We are in the height of the spooky season, and while that's great for horror movie fans, lots of people prefer to be spared the blood and guts of traditional slasher-style Halloween movies. Just because someone doesn't enjoy gory films, though, it doesn't mean that they can't enjoy a few thrills to help them get into the Halloween spirit. There are lots and lots of thriller movies that offer tons of suspense, some seriously chilling themes, and scenes that are totally worth watching on Halloween — or any time a scare-induced adrenaline boost sounds appealing.
While some thrillers are closer to action flicks, others are so suspenseful they honestly freak us out more than a lot of horror films do. The two genres really do overlap quite frequently. From murder mysteries, to spooky paranormal pictures, so many thrillers can easily be subbed in for even the most bone-chilling horror movies.
Thrillers are basically the happy medium, especially for friends or couples whose taste in films don't line up just perfectly. So if one person wants to watch something scary, but the other is totally not into slasher flicks, zombies movies, or vampire films, a thriller might just be the answer. These 17 thrillers are sure to keep viewers on the edge of their seats and might even induce some nightmares, so beware.
'Secret Window'
In 2004's Secret Window, Johnny Depp plays a writer named Mort whose going through a difficult divorce. He's busy working mostly in seclusion when a stranger shows up, claiming that he stole his story. As Mort tries to figure out how to bring down the increasingly threatening stranger's claim, mysterious events begin to occur. Desperate for something to go right, Mort's mental state begins to deteriorate.
'The Silence of the Lambs' Trilogy
Based on the books by author Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs trilogy — including the title film, the sequel, Hannibal, and the third installment, Red Dragon — follows the co-dependent relationship of cannibalistic but brilliant serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), and his favorite FBI detective, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster). There's a bit of blood, but for the most part, these films are terrifying on a purely psychological level. There's actually a fourth film, that is a prequel to the original three, but it doesn't hold nearly as much appeal as the films starring Hopkins as his iconic character.
'The Sixth Sense'
The Sixth Sense, starring Bruce Willis, made serious waves in the film world when it first released in 1999. It is a bone-chilling thriller about a young boy who in the film's most famous line "sees dead people." A renowned child psychologist (Willis) who has just learned that he failed a patient with a similar issue, takes on the task of helping cure the child of the visions that are haunting him.
'Bird Box'
Bird Box — starring Hollywood powerhouses Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, and John Malkovich — is an absolutely bizarre film that oozes suspense from start to finish. It's about a mother who is forced to risk her life, along with her children's, in an attempt to find safety from a mysterious supernatural presence that has terrorized the entire world for five years. Sandra delivers a stellar performance in this spine-tingling film.
'The Strangers'
The Strangers, starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, is just creepy — made even by the fact that it's based on actual events. It's about a couple that retires to a remote vacation home after attending a wedding, but are interrupted in the middle of the night by three strangers wearing masks. This one does get a little bloody, but it's more suspenseful than anything.
'What Lies Beneath'
Starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, What Lies Beneath is an intriguing thriller about a woman who, after a serious car accident, retires from her work as a concert cellist, and sends her daughter off to college. Soon, she begins to experience strange occurrences in her home on a lake in Vermont. As she grows increasingly paranoid, her husband begins to think her sanity is slipping, but she's convinced there's something sinister at work.
'Cape Fear'
Cape Fear is an excellent film, starring Robert De Niro as a convicted rapist who is released from prison after serving 14 years, and begins to stalk the lawyer who defended him during his original trial. He blames the lawyer for his conviction, and spent his entire sentence constructing a brutal plot for revenge.
'Zodiac'
Starring A-listers Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, and Mark Ruffalo, Zodiac is the haunting story of a cartoonist who becomes fixated on tracking down The Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco back in the 1960s and 1970s. The movie is based on the real-life crimes committed by The Zodiac Killer, whom today is presumed to be dead, but was never captured, making it all the more chilling.
'Se7en'
Se7en is an edge-of-your-seat detective thriller, starring Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and Brad Pitt, that's an absolute must-see for any film lover with a strong stomach. It follows two detectives charged with finding a demented, fast-moving serial killer who chooses his victims based on the seven deadly sins. This movie is dark, twisted, and absolutely worth watching even more than once.
'Donnie Darko'
Jake Gyllenhaal is never one to shy away from playing oddball characters. Going back to the early days in his career, he played a disturbed teenager who begins to imagine a man in a rabbit suit that he believes is real in 2001's Donnie Darko. The character that the boy's mind has manufactured leads him down a dark path of dangerous crimes.
'The Forgotten'
The Forgotten, starring Julianne Moore, is about a couple who loses their son in a mysterious airplane disappearance. They are expectedly struggling with their grief and decide to go to therapy. Throughout the process of therapy, the mother is eventually told that her son never existed, and all traces of him begin to disappear. Determined to prove her son's existence, she discovers that another parent whose child disappeared in the same incident is experiencing the same thing and they end up enlisting the help of a New York City cop. It is eerie.
'The Butterfly Effect'
In this offbeat supernatural thriller, Ashton Kutcher plays a man who suffered a traumatic event during childhood and has been having blackout episodes ever since. During the episodes, he often wakes up in a different place than he last remembers being and has no recollection of what he did or how he got there. As an adult, he recovers his childhood journals in which he recorded each blackout event, and unwittingly discovers a way to alter his past. This one's definitely a mind-bender.
'Black Swan'
The 2010 film Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman, is a dark, twisted film like no other. It's about a prima ballerina, whose dream comes true when she's cast in the lead role in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. As she prepares for the production, though, the pressure and a growing rivalry with another dancer slowly chip away at her sanity … until she becomes a terrifyingly delusional mess.
'Hush'
In Hush, a deaf and mute writer is alone at her secluded home when a masked stranger appears at her window. Intent on killing her, the stranger terrorizes her all night as she fights for her life, trapped and unable to hear where the killer is or call for help. This film is suspenseful and agonizing, and while there's just a bit of blood, it's definitely more of a thriller than a horror.
'Shutter Island'
Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, is another top-notch, must-see thriller for film lovers. This 2010 film takes place in 1954, and is about a US Marshal tasked with investigating the disappearance of a murderous mental patient from Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. Along the way, he discovers the hospital's shady and often dangerous practices, which are amplified when he finds himself trapped on the island during a storm. In a word, this movie is unsettling.
'The Platform'
This absolutely horrifying new thriller takes place in a high-rise prison constructed with one two-person cell per floor, but there's only a single platform that delivers food to the inmates each day. To survive, they must consume whatever they can in only two minutes. The Platform is a totally unique concept that's completely unfathomable, which makes for a seriously suspenseful watch.
'The Bone Collector'
In 1999's The Bone Collector, Denzel Washington plays a quadriplegic ex-homicide detective who's planning an assisted suicide when he learns of a sadistic serial killer terrorizing New York City taxi passengers. He recruits a young but fearful detective, played by Angelina Jolie, to help him track down the brutal killer and stop the rising death toll.
