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My favorite Psychological Suspense Thrillers (20+1list)

Psychological Suspense Thrillers.

written by Souranath Banerjee.

In ordinary suspense thriller films either you have to guess the killer or experience a tense cat and mouse chase sequence. But psychological suspense thrillers are different.

Psychological suspense thrillers can twist your mind and make you believe into some thing which actually may not exist at all. It plays tricks with our imagination and often blurs our perception of reality.

My absolute favorite genre.

So what are we waiting for, let the countdown begin.

20. The Wicker Man (1973)

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The story revolves around a police man who came to a Scottish Island village in search of a missing girl.

He soon realizes that the village people doesn’t want him to investigate and more to his surprise they deny the existence of this missing girl.

Nothing seems what it is but he must find out the gruesome truth. A superb film, the best of it’s kind.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FdV-O8o7ok

19. Coherence (2013)

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As a comet passes by our earth strange things begin to happen.

A group of friends who have gathered together for dinner soon find out they are not alone in that neighborhood.

But who are these other people and what do they want?

A film as crazy and insane as  they come in this genre.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEceDz1Rodc

18. Triangle (2009)

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A deserted ship seems to be the best rescue plan for a group of passengers stranded in the ocean. Or is it?

A dangerous outcome of repetitive events that seem to occur no matter what you do to stop it.

A really cool concept, a chain of events that hunts you to kill – twisted and thrilling at the same time.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17XqBdCiHOI

17. Time Crimes (2007)

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Traveling in time can be fun for most people but in this Spanish film things get real nasty when a man goes back in time and finds his life to be in danger.

And the danger is none other than he himself, he must survive himself and get back in present time before it all goes out of control.

A vey effective and cleverly made film, a perfect time-travel thriller.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvlTcH4KCWk

16. Videodrome (1983)

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David Cronenberg is the master of psychologically twisted films but this one probably is one of his craziest work till date.

A man who owns a TV channel discovers ‘Videodrone’, a sick TV show and soon his world turns upside down.

The new, addictive program seems to change his life for ever, or rather ruin his life.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFHey3utk0I

15. Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

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A Vietnam war veteran seems to have problem in differentiating reality from his dreams.

His visions and delusions, his past haunting experiences are seeping through his present life and making it miserable.

He must get a grip on his sanity and forget his past family tragedies and war struggles. But then he finds out a secret that changes it all.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJztRnDxdM8

14. The Butterfly effect (2004)

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Some people want to forget their past. Some people want to change it. Yes, that’s the basic tagline the film revolves around.

Ashton Kutcher wants a few things different in his past and dared to change them.  But at what cost?

A cleverly made film that will keep you guessing till the end. Crazy and intelligent.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8_dgqfPXFg

13. The Jacket (2005)

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Starring Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley, this film is a very interesting take on taking a peep into the future.

A Gulf war veteran wrongly accused of murder ends up in a mental asylum, put in a straight jacket and tortured.

But this gives him the ability to go into his future and see things that changes everything.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCxQ83Pg1Ko

12. Open your eyes (1997)

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A Spanish film from the famous director Alejandro Amenábar that really trips your mind.

A handsome man finds love in his life but soon disfigures his face in an accident.

He tries surgery to rebuilt his face but soon finds out that he has lost his sanity too.

Penélope Cruz is simply gorgeous. 

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBtnPuB0x3U

11. Angle Heart (1987)

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Alan Parker directed this intense thriller starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro.

In the film a private investigator is hired by a mysterious man to track down a singer.

Though at first it all seemed like regular business but soon things turn nasty and people keep dying in strange circumstances.  A mystery that holds till the end.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp0LXxkx7yA

10. Rosemary’s baby (1968)

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Be aware: a new apartment always comes with mysterious neighbors.

A young couple moves to a new place and soon the wife becomes pregnant mysteriously.

Though the neighbors seem to be very nice but the pregnant mother fears about the safety of her unborn child. An extreme paranoia that only a director of Roman Polanski‘s calibre can create.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PewtQsgN5uo

9. A tale of two sisters (2003)

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A South Korean film that will creep you out for sure.

As the title suggests it’s a story of two sisters who returns home from the mental institution and struggles to cope up with their lives.

Suspense, horror or simply a nail-biting thriller, this one serves all your cravings – a superbly intense film by Kim Jee-woon.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anF5XiN8QY8

8. The Machinist (2004)

the-machinist-posterArguably Christian Bale‘s best performance, a film so twisted and insane that i bet you won’t sleep for a year (this super-slim version of Bale says it’s possible).

Director Brad Anderson has simply nailed this one.

Gripping, disturbing and mind boggling.  You only have to watch it to get the impact of this one. One of my all time favorite films.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRoYCwUvBPc

7. Don’t Look now (1973)

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Nicolas Roeg created this innovative, nerve wrecking film considered among the most horrifying thrillers till date.

A grieving couple (since their daughter’s death) visits Venice for a mood change but things get more complicated than they could ever imagined.

Chilling suspense that makes this film a must watch.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUWB-Kw4FiM

6. The Tenant (1976)

the-tenant-posterAgain it’s Roman Polanski time.

He himself has brilliantly acted in this film; he IS the tenant who shifts to a new apartment that earlier belonged to a girl who died.

Edgy and intense, psychotic paranoia gets a new definition in this film.

In his appartment-trilogy this is my favorite one.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmhIMbdecEU

5. Black Swan (2010)

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One of the best thrillers of our recent times, a brilliant film for which Natalie Portman won the Oscar.

Darren Aronofsky creates this amazingly disturbing psychological drama based on the famous play The Black Swan.

The whole film has a bizarre feel that keeps you guessing what real and what’s not.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs

4. Memento (2000)

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We can never complete a list of psychological thrillers with out mentioning Christopher Nolan‘s Memento.

Short term memory loss makes a man doubt everything and everybody around him. He doesn’t know whom to trust other than a few photographs, his notes and tattoos.

It can’t get better than this.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vS0E9bBSL0

3. Fight Club (1999)

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Better than the best is what this list is all about, and this is one of the best.

An underground fight club that grows and evolves into much more than it’s original purpose.

David Fincher is the maker of this amazing thriller. And clubbed with the brilliant performances by Brad Pitt and Edward Norton this film is one of the most popular film ever.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUXWAEX2jlg

2. Psycho (1960)

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Alfred Hitchcock‘s Psycho has to be there in this list.

Actually many of Hitchcock’s films can make this list like Vertigo, Rebecca, Rear Window, Rope but then it will again be a Hitchcock list. So.

But the sinister Bates Motel, the iconic shower scene, the stuffed birds, the final confrontation with mother – that’s all history written in bold.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG3-GlvKPcg

1. The Shinning (1980)

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Welcome Stanley Kubrick and that too on the first spot.

A film that set new bar in this genre, the chilling transformation of Jack Nicholson‘s character, the haunting isolated hotel, the eerie maze and a kid who can ‘shine’.

Unique and scary, psychotic and intense, a film that has many interpretations and inner meanings but a thriller at it’s best.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cb3ik6zP2I

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most crazy one. A must watch)

+1. Mulholand Drive (2001)

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Hollywood being the backdrop it is a spooky and chilling story of two women (Naomi Watts and Laura Harring) who tries to solve some weird mysteries in their lives.
David Lynch manages to blur the line between dreams and reality so perfectly that the film has achieved a certain cult status.
There are at least ten ways to interpret the film. Take a pick.

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