Scott Carson delivers a book I just couldn’t put down with Lost Man’s Lane. Combining nostalgia for the end of the 20th century with a twist of supernatural thriller, the tale is a coming-of-age story that is by turns frightening and beautifully told. Marshall and his mom are living their lives in quiet Bloomington. When…
Tag: thriller
Never Flinch (2025) – Stephen King
I love the character of Holly Gibney, so anytime King wants to put her in another story, I’m there for it. And he did just that with Never Flinch. And if Holly is there, you know some of her friends will be around – Barbara, Jerome, Izzy. Holly, and the readers, soon find themselves dealing…
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…
The Mind Reels 