Best Psychological Thrillers (Part 2)
written by Souranath Banerjee
As mentioned in my earlier post ‘Best Psychological Thrillers (Part 1)‘, thrilling psychological dramas are way different from the ordinary suspense thriller flicks.
Psychological thrillers are twisted enough to make you believe into something that actually may not exist at all. They deliberately play tricks with our imagination and successfully blurs the audience’s perception of reality.
And here are some of the Best Psychological Thrillers ever made. So, let the countdown begin!
10. Frailty (2001)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW6TlPMHXgk
This film is all about a man’s confession of a series of murders that his religious fanatic father forced him and his brother to be a part of.
Directed by Bill Paxton, a thriller at its best, with a few unexpected plot twists.
Superb performances, specially by the child actors, Bill Paxton himself and Matthew McConaughey.
9. The Skin I Live In (2011)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EolQSTTTpI4
A weird tale of a plastic surgeon and his muse, a scientist and his experiment, an inventor and his creation.
Brilliant performances by Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya and a twisted tale of passion and revenge.
Directed by renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, this is one thriller that will keep you guessing till the end.
8. Goodnight Mommy (2014)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hisSd7qyY40
In an isolated countryside, nine-year-old twins wait for their mother’s return, but when she finally comes back she seems to be a completely different person.
Her face bandaged due to some surgery, it’s hard to tell if she is indeed their mother or are they both really her children!
Directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, this is one disturbing thriller for sure.
7. The Sixth Sense (1999)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG9AGf66tXM
A child psychologist (Bruce Willis) meets a boy (Haley Joel Osment) who has a sixth sense, who can communicate with spirits and claims to ‘see dead people’ all around him!
A film that is as impressive as the twist in the plot.
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, a film that successfully fools the audience from the very beginning!
6. Lost Highway (1997)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nKjO9QCSic
A world owned by David Lynch, who is the master of psychological thrillers.
Framed for the murder of his wife a man mysteriously escapes from the jail being morphed into another person – yes, one of the most weird story plot ever in film history.
And the best part is that the film (according to me) has no specific ending that explains it all!
5. Angel Heart (1987)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp0LXxkx7yA
Alan Parker directed this intense thriller starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro.
A private investigator is hired by a mysterious man who wants him to track down a particular 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 up till the end.
4. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anF5XiN8QY8
As the title suggests, it’s the story of two sisters who returns home from the mental institution and desperately struggles to cope up with their lives.
A superbly intense film by Kim Jee-woon – suspense, horror or simply a nail-biting thriller, this one serves all your cravings.
This South Korean film will creep you out for sure.
3. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PewtQsgN5uo
Be aware: a new apartment always comes with mysterious neighbors.
A young couple moves to a new place and soon the wife becomes pregnant. Though the neighbors seem to be too caring, but the mother (Mia Farrow) fears about the safety of her unborn child.
Extreme paranoia that only a director of Roman Polanski‘s calibre can deliver!
2. Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7PWFiLkKG4
Ingmar Bergman‘s one and only psychological horror film, and undoubtedly a classic.
An artist shares his deepest desires and the most painful nightmares with his wife at the darkest hours of the night – ‘the hour of the wolf’.
His life turns out to be drowning in the very brink of dreams and reality, a state so surreal and dangerous and bizarre. A must watch.
1. The Shining (1980)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cb3ik6zP2I
Welcome Stanley Kubrick and that too on the first spot!
A film that set new bar in this genre, the chilling transformation of a hotel-caretaker (Jack Nicholson‘s character), the haunting isolation of the palatial hotel and the eerie never-ending maze. And also a kid who has the special talent of ‘Shining’!
Unique and scary, psychotic and intense, a film you will never forget.
and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most innovative one. A must watch)
+1. The Others (2001)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bMEGtUxajY
And finally another unique psychological thriller that plays with the human psyche to its best.
A protective mother (Nicole Kidman) with her two light-sensitive children believes that their house is haunted!
Directed by Alejandro Amenábar, this creepy, dark yet sensitive thriller has all the essential elements of being a memorable one.
Similar Interest: Best Psychological Thrillers (Part 1)
Poster courtesy: www.impawards.com