Everybody loves an excellent thriller. From 1960’s Psycho to 2024’s Conclave, suspense films have been round for many years and can all the time discover an appreciative viewers.
The style has been in a little bit of a droop these days, with fewer thrillers launched in theaters than in its heyday within the ‘90s. That decade was arguably a excessive level for thrill-seeking film followers, with a seemingly countless provide of business and significant hits like Primary Intuition with Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone and Se7en with Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Watch With Us picks the ten finest thrillers of the ‘90s and ranks them from the superb to the very best. It’s a testomony to the energy of ‘90s thrillers that some fan favorites like Primal Concern with Richard Gere and Distress with Kathy Bates didn’t make the minimize.
10. ‘Concern’ (1996)
David (Mark Wahlberg) is each teenage lady’s dream: he’s well mannered to oldsters, attentive to his associate and appears like a Calvin Klein underwear mannequin. That’s why 16-year-old Seattle highschool scholar Nicole (Reese Witherspoon) falls for him, and why most of her family and friends like him. However Nicole’s dad, Steve (William Petersen), doesn’t belief him, and shortly his instincts are confirmed proper — David is a psychopath who needs to take over his total household. Can Steven persuade Nicole she’s sleeping with the enemy?
Concern is a criminally underrated thriller that was largely ignored when it was first launched in 1996. It’s nonetheless efficient in 2025, and that’s as a result of surprisingly layered performances by Witherspoon and Petersen as a father and daughter whose lack of connection is exploited by David. Concern additionally capabilities as an incredible snapshot of Seattle within the mid-’90s, when grunge music and flannel shirts nonetheless dominated popular culture.
Concern could be rented on Amazon Prime Video.
9. ‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’ (1991)
It’s each mom’s worst nightmare — your kids are being threatened, and there’s nothing you are able to do about it. For Claire (Annabella Sciorra), the menace comes not from exterior, however from inside her dwelling. New nanny Peyton (Rebecca De Mornay) isn’t what she appears, and her nice demeanor hides a quiet rage that threatens not solely her family and friends however Claire’s life as nicely.
Could isn’t shaping as much as be an excellent month for brand spanking new thrillers on Netflix. However when there’s nothing recent to observe, the Watch With Us group turns to the again catalog of Netflix movies to seek out some options. This month, we’re highlighting one among Angus Cloud‘s closing movies, Your Fortunate Day, in addition to the […]
Usually derogatorily described as “the killer nanny film,” The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is best and subtler than its trashy status suggests. As Peyton, DeMornay brings actual pathos to her disturbed caretaker and pulls off the inconceivable trick of creating her extra sympathetic than Sciorra’s frustratingly helpless Claire. The movie isn’t afraid to be pulpy, and a younger Julianne Moore energizes each scene she’s in as Claire’s chain-smoking buddy Marlene, who clocks Peyton’s phony angelic act proper from the beginning (and pays for it in a while).
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle could be rented on Amazon Prime Video.
8. ‘Single White Feminine’ (1992)
Allie Jones (Bridget Fonda) doesn’t prefer to be alone. After catching her longtime boyfriend dishonest on her, she kicks him out and locations an commercial searching for a “SWF” (Single White Feminine) roommate to share her spacious Manhattan condominium. That’s how she meets Hedy (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who quickly strikes into Allie’s place and slowly takes over her life. Hedy is simply as needy as Allie, and she or he’s prepared to kill to stay in her new roommate’s life.
Single White Feminine has a lurid premise, however the two lead actresses make investments sufficient depth and conviction of their roles to make the thriller higher than others. Hedy is clearly disturbed, however Jason Leigh permits you to see the complete extent of Hedy’s deadly neediness. Allie isn’t that a lot completely different from Hedy, and Fonda excels in exhibiting Allie’s refined transformation from sufferer to hero by the movie’s finish. Single White Feminine is among the extra trendy thrillers on this record, and its blue-tinged cinematography provides the movie a novel, moody look that’s laborious to neglect.
Single White Feminine is streaming on Pluto TV.
7. ‘Se7en’ (1995)
“What’s within the field?” Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) desperately asks his associate, William Somerset (Morgan Freeman), close to the tip of Se7en. He already is aware of the reply— and so will we. The occasions main as much as that devastating second are simply as nauseating and interesting, making Se7en one of many few thrillers you’re glad to have seen and by no means wish to watch once more.
Two metropolis detectives, David and William, group as much as examine a collection of murders primarily based on the seven lethal sins: gluttony, lust, pleasure — you get the concept. As every homicide is more and more more odd and violent than the subsequent, the 2 detectives race in opposition to time to cease him earlier than he claims extra victims.
Se7en could be rented or bought on Amazon Prime Video.
6. ‘Malice’ (1993)
Malice presents the most effective worth on this record — it’s two thrillers in a single film, and there’s little connection between the 2. A serial rapist is terrorizing a small campus city, and Prof. Andy Safian (Invoice Pullman) is each a suspect and possibly the one man who can catch the assailant. In the meantime, Andy’s spouse, Tracy (Nicole Kidman), loses the flexibility to have kids as a consequence of a botched emergency surgical procedure performed by Andy’s outdated buddy, Jed (Alec Baldwin). Did Jed intentionally hurt Tracy as a consequence of a God advanced? Or is one thing extra sinister at play?
Issues change on a regular basis at Warner Bros. Discovery. As an example, the corporate simply introduced that its streaming service, Max, will revert to its authentic identify, HBO Max. (Most individuals nonetheless name it that anyway, so it’s not that massive of a deal.) What’s notable, nevertheless, is HBO Max’s Could film lineup, which boasts […]
Malice is a curiosity — each plots don’t actually add up, and also you’re left questioning why it bothered to have two of them as a substitute of 1. However that doesn’t imply it isn’t an efficient thriller crammed with atmospheric photographs of shadowy properties and secret seaside cabins, a creepy rating by Jerry Goldsmith and memorably nasty turns by Baldwin and Kidman. Malice additionally has one of many nice comeuppance endings within the thriller style when the dangerous man will get a pleasant dose of karmic justice.
Malice could be rented on Amazon Prime Video.
5. ‘Copycat’ (1995)
Dr. Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver) is a wealthy and profitable felony psychologist who’s agoraphobic as a consequence of a previous assault by a deranged fan. Her thoughts continues to be sharp, although, and she or he’s the one one who’s noticing {that a} serial killer is stalking San Francisco and copying well-known killers like Son of Sam and Ted Bundy. She begrudgingly groups up with two detectives, MJ (Holly Hunter) and Reuben (Dermot Mulroney), to seek out the killer earlier than he strikes once more.
Copycat is a uncommon thriller with two feminine leads who operate as each the damsel in misery and the hero of the story. What makes the thriller much more fascinating — and entertaining — is that Helen and MJ don’t actually like one another. Each ladies get on one another’s nerves, however are sensible sufficient to appreciate they’re the one ones who, collectively, can catch the copycat assassin.
Weaver and Hunter present actual dimension to their characters, and aren’t involved with making them likable and even relatable. You continue to pull for them to succeed, although, and that’s what makes Copycat top-of-the-line thrillers in any decade.
Copycat is streaming on Hulu.
4. ‘Cape Concern’ (1991)
Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is a profession felony with an axe to grind. He believes his protection legal professional, Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte), intentionally misplaced his case years in the past so he might spend time behind bars for the rape of a 16-year-old lady. Now free, Max enacts a revenge plan that entails seducing Sam’s daughter, Dani (Juliette Lewis), and alienating Sam from his depressed spouse, Lee (Jessica Lange). Sam may need to transcend the legislation to guard his household and cope with Max as soon as and for all.
A remake of a so-so 1962 thriller of the identical identify, this model is extra nuanced, extra violent and infinitely higher. Credit score director Martin Scorsese for utilizing the bones of Cape Concern’s authentic story and crafting a superior remake that’s simply as excited about exhibiting how broken a seemingly typical American household actually is as he’s at scaring audiences with Max’s periodic violent outbursts.
De Niro received an Oscar nomination for his unsettling efficiency, however simply nearly as good are Nolte and Lange as a married couple whose love has been overwhelmed by their mutual exhaustion with each other. The good cinematographer Freddie Francis gave the movie a dreamy, hallucinatory really feel, and Scorsese correctly left Bernard Herrmann’s authentic tense rating largely intact.
Cape Concern could be rented on Amazon Prime Video.
3. ‘The Gifted Mr. Ripley’ (1999)
It’s New York within the Nineteen Fifties, and Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), broke and alone, is obtainable a novel job: journey to Italy to influence a rich man’s son, Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Regulation), to return to the US. Tom accepts, however he rapidly likes Dickie’s la dolce vita an excessive amount of and decides to homicide him and assume his identification. However how lengthy can Tom sustain this act earlier than being found by the authorities and Dickie’s more and more suspicious girlfriend, Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow)?
A few of the finest thrillers don’t make it to theaters anymore, or they solely get a handful of showings earlier than leaving simply as rapidly as they arrived. Luckily, the assorted streaming providers have saved thriller followers pleased with a big selection of movies at their disposal. To kick off Could, Watch With Us has chosen […]
The Gifted Mr. Ripley stays the most effective of all of the Ripley variations as a result of it excels as an escapist thriller that by no means loses sight of the loneliness that each fuels and cripples its lead character. Tom needs what others have, and homicide is a justifiable means to get to a desired finish. Damon was by no means higher as Ripley, and the entire movie has a heat, sunny really feel that’s deceptively welcoming and units up its brutally chilly, gut-punch of an ending.
The Gifted Mr. Ripley is streaming on Paramount+.
2. “The Final Seduction’ (1994)
Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) simply is perhaps the coldest lady ever to exist in a film. That’s each a praise and a warning, as nothing can actually put together you for what she does in The Final Seduction, a modest neo-noir from 1994 that’s nonetheless as brittle and sensible in spite of everything these years.
Longtime New Yorker Bridget has stolen some drug cash from her abusive dentist husband, Clay (Invoice Pullman), and she or he’s mendacity low in a small city so she will get a quickie divorce. However when she meets dumb, good-hearted Mike, she quickly concocts a plan to get wealthy fast and possibly do away with Clay with out the assistance of a lawyer.
Directed by John Dahl, The Final Seduction doesn’t get sufficient credit score for its lean, imply path (not a second is wasted) and tight story. However that is Fiorentino’s present all the best way, and she or he’s hypnotic at any time when she’s on display screen. Her Bridget is all the time cool and picked up, even when issues don’t go in response to her plan. By the point the film ends, you’re left feeling impressed by what she pulls off — and slightly scared at how simply she does it.
The Final Seduction is streaming on Tubi.
1. ‘Primary Intuition’ (1992)
When rock star Johnny Boz (Invoice Cable) is brutally murdered with an ice decide, Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) thinks his girlfriend, bestselling creator Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), is the killer. She has a factor for ice picks, writing books about murders that ultimately happen and hanging round with reformed serial killers — oh, and she or he additionally has a factor for Nick.
Nick likes to dwell dangerously, so he begins an affair along with her though he’s not satisfied she’s harmless. Did Catherine kill Johnny? Or is the actual killer nearer to Nick than he realizes?
With its mixture of noir, motion and even horror, Primary Intuition is a maximalist thriller slickly directed by Paul Verhoeven and cleverly plotted by Joe Eszterhas. It’s all the time entertaining, even when it’s typically in dangerous style, and it’s dominated by Stone’s blonde femme fatale. It’s apparent Catherine is the killer, however the genius of her efficiency is that she convinces Nick — and also you — that she’s harmless. The principle thrill of Primary Intuition isn’t discovering out who did it, however piecing collectively the puzzle afterwards. It’s enormously enjoyable, too, and that’s why it’s the most effective thriller of the Nineteen Nineties.
Primary Intuition is streaming on Paramount+.
Led by Senior Editor and skilled critic Jason Struss, Watch With Us’ group of writers and editors sees nearly each film and TV present from the distant previous to the current to find out what’s price your money and time. Our numerous hours of multimedia consumption — mixed with years of expertise within the leisure trade — assist us decide the most effective films and TV exhibits you ought to be streaming proper now.
To be thought of “the most effective,” these movies and collection could be visually partaking, intellectually stimulating or just simply enjoyable to observe, however the one trait they should have is that they’re all, in a roundabout way, entertaining. We then examine which platform they’re streaming on and how one can entry them as a subscriber. No algorithm nonsense or paid endorsements right here — our suggestions are primarily based purely on our love and curiosity for the movies and exhibits we love.
