Team Cinemaholic
IMDb is definitely the encyclopedia of movies. But should it be considered as the Holy Grail of movies? The answer is no. Having said that, it is surely a place where you can get good sense of what movies are worth watching and what are not. 9 out of 10 times you can trust IMDb ratings. And even though the ratings may not be the accurate barometer of how good the film is, it will give you a fair idea of whether the film is good or not. With that said, today we decided to dig into the IMDb list and bring to you the list of 10 thriller movies that have received the highest ratings on IMDb. Here they are:
Note: We have only considered movies with more than 100,000 votes.
10. North by NorthWest: 8.4
A classic take on a man on the run because of a mistaken identity, this is one of the most un-hitchcockian movie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. A man, hunted by many, decides to take matter in his own hands and investigates his lookalike. It’s more of an action movie, with an overdose of adventure. Hitchcock cleverly used the concept of a “Macguffin” in this slick spy thriller.
9. Vertigo: 8.4
A man with a fear of heights goes delirious with his fiancée jumping to her death. Soon he finds her to be alive, but she claims to be someone else. Is she lying? Is he enamoured with another woman who looks just like his dead fiancée? A classic Hitchcock craft with a huge twist at the end, Vertigo is a true blue thriller. In order to create the disorientation faced by the protagonist for his fear of heights, a new form of in-camera zooming was introduced through this film. Over the years, just like the cult status the film has gathered, this too had gained prominence and was recently hailed by BFI as the best film ever made.
8. The Lives of Others: 8.5
This film is not just a thriller but a scathing commentary on the voyeuristic society that we live in — and the pitfalls associated that comes with it. The moral positions that as an audience you may be forced to take is what is so fascinating and great about the film. While the ending of the film will leave you shell-shocked, the deft handling of such a material by first-time director Florian Donnersmarck is awe-striking.
7. Memento: 8.5
A man keeps forgetting his recent memories due to an accident, needs to kill the men responsible for his wife’s death and his current state. The only clues are tattooed on his body. The viewer goes through the same emotion as the protagonist, albeit in a little differently. The sequences in colour tells the story in a forward progressing manner, whereas the black and white sequence depict the past. Wait, did I tell you, the visuals are interspersed? A brilliant Christopher Nolan, a unique way of storytelling and the looming suspense of catching the real killer- That’s Memento!
6. The Departed: 8.5
A remake of the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, director Martin Scorsese, transplanting the story to Boston, creates a crime epic spanning thirty years. The tension is kept at its tightest throughout as discovery for both young men means death (or worse). One can sense the growing paranoia impacting a terrified DiCaprio as he edges closer to nailing Nicholson, but also to being found out, which means death. Thrilling!
5. Rear Window: 8.5
A man confined to a wheel chair because of a leg injury, takes innocent voyeuristic pleasure by watching his neighbours via a pair of binoculars. Among many colourful characters of his neighbourhood, a particular couple interests him very much. And that night, he sees something which makes him believe that the wife is dead making the husband a suspect. The audience remains captivated to know whether a wheelchair bound man reveals a sinister plan or is it all in his mind. All courtesy, the master of suspense – Alfred Hitchcock.
4. Psycho: 8.5
It is often said that Alfred Hitchcock adopted rather strange policies for ‘Psycho’, which included not to allow late entrants into the movie. It was adopted to ensure full justice to the pulsating climax scene of the movie. A thriller to its truest form, ‘Psycho’ is a story of a son, his mother and their unhealthy bond of possessiveness. Hitchcock was so fiercely guarded about the finale, that he promoted the movie this tag line – “Don’t give away the ending – It’s the only one we have!”
3. The Usual Suspects: 8.6
“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”. This epic statement comes to life when a limping Verbal Kint tells the story of the devil reincarnate Keyser Soze. A much hated man with a monstrosity at par with none, who even killed his own wife and daughter to ensure no weaknesses remain in his life, is the man responsible for a massacre occurred on a ship. Finally when the truth is disclosed, everyone is astounded. Because “And like that… poof… he’s gone.”
2. The Silence of the Lambs: 8.6
A nightmare in which lambs are being slaughtered on a firm, keeps a young trainee from Quantico, Virginia awake in the nights. She feels that if she could save another innocent from the clutches of a crazy psychopath, she just might get rid of those dreams. To kill a monster, she turns to another monster for help. Together, would they be able to save an innocent’s life? Or it will be the burden of failure, that will torment her for the rest of her life?
1. Se7en: 8.6
A detective, on the verge of his retirement, having seen it all. A hot headed detective, desperate to prove his mettle in the big bad world. A lonely wife, longing to be with her husband. Life would have been much simpler, if only one man would not have been there to destroy these three lives. But he did. David Fincher’s ‘Se7en’ tells a story about seven killings, each depicting seven sins as described in the bible and a climax, that was never seen before.
