Any man watches a movie for the thrills, whether it is an action movie or a science fiction. Even romantic comedies can be fun for a man if it is a good one. However, when it comes to psychological thrillers, these are not about the VFX or the drama. These movies portray the life of the so-called villain by exhibiting stories of paranoia, delusion, abuse as well as phobias.
These movies exploit the anxieties of the audience with their turn twisting plots. However, when it comes to such movies, it is hard to differentiate between psychological thriller movies and thriller movies. Fret not, we are not going to get started on elaborating the whole criteria of storytelling in both of these movies. Wouldn’t that be a waste of time as well as boring for movie buffs.
Instead, we have listed out some of the best psychological thrillers that a man should watch at least once in his lifetime. Have a look:
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane
Psychological thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane released in 1962 by filmmaker Robert Aldrich showcased a dark side of the entertainment industry and how it influences young actors. It portrays twin sisters Jane and Blanche, who worked in films as kids. However, Blanche was much more superior to Jane when it came to acting. In a tragic accident, Blanche is left paralyzed while Jane is blamed for the whole thing and ends up being her unwilling caretaker.
Years later, Blanche is shown living at the mercy of Jane in a house which is nothing but a nest of rats and suffers shocking abuse. Jane is repulsive as well as resents her sister, who made her a nobody in the entertainment industry. The movie stars actors Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.
The Baby
The Baby released in 1973 is a cult classic made by Ted Post and showcases a bizarre as well as discomforting tale of a family. The movie is about a social worker named Anne who has been assigned to the Wadsworth family. The family has an abusive mother, two abusive sisters and a grown man called the baby. The baby wears a diaper, lives in a crib, cannot speak and his disability keeps the family afloat.
He goes through horrifying tortures that no one can imagine, however, Anne soon realizes that he might be disabled only because of the Wadsworth family’s abuse and not otherwise. In fact, he might be capable of living a typical self sufficient life. She decides to rescue the baby and only then it is revealed how far the Wadsworth family is willing to go to preserve their lifestyle. The movie stars Anjanette Comer as Anne.
The Stepfather
The Stepfather is a psychological thriller about a man, Jerry who is a serial killer and charms single mothers, marries them and lives the perfect American suburban life. However, if they fail to live up to his Reagan Era conservative values, he charms the next single mother to marry her and lives two lives simultaneously. Out of the two families, the one that offends him, is murdered by him.
Created by Joseph Ruben in 1987, this psychological thriller is exquisite as well as frightening, which covers angles like the suspicion of a new father, hypocrisy of the nuclear family, the perverse logistics of living two lives at the same time. It stars Terry O’Quinn as the serial killer who has given an amazing performance in the movie.
Gone Girl
Gone Girl, created by David Fincher in 2014 is a story beneath a story and will make you grab your seat till the very end. It stars a teacher, Nick, who is married to Amy and they are living a not so happy married life. Amy has inspired a series of children’s books and is quite famous as well, so when she goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Nick becomes the main suspect.
However, there is much more to be read between the lines than that is showcased to the cops. The movie stars Ben Affleck as Nick and Rosamund Pike as Amy.
Shutter Island
Shutter Island, released in 2010 is relentlessly gripping and a brilliantly unrestrained psychological thriller. It portrays two US Marshals, Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule who are sent to a remote island to find a missing patient from a mental asylum. However, Teddy soon discovers something strange about the place as well as his partner Chuck and soon finds out the truth about the island.
Made by Martin Scorsese, Shutter Island stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo and is an absorbing as well as a challenging movie from the beginning to the end.
The Sixth Sense
Made in 1999 by M Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense is a psychological thriller that showcases a child psychologist, Dr Malcolm Crowe who is treating a young boy, Cole Sear, who is visited by ghosts. Cole is frightened by these visits from unhappy spirits who have unresolved issues. Malcolm tries to discover the truth with Cole but what he finds is unexplainable.
Starring Bruce Wills and Haley Joel Osment, this psychological thriller is genuinely haunting and will leave you thinking about it even after days of watching the movie.
Get Out
Get out is a psychological thriller movie made in 2017 by Jordan Peele and showcases Chris who is dating Rose. They have reached the stage where Chris should meet his girlfriend’s parents so Rose invites him for a weekend getaway with her parents, Missy and Dean.
As they in an interracial relationship, Chris reads Missy and Dean’s nervous behaviour as they are accepting the fact. While at first things seem fine, as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing events lead him to the shocking truth he could have never imagined.
Get Out stars Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams and will not let you move until the very end.
Gerald’s Game
Gerald’s Game is a psychological thriller made by Mike Flanagan in 2017 and is a deep rooted story about a woman and her past. The movie showcases a married couple driving out to a remote area to add some spice to their failing marriage. During the process of kinky game, where the woman is handcuffed to the bed, her husband dies due to an accident.
Then begin the sounds and whispering as she turns delirious as there isn’t much hope of rescue. The movie stars Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood as the leads.
The Shining
Isolation can do many things to a man and that is what The Shining is all about. It showcases a writer who is dealing with a writer’s block, Jack Torrance. Jack decides to become the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, which is isolated in the hope that he will be able to deal with his writer’s block. He brings his wife Wendy and son Danny along with him to the hotel who has psychic premonitions.
While Jack is unable to write, he keeps himself isolated while Danny starts getting more disturbing visions. Jack soon discovers the dark secrets of the hotel and starts terrorizing his own family. The movie stars Jack Nickolson, Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd and is a good watch for those who are ready to scream the hell out during the movie.
Conclusion
Psychological thriller movies are nothing but a way of making you think about what exactly happened, although you have already seen the movie. You can watch it several times and yet you will still be as shocked and disturbed with the twists and turns in the movie. Psychological thrillers truly cannot be compared with any other genre of movies when it comes to cinema.
They belong to the tradition of truly unhinged movies. However, even these movies can sometimes be horror, crime, mystery or action ones. It is the psychology that is behind the movie, the way a character is portrayed and how he or she thinks, which makes it a psychological thriller.
Such movies are not supposed to be paused in between (as if you will) and give you goosebumps at a moment when you never expected. At this time and era, you do not need DVDs and DVD players to watch a movie. You are loaded with streaming services that provide all the above given movies (sometimes even for free) so you can even binge-watch them. And we are sure that you will like each one of these movies.
So get ready with your laptops and smart TVs to have one hell of a ride because these psychological thrillers are not less than a roller coaster. One twist, one turn and you will be screaming from the top of your head! Get ready for the disturbing scenes that will give you sleepless nights. Good luck watching!