Here are some favorite thrillers of mine, as defined in the previous post. No spoilers are included. I hope I can encourage you to watch some or all of these classics.
Dial “M” for Murder
A cuckolded husband plots to rid his
wife (who had an affair with a mystery writer) and obtain her fortune with the
help of a college “friend”. I recently
watched this Hitchcock-directed classic, and it is an excellent example of a
traditional formula of the thriller genre.
The husband is so smooth and conniving, Grace Kelly so beautiful and
helpless, and the detective smart and manipulative. It all takes place in a single apartment,
there are five characters, a murder in the first act and new twists in the
second act. There is nothing exceptional
about Hitchcock’s directing, and there is little innovative in the story
itself. But as an introduction to the
genre, it is pitch perfect. 3.5/5
Deathtrap
Two playwrights of thrillers, two women (one a
psychic) and a lawyer plot and scheme for fame and fortune in a house full of
weapons. One of the greatest things about Deathtrap is that it teaches us about
the genre itself. It stars Michael Caine
and Christopher Reeve as writers whose plots become horrifyingly real. This is probably the cleverest of scripts in
the genre, written by Ira Levin who wrote the original novels of The Stepford Wives
and Rosemary’s Baby. The movie is so
self-referential it twists upon itself and mocks itself at every turn. Such wonderful fun. 4.5/5
Sleuth
A cuckolded mystery novelist plots to get rid of his
wife… by having his replacement steal his precious jewels? This last week I watched Sleuth, which
inspired me to write this series on thrillers.
It is an excellent thriller about a plot to steal, or to murder, or to
humiliate… what actually occurs is hard to determine. What is clear, however, is that Laurence Olivier
and a young Michael Caine are at their best in acting. They both ham it up, but neither at the cost
of the other—rather they play off of each other so well that it is clear this
film was a joy for them to work together. 4/5
A note: Sleuth is difficult to find, as it has not been released on DVD. However, it is available, as a whole, on YouTube:
My favorite thriller is:
Rear Window
A journalist is stuck in a wheelchair in his
apartment (and Grace Kelly) with nothing to do but peep into his neighbors
windows—but he suspects one neighbor of murder!
It could be questioned as to whether Rear Window even follows the
formula. But I think it does as long as
you don’t mind bending a couple rules.
The two acts aren’t so clear, and most of the action doesn’t take place
in the apartment our hero is trapped in.
Yet this is the least intellectual, most psychological of
thrillers. What happens in the bottom apartment
is simply one act in a whole human menagerie, where a whole host of stories
take place. If the various apartments
are red herrings, they are the most fulfilling of them. And what happens to our three “heroes”
becomes important to us. I believe that
Rear Window is the most perfect thriller ever made, and it gives me great
pleasure to watch each and every time. 5/5
Love Dial M and Rear Window - thanks for the recommendations of the other two. I'll check them out!
ReplyDeleteLike it///////////////
ReplyDeleteGoogle.com