My Personal Favourite Thriller films

In my opinion, the films which are considered the "best of all times" are not always particularly interesting or good to me, sometimes even coming across as dated to me, as mentioned in a previous post, a good example of what I'am talking about is the 1963 film, The Birds, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Although this is a film directed by Hitchcock, the master of suspense, the film looks incredibly outdated with poor special effects and "scares" which may have worked on audiences from the 6os but it did not work on me, my father or my younger brother. Based on this, I think audiences should've moved from films like these as there are plenty of B-movies which have similar premises and quality of special effects (Birdemic is just one example). Another example of this is, a more recent example this time, is the 2010 film Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan. Inception is one of those films which thinks having an "incredibly complex" and "scientifically accurate" makes a film good or amazing. Fans of this film usually tell others who dislike the film that "they're not smart enough" or that they "just don't get it". Not only do I think that people that say these things themselves would struggle to explain Inception's ideas but I must also question, if the film is so clever as it thinks it is, then why does it feel the need to constantly explain and force information down the viewer's throat, insulting the intelligence of it's audience?

I will be posting more of my opinions on my personal LEAST favourite thrillers in the next post, but as of now, let's revert back on topic and discuss my PERSONAL FAVOURITE thrillers that I've seen. Not all of these will be on the list of "best of all time", in fact I will try to avoid mentioning those as stating films that everybody else would include (Shawshank, Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Silence of the Lambs, Scarface, Fight Club etc). These films will be what I personally have enjoyed in recent memory, in other words, the films listed below are films from recent decades, not much older than 1990, for the sake of making it more interesting.

The Shining:

In 1980, Stanley Kubrick directed what is arguably one of the greatest horror films ever made, The Shining. Although the film is not considered revolutionary, it has certainly stood the test of time and immortalized Kubrick as one of the twentieth century’s most influential directors. Unlike today’s horror films, The Shining takes a bare bones approach, relying solely on ambience and suspense to achieve that long sought after thrill, which is a far cry from the puerile jump scares, gore and cliches which horror films nowadays rely on almost incessantly.

This 2001 sci-fi thriller was actually critically acclaimed as well, being considered a "cult classic" without "the best of all time" label on it. What the film does very well that's similar to The Shining, is the utilisation of suspense while including elements of sci-fi and fantasy. Richard Kelly takes a step away from the norm, rather giving the film a fast paced, action packed thrill ride, he opts for a slower psychological approach, which adds a certain kind of intensity which most directors fail to achieve.

American Sniper:

What makes American Sniper unique from other war thrillers is that it really captures the horrors and brutality of real war situations, rather than mindlessly blowing things up. The film deals with sensitive issues and thematic elements associated with war such as losing teammates, missing family and post traumatic stress disorder. All of these are touched upon in the film, adding that extra layer of detail and realism to the story. The realism combined with the excellent attention to detail of life in the midst of war makes this an overall fantastic film.

Gravity:

The 2013 film, Gravity is a visual masterpiece that contrasts greatly with the previously mentioned title, Interstellar. Gravity boasts remarkably beautiful and smartly implemented special effects, as opposed to Interstellar. More notably, however, the simplicity of both the plot and concepts of the film give it a certain clarity which afore mentioned lacked, resulting in a film that can be gripping without relying on overcomplicated and, at times, farcical themes which serve no purpose other than to create the illusion of depth.  

Train To Busan:

This South Korean zombie thriller from 2016 has garnered it's spot as the greatest zombie flick I've seen, surpassing 28 Days Later, World War Z and Shaun Of The Dead. What makes this such an amazing movie is not just because of the skilfully crafted action, but also due to it's lovable cast and the uniqueness of it's premise; A zombie attack that breaks out in South Korea, with the vast majority of the film taking place on a bullet train on it's way to the city of Busan. The quality that absolutely defines this movie for me is the excellently delivered social commentary, adding an extra layer to the emotional aspects. This is a zombie movie that will leave it's audience in tears. This is something no viewer, myself included, would ever think a zombie flick could do.