Blue Steel (1990) – Kathryn Bigelow

The fantastic Kathryn Bigelow directs Jamie Lee Curtis in this crisp, occasionally brutal thriller. Megan Turner (Curits) is a rookie cop, who on her first day on the job shoots and kills an armed thief (Tom Sizemore) in a supermarket showdown. When the thief’s weapon isn’t found at the scene, Turner finds herself suspended, and…

Deathtrap (1982) – Sidney Lumet

Ira Levin’s whip-smart stage play, Deathtrap, was adapted for the big-screen and saw Michael Caine square-off against Christopher Reeve in this captivating cat-and-mouse, twisting thriller. Micheal Caine is playwright, Sidney Bruhl. He’s just had his latest stage thriller flop on opening night. It’s his latest failure in a string of them. Things are exacerbated, when…

Red Sparrow (2018) – Francis Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence trusts to Francis Lawrence, who directed her in the final three Hunger Games films. As such, she bares it all in this taut spy thriller. Based on the novel by Jason Matthews the story introduces us to Dominika Egorova (Lawrence). Her promising career as a ballerina is brought to a brutal end when…

Pacific Heights (1990) – John Schlesinger

I remember when this one came out. I was very eager to see it, as until this film, and Batman before it, I had only seen Micheal Keaton in comedies. So throwing him in a thriller, as the baddie? How could I not tune in. Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine portray Patty and Drake a…

With a Mind to Kill (2022) – Anthony Horowitz

Anthony Horowitz delivers one last 007 adventure, this one set after the last novel in the Ian Fleming series, The Man with the Golden Gun. James Bond had been brainwashed by the Russians and sent to kill M, something he almost did. But after some rehabilitation, 007 proved himself once again by going after Scaramanga….

Run (2020) – Aneesh Chaganty

Run is a crisp and engaging thriller that rushes its twists and turns at a breakneck speed, driven by the performances of its two leads, Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen. Chloe (Allen) is confined to a wheelchair, and battling a number of illnesses. But she has her mother (Paulson) by her side, tending to her…

Split (2016) – M. Night Shyamalan

It’s been awhile since I watched a Shyamalan film. I kind of tuned out after awhile. I think Lady in the Water did it for me. But I did remember enjoying his earliest films, The Sixth Sense, The Village, Unbreakable. And it seemed like enough time had past that I could see if I could…

Rebel Ridge (2024) – Jeremy Saulnier

Jeremy Saulnier wrote and directed this tense little thriller that retreads familiar territory, but does it in a very entertaining way. Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) has cashed out of his job and heading to a small-town to bail out his cousin, and then buy a truck so the pair of them can start their own…

Blown Away (1994) – Stephen Hopkins

Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones star in a cop thriller about revenge and the past. Set in Boston, Jimmy Dove (Bridges) is verging on retirement from the Bomb Squad following his marriage to Kate (Suzy Amis). Unfortunately, Dove’s past comes calling for him in the form of Ryan Gaerity (Jones) an IRA extremist with…

Shutter Island (2010) – Martin Scorsese

I remember when Shutter Island hit the cinemas, and then hit home video, everyone was raving about it. When I finally had a chance to watch it, I had the mystery figured out pretty quickly, though I will say it was wonderfully executed. Scorsese delivers a gorgeous looking film, and makes great use of visual…