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One of the greatest and oldest traditions in Hollywood, the thriller genre has captivated generations of moviegoers, from classics like The Maltese Falcon to recent hits like Crime 101. A timeless corner of cinema that never loses its edge, the use of crime and mystery reels viewers in, pushing them to solve cases right alongside the heroes. From novel adaptations to original gems, a great cast and strong director can turn a solid story into a masterpiece.
A genre that has given industry luminaries like Humphrey Bogart, Gene Hackman, and Al Pacino some of their best roles, these thrillers can't be missed. With so many films populating the genre, it's not hard for even the best stories to fall by the wayside, failing to garner the audience they deserve. The era between 1970 and 2000 is particularly populated with slept-on masterpieces, and these movies prove it.
Red Rock West Is the Nic Cage Movie Everyone Slept On
Red Rock West follows Nicolas Cage as Michael Williams, a Texan drifter who arrives in the Wyoming town of Red Rock in search of work. When a local mistakes him for a hitman he hired to kill his wife, Williams is left in an awkward position after taking the money but refusing the job. When the real killer shows up in town, he finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place as he finds an even bigger sum of money for the taking.
Made during a legendary Hollywood run that included Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart, and Leaving Las Vegas, Cage's thriller simply fell through the cracks. A film that plays with the motif of a neo-Western to deliver a solid crime caper, it's the kind of mystery that leaves its hero unable to trust anyone. Throwing in a femme fatale and endless double-crosses for good measure, it's an underrated combination of Western and Noir.
Narrow Margin Is a Forgotten Gene Hackman Remake
Narrow Margin begins when a woman witnesses a mob hit, sending her on the run to a cabin. Realizing that she can identify a major crime boss, a prosecutor named Caulfield accompanies a detective to find her. When the officer is murdered, Caulfield is forced to protect the witness on a long-distance train journey across the country. A remake of a 1952 film, it's a gripping feature-length chase scene sure to put audiences in mind of films like The Fugitive or North by Northwest.
As one of the greatest stars of the thriller genre, the world has forgotten more Gene Hackman gems than most actors get to appear in throughout an entire career. When he starred in Narrow Margin, the world was just starting to fall in love with thrillers again, but it took several years for the genre to reach its modern peak. As such, more attention was paid to the sci-fi, comedy, and adventure movies of the early '90s than to old-school thrillers. The fact that the film wears its 1950s inspiration on its sleeve certainly didn't help it reach a younger audience.
Frantic Gave Harrison Ford One of the Best Thrillers of the '80s
Frantic casts Harrison Ford in the role of Richard Walker, a doctor who travels to Paris with his wife Sondra to attend a medical conference. When Sondra suddenly disappears without a trace, he's forced to head into the city's criminal underworld to make sense of things. After realizing a drug smuggler named Michelle is connected to the case, he forces her to help him solve the apparent abduction.
Made by a disgraced filmmaker in a decade that wasn't kind to neo-Noir movies, Frantic is a movie that finds its strength in its dark atmosphere, but it went overlooked. At every turn, Walker's panicked, frustrated demeanor leaves the audience every bit as shaken and confused as him. A rare flop for Ford, it certainly wasn't helped by having to go toe-to-toe with Die Hard and Beetlejuice at the box office.
The Long Goodbye Is the Perfect Modernization of a Golden Age Detective
The Long Goodbye updates the story of hardboiled private eye Philip Marlowe to the grit and grime of 1970s Los Angeles. When his friend Terry comes to him for help, Marlowe helps him escape to Mexico, only to learn he's been murdered. While dealing with a case, the detective takes it upon himself to investigate his friend's murder, only for the arrival of a local gangster to make him realize both mysteries are connected.
Based on the Raymond Chandler novel of the same name, The Long Goodbye signaled the last gasp of a bygone era of detective movies. Played by Elliott Gould, Marlowe is a wisecracking but no-nonsense investigator who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, and the film shows it. As detective fiction moved towards serial killers, this kind of crime thriller took a backseat, and the '70s were a decade packed full of classics that Robert Altman's movie was overshadowed by. If for anything else, it offers a great chance to see Arnold Schwarzenegger in the weirdest role of his career.
Night Moves Gave Gene Hackman a Grounded Noir Story
Night Moves follows Gene Hackman in the role of a private investigator named Harry Moseby, who, after learning his wife is having an affair, heads to Florida to investigate a case. Sent to find a runaway girl, his case soon leads him to suspect he's walked into a bigger story, especially when he finds a connection to a death on a movie set. Struggling to keep his life in order, the morally dubious detective soon falls into a web of lies.
The film was released amidst a sea of decade-defining crime movies, released less than a year after the unbeatable hype of Chinatown and The Godfather: Part II. It didn't have the same grandeur as its competition, but it requires viewers to pay every bit as much attention as any good murder mystery. Night Moves is as strong a character drama as it is a slow-burning detective movie, and it reminds viewers that Gene Hackman was the undisputed king of thriller cinema.
