Category: Thriller

Ice Station Zebra: Patrick McGoohan steals the show in John Sturges’ taut cold war thriller adapted from the Alistair MacLean bestseller

Ice Station Zebra(1968), directed by the great action director, John Sturges, is an adaptation of Alistair McLean's eponymous adventure novel set during the cold war, and features Rock Hudson, Jim Brown and Earnest Borgnine in key roles alongside the great British actor, Patrick McGoohan, in a scène-stealing performance. The first time i saw Patrick McGoohan … Continue reading Ice Station Zebra: Patrick McGoohan steals the show in John Sturges’ taut cold war thriller adapted from the Alistair MacLean bestseller →

Advertisement

Westworld: Yul Brynner’s heroic Gunslinger is reincarnated as a killer android in Michael Crichton’s cult genre mashup

Westworld(1973), written and directed by Michael Crichton, is a seminal Sci-fi thriller that incorporates elements from Westerns and horror movies to tell a chilling tale of robots turning against humans in a futuristic society. The film can be basically summed up as a 'Western' themed 'Jurassic Park' Steven Spielberg once called his friend and frequent … Continue reading Westworld: Yul Brynner’s heroic Gunslinger is reincarnated as a killer android in Michael Crichton’s cult genre mashup →

Magnum Force: Clint Eastwood’s ‘Dirty Harry’ battles ultra-vigilantes in this expansive, episodic and very entertaining sequel

Magnum Force(1973), directed by Ted Post, is the very successful sequel to the iconic 1971 crime thriller, Dirty Harry. Clint Eastwood returns as the renegade-cop, Harry Callahan, in its relatively subdued version; the filmmakers have created a quartet of ultra-vigilante super-cops as the antagonists to tone down the criticism that Harry faced in the original … Continue reading Magnum Force: Clint Eastwood’s ‘Dirty Harry’ battles ultra-vigilantes in this expansive, episodic and very entertaining sequel →

No Way Out: Kevin Costner caught in a deadly ‘ménage à trois’ with Sean Young and Gene Hackman in this thrilling, Neo-Noir take on ‘The Big Clock’

No Way Out(1987) is director, Roger Donaldson's adaptation of Kenneth’s Fearing’s suspense novel, The Big Clock. The film set amidst the political intrigue of Washington features Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young and Will Patton in pivotal roles I love movies which has unique opening sequences; i love movies which sets up its plot economically and … Continue reading No Way Out: Kevin Costner caught in a deadly ‘ménage à trois’ with Sean Young and Gene Hackman in this thrilling, Neo-Noir take on ‘The Big Clock’ →

Dirty Harry: Clint Eastwood created one of the most seminal and iconic characters in American film history

Dirty Harry(1971), directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood as SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan, is a terrific police-procedural\crime thriller, with Clint Eastwood updating his revisionist Western hero persona for the modern times to create one of the most iconic characters in films. It's a hot, sunny afternoon in San Francisco. SFPD Inspector, Harry Callahan, … Continue reading Dirty Harry: Clint Eastwood created one of the most seminal and iconic characters in American film history →

The French Connection: Gene Hackman’s dynamic, star-making performance powers William Friedkin’s avant-garde Policier

The French Connection(1971), starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider and Fernando Rey, and directed by William Friedkin from Robin Moore's book, is a brilliant cop thriller set in New York city, which pushed the boundaries of mainstream filmmaking. In the 1960s, two New York cops, Eddie Eagan and Sonny Grosso, busted a cocaine shipment worth $32 … Continue reading The French Connection: Gene Hackman’s dynamic, star-making performance powers William Friedkin’s avant-garde Policier →

Marathon Man: Method-maestro Dustin Hoffman battles the great thespian Laurence Olivier in this pulse-pounding thriller that’s basically a ‘coming of age’ story and tackles deeper themes like anti-Semitism

Marathon Man(1976), Directed by John Schlesinger from a novel by William Goldman, and starring Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider and Laurence Olivier, is a superbly crafted thriller that tackles deeper themes of Nazism, anti-Semitism and the rites of passage to adulthood. One of the most famous, real-life Hollywood stories of generational clash between actors, which was … Continue reading Marathon Man: Method-maestro Dustin Hoffman battles the great thespian Laurence Olivier in this pulse-pounding thriller that’s basically a ‘coming of age’ story and tackles deeper themes like anti-Semitism →

The Stalking Moon: Gregory Peck rides again as the noble, stoic hero in this chilling Western that plays more like a supernatural thriller

The Stalking Moon(1968) reteamed Gregory Peck with his "To Kill a Mockingbird" producer-director duo of Alan J. Pakula and Robert Mulligan. The film, also starring Eva Marie Saint and Robert Forster, is an off-beat Western that plays more like a supernatural thriller I sometimes wonder about the destiny of certain movies. Some good films are … Continue reading The Stalking Moon: Gregory Peck rides again as the noble, stoic hero in this chilling Western that plays more like a supernatural thriller →

Murder My Sweet: Dick Powell makes the definitive Philip Marlowe in this influential Noir classic

Murder, My Sweet(1944), was an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's Farewell my Lovely, with Dick Powell starring as Philip Marlowe in what became the first of the film Noirs. "Okay Marlowe,' I said to myself. 'You're a tough guy. You've been sapped twice, choked, beaten silly with a gun, shot in the arm until you're crazy … Continue reading Murder My Sweet: Dick Powell makes the definitive Philip Marlowe in this influential Noir classic →

To Catch a Thief: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly epitomizes the glamor and sizzle of golden age Hollywood in Hitchcock’s witty, elegant, extravaganza

To Catch a Thief(1955), Hitchcock's glossy, lighthearted, caper film offers frothy, romantic entertainment, and Grant and Kelly's combustive star power sets off significant fireworks. Sex on the screen should be suspenseful, I feel. If sex is too blatant or obvious, there’s no suspense. You know why I favor sophisticated blondes in my films? We’re after … Continue reading To Catch a Thief: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly epitomizes the glamor and sizzle of golden age Hollywood in Hitchcock’s witty, elegant, extravaganza →

The Eiger Sanction: Clint Eastwood attempts a James Bond style spy thriller with mixed results

The Eiger Sanction (1975), Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, is an action-adventure thriller inspired from James Bond films. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Rodney Whitaker AKA Trevanian, the film has Eastwood playing a government assassin, who has to ascent the Eiger Mountains to kill the spy responsible for the death … Continue reading The Eiger Sanction: Clint Eastwood attempts a James Bond style spy thriller with mixed results →

Breakheart Pass: Charles Bronson stars in a highly entertaining Western adventure adapted from an Alistair MacLean bestseller

Breakheart Pass(1975), directed by Tom Gries and starring Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Ben Johnson and Richard Crenna, is a very enjoyable thriller set in the old-west, which combines elements from a John Ford western and an Agatha Christie mystery. "I'm not a man of violence" The words are spoken by none other than Charles Bronson, … Continue reading Breakheart Pass: Charles Bronson stars in a highly entertaining Western adventure adapted from an Alistair MacLean bestseller →

Point Blank: John Boorman’s avant-garde Noir masterpiece gave Lee Marvin his most iconic role

John Boorman's Point Blank(1967) is one of the greatest and most unusual crime\noir thrillers ever made. Apart from being an extraordinary hybrid of American and European film sensibilities, the film also provided Lee Marvin with his most iconic role. 1960s was the decade of revisionism in American society and American cinema. Every movie genre was … Continue reading Point Blank: John Boorman’s avant-garde Noir masterpiece gave Lee Marvin his most iconic role →

Prime Cut: Lee Marvin takes on Gene Hackman in this lurid, satirical gangster thriller that epitomizes the eccentricity of 1970s cinema

Lee Marvin has done some of the weirdest and wildest movies of his time, but nothing comes close to Prime Cut(1972). At first glance, the film, directed by Michael Ritchie and co-starring Gene Hackman, appears to be just a typical Lee Marvin 'tough guy' action thriller, but the film is layered with some truly dark … Continue reading Prime Cut: Lee Marvin takes on Gene Hackman in this lurid, satirical gangster thriller that epitomizes the eccentricity of 1970s cinema →

Murder on the Orient Express: ‘The Grand Hotel’ of murder mysteries is a grand tribute to the golden age of Hollywood

Murder on the Orient Express(1974) , based on Agatha Christie's famous novel, is a glossy, star studded murder mystery directed by Sidney Lumet. The film boasts an all-star cast consisting of Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall and others, topped off by a highly enjoyable performance by Albert Finney as detective Hercules Poirot. When the … Continue reading Murder on the Orient Express: ‘The Grand Hotel’ of murder mysteries is a grand tribute to the golden age of Hollywood →

Hey Ram: In Kamal Haasan’s modern Ramayana, Lord Ram turns Travis Bickle in a quixotic quest for vengeance against Gandhi

Kamal Haasan's magnum opus Hey Ram(1999) is celebrating it's 20th anniversary this year. Kamal wrote, produced and directed this film, apart from playing the lead role.The film is set during a tumultuous period in Indian history, starting with the communal riots of 1946 and ending with the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi Maa Nishada Pratistham Tvamagamahsāsvati … Continue reading Hey Ram: In Kamal Haasan’s modern Ramayana, Lord Ram turns Travis Bickle in a quixotic quest for vengeance against Gandhi →

High Noon: Gary Cooper’s Oscar winning performance towers over this seminal Western classic

High Noon(1952), written by Carl Foreman, produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Fred Zinnemann is the first of the McCarthy era Westerns, that probed the divisions existing within the American society at the height of the red scare. The film won 4 academy Awards, including a richly deserved best actor trophy for Gary Cooper … Continue reading High Noon: Gary Cooper’s Oscar winning performance towers over this seminal Western classic →

The Beguiled: This overheated, Gothic melodrama is the strangest and the most ambitious Clint Eastwood film ever

Based on Thomas Cullinan’s 1966 novel, originally published as ‘A Painted Devil’,and directed by Don Siegel, The Beguiled(1971), is Clint Eastwood's strangest, boldest and most surprising film as an actor Take warning by me, don’t go for a soldier, don’t join no army For the dove she will leave you, the raven will come And … Continue reading The Beguiled: This overheated, Gothic melodrama is the strangest and the most ambitious Clint Eastwood film ever →

Cape Fear: Gregory Peck battles Robert Mitchum in this gripping psychological thriller

Director J. Lee Thompson's Cape Fear(1962), starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, is a gripping post-noir Psycho thriller in which Mitchum, playing vicious Psychopath Max Cady, gave, perhaps, the greatest performance of his career. "An upright lawyer's life becomes a nightmare when a sadistic ex-con he helped send to prison returns seeking revenge. No simple … Continue reading Cape Fear: Gregory Peck battles Robert Mitchum in this gripping psychological thriller →

Ennai Noki Paayum Thota: A letter to Gautam Vasudev Menon from a dejected fan

Dear Gautham Vasudev Menon, Being a fan of your cinema, i was very excited, going into Ennai Noki Paayum Thota(ENPT). I know that you had to go through a lot to get this film released and i want this film to succeed desperately, so that we can get more films of your brand of class … Continue reading Ennai Noki Paayum Thota: A letter to Gautam Vasudev Menon from a dejected fan →