murder of a colleague, who was attempting to steer his…
Shadow of a Doubt (1943): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten; Teenager Teresa Wright is thrilled when relative Joseph Cotten comes to stay, then less so, gradually realising Uncle Charlie may be a psychopathic…
Day Will Dawn, The (1942): Dir. Harold French
Feat. Hugh Williams, Griffith Jones, Deborah Kerr…; Propaganda fuelled WW2 drama about a foreign journalist reporting on German U–Boats attacking Norwegian ships who finds himself up against the…
Glass Key, The (1942): Dir. Stuart Heisler
Feat. Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy; Alan Ladd re–teams with blonde siren Veronica Lake in this almighty film noir of divided loyalties, crooked politicians, and underworld snares.…
Journey into Fear (1942): Dir. Norman Foster
Feat. Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del Rio, Orson Welles…; Hitchcockian suspenser set around an American engineer's adventures in WW2 Turkey. Loaded down with a maze–like plot (written by star Joseph…
Keeper of the Flame (1942): Dir. George Cukor
Feat. Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Richard Whorf…; Spencer Tracy plays a top–notch reporter who falls in love with the widow of the deceased national hero he's assigned to investigate. A tight…
Saboteur (1942): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane; Robert Cummings dodges shady conspirators and skeptical patriots as the wrong man thought to be responsible for some anti–American sabotage.…
Secret Weapon, The (1942): Dir. Roy Neill
Feat. Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill…; Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce play the definitive Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, in this updated (to the 40s) version of the original Conan Doyle…
Went the Day Well? (1942): Dir. Alberto Cavalcanti
Feat. Leslie Banks, Valerie Taylor, Marie Lohr; British pluck and courage is put to the test in this Graham Greene story, where a cosy English village is infiltrated during WWII by a truckload of…
Man Hunt (1941): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Walter Pidgeon, Joan Bennett, George Sanders…; A Fritz Lang–directed thriller set in Europe just prior to World War II – the first of the German exile's four anti–Nazi films, and…
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941): Dir. W.S. Van Dyke
Feat. William Powell, Myrna Loy, Donna Reed…; Yet another relaxing weekend for sweethearts Nick and Nora turns into a head–scratcher, as the crime–stopping couple divert from a day at…
Suspicion (1941): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine; One of Hitch's first American films uses the artificial charms of Cary Grant to strangely sinister effect, as a manipulative playboy whom wife Joan…
Swamp Water (1941): Dir. Jean Renoir
Feat. Walter Brennan, Walter Huston, Anne Baxter…; An interesting melodrama, dank with the regional atmosphere of the Florida Everglades, about the problems undergone by a youthful fur trapper…
Foreign Correspondent (1940): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Joel McCrea, Laraine Day; On the eve of WWII, journalist Joel McCrea gets involved in European espionage, some classic Hitchcock set–pieces (esp. the Dutch windmill…
Gaslight (1940): Dir. Thorold Dickinson
Feat. Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, Frank Pettingell…; This potently atmospheric "Victorian" thriller boasts a suitably wired Anton Walbrook as a repressed patriarch who torments his wife in an effort to…
Invisible Man Returns, The (1940): Dir. Joe May
Feat. Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey; A man falsely sentenced to death for murdering his brother – the original Invisible Man, takes a drug enabling him to vanish from his cell in…
Rebecca (1940): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders; A masterful gothic romance about a nobleman's second wife who becomes haunted by the image of his beloved first. Hitchcock's first American film was…
Another Thin Man (1939): Dir. W.S. Van Dyke
Feat. William Powell, Myrna Loy, Otto Kruger…; Nick and Nora, with newborn baby in tow, spend a weekend on Long Island, sleuthing out a shady character whose death threats lead to murder. Adapted…
Blind Alley (1939): Dir. Charles Vidor
Feat. Chester Morris, Ralph Bellamy; A gangster escapes from prison and takes a psychiatrist hostage in this home–invasion film noir.
Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection, The (1939-1946): Feat. Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce; Complete collection of all 14 SHERLOCK HOLMES films starring Basil Rathbone as the iconic detective and Nigel Bruce as his loyal sidekick Dr Watson.…
Nancy Drew...Reporter (1939): Dir. William Clemens
Feat. Bonita Granville; One of the very first screen adaptations of Edward Stratemeyer’s series of "Nancy Drew" mystery stories, Bonita Granville stars as the youthful…
Roaring Twenties, The (1939): Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane…; Seminal gangster drama, paired screen–tough Cagney with a then lesser–known Bogart. Becoming buddies during WWI, they later enter and…
Adventure in Sahara (1938): Dir. D. Ross Lederman
Feat. C. Henry Gordon, Paul Kelly; Based on a story by Samuel Fuller. Following the death of his brother, Jim Wilson joins the French Foreign Legion and is stationed in Northern…
Algiers (1938): Dir. John Cromwell
Feat. Hedy Lamarr, Charles Boyer, Sigrid Gurie…; Remake of a PEPE LE MOKO, in which a dashing jewel thief who has been hiding out for two years in the mysterious, murky Casbah, falls madly in love…
Bete Humaine, La (1938): Dir. Jean Renoir
Feat. Jean Gabin, Simone Simon, Fernand Ledoux…; Adaptation of Zola's romantic tragedy brims with tension and exults the presense of French icon Jean Gabin as a hot–headed train driver coaxed…
Lady Vanishes, The (1938): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Dame May Whitty…; Prime British Hitchcock, tracks a brilliantly–plotted mystery of an old lady's disappearance on a trans–Europe train, with…
Le Quai Des Brumes (Port of Shadows) (1938): Dir. Marcel Carne
Feat. Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Michele Morgan; The forever anti–heroic Jean Gabin takes on an underworld of pimps and perverts in this gloomy French classic, a major influence on the film…
Dark Journey (1937): Dir. Victor Saville
Feat. Conrad Veidt, Vivien Leigh, Ursula Jeans…; British spy caper with Leigh as a French spy falling for a German double–agent.
Pepe Le Moko (1937): Dir. Julien Duvivier
Feat. Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin; Jean Gabin plays a super–cool gangster who finds immunity in the Algierian Casbah. Marvellously romantic, this classic of the French golden age…
You Only Live Once (1937): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Henry Fonda, Sylvia Sidney; An awesome early film noir from dir. Lang with Fonda playing a career criminal determined to go straight, but compelled by fate into murdering a…
Young and Innocent (1937): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Nova Pilbeam, Derrick de Marney, Percy Marmont; A young girl aids a fugitive on the run, who she believes is innocent. Hitch adds some clever twists to his reworking of THE 39 STEPS.
After the Thin Man (1936): Dir. W.S. Van Dyke
Feat. William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart…; That great American screen coupling, William Powell and Myrna Loy, forgo their New Year's celebrations to wittily dissect another murder mystery. A…
Sabotage (1936): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Sylvia Sidney, Oscar Homolka, John Loder; Suspenseful early Hitchcock, with a foreign saboteur terrorising London.
Secret Agent, The (1936): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, John Gielgud; Peter Lorre plays a reluctant officer assigned to kill a WW2 spy. Good Hitchcock fare from his early career.
39 Steps, The (1935): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Madeleine Carroll, Robert Donat, Peggy Ashcroft; A ripping yarn about a innocent man embroiled in a spy conspiracy and is chased across Scotland. Set a sophisticated precedent for the spy/thriller…
Crime and Punishment (1935): Dir. Josef von Sternberg
Feat. Edward Arnold, Peter Lorre, Marian Marsh; Modest adaptation of Dostoyevsky's novel about a criminology student turned murderer who becomes tortured with remorse.
Petrified Forest, The (1935): Dir. Archie Mayo
Feat. Bette Davis, Leslie Howard, Genevieve Tobin…; Featuring probably Bogart's first classic role, this adaptation of the Robert Sherwood play is set in a remote diner in Arizona where a fugitive…
Man Who Knew Too Much, The (1934): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Leslie Banks, Peter Lorre; Peter Lorre stars in this original version as the villain who kidnaps an innocent man's child to ensure his silence. Budget limitations are overcome…
Thin Man, The (1934): Dir. W.S. Van Dyke
Feat. William Powell, Myrna Loy; Taken from Dashiell Hammett's novel, this near–perfect comedy–thriller virtually invented the genre, with William Powell and Myrna Loy as…
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…
Silent Films Of Alfred Hitchcock, The (1927-1929): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock; Two of Hitchcock's early films showcasing the best from the Master Of Suspense during his silent era. THE RING: A boxer must compete with a rival…
Underworld (1927): Dir. Josef von Sternberg
Feat. George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook; Josef von Sternberg’s breakthrough silent film arguably pioneered the American gangster genre, with George Bancroft cast as a criminal kingpin…
Lodger, The (1926): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Malcolm Keen, Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney…; The first notable Hitchcock, this silent variant of the 'Jack the Ripper' features a memorable turn from Ivor Novello and some spine–tingling…
Burning Crucible, The (Le Brasier Ardent) (1923): Dir. Ivan Mosjoukine
Feat. Ivan Mosjoukine; Melodrama styled as a semi–comic Kafkaesque nightmare. The film that inspired Jean Renoir to start directing.
Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Alfred Abel, Lil Dagover; Lang's first foray into ze evil exploits of Dr. Mabuse is a visually dazzling example of German expressionism, involving the master criminal's plan…
Ace of Hearts, The (1921): Dir. Wallace Worsley
Feat. Lon Chaney, Leatrice Joy, John Bowers; A silent–era crime drama with Lon Chaney as a member of a secret vigilante society. The group make a plan to dispatch a wealthy businessman…
Regeneration (w/ Young Romance) (1915): Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Anna Q. Nilsson, Carl Harbaugh, Rockliffe Fellowes…; The debut feature of director Raoul Walsh is an early gangster film following the trajectory of a poor orphan who grows up to assume a powerful…
Fantomas (1913-1914): Dir. Louis Feuillade
Feat. Edmund Breon, Rene Navarre, Georges Melchior…; Early French film serial adapting the novel of the same name by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre about the criminal genius who is obsessively…
Bogart Collection 1, The (They Drive By Night, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, To Have and Have Not): Feat. Humphrey Bogart
Bogart Collection 2, The (The Big Sleep, Key Largo, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Dark Passage): Feat. Humphrey Bogart

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