Psycho-Noir (Definitive List and Guide)
by nikolayyeriomin | created - 19 Feb 2016 | updated - 10 Apr 2018 | PublicPsycho-noir is a sub-genre of neo-noir (itself a modern and post-modern continuation of classic film noir tropes) which is much more surreal and twisted then ordinary neo-noir. As I'm a big fan of the genre, which certainly lacks comprehensive list, I've decided to do a list of everything that I feel belongs to psycho-noir (and in case of any noir genre "feels" is a key word). While feature films prevail, short films, TV- and Web-Series (at times certain episodes) are still included. I'll do my best to keep list in chronological order.
There are, of course, certain criteria, which are also genre's tropes they are:
-Usual tropes of film noir and/or neo-noir: unusual angles (Dutch tilts) and photography, use of rain and wet asphalt, shadows, minimal lighting, night-for-night shots, smoke, smoking, femme fatale, antihero/private eye/beat cop protagonist, moral ambiguity etc.
-Use of surrealism, mysticism, symbolism, dream sequences, unreliable narration and flashbacks, unexplained scenes, non-linear narrative and other unconventional methods of story-telling which imply that both protagonist and audience are either deluded or have their perception manipulated;
-Surreal details and/or backgrounds, at times using chess, geometrical patterns, mirrors, tattoos, photographs to great extend;
-Eclectic editing (unusual transitions, single-frame inserts etc.) and/or photography (use of different types of camera and film);
-Eclectic soundtrack, which combines different genres of music and ambient noises (Note: for some reason a lot of psycho-noir movies use song "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins);
-Shocking, genre- and mind-bending ending and/or climax; -Doppelgangers and/or double identities;
-Shots of driving, highway, road, usually at night;
-Use of "screen within a screen" - television sets, cinemas, displays, etc.;
-Interesting, at times unique design of main titles and end credits (Note: a lot of psycho-noir titles use dark shades of blue for color of titles and credits, such as marine blue and navy blue);
Titles with no IMDb page (work in progress):
2008: "Mad November" (Bezumny noyabr) and "Bezumny noyabr 2";
Recommended reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_film_noir_titles&oldid=454506550#Psycho-noir - a list of psycho-noir titles on Wikipedia, deleted from "List of film noir" but saved in edits history;
http://smallcrimes-novel.blogspot.com/2007/08/defining-psycho-noir.html - Defining Psycho-Noir, a great article by Dave Zeltserman on the subject.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls073371107/ - a list by ronbouwheer.
If you have time for weird videos, here's my YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/PictureProductStudio http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWkcL-G3OwVvVb1B94bH5hQ
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Dementia (1955)
56 min | Film-Noir, Horror, Mystery
This film, with no dialogue at all, follows a psychotic young woman's nightmarish experiences through one skid-row night.
Director: John Parker | Stars: Adrienne Barrett, Bruno VeSota, Ben Roseman, Richard Barron
Votes: 1,736
2. The Manipulator (1971)
R | 85 min | Thriller
An insane Hollywood makeup man kidnaps a woman, keeps her prisoner in his warehouse full of props.
Director: Yabo Yablonsky | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Luana Anders, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 255
3. Scream Bloody Murder (II) (1972)
90 min | Horror
A disturbed boy kills his father with his farm tractor and his arm is mangled in the process. He's taken to a mental hospital where he's outfitted with a hook to replace his lost hand and, ... See full summary »
Director: Marc B. Ray | Stars: Fred Holbert, Leigh Mitchell, Robert Knox, Ron Bastone
Votes: 965
4. Un homme qui dort (1974)
77 min | Drama
A 25-year-old male student in Paris becomes indifferent to the world around him, and subsequently feels a strong sense of alienation and hopelessness.
Director: Bernard Queysanne | Stars: Jacques Spiesser, Ludmila Mikaël
Votes: 2,836
5. The Conversation (1974)
G | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 94,656 | Gross: $4.42M
6. Taxi Driver (1976)
18A | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action by attempting to liberate a presidential campaign worker and an underage prostitute.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 696,847 | Gross: $28.26M
While being much more linear then a lot of the movies on that list, it should be noted, that plot still has a lot of (most likely deliberate) inconsistencies and an ending which is quite open to interpretations. It is one of the starting points of the genre, even though it lacks some of the key elements.
7. Le locataire (1976)
13+ | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
A bureaucrat rents a Paris apartment where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet
Votes: 37,973 | Gross: $1.92M
8. Martin (1977)
18A | 95 min | Drama, Horror
A young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvania town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: John Amplas, Lincoln Maazel, Christine Forrest, Elyane Nadeau
Votes: 9,579 | Gross: $0.10M
9. I eto vsyo o nyom (1977– )
406 min | Drama, Mystery
Director: Igor Shatrov | Stars: Evgeniy Leonov, Igor Kostolevskiy, Leonid Markov, Emmanuil Vitorgan
Votes: 81
Soviet TV Series by far only added as a single film to IMDb (I'll fix that some time and/or add this as a series as well, I hope) which bears UNCANNY resemblance to "Twin Peaks" in both plot and style.
10. Stalker (1979)
G | 162 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko
Votes: 110,253 | Gross: $0.23M
11. 'Hukkunud Alpinisti' hotell (1979)
80 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
Police gets a call-out to a lonely hotel in the Alps. When an officer gets to the hotel everything seems to be alright. Suddenly an avalanche cuts them out from the rest of the world and strange things are going to happen.
Director: Grigori Kromanov | Stars: Uldis Pucitis, Jüri Järvet, Lembit Peterson, Mikk Mikiver
Votes: 1,113
12. Maniac (1980)
18+ | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A psychotic man, troubled by his childhood abuse, loose in New York City, kills young women and takes their scalps as his trophies. Will he find the perfect woman in a photographer, and end his killing spree?
Director: William Lustig | Stars: Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro, Abigail Clayton, Kelly Piper
Votes: 13,875
13. Cruising (1980)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police detective goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Richard Cox
Votes: 18,185 | Gross: $19.80M
14. Blow Out (1981)
18A | 108 min | Mystery, Thriller
A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Votes: 42,159 | Gross: $13.75M
15. Scanners (1981)
R | 103 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane
Votes: 46,287 | Gross: $14.23M
16. The Last Horror Film (1982)
87 min | Comedy, Horror
A New York taxi driver stalks a beautiful actress attending the Cannes Film Festival, which coincides with a series of violent killings of the lady's friends.
Director: David Winters | Stars: J'Len Winters, John Kelly, Joe Spinell, Simone Overman
Votes: 1,524
17. Videodrome (1983)
R | 87 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
When he acquires a different kind of show for his station, a sleazy cable-TV programmer begins to see his life and the future of media spin out of control in a terrifying new reality.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: James Woods, Debbie Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky
Votes: 80,640 | Gross: $2.12M
18. The Hunger (1983)
14A | 97 min | Drama, Horror
A love triangle develops between a beautiful yet dangerous vampire, her cellist companion, and a gerontologist.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Cliff De Young
Votes: 22,392 | Gross: $5.98M
19. Angst (I) (1983)
18+ | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A troubled man gets released from prison and starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house.
Director: Gerald Kargl | Stars: Erwin Leder, Robert Hunger-Bühler, Silvia Ryder, Karin Springer
Votes: 7,943
20. Body Double (1984)
18+ | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton
Votes: 27,647 | Gross: $8.80M
21. Blood Simple (1984)
14A | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her lover. However, nothing is simple when blood is involved.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh
Votes: 84,681 | Gross: $2.15M
22. Repo Man (1984)
92 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A young punk recruited by a car repossession agency finds himself in pursuit of a Chevrolet Malibu that is wanted for a $20,000 bounty - and has something otherworldly stashed in its trunk.
Director: Alex Cox | Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash
Votes: 32,744 | Gross: $3.57M
23.
Moonlighting (1985–1989)
Episode:
The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice
(1985)
50 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
When David and Maddie meet the owner of a club who tells them about an unresolved murder. Maddie and David argue about who they think the real murderer is and, in their dreams, set about solving the murder that occurred 40 years ago.
Director: Peter Werner | Stars: Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis, Allyce Beasley, Jack Bannon
Votes: 258
24. Blue Velvet (1986)
(Banned) | 120 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern
Votes: 174,886 | Gross: $8.55M
25. The Singing Detective (1986)
415 min | Drama, Musical, Mystery
Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.
Stars: Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide, Joanne Whalley, David Ryall
Votes: 4,024
26. Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie (1986)
8 min | Horror, Short
A children's television host plots murderous revenge against child abusers.
Director: Buddy Giovinazzo | Star: Joe Spinell
Votes: 245
27. Angel Heart (1987)
18A | 113 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 77,846 | Gross: $17.19M
28. The Caller (1987)
R | 97 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
One night, an unusual stranger in need asks a woman living alone in a house in the woods if he can use her phone. It soon becomes clear that they're playing a strange mind game and that there's something very wrong about the woods.
Director: Arthur Allan Seidelman | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Madolyn Smith Osborne
Votes: 429
29.
Moonlighting (1985–1989)
Episode:
Come Back Little Shiksa
(1987)
49 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
David felt the previous evening went well, unaware that Maddie has left town. A client comes to Blue Moon and wants it to find a particularly beautiful woman whom he saw at a charity ball. The only clue is a valuable ear ring left behind.
Director: Allan Arkush | Stars: Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis, Allyce Beasley, Curtis Armstrong
Votes: 85
30. Evil Dead II (1987)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Horror
The lone survivor of an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva
Votes: 143,802 | Gross: $5.92M
While it is more of a horror comedy, it definitely has elements of psycho-noir in it, in my opinion, which are mostly absent in other films of the franchise.
31. Igla (1988)
81 min | Drama, Thriller
Moro returns to Alma Ata to collect money owed to him. While waiting out an unexpected delay, he visits his former girlfriend Dina, and discovers she has become a morphine addict. He ... See full summary »
Director: Rashid Nugmanov | Stars: Viktor Tsoy, Marina Smirnova, Pyotr Mamonov, Aleksandr Bashirov
Votes: 1,986
32. I, Madman (1989)
89 min | Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
A bookshop clerk finds that an insane and murderous doctor from one of the store's horror novels has come to life.
Director: Tibor Takács | Stars: Jenny Wright, Clayton Rohner, Randall William Cook, Stephanie Hodge
Votes: 2,645 | Gross: $0.15M
33. Lunatics: A Love Story (1991)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In the seedy part of Los Angeles, a man who writes poetry has spent six months without leaving his apartment because of his paranoid delusions involving sadistic doctors, rappers, and ... See full summary »
Director: Josh Becker | Stars: Ted Raimi, Deborah Foreman, Bruce Campbell, George Aguilar
Votes: 530
34. The Reflecting Skin (1990)
14+ | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
In the 1950's, a young boy living with his troublesome family in rural USA fantasizes that a neighboring widow is actually a vampire, responsible for a number of disappearances in the area.
Director: Philip Ridley | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Lindsay Duncan, Jeremy Cooper, Sheila Moore
Votes: 7,051
35. Twin Peaks (1990–1991)
PG | 47 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook
Votes: 167,482
While series are an example in entirety, European Version of a Pilot episode, which was even released in theatres is especially interesting as a psycho-noir example.
36. Wild at Heart (1990)
18+ | 125 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, J.E. Freeman
Votes: 80,194 | Gross: $14.56M
37. Darkman (1990)
14A | 96 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A brilliant scientist left for dead returns to exact revenge on the people who burned him alive.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels, Larry Drake
Votes: 56,840 | Gross: $33.88M
38. Jacob's Ladder (I) (1990)
14A | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven
Votes: 96,122 | Gross: $26.12M
39. Shattered (1991)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After a horrific car wreck leaves him an amnesiac, a man slowly begins to unravel his shocking past.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins, Greta Scacchi, Joanne Whalley
Votes: 7,949 | Gross: $11.51M
40. Naked Lunch (1991)
16+ | 115 min | Drama
After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife, and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands
Votes: 45,647 | Gross: $2.54M
41. Homicide (1991)
14+ | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A Jewish homicide detective investigates a seemingly minor murder and falls in with a Zionist group as a result.
Director: David Mamet | Stars: Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, Vincent Guastaferro, J.J. Johnston
Votes: 5,950 | Gross: $2.97M
42. Lokh pobeditel vody (1991)
86 min | Crime, Thriller
The protagonist, a talented geek, avenges a gang of racketeers for killing a best friend, using his extensive knowledge in various fields of technology. He traces them, collects material ... See full summary »
Director: Arkadiy Tigay | Stars: Sergei Kuryokhin, Larisa Borodina, Andrey Ponomaryov, Vladimir Eryomin
Votes: 114
43. Barton Fink (1991)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner
Votes: 110,098 | Gross: $6.15M
44. Knight Moves (1992)
PA | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
During a chess tournament, grand master Peter is suspected of murdering Debi after sex. He helps the police as the murders continue.
Director: Carl Schenkel | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Tom Skerritt, Codie Lucas Wilbee, Joshua Murray
Votes: 7,606 | Gross: $0.92M
45. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
R | 134 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Laura Palmer's harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks' neighboring town.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook
Votes: 83,078 | Gross: $4.16M
46. The Vagrant (1992)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A business man buys a house, but he has a hard time trying to get rid of its previous tenant, a dirty bum.
Director: Chris Walas | Stars: Bill Paxton, Michael Ironside, Marshall Bell, Mitzi Kapture
Votes: 1,275
47. Bad Lieutenant (1992)
R | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness and redemption.
Director: Abel Ferrara | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Brian McElroy, Frank Acciarito, Peggy Gormley
Votes: 37,515 | Gross: $2.00M
48. Dust Devil (1992)
16+ | 115 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A woman on the run from her abusive husband encounters a mysterious hitch-hiker.
Director: Richard Stanley | Stars: Robert John Burke, Chelsea Field, Zakes Mokae, John Matshikiza
Votes: 4,670
49. Darr (1993)
178 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A woman plans to marry a navy officer but she is also the object of another man's obsession.
Director: Yash Chopra | Stars: Juhi Chawla, Sunny Deol, Shah Rukh Khan, Anupam Kher
Votes: 21,559
50. Pehla Nasha (1993)
131 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
A down and out actor, Deepak Bakshi (Deepak Tijori), who has a phobia and deep fear of enclosed spaces, goes to live as a care-taker in an multi-storied apartment, belonging to his friend ... See full summary »
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker | Stars: Deepak Tijori, Pooja Bhatt, Raveena Tandon, Makrand Deshpande
Votes: 305
51. The Dark Half (1993)
14A | 122 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A writer's fictional alter ego wants to take over his life...at any price.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris
Votes: 15,436 | Gross: $9.58M
52. True Romance (1993)
18A | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
In Detroit, a lonely pop culture geek marries a call girl, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood. Meanwhile, the owners of the cocaine, the Mob, track them down in an attempt to reclaim it.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer
Votes: 200,854 | Gross: $12.28M
53. Dikiy vostok (1993)
98 min | Action
The Solar Children, a group of dwarves who left the circus, are trying to start a settlement in the Kyrgyzstan wilderness just after the breakup of the Soviet Union, but are harassed by a ... See full summary »
Director: Rashid Nugmanov | Stars: Aleksandr Aksyonov, Farkhad Amankulov, Konstantin Fyodorov, Zhanna Isina
Votes: 97
54. Nadja (1994)
PA | 93 min | Drama, Horror
This ultra-hip, post-modern vampire tale is set in contemporary New York City. Members of a dysfunctional family of vampires are trying to come to terms with each other, in the wake of ... See full summary »
Director: Michael Almereyda | Stars: Elina Löwensohn, Peter Fonda, Nic Ratner, Karl Geary
Votes: 2,876 | Gross: $0.45M
55. Blink (1993)
14A | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Emma, a blind violinist who had recently undergone a revolutionary surgery, joins with a police detective to track a serial killer after she was an inadvertent witness to his latest crime.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, James Remar, Peter Friedman
Votes: 7,610 | Gross: $16.70M
56. Natural Born Killers (1994)
R | 118 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Rodney Dangerfield
Votes: 211,178 | Gross: $50.28M
57. Se7en (1995)
AA | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Andrew Kevin Walker
Votes: 1,390,596 | Gross: $100.13M
58. Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995)
R | 102 min | Crime, Comedy, Fantasy
After 3 years in prison, Julian breaks out and returns to Vegas to get his half from the bank robbery and see Lucille again. The Devil took the loot and Tuerto took Lucille.
Director: Jack Baran | Stars: Dylan McDermott, Nancy Travis, Quentin Tarantino, James Le Gros
Votes: 2,216 | Gross: $1.18M
59. Crash (1996)
R | 100 min | Drama
After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger
Votes: 50,265 | Gross: $2.04M
60. Freeway (1996)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A twisted take on "Little Red Riding Hood", with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker travelling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer and pedophile.
Director: Matthew Bright | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Bokeem Woodbine, Paul Perri
Votes: 25,758 | Gross: $0.30M
61. Lost Highway (1997)
R | 134 min | Mystery, Thriller
After a bizarre encounter at a party with a stranger, a jazz saxophonist is framed for the murder of his wife and sent to prison, where he inexplicably morphs into a young mechanic, gets released, and begins leading a new life.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, John Roselius, Louis Eppolito
Votes: 126,642 | Gross: $3.80M
62. Mean Guns (1997)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
100 people, who have betrayed The Syndicate, are gathered in a prison opening the next day. They are given weapons and 6 hours to kill each other. The 3 remaining share $10,000,000.
Director: Albert Pyun | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Ice-T, Michael Halsey, Deborah Van Valkenburgh
Votes: 4,120
63. The Game (1997)
PA | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a wealthy banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down when he becomes unable to distinguish between the game and reality.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn
Votes: 334,209 | Gross: $48.32M
64. Perdita Durango (1997)
R | 126 min | Action, Crime, Horror
A psychotic criminal couple kidnaps a random teenage couple. The woman rapes the male captive, and lets him watch his lover being raped by the man. They then plan to sacrifice the couple.
Director: Álex de la Iglesia | Stars: Rosie Perez, Javier Bardem, Harley Cross, Aimee Graham
Votes: 7,712
65. Following (1998)
14A | 69 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A young writer who follows strangers for material meets a thief who takes him under his wing.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell, John Nolan
Votes: 83,218 | Gross: $0.05M
66. The Big Lebowski (1998)
14A | 117 min | Comedy, Crime, Sport
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 706,254 | Gross: $17.50M
While it is more of "stoner-noir" and dark/black comedy subgeneres it has a structure and elements of classic noir and surreal hallucination sequences.
67. eXistenZ (1999)
R | 97 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe
Votes: 91,700 | Gross: $2.84M
68. Fight Club (1999)
R | 139 min | Drama
An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soapmaker form an underground fight club that evolves into something much, much more.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier
Votes: 1,794,867 | Gross: $37.03M
69. Mulholland Dr. (1999 TV Movie)
88 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a car wreck, an amnesiac woman sets out to learn what happened to her with the help of a wannabe actress.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller
Votes: 5,671
Original pilot for a TV Series, that was not greenlit and eventually transformed in a feature film.
70. American Psycho (2000)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
Director: Mary Harron | Stars: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage
Votes: 468,094 | Gross: $15.07M
71. Memento (2000)
14A | 113 min | Mystery, Thriller
A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior
Votes: 1,090,530 | Gross: $25.54M
72. Blyustiteli poroka (2000–2001)
60 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
An anthology series hosted by slightly fictionalized Alfred Hitchcock and loosely based on some of his favorite short stories. Made as a celebration of Hitchcock's 100th birthday.
Stars: Kote Makharadze, Nikolay Kochegarov, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Olga Antonova
Votes: 24
73. Mulholland Dr. (2001)
14A | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 309,958 | Gross: $7.22M
74. Donnie Darko (2001)
AA | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne
Votes: 725,025 | Gross: $1.48M
75. Boksuneun naui geot (2002)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.
Director: Chan-wook Park | Stars: Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin, Doona Bae, Ji-Eun Lim
Votes: 60,502 | Gross: $0.05M
76. Femme Fatale (2002)
18A | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A woman tries to straighten out her life, even as her past as a con-woman comes back to haunt her.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Rebecca Romijn, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, Eriq Ebouaney
Votes: 32,997 | Gross: $6.59M
77. One Hour Photo (2002)
14A | 96 min | Drama, Thriller
A mentally unstable photo developer targets a middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.
Director: Mark Romanek | Stars: Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan, Dylan Smith
Votes: 111,954 | Gross: $31.60M
78. Last Exit (2003)
97 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Last Exit tells the story of Nigel, an English man, out on his luck arriving in Copenhagen to start a new life. All goes very dark when he falls for a beautiful working girl, Tanya, and he helplessly gets sucked into a nasty underworld.
Director: David Noel Bourke | Stars: Morten Vogelius, Jette Philipsen, Gry Bay, Peter Ottesen
Votes: 124
79. Oldeuboi (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in five days.
Director: Chan-wook Park | Stars: Min-sik Choi, Ji-Tae Yoo, Hye-jeong Kang, Dae-han Ji
Votes: 496,826 | Gross: $0.71M
80. House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
R | 89 min | Horror
Two young couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of murder end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
Director: Rob Zombie | Stars: Sid Haig, Karen Black, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie
Votes: 74,328 | Gross: $12.63M
81. The Singing Detective (2003)
14A | 109 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
From his hospital bed, a writer suffering from a skin disease hallucinates musical numbers and paranoid plots.
Director: Keith Gordon | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Robin Wright, Mel Gibson, Jeremy Northam
Votes: 8,075 | Gross: $0.34M
82. The Machinist (2004)
13+ | 101 min | Drama, Thriller
An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.
Director: Brad Anderson | Stars: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, John Sharian
Votes: 348,726 | Gross: $1.08M
83. Secret Window (2004)
14A | 96 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A successful writer in the midst of a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a would-be scribe who accuses him of plagiarism.
Director: David Koepp | Stars: Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, John Turturro, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 177,749 | Gross: $48.02M
84. Chinjeolhan geumjassi (2005)
18A | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.
Director: Chan-wook Park | Stars: Yeong-ae Lee, Min-sik Choi, Shi-hoo Kim, Yea-young Kwon
Votes: 69,662 | Gross: $0.21M
85. Ghajini (2005)
175 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Sanjay Ramaswamy, who is suffering from short-term memory loss, sets out on a quest to find the people who were responsible for his ladylove Kalpana's murder.
Director: A.R. Murugadoss | Stars: Suriya, Asin Thottumkal, Nayanthara, Pradeep Singh Rawat
Votes: 12,244
86. 13 Tzameti (2005)
18+ | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A man takes over a dead man's task without realizing the horror it entails.
Director: Géla Babluani | Stars: George Babluani, Aurélien Recoing, Pascal Bongard, Fred Ulysse
Votes: 16,541 | Gross: $0.12M
87. A History of Violence (2005)
18A | 96 min | Drama, Thriller
A mild-mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence, which sets off repercussions that will shake his family to its very core in this action thriller.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt
Votes: 219,373 | Gross: $31.49M
88. The Devil's Rejects (2005)
R | 107 min | Horror
The murderous, backwoods Firefly family take to the road to escape a vengeful police force which is not afraid of being as ruthless as their target.
Director: Rob Zombie | Stars: Sid Haig, Sheri Moon Zombie, Bill Moseley, William Forsythe
Votes: 90,957 | Gross: $17.04M
89. Ona? (2005)
4 min | Short, Drama, Romance
Mystical story about love and loneliness between He and She.
Director: Sergey Twob | Stars: Anna Dji, Sergey Twob
90. Dexter (2006–2013)
18A | 53 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
By day, mild-mannered Dexter is a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami police. But at night, he is a serial killer who only targets other murderers.
Stars: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, James Remar
Votes: 625,900
91. Southland Tales (2006)
14A | 145 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
During a three-day heat wave just before a huge 4th of July celebration, an action star stricken with amnesia meets up with a porn star who is developing her own reality TV project, and a policeman who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott, Carlos Amezcua
Votes: 36,610 | Gross: $0.28M
92.
Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (2006– )
Episode:
Umney's Last Case
(2006)
14A | 51 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
After the death of his son, writer Sam Landry is so desperate to lead another life, he writes himself into his own book, forcing his long-time character to change places with him and live in the modern day.
Director: Rob Bowman | Stars: William H. Macy, Jacqueline McKenzie, Tory Mussett, Harold Hopkins
Votes: 483
93. Inland Empire (2006)
14A | 180 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
As an actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Karolina Gruszka, Krzysztof Majchrzak, Grace Zabriskie, Laura Dern
Votes: 52,115 | Gross: $0.75M
94. The Number 23 (2007)
14A | 98 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him. As his obsession increases, more and more similarities seem to arise.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston
Votes: 190,469 | Gross: $35.19M
95. The Square (2008)
14A | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A man's life begins to unravel when his mistress brings him a bag of cash.
Director: Nash Edgerton | Stars: David Roberts, Claire van der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Peter Phelps
Votes: 5,373 | Gross: $0.05M
96. Ghajini (2008)
13+ | 183 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A short-term memory loss patient sets out on his journey to avenge the death of his beloved girl.
Director: A.R. Murugadoss | Stars: Aamir Khan, Asin Thottumkal, Jiah Khan, Pradeep Singh Rawat
Votes: 55,015 | Gross: $2.43M
97. Illyuziya strakha (2008)
80 min | Thriller
Story of a successful businessman, who has to protect his business in difficult conditions. He gets entrapped into the net of law enforcement structures and after arrest the protagonist ... See full summary »
Director: Aleksandr Kirienko | Stars: Andrey Panin, Elena Babenko, Aleksey Gorbunov, Sergey Garmash
Votes: 90
98. The Box (I) (2009)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who know that opening it will grant them a million dollars and kill someone they don't know.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, James Rebhorn
Votes: 87,701 | Gross: $15.05M
99. S. Darko (2009)
14A | 103 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Donnie Darko's little sister Samantha and her best friend Corey are on a cross-country road trip, but soon find themselves entangled in a dangerous glitch in the time-space continuum.
Director: Chris Fisher | Stars: Daveigh Chase, Briana Evigan, James Lafferty, Ed Westwick
Votes: 13,041
100. Halloween II (2009)
18A | 105 min | Horror
Laurie Strode struggles to come to terms with her brother Michael's deadly return to Haddonfield, Illinois; meanwhile, Michael prepares for another reunion with his sister.
Director: Rob Zombie | Stars: Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie
Votes: 47,166 | Gross: $33.39M
Tell Your Friends