From true crime stories to stories with fantastical elements, thriller movies have always gripped the attention of audiences. By design, a good horror movie should put the audience on the edge of their seat and have them guessing right up until the final credits.
Looking at the list of the 250 top-rated movies of all time according to IMDb, it is clear thrillers are held in high regard by fans. There are classics of the genre like Psycho as well as modern masterpieces like Parasite. But there are also many amazing thriller movies that are beloved by many that have somehow been left off of IMDb's top-rated list.
Though it is one of the smaller movies on the list, Green Room has established itself as a brilliant modern thriller. The story involves a punk rock group who play a show at a neo-Nazi compound only for things to spiral out of control and they end up in a deadly standoff.
Any movie that can transform Patrick Stewart into a terrifying neo-Nazi deserves the highest of praise. Despite its strong cult status, the movie might have been too brutal to attract a wide enough audience to earn a spot on the list.
David Fincher is a filmmaker known for his dark and intense thrillers like Se7en and Gone Girl. However, there are many who consider Zodiac to be his masterpiece. But while his other aforementioned thrillers made the top 250, Zodiac was left hanging.
As the title hints, this is an extensive and gripping chronicle of the investigation into the Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who stalked the San Francisco area in the 1970s and was never caught. It is a dark yet occasionally funny look at the obsession this case became for many people over the years.
Orson Welles is best known for his iconic film Citizen Kane yet his dark thriller Touch of Evil is an equally impressive piece of filmmaking that features an even better acting performance from Welles.
From the intense and brilliant opening long take, this movie has its audience hooked while its plot of murder and kidnapping in a border town unfolds. Welles presents one of the most unpleasant and grotesque crooked cops in cinema history, but perhaps some audience couldn't get past the admittedly horrendous choice of casting Charlton Heston as the Mexican hero.
Based on the simple plot of the movie, Drive could have been a run-of-the-mill crime thriller. But in the hands of a talented cast and a visionary filmmaker, it became a stylish and engrossing movie.
Ryan Gosling stars as a stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver. His secluded world gets turned upside down when he falls in love with a woman in his apartment building. Gosling's quiet protagonist is alluring and brutal at times while the '80s aesthetic of the movie works surprisingly well. But even with that unforgettable soundtrack, Drive didn't get enough love from the folks at IMDb.
Darren Aronofsky is known for his difficult yet gripping movies and many consider Black Swan to be his most accomplished work. Natalie Portman gives the performance of her career as a determined ballet dancer who struggles with her own sanity as she is given the prestigious lead role in the classic "Swan Lake".
Perhaps the nightmarish quality of the movie turned off some audiences which resulted in it being left off the list. However, the disturbing nature of the movie is part of its brilliance as it builds to its breathtaking finale.
Another more recent thriller that has already earned high praise from critics and audiences is Nightcrawler. Jake Gyllenhaal gives an outstanding and haunting performance as a man whose quest for success leads him to the world of freelance news videographers who stalk the streets in search of a seedy news story.
The movie is a dark and twisted success story as Gyllenhaal's psychopathic protagonist proves himself to be dangerously driven. While its status as a classic will surely only increase, it has yet to make the top 250.
It is quite stunning that one of the most famous mystery movies of all time has somehow failed to make a list like this. The Maltese Falcon stars Humphrey Bogart as private detective Sam Spade who finds himself mixed up in a case involving a missing statue.
With one of the most famous cinematic detectives and one of the most famous cinematic MacGuffins, The Maltese Falcon is a must-see pulp story for any fan of the genre. Even all these years later, it is still effective as a mystery.
Few movies have as many iconic sequences as The Fugitive managed to create. But even that was not enough to warrant it a place among the top-rated movies. Harrison Ford gives an intense performance as a man wrongfully convicted of killing his wife who escapes custody and goes on the wrong to clear his name.
It is a simple and straight-forward story expertly told through strong characters, exciting set-pieces, and clever writing. Tommy Lee Jones also adds a key ingredient as the tough and determined Marshal on the case.
Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather and The Godfather Part II managed to make the top 250 in the second and third-ranking respectively. However, in between making those hugely acclaimed movies, Coppola made The Conversation which deserves a high spot on the list as well.
Gene Hackman plays a surveillance expert who picks up a recording of a supposed murder plot. He then begins spiraling into a paranoid breakdown. It is a sharp script with a terrific cast. It is the kind of movie you want to rewatch as soon as it's over.
More than a few have called Children of Men the best movie of the 21st century so its absence from the top-rated list is puzzling. Alfonso Cuarón delivered a stunning and powerful dystopian story about a world where babies have stopped being born and a pregnant refugee who must be protected at all costs.
The movie is thought-provoking and heartbreaking while Cuarón's direction elevates the story even more. There are long-take sequences in the movie that are breathtaking to behold and amazing cinematic achievements.
