The villains in these stories are people with horrific personalities. They’re shown as normal people who either slowly descend into madness or are revealed to be evil at the end of the film. Ordinary and peaceful settings, such as suburban neighborhoods, are used to deceive the viewer into a false sense of security, while also emphasizing the horror waiting to be revealed.

Horror of Personality Examples

Here are a few examples of films under the horror of personality subgenre. Most of these were made during the 1960s, which is considered this genre’s era of inception.

1. Psycho

Having stolen $40,000 worth of cash, Marion Crane is on the run. Nothing is heard of her, or the money, ever again.

Concerned loved ones begin a panicked search. They find themselves gravitating toward a lonely motel, where the mother and son who manage it struggle to keep a secret.

2. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Jane is an aging former child star who’s stuck taking care of her paraplegic sister, Blanche, who is also a former actress. Inside the walls of their aging mansion, Jane regularly mistreats her own sibling.

But Blanche isn’t one to take things lying down. As her sister plots to get rid of her, Jane begins to tighten her grip on Blanche while scheming to take back the fame that was stolen from her.

3. The Collector

Lonely and socially awkward Freddie has stalked art student Miranda Gray for a while now. No longer able to restrain himself, he abducts her and imprisons her in his cellar.

He intends to keep her there until she gets to know him—and until she learns to love him, whether she likes it or not.

4. Pretty Poison

Out on parole, mentally disturbed youth Dennis Pitt becomes attracted to teenager Sue Ann Stepenek. He pretends to be a secret agent and takes her on imaginary missions.

But Sue Ann gets too much of a taste for these “adventures.” And when her bloodthirst becomes uncontrollable, Dennis must take on the monster he’s accidentally created.

5. The Bad Seed

Christine and Kenneth Penmark dote on their eight-year-old daughter Rhoda. Pristine and proper, to their eyes she can do no wrong. That’s until Rhoda loses in a penmanship contest.

When the winning kid is found dead, Christine begins to suspect something’s wrong with her daughter. And when her own, true origin is revealed, she worries it may be her fault.

6. Halloween

Sx-year-old Michael Myers stabs his sister to death with a kitchen knife. He is sentenced and locked away in a mental hospital, under the watchful eye of his psychiatrist.

Fifteen years later, he escapes and returns home. There, he begins to stalk a group of teenagers, intent on making them his next victims.

7. Black Christmas

Winter break begins and a group of sorority girls starts receiving obscene phone calls from an unknown number. They egg the caller on, who promises to kill them.

One by one, the girls begin to disappear. Those who remaim begin to suspect that a serial killer’s on the loose—but they don’t realize just how close they are to the murderer.

8. Dressed to Kill

Sexually frustrated housewife Kate Miller has sex with a stranger. Later on, she is brutally murdered with a straight razor. Liz, a prostitute, witnesses the crime.

While the police think Liz did the crime, the real culprit schemes to kill her. Only the victim’s son believes Liz, and they work together to uncover the real killer.

9. Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte

Charlotte plans to elope with her married lover, only for him to back out. He is later decapitated by an unknown attacker with a cleaver. Charlotte finds the body and is believed to be the one responsible.

Thirty-seven years later, Charlotte, now a spinster, prepares to fight an impending construction project that will see her evicted from her property. To help her cause, she summons a distant cousin who, unbeknownst to her, may know what really happened all those years ago.

10. Strait-Jacket

Finding her husband and his mistress in bed, Lucy Harbin takes an axe and decapitates them both. Her three-year-old daughter, Carol, witnesses the crime. Lucy is later considered criminally insane and is committed to a psychiatric hospital.

Twenty years later, she is finally released and sent to live with her brother and his family, including Carol. While she slowly reconnects with the world, a slew of axe murders makes her doubt whether she’s really cured.

Human Monsters in Film

Classic horror films dealt with literal monsters—creatures that were distant from man, whether in an aesthetic or metaphysical sense. Furthermore, these villains were justified in their stories by supernatural or pseudoscientific means. Dracula is a vampire, Frankenstein’s monster is an animated corpse, and the Thing is a hostile alien.

However, a new kind of horror film came about sometime in the 1960s. Instead of demonic possession, supernatural violence, and monstrous destruction, the darkness of the human psyche that was explored. This is the era where deeply disturbed people became the villains of horror.

At its core, horror of personality concerns itself with the idea that humans are the real monsters. It’s a concept that’s been popular ever since, remaining a staple in modern horror cinema. Though now it exists more within genres such as psychological horror and thriller, dark drama, and black comedy.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is considered to be the catalyst of this genre. It’s inspired many films of the same vein and is still regarded as relevant in today’s cinematic landscape.

The horror comes from a viewer’s discomfort with the emotions, thoughts, and fears that people normally deny or repress. As such, these movies often carry heavy elements of suspicion, paranoia, doubt, trauma, and anger. Usually, the narrators are unreliable, creating a narrative that challenges the audience until the truth is revealed.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post What Is Horror of Personality? Definition and Examples from Film appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

Over the years, there has been a surge of interest in these shows. And thanks to streaming sites like Netflix, shows such as Sherlock and Peaky Blinders have reached a wider audience.

British Crime Dramas

British crime dramas usually range from tight, single-season storylines to sprawling epics you can binge on. Some are slow burners, while others are heart-pounding narratives. It’s safe to say that whatever flavor of crime you’re into, British television has it.

Below is a list of British crime dramas that have consistently awed audiences and critics alike.

1. The Stranger

A mysterious woman approaches a married man and reveals a secret that sends him spiraling down a rabbit hole as he seeks the truth. He’s not the only victim, though: the stranger knows other secrets, and leaves murder and destruction in her wake.

Based on Harlan Coben’s novel of the same name, The Stranger is a miniseries with only eight episodes. That doesn’t stop it from delivering an explosive plot that keeps you guessing until the end.

Watch it on Netflix.

2. Line of Duty

Line of Duty steps into the shoes of the Anti-Corruption Unit 12 within the police department. Corruption is pervasive, so those in the AC12 investigate and put to justice the bad cops who take advantage of the system.

It’s one of the most popular British crime dramas, consistently winning awards and with a steady increase in viewership. It’s also known for its many shocking twists, which leave the audience unsure of what or who to trust.

Watch it on Amazon Prime and Hulu.

3. Bodyguard

Police Sergeant David Budd works for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch in London’s Metropolitan Police Service. When he’s tasked to protect a politician he despises, he must struggle to separate his beliefs from his ability to get the job done.

While the series focuses on politics and terrorism, Budd’s PTSD and issues that stem from it are also explored. There’s currently only one season available, but a second season is being developed.

Watch it on Netflix, Amazon, and Vudu.

4. Happy Valley

Don’t expect much happiness in Happy Valley. Catherine Cawood juggles the care of her grandson (a product of rape) and sister (a recovering drug addict and alcoholic) while still coming to terms with her daughter’s suicide. Added to this are the murders, drugs, and human trafficking she must deal with as a police sergeant.

The series has been lauded for the way it tackles sensitive issues such as addiction and sexual violence. There are two seasons already available and a third on the way.

Watch it on Netflix and Vudu.

5. Broadchurch

A world-weary detective joins forces with a local investigator when a child’s body is found on the beach. The murder sends shockwaves through the close-knit community, pushing residents down a hole of fear and suspicion.

The series has met critical acclaim since its first season. The third season concludes the whole series so you can definitely binge it to the end.

Watch it on Amazon Prime and Vudu.

6. Luther

John Luther’s dedication, unorthodox methods, and occasional violence have made him a legendary figure in the police force. But that dedication has a price of being consumed by the crimes he investigates. Part of his worries is his peculiar relationship with a serial killer.

This award-winning show has five seasons in total that you can binge. And though a sixth season is unlikely, there’s an upcoming film that will serve as a continuation for the series.

Watch it on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Vudu.

7. Giri/Haji

Tokyo detective Kenzo Mori travels to London in search of his brother, who is accused of murdering a Yakuza’s nephew. He must discover if his brother is guilty—or even alive—before a gang war erupts back home. In the course of his investigation, he comes in contact with London’s criminal underworld.

Giri/Haji means Duty/Shame in Japanese, and the show delivers a new brand of crime drama. Unfortunately, it was canceled after just one season despite receiving critical acclaim. The eight-episode series remains a must-watch for crime drama lovers though.

Watch it on Netflix.

8. Sherlock

Back from Afghanistan, Dr. John Watson rooms with Sherlock Holmes, a man with exceptional intellect and powers of observation. Before long, the two find themselves solving mysteries that the police can’t handle.

This series’ modern approach has been met with much praise and might have caused a revival of shows based on the character of Sherlock Holmes. Four seasons are available, each with three hour-long episodes. A potential fifth is still up in the air.

Watch it on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Vudu.

9. Peaky Blinders

Set in the years after WW1 and based on a real-life gang of the same name, Peaky Blinders follows the Shelby family as they establish a criminal empire. But with Britain in the midst of economic upheaval, other gangs are looking to carve out their own place.

It’s consistently earned awards through its six-season run. It’s also one of those shows that go down in pop culture history, with its influence on hairstyle and fashion.

Watch it on Amazon Prime and Netflix.

10. Criminal: UK

This hit series gives a fresh new take on the police procedural. Each standalone episode is confined to a police interrogation room, where a specialized interrogative unit mentally spars with suspects to find answers to cases.

The show is part of Netflix’s anthological series, Criminal. There are currently three other shows, each set in different countries but with the same premise. Two seasons are already available for the UK version.

Watch it on Netflix.

11. The Fall

Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson is sent to Northern Island to help out with a case that’s been open for more than 28 days. When it becomes clear a serial killer’s on the loose, she and local detectives must work together to find and capture him.

Unlike most crime series, the identity of the killer is revealed right from the start. This turns the series into a cat-and-mouse game as both sides work to outsmart the other. There are three seasons in all, but the creators are open to a continuation.

Watch it on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

12. Marcella

After an abrupt divorce, Marcella Backland decides to go back to active duty as a detective. She resumes her investigation into an open murder case whose unidentified killer has become active again.

The show tackles mental illness along with the usual pursuit of criminals. The series is still ongoing, with three seasons already available for viewing.

Watch it on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Vudu.

British Crime Shows

This is the era of television crime shows. All over the world, you’ll find crime dramas of different blends being produced, and those made in Great Britain are some of the best there are.

There’s just something about crime underlined by snarky, British humor and chilling mind games, which is further intensified by the stark backgrounds they unfold in.

Part of what makes these shows so distinctive is their refusal to wallow in death and darkness—something that most crime shows fall into. You see shootings, beatings, and murder in their most horrible form. Graphic violence becomes the story, instead of being the catalyst.

Instead, British crime dramas move away from the usual action scenes. This gives them space to explore grief, guilt, redemption, and consequences on both sides of the crime. It’s also given them a way to address real-life issues such as sexism, mental illness, and racism, making their shows highly emotional, realistic, and memorable.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 12 of the Best British Crime Dramas to Add to Your List appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

Clever directors and writers take advantage of these expectations to shock their audiences by deliberately adding an unexpected change. This is called a plot twist, a literary technique that denies a predicted outcome and forces the viewer to change their perspective of the story.

Most plot twists happen at the end, right at the point where the plot and subplots are supposed to wrap up. As such, they’re a dangerous gamble: executed badly and it ruins the story; but when used well, plot twists give the audience an explosive and satisfying conclusion.

Best Movie Plot Twists

Many movies use plot twists to further enhance their narrative. While some of them can be disappointing, others become blockbusters that are still celebrated years after their premiere. Below are just a few of these brilliant films.

Spoiler Alert! Plot twists always involve the major details of a story. Knowing the twist before watching the movie can affect your viewing experience.

1. Shutter Island

U.S. Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels and his partner arrive at Shutter Island to track down escaped mental patient Rachel Solando, who is incarcerated for drowning her three children. He’s also there to find Andrew Laeddis, the arsonist who killed his wife.

The Twist: Daniels is actually Laeddis, incarcerated in the mental hospital for killing his wife after she drowned their kids. The whole guise of him investigating Shutter Island and searching for “Rachel” was an intricate test to cure him of his insanity.

2. Saw 

Two men wake up to find themselves chained to opposite sides of a decrepit room with a corpse between them. Forced to participate in a series of deadly games by the Jigsaw Killer, only one of them can get out alive.

The Twist: The corpse that’s been ignored for the entirety of the film isn’t quite dead. It’s actually John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer himself.

3. The Others

Grace Stewart moves to the English coast and awaits her missing husband while taking care of their sick children. Not long after moving in, she senses that there are supernatural “others” living within their house.

The Twist: It’s the other way around: Grace, her kids, and the servants are actually the ghosts. The others they speak about are the living family that’s moved into the house.

4. Fight Club

When an unnamed narrator meets Tyler Durden, they quickly become best friends. Bored, the two begin a “fight club” that soon escalates into an uncontrollable movement.

The Twist: The unnamed narrator is Tyler Durden. He’s suffering from an identity disorder and doesn’t realize that he’s mentally projecting Durden to life.

5. The Empire Strikes Back

The Rebel Alliance is on the run after a surprise attack from the Galactic Empire. Han Solo and the gang are captured and Luke, currently under the tutelage of Master Yoda, abandons his training to save them.

The Twist: In one of cinema’s most iconic scenes, Darth Vader reveals himself to be Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s father. As the immortalized (but frequently misquoted) line goes: “No, I am your father.”

6. Primal Fear

Defense attorney Martin Vail loves money and the spotlight. He finds the latter in his latest case, as a young, stuttering altar boy named Aaron Stampler is accused of brutally murdering an archbishop. It just so happens that Stampler suffers from multiple personality disorder, often transforming into the sociopathic “Roy.”

The Twist: There never was an Aaron. Roy, the true personality, faked his disorder in order to be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

7. The Usual Suspects

Five criminals plot a multi-million dollar heist that ends up with conman Roger “Verbal” Kint as the only survivor. Kint blames Keyser Soze, a mythical crime lord who’s more elusive than a ghost. In the end, Kint is released after divulging everything he can to the police.

The Twist: Kint is Soze, having fabricated his whole story to the police—something the agent on the case realizes too late. By the time he races out of the precint, Soze is already in the wind.

8. Psycho

Marion Crane steals $40,000 and runs away. Stopping to rest, she checks herself in to the Bates Motel, run by the shifty Norman Bates and his unseen, domineering mother. Later that night, Marion is murdered while showering. Norman suspects his mother and throws Marion’s body in a swamp.

The Twist: Norman’s mother is already long dead, murdered by her son years ago. But his need for his mother made Norman develop a split personality as his own mother. Jealous of Marion, the “mother” took over and stabbed her to death.

9. Atonement

Thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis misinterprets her older sister Cecilia’s interactions with the housekeeper’s son, Robbie. Believing Robbie is a sex maniac, she falsely accuses him of raping her cousin later that night. He is sent to prison and later joins the army.

Years later, Briony finds the two living together. Consumed by guilt, she apologizes and seeks to fix the damage she inflicted, starting with the legal procedures needed to exonerate Robbie.

The Twist: Robbie and Cecilia never had a chance to live together. The latter part of the movie is revealed to have been written by an elderly Briony as a form of penitence.

10. The Descent

A group of thrill-seeking women decide to go spelunking in an unknown cave system where they are trapped by a landslide. They soon discover they’re not alone, as humanoid creatures called crawlers begin killing them off one by one.

The Twist: The sole survivor, Sarah, manages to get out of the cave and drive off in her SUV until she wakes and discovers it was all a hallucination. She’s still back in the cave and as the camera slowly zooms out, you hear the crawlers closing in.

11. Arrival

Twelve alien spacecraft arrive and hover over various locations around the Earth. Linguist Louise Banks is recruited to find out the reason for their visit. As she learns the aliens’ language, she begins having flashbacks about her deceased daughter.

The Twist: The aliens’ language isn’t linear, but palindromic: they know the ending as soon as they create the beginning. Learning it alters a human’s perception of time and it’s revealed that Banks’s flashbacks are actually visions of her future.

12. The Prestige

Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, once friends, are now bitter enemies. When Borden figures out the ultimate trick of teleportation, Angier begins experimenting with dangerous science in a bid to be the better magician.

The Twist: There are two twists in this movie. One, the magician Borden is actually twins living one life. Two, Angier’s trick involves creating clones and killing off the original Angier.

13. Unbreakable

Comic book art dealer Elijah Price believes he is on a quest to find a real-life superhero. When football superstar David Dunn escapes a train accident unscathed, Price believes he’s finally found one. Under Price’s guidance, Dunn realizes he has super strength and is able to sense the crimes people committed by touching them.

The Twist: At the end of the film, Dunn shakes hands with Price and learns the truth. Price orchestrated many high-profile accidents in his search for a hero—including the train crash Dunn survived.

14. Us

Adelaide Wilson and her family vacation at the beachfront home where she grew up as a child. Four masked attackers—revealed to be their doppelgangers—descend on their home and force them to fight for survival.

The Twist: After killing Red, Adelaide is revealed to be the real clone. As a child, the real Adelaide was snatched up and imprisoned by the real Red, who has been posing as Adelaide ever since.

15. The Mist

When a freak storm rolls over town, a few citizens hole up in a grocery store and are trapped by a mysterious mist. As dangerous creatures reveal themselves inside the mist, tensions within the store escalate as a zealot calls for a sacrifice.

The Twist: A small group of survivors decide to leave town but are stranded in the mist when their car runs out of fuel. They decide to end their lives with David, the protagonist, shooting his son and friends with his remaining bullets before stepping out to be taken by the mist.

Moments later, the mist dissipates, revealing the army in the process of exterminating the creatures and restoring order.

Plot Twists and Satisfying Conclusions

Plot twists only work when they truly surprise the audience. Viewers are comfortable in their assumptions, and are simultaneously amazed and outraged when their expectations are suddenly proven wrong.

A big part of why good plot twists create satisfying conclusions is that the viewers appreciate the amount of effort put in concealing them. Obvious twists aren’t much of a twist, and when people have figured them out long before they’re triggered, it spoils the purpose.

This is why writers and directors work hard to withhold information or mislead their audiences with false or irrelevant details. They use red herrings, unreliable narrators, non-linear narratives, and other such techniques to cover up the truth of the narrative.

It’s important to note that plot twists must create a significant change to the narrative, requiring viewers to revise their expectations. They affect the overall plot and not just a small part of the story.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 15 Plot Twists You’ll Never See Coming appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

These characters are the twisted mirrors to the heroes. And while some heroes don’t exactly need to be heroic, villains take it up a notch by representing evil in its many forms. Everything the heroes are, they’re not; and everything the heroes fear, they are.

Best Thriller Villains in Literature

While villains come in various shapes and forms, there are those that simply stick in your mind because of their sheer intensity. They’re physical and mental juggernauts that seem to crush everything that’s thrown at them. Over the years, literature has collected an assortment of such villains. Below are just a few of them.

Do note that all of these have been adapted into succesful films and TV series that deserve their own recognition. While there are small differences, these adaptations still largely follow the original plots.

1. Hannibal Lecter from Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

Hannibal Lecter is known as the purest form of a sociopath, and that’s not a hard claim to believe. But the books go way beyond that, labeling him as a sociopath only because “they don’t know what else to call him.”

He is highly intelligent, with impeccable manners and refined taste, which runs counter to his inner nature as a devious and remorseless serial killer. This juxtaposition often lulls his victims to a false sense of security. He’s also into gourmet dining—only, his favorite kind of meat is human.

2. Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Anton Chigurh is a robot born as a human. Entirely devoid of conscience and compassion, he is a methodical killer who considers the act of killing as normal as breathing.

His signature weapon, a cattle gun, is a testament to how he views other people—nothing more than livestock that he occasionally has to put down.

But he’s not just your ordinary psychopath, because he does have a moral code he strictly follows. Admittedly, it’s an extremely twisted one that is against everything society considers moral.

3. Carrie White from Carrie by Stephen King

There’s a lot of debate over whether Carrie is a hero, villain, or victim. The one thing that’s sure is that when she finally lashes out, she’s a terrifying force to confront. In the book and film adaptations, she’s always depicted as unstoppable, and only dies from a lucky stab by her deranged mother.

What makes her truly frightening is that deep down we all know how close to reality her story is. We’ve seen it on the news countless times—those who are bullied and finally snap can take their retaliation to the highest levels, and often in the most catastrophic way.

4. Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

Nurse Ratched is the perfect example of the corrupting influence of power. As the head administrative nurse in a mental hospital, she wields her authority like a sword over her patients and peers.

As a tyrant, she controls almost every aspect of a patient’s care, whether it’s their medication, basic necessities, or privileges. And while her superiors know about her draconian methods, they turn a blind eye because of her efficiency.

As someone whose job is to care for others, her conscious decision to be cruel is what makes her a true monster—especially when you consider that her patients are helpless, mentally-compromised people.

5. Professor Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Moriarty sits comfortably at the top of the criminal foodchain. Like a spider at the center of an intricate web, he’s responsible for at least half of the evil being done in London. As such, Holmes calls him the “Napoleon of Crime”.

Despite that though, he never does the dirty work. As a consulting criminal, he provides criminals with the necessary support to commit their crimes—in exchange for a fee or cut of the profit, of course.

As Holmes’s match in virtually any aspect, Moriarty is a formidable opponent who heads a dangerous organization. Many of the cases that he and Watson have solved are heavily implied to have been Moriarty’s doing.

6. Sadako from Ring by Koji Suzuki

A ghost who haunts through videotape may seem ridiculous, but Sadako is the stuff of your nightmares. Her curse is inevitable, and the only way to be free of it is to copy the videotape and show it someone else, letting them die in your place.

So the choice is to either die a decent human or commit murder by haunting. The decision is made harder by the manner of death—after only a week, victims die an excruciating death.

The books go for a scientific approach, with the cause of death being a supernaturally induced heart attack caused by the merging of Sadako’s powers and the smallpox virus.

Meanwhile, the movies depict her emerging from the television and apparently scaring her victims to death, leaving them with grotesque expressions.

Best Thriller Villains in Movies

Many iconic villains were made for the screen. Some of them become so popular that they earn a permanent place in pop culture, staying relevant through sequels, revivals, related media, and spin-offs. Check some of them out below.

7.  T-800 from The Terminator

Part of a villain’s terrorizing aspect is their unstoppability. And what’s more unstoppable than an intelligent, self-learning machine that doesn’t feel pain and can perform superhuman feats?

As a cyborg from the future, the T-800 is equipped with technology that’s far more superior to those found in 1980s era it is sent back to. It is outwardly indistinguishable from a regular human, going as far as mimicking bodily functions such as sweating and bleeding to better blend in.

Conventional weapons barely hurt it, merely stripping away the layer of tissue that covers its robotic endoskeleton. In the end, only the accumulated damage from a series of desperate attacks is able to destroy it.

8. The Shark from Jaws

Duuun dun. Duuun dun. Everyone who’s seen the film knows that when this song starts playing, death and destruction come shortly after.

When a great white shark develops a taste for human flesh, a small band of concerned citizens set out to hunt it down. The problem is, the shark holds all of the cards: it’s larger, stronger, and better-armed.

It’s terrifying to know that something intent on killing you is lurking beneath the waters. To have a slim chance of stopping it, you’ll need to enter its natural hunting grounds, knowing full well that you’re at a disadvantage.

9. The Xenomorph from Alien

The Xenomorph’s entire being is driven only by the spread and preservation of its species. It lacks any form of civilization, and it’s only social interactions are with its queen and the rest of its brood.

Its entire life cycle is a terror in four stages. To propagate, an egg is laid by the xenomorph queen, which stays dormant until it detects the presence of a potential host. When it does, a facehugger erupts from the egg, wraps itself around its victim, and deposits an embryo down the victim’s throat.

After a brief incubation period, a chestburster violently rips open the host’s chest and undergoes a dramatic growth spurt, reaching its final adult form in a matter of hours.

10. Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds

Many of the greatest villains are those that don’t care about their sinister nature, and SS Colonel Hans Landa gleefully revels in his. He’s earned a reputation as a ruthless officer who’s especially skilled in hunting down Jews.

While being a Nazi automatically puts him on the evil list, it’s his behavior that truly makes him a villain. He makes no effort in hiding what he is—a power tripper who loves playing with other people’s lives.

He’s also unfamiliar with the concept of loyalty and responsibility. He easily betrays the Nazis and, after committing many crimes, thinks he can get away without any repercussions.

11. Alonzo Harris from Training Day

Alonzo Harris is the worst kind of cop there is: competent, skilled, but dirty to the core. He’s a perversion of the policeman’s creed to serve and protect.

Harris uses his authority to exploit his peers, the people he’s sworn to protect, and the criminals he is duty-bound to arrest. All that matters is that he comes out on top, with no regard to those around him.

His “do as the Romans do” approach inevitably corrupts him. He’s hardcore because his opponents are, uses drugs to better understand the gangs, and employs force because he knows it’s the only effective way to control criminals.

12. John Doe from Se7en

Unseen villains are typically some of the most suspenseful ones as well. They lurk in the shadows, pulling strings until everything is at the point of collapse. That’s exactly what John Doe did in this film.

While barely seen in the movie, his murders, based on the seven deadly sins, cause widespread turmoil throughout society. His deviousness is such that he’s always in control, even when he turns himself in to the police after causing five deaths.

In the end, the detectives assigned to his case fail to realize his end goal. And when he finally drops his ace in the hole, the two remaining sins are found and he happily dies knowing that his plan is a success.

Legendary Villains

Thrillers are often villain-driven, with the “bad guy” representing the ultimate obstacle that the hero must overcome. So in building this list, I opted for villains who can keep the audience at the edge of their seats as the plot races to an explosive climax.

They keep a story’s sense of suspense, anxiety, and anticipation at a high level to make the pay-off more tantalizing. As the stakes go higher and the heroes become more desperate, readers and viewers are drawn further into the story.

Aside from creating conflict and pushing the plot forward, villains are there to elicit a reaction from you. They make you hyper-aware of your surroundings and emotions, making you more susceptible to jumpscares and your doubts.

It’s not uncommon for them to linger in your mind long after you’ve finished their stories. And the longer they affect you, the more intense their villainy becomes.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 12 Best Thriller Villains from Books and Movies appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

It’s been around for a long while, but has only recently gained mass exposure because of the 2017 film Get Out, a film that uses horror as a tool to explore racism against black people in America.

The Social Thriller

Social thrillers are social critiques in cinematic form. They can tackle a wide variety of issues about race, sexuality, politics, religion, environmentalism, and class. They’re often embedded in genre films such as drama, comedy, and especially horror.

The horror genre has always made people feel like something’s crawling under their skin by way of unearthly creatures, horrible people, and the concepts of death and self-preservation. Social thrillers do much the same; the only difference is that society itself is the villain of the story.

As far back as the 1970s, the term “social thriller” was used in film criticism to describe films that created dramatic tension using social inequity. It wasn’t used to denote a specific and cohesive genre.

All of that changed in 2017, when director Jordan Peele gave it its modern incarnation. He defines it as “thriller/horror movies where the ultimate villain is society.” The social thriller, as a modern genre, is then about confronting the evils that humanity is capable of collectively.

Examples of the Social Thriller

Social thrillers have always been an important part of cinema, but in recent years, attention to it has reached an all-time high. Below are a few excellent examples of this popular genre.

Spoiler Alert! In explaining why these films are social thrillers, it was necessary to include minor and major details from their plots.

1. Invasion of the Body Snatchers

In the fictional California town of Santa Mira, an extraterrestrial invasion is budding. Alien spores fall from space and grow into large seed pods that can produce a near-perfect replica of a human, albeit with no human emotions. As the humans are slowly outnumbered, a local doctor sets out to uncover and stop the invasion.

Why it is a social thriller:

The film was released just over a decade after World War 2, however, America was already facing a new problem: the Cold War. One of the biggest fears of Americans at the time was the spread of communism, not only to their country’s allies, but also at home.

Considering this atmosphere of suspicion, it’s easy to see the film as an artistic take on the fear of an “other” infiltrating the community.

2. Parasite

The Kims live in a shabby, cramped apartment, are used to operating small scams to get by, and do the minimum work required in their jobs. Meanwhile, the Parks are wealthy, live in a modern house designed by a famed architect, and have everything the Kims want.

As both families form a symbiotic relationship, differences, greed, and discrimination threaten to destroy both of their worlds.

Why it is a social thriller:

Parasite is a study on class conflict, social inequality, and wealth disparity. It juxtaposes how the rich and poor utilize their resources and live their lives, particularly when it comes to education, employment, and property acquisition.

Perhaps the biggest example of the divide is the monsoon scene. The Kim’s semi-basement apartment is flooded with sewer water, forcing them to shelter in a gymnasium. The Park’s simply consider the rain as a blessing that washes away pollution.

3. The Stepford Wives

Joanna Eberhart and her family move from busy New York to the idyllic suburb of Stepford in Fairfield County, Connecticut. She quickly finds that all the women in the neighborhood look flawless, are obsessed with housework, and live only to please their husbands.

When her husband succumbs to the other men’s way of thinking, Joanna discovers that the Stepford husbands have replaced their wives with android duplicates, and she’s the next target.

Why it is a social thriller:

The Stepford Wives is a commentary on sexism and women’s liberty. It parodies the mistaken thinking of the time that every woman should be fashionable, have curvy figures, know how to cook and clean, and always submit to the husband—a vision that ultimately fails.

4. The People Under the Stairs

Poindexter “Fool” Williams needs money to pay for his mother’s surgery and avoid being evicted. Desperate. he and two others break into their landlord’s house.

But soon after breaking in, Fool’s associates quickly die from what they find inside. With nowhere to run, Fool must play a deadly game of hide-and-seek with cannibalistic children and a pair of deranged, money-obsessed siblings.

Why it is a social thriller:

At surface level, the story seems like a hodgepodge of horror tropes but underlying themes poke fun at society’s many problems. The landlords’ aggressive takeover of the neighborhood (gentrification), their obsession with money (capitalism), and their willingness to take advantage of the less fortunate (class warfare) are explored throughout the film.

The ending even offers somewhat of a solution to these issues. Fool sets of explosives and demolishes the house, the landlords die, and their hoarded money is blown into the streets by the explosion, leaving them for the people.

5. Red State

Three teenagers drive all the way to Cooper’s Dell for the promise of sex from an older woman. However, their fantasy turns into a trap when they’re drugged and caged by a fanatical preacher with so much hatred, even the Nazis stay away.

The preacher and his church terrorize the teens before eventually murdering them for their “sins.” But the unexpected arrival of a federal agent derails their plans, giving the boys a slim chance to escape.

Why it is a social thriller:

Red State is a commentary on religious fanaticism and its capacity for destruction. It shows how people may look normal but have extreme convictions that drive them to hurt other people.

The film doesn’t hide its satirization of a real-world example of absolute bigotry. It pokes fun of the Westboro Baptist Church and its previous leader, Fred Waldron Phelps. The church is famous for its views against Jews, Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community, and is known for its aggressive picketing against these groups.

6. His House

A couple flees from war-torn South Sudan in search of a better and more peaceful life. Granted probational asylum, they are assigned a house and strict restrictions they need to follow or risk being deported.

As they settle in, they are visited by strange visions and disturbing phenomena around the house. Believing that an evil entity has followed them all the way from Sudan, they begin to look for ways on how to vanquish it.

Why it is a social thriller:

The film explores the challenges of assimilation and displacement that many immigrants experience, delivered side-by-side with the supernatural aspect of the film’s horror.

On one hand, the husband hides the supernatural violence going on inside the house, fearing its effect on their asylum. On the other, the wife wants nothing more than to leave and is honest about what’s really going on inside their walls.

Added to this is the constant racism they experience from their neighbors, along with the general dismissiveness exhibited by the government.

Movies as Social Commentary

Many movies tackle socially relevant topics, regardless of whatever genre they may be. But social thrillers have an almost exclusive relationship with the thriller and horror genre. If you look close enough, they’re full of social commentary, their subtext loaded with humanity’s shared traumas and fears.

Take Night of the Living Dead as an example. Ben (the only character played by an African-American actor in the film) is shown to be smarter, more resourceful, and generally better than those he interacts with. He even defies the cliche that people of color always die first in a horror film.

Then you get to the end, where he wrongly dies because a posse mistakes him for a zombie. It’s an unfair ending made more tragic when you consider that the film is one of the first few mainstream films to feature an African American lead.

A key component to understanding these social thrillers is awareness. While some of them can be in-your-face about the societal issues they discuss, many are also subtle in their storytelling.

The topics they tackle are emotionally, politically, and socially charged—subjects that go viral or things that are relevant to a large number of people. These are things you would most likely know about. They don’t require you to do research, they only ask that you listen.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post What Is a Social Thriller? appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

The idea of a character’s confinement and eventual escape has been the subject of many stories throughout film history. Whether its breaking out of prison or fleeing a deranged criminal’s maze of horrors, the concept of freedom against all odds is just too tantalizing a prize.

There’s only once chance at freedom, because failure often leads to death. And to survive means not only keeping your wits, but also testing the limits of what you can sacrifice.

Best Escape Movies

There are a myriad of ways an escape can occur in a movie, but escape rooms, prison breaks, and deadly puzzles and traps are among the most common.

To narrow down this list, I’ve set three criteria for what can be considered an escape movie. First, the escape must be a central theme of the story. It’s not enough for a story to have brief scenes of characters escaping captivity.

Second, the actual escape must be shown. From planning, execution, freedom, and being on the run, the entire process is given to the viewer.

And last, a sufficient reason for escaping is explained, and a character’s reason for escaping must be worth the risks of being caught or killed.

With that in mind, these are some of the best escape movies you can watch right now.

1. The Maze Runner

A young man suffering from memory loss finds himself on an elevator to a strange and deadly world. There, he discovers a commune of similarly amnesiac teens.

Beyond them is the Maze—full of traps, dead-ends, and terrifying creatures. When the only thing keeping them safe suddenly stops working, they must all band together to find a way to escape the maze.

Watch it on Amazon Prime | Youtube | Vudu | Microsoft Movies & TV

2. Saw

Two men wake up chained at both ends of a filthy bathroom. Through clues scattered around them, they deduce that they’ve been abducted by an infamous serial killer.

Both discover a microcasette tape in their pockets. One urges one man to escape. The other one gives the remaining man a choice: kill the other man by six o’clock or his family dies.

Watch it on Amazon Prime | Starz | Hulu | Youtube

3. Exam

Eight individuals are vying for an exclusive position at a powerful company. They are brought and locked together in a tiny room to complete one last test.

The test soon proves to be mysterious. To solve it, they must put their heads together to discover what the test is, and what exactly they’re supposed to do. But warring desires and mounting fears threaten to destroy an already fragile alliance.

Watch it on Amazon Prime | Google Play | iTunes

4. Cube

A small group of people awaken to find themselves locked inside what seems to be a large, rotating cube. To escape, they must find the correct hatch by solving clues written on each door of the rooms within.

But each room is trapped, and each trap is activated by different triggers. Choosing the wrong door means choosing their last.

Watch it on Amazon Prime | Netflix | Vudu

5. The Shawshank Redemption

Andy Dufresne is sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover. Only he knows he didn’t commit the crime. While experiencing the brutality of prison life, he forms a lasting friendship with another prisoner.

But what he wants most is freedom. And to claim it, he makes himself practically a slave to the warden—but only until he can escape.

Watch it on Youtube | Amazon Prime | Vudu | Netflix

6. Split

Kevin, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder and has 23 personalities, is compelled to kidnap three teenagers. In order to get away, the teens must figure out which of his 23 personalities are friendly and enlist their help.

But a 24th persona is lurking beneath all the others, and it is far more dangerous than all of them combined.

Watch it on Youtube | Amazon Prime | Vudu | Netflix

7. The Raid

Police invade an apartment complex controlled by a ruthless mobster who uses it as both his hideout and base of operations. Most of the residents are his underlings, and the few law-abiding citizens are too scared to help.

The police are wiped out, excluding a rookie cop and a few others. With the entire building locked down, and hordes of gangsters hunting for them, they must find a way to get out before they start dying again.

Watch it on Netflix | Vudu | Amazon Prime

8. Escape Plan

Ray Breslin is the owner of a security firm that specializes in testing the security of supermax prisons. When given a multimillion-dollar deal from the CIA to test out a new prison, he and his team can’t refuse.

But they are betrayed and he is incarcerated in a location his team cannot track. There, he must join wits with a mysterious prisoner to break out and discover who’s behind the betrayal.

Watch it on Youtube | Netflix | Amazon Prime | Vudu

9. Toy Story 3

With Andy going to college, Woody and the rest of the toys are headed to the attic. However, a mix-up results in them being donated to a day-care center.

Unfortunately, the kids there don’t play nice so Woody and the gang get ready to escape. But the daycare toys have a different plan for them…

Watch it on Youtube | Amazon Prime | Vudu

10. The Great Escape

Imprisoned in a POW camp at the height of World War II, a group of allied soldiers are hellbent on escaping. But it’s not only freedom they’re after—they also want to draw the Nazis away from battle to pursue them.

Managing to outwit their captors by digging a tunnel, the soldiers discover that escape from the camp is only the beginning of a grueling journey on the run.

Watch it on Youtube | Amazon Prime | Netflix | Vudu

The Pursuit of Freedom

In all stories that feature characters escaping their predicament, the dominant goal is to once again obtain their freedom—often at any cost. To them, freedom is worth every risk of being captured and punished, or being taken again and killed.

Through all the predicaments they encounter, characters are tested on how far they can go and to what extent they can sacrifice for another chance at freedom. And with each sacrifice, you bear witness to the guilt and doubts that begin to fester in their minds.

Much like a heist, careful planning and effective communication are required to execute the perfect escape, and luck often becomes a crucial element in these high-stakes plots. A single mistake or unfortunate coincidence can bring down even the most meticulous plan, leaving freedom unreachable once again.

There are a lot more escape movies to discover aside from the ones I included here. And while others don’t focus much on the element of escape, they can still bring the excitement or anxiety of being on the edge of freedom.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 10 Best Escape Movies About Breaking Free From Captivity appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

This is the heist film—the kind of movie where we cheer for the criminals as they break through impossibly secure buildings and unlock complex vaults in the hopes of claiming the ultimate prize. It’s become one of the most enduring genres in film and continues to enthrall viewers even today.

Best Heist Movies

To elaborate, a heist film is a film where the heist is the main focus of the story. So if a movie features a heist but is ultimately about the relationship between two characters, then it’s not a heist film. Similarly, if the crime that’s being committed is more about scamming someone, then it’s more correct to classify it as a con.

Then there’s the caper, which is at first glance, a less serious and more comedic version of the heist. While they are similar, they’re two different genres. Although a heist can be funny, they tend to be on the darker side.

With all that said, I’ve included some cons, capers, and movies with elements of the heist in this list. What you’ll see here are the best movies that feature the heist as their main plot. To build this list, I took a look at their overall impact on the genre and their audience’s reaction when they first came out. Here are the best heist films that were ever made, in no particular order.

1. The Town

Four childhood friends don nun masks and rob a bank, tying up the hostages. They eventually decide to go for the big bucks by robbing Fenway Park. But one of them falls for a hostage from the last job, leaving him torn between going ahead with the mission or losing the woman he loves.

2. Ocean’s Eleven

A collection of characters come together to empty not one, but three Vegas casinos — in the same night. A wrench is thrown into the plan when one of them finds out his ex-wife is currently dating the casino boss they’re trying to rob.

3. Inside Man

A mastermind has engineered the perfect robbery, bringing an entire bank and the people within it under his control. The bank founder, impatient with the situation, tasks someone to protect something from his deposit box safe. The police are always one step behind. But what’s more confusing is that the thieves are taking their time.

4. The Asphalt Jungle

A newly released criminal brings assembles a team to steal half a million dollars that eventually goes wrong. With the police already on the hunt and one of them wounded, the group is desperate to escape. If only no one was planning a double-cross…

5. Widows 

Four robbers die during a botched escape attempt, leaving their widows to be threatened by the crime boss they stole 2 million dollars from. With their lives and families on the line, the widows attempt to pay back what they owe by doing a heist of their own — one that’s far more dangerous than their husbands’ failed one.

6. Logan Lucky

Two unlucky brothers plan to rob a NASCAR racetrack in the middle of a busy racing weekend. But to succeed, they need an expert safecracker. They know a guy, but they must first break him out of prison.

7. Reservoir Dogs

Six anonymous criminals who go strictly by pseudonyms attempt a huge diamond heist together. But they find the police waiting for them, and everyone’s wondering who ratted them out. As tension and paranoia continue to rise, a potential bloodbath becomes more and more likely.

8. Hell or High Water

Faced with the possibility of losing the family ranch, two brothers decide to rob banks to keep it going. With their farm’s foreclosure date drawing closer, the brothers become increasingly desperate by the day. And as their actions spread throughout West Texas, a couple of aging Texas Rangers begin to take notice.

9. The Killing

This early Stanley Kubrick film follows a career criminal planning one last job before finally retiring with enough money and marrying his girlfriend. He assembles a team to help him steal 2 million dollars from a racetrack. But one of their insiders has a cheating wife who sends her boyfriend to steal the loot.

10. Drive

An unnamed driver works as a stuntman and getaway-driver-for-hire. He falls in love with his new neighbor, but their budding romance is interrupted when her debt-ridden husband reappears and brings danger to his family’s lives.

11. Sexy Beast

A retired ex-gangster is visited by a former colleague and known sociopath, demanding him to participate in one last job. Satisfied with his current lifestyle, he refuses. But the more he declines, the more his colleague becomes irate and violent, endangering his family.

12. Point Break

A rookie FBI agent is assigned to investigate a series of bank robberies. He must go undercover among a group of surfers whom the FBI suspects are behind the robberies when they aren’t catching waves.

13. Heat

After the failed theft of an armored car, a master thief and his crew of robbers find themselves being hunted down by a relentless police officer and his team. A cat-and-mouse chase ensues as both leaders try to outwit each other.

14. Layer Cake

A London-based drug dealer wants out of the drug trade. But just as he’s about to retire, his boss orders him to complete two difficult tasks: track down a runaway drug addict and oversee a big business transaction that quickly goes sideways.

15. Baby Driver 

Because of a debt, a young man with impressive driving skills is inducted into the criminal world as a getaway driver. With his debt finally cleared, he prepares to retire to normal life. But the gang’s leader demands one last ride.

16. Ronin

An ex-CIA operative finds himself leading a group of former special operatives in the search of a mysterious briefcase. But loyalties are constantly shifting, and everyone’s always trying to figure out who’s friendly to who.

17. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

Four friends are left indebted to a gangster after losing a rigged game of three-card brag. With no money to pay up, they decide to rob a gang that just happens to operate next door to them.

18. Jackie Brown

An air hostess is caught smuggling gun money into a flight. Forced to choose between turning into an informant or keeping quiet, she must match wits not only with her criminal boss but also the police assigned to her case.

19. American Animals

A group of college students take note of the rare book collection of a university’s library. Seeing the minimal security, and believing they can make millions selling the books online, they begin planning out a heist.

20. The Ladykillers

A sinister criminal rents the rooms inside an old widow’s house, using it as the base of operations for a big robbery. But when the widow realizes what’s happening, the gang resolves to kill her. Only, which one of them is gutsy enough to do the deed?

Why Are Heist Movies So Popular?

The heist is a time-tested formula that’s been popular for decades. A posse of criminals, complex schemes, and irresistible prizes make for an entertaining watch. The thrill of the movie comes from whether these criminals can get away with the crime or not.

There’s an energy to these films that infect the viewer, making us root for the criminals. It doesn’t matter if they’re lovable rogues or hardened villains; it’s simply about the fun of watching them confound law enforcers, other criminals, and occasionally themselves in pursuit of the ultimate prize.

No matter how a director spins the plot of the heist, as long it remains faithful to the energy and foundation this genre is known for, it’s guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. After all, a heist without plot twists, witty one-liners, crazy schemes, and other such elements would be boring indeed.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 20 of the Best Heist Movies Ever Made appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

These dangers are where we draw inspiration for the many thrillers that we consume. But while our imaginations can produce exceptionally gripping materials, reality is often much harder to beat. That’s why documentaries that tackle real crimes and other emotive events are soaring in popularity right now.

Best Thriller Documentaries

Recently, there’s been an increased interest in documentaries that provide perspective on the craziest, strangest, and most compelling real-life stories. This is especially true for the true crime genre. They’ve become so popular that there’s been renewed interest in decades-old crimes and devastating events. Many viewers enjoy binge-watching them when they have the time.

This is a list of the best thriller documentaries that offer you a chance to dip into the events that are happening or have happened in our world. While most of these tackle crime, others concern less popular but still riveting subjects.

1. Making a Murderer

Making a Murderer is one of Netflix’s earliest and most successful true crime documentaries. It follows the events surrounding Steven Avery, who finds himself the prime suspect to the rape and murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. Prior to this, he was recently exonerated from a previous rape and attempted murder case, for which he had served 18 years of a 32-year sentence.

Filmed over a period of 10 years, this documentary is a slow burn that takes you inside a high-stakes case, the failures of a criminal justice system, and the resulting toll it takes on all of those involved.

2. American Murder: The Family Next Door 

American Murder is one of the documentaries that took 2020 by storm. It tells the story of the 2018 massacre of pregnant Shannan Watts and her two children. Shannan’s husband, Christopher, confessed to the murders, spurred by a fledgling affair and the desire to not have another child.

There are no talking head interviews, voiceovers, or recreations in this documentary. Instead, the filmmakers focus on social media and text evidence and courtroom and interrogation footage to bring the story to you. This no-frills approach gives off a found-footage vibe that makes the story much more hard-hitting.

3. Athlete A

Athlete A follows a team of journalists investigating USA Gymnastics, the governing body of gymnastics in the United States. It focuses on Larry Nassar, a long-time doctor for the national gymnastics team and his years of sexually abusing young athletes. Convicted alongside him is the organization’s own president, who had been covering up the abuse.

This documentary takes you into the dark inner world of gymnastics, where the existing power structure fosters an environment in which abuse can become a regular part of training.

4. The Innocence Files

The Innocence Files is a miniseries that focuses on the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization working to reverse wrongful convictions and free innocents through the use of DNA testing. It explores the the most tragic cases, emphasizing the inequality that lurks beneath an unfeeling justice system.

5. The Great Hack

The Great Hack takes a deep dive into the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, when the personal data of millions of Facebook users was collected without consent for the purpose of political advertising. It was so big that US and UK elections were disrupted.

It’s an alarming wake-up call to the way data can be weaponized, not just for political gain but for other nefarious purposes too.

6. Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer

Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer tells a tale that starts with an anonymous killer posting videos of himself murdering cats online. But he doesn’t stop there, eventually murdering and dismembering a student. It’s a morbid story of a man’s quest for notoriety, deriving his satisfaction from the reactions he receives online.

7. Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia

Fear City focuses on FBI efforts in the 70s and 80s to bring down the mob. It tells the tale of the agents who wiretapped and infiltrated the most powerful mafia families in New York City. It’s equal parts enlightening and suspenseful to see them gather evidence that will bring down the most powerful figures of the criminal underworld.

8. Dirty Money

Dirty Money is a docuseries that explores the biggest cases of corporate greed, investment fraud, and large scale corruption. It’s a sobering reminder of how much power corporate entities wield, and how easy it is for them to get away with unethical behavior when nobody’s looking.

9. I Love You, Now Die

I Love You, Now Die examines the complicated case of a teenage girl deemed responsible for encouraging her boyfriend’s suicide through text. It raised speculation on the limits of criminal responsibility, and whether it’s a crime to simply tell someone to die. Capturing national interest, it became the center of fierce debates regarding social media, digital technology, and mental health.

10. Evil Genius

Evil Genius tackles what might be the most insane bank heist of all time, which resulted in the murder of pizza delivery man Brian Wells. Surrounded by police while in the midst of a bizarre scavenger hunt, an explosive collar locked to his neck detonated, leaving a fist-sized hole in his chest.

Wells’s involvement is a matter of controversy. While others believe he was a knowing participant in the event, there are those who maintain that he was forced into his role. The plot itself is a complex show of how far people are willing to go to get away with their crimes.

Why We Like Watching Thriller Documentaries

Thriller documentaries offer a window into the less desirable sides of humanity. While most fictional thrillers function the same way, there’s a reason why documentaries leave a lasting impression. The events you watch and the emotions displayed weren’t limited to the imagination, but actually left a mark in reality.

When you watch thriller documentaries, you get a close and intimate look into situations that would normally have you close our eyes or run away in fear. These tense and dangerous events give you a rush while you remain safe in the comforts of your home.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 10 of the Best Thriller Documentaries to Binge-Watch Next appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

Assassins are the stuff of nightmares in every genre. Able to move unnoticed and kill with impunity, they bring terror to all of their targets. Sometimes they’re cold-blooded killers; other times they’re simply men with a talent for violence and a strict moral code.

Whether they’re hunting political leaders, criminal masterminds, or innocents, they leave a lasting impression on both prey and readers alike, and it’s that sense of danger that makes us keep coming back for more.

The Best Fictional Assassins

I’ve included all types of assassins here, taken from different mediums of fiction, so you’ll see everything from the cloak-and-dagger business of older times to the sleek, high-tech games modern assassins love to play. These are the fictional men and women who take the job of a hired killer and transform it into an art form.

1. The Jackal

The Jackal is the faceless, nameless hitman in Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel The Day of the Jackal. He’s hired by a radical group from France to assassinate Charles de Gaulle, and goes about his task with deadly precision. He calculates every move, from his own to those of his opponents.

He’s so good with his craft that the police never even get close to him until the last moment. And even after his death, they still couldn’t unearth his real identity.

2. The Bride

The Bride is the mysterious protagonist of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. On her wedding day, the pregnant assassin is shot by her boss and teammates. Years later, she wakes up from a coma and begins plotting her vengeance. Scouring the world, she begins killing off her former colleagues, saving her boss for last.

There’s no stopping the Bride from her goals, and the hack-and-slash feel of the movie just emphasizes her unstoppable nature. Plus, the Bruce Lee get-up definitely helps.

3. Anton Chigurh

Anton Chigurh is the remorseless killer in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men, which was adapted into an award-winning film. He often flips a coin to determine whether his victim will live or die. What makes him more terrifying is his choice of weaponry, a cattle gun — as if his victims were nothing more than livestock.

Whether injured, stunned, or thwarted, he always manages to come back and terrorize people. Even in the end, no one really stops him. He just disappears.

4. Miho

Miho is a mute assassin of Japanese descent in Frank Miller’s Sin City graphic novel series, which was adapted into a successful movie. She serves as an enforcer and protector to Old Town, an area controlled by self-governing prostitutes. Nothing much is known about her except for her mastery in a wide range of weaponry, specifically bladed ones.

Apart from her skills with weapons, what makes her deadly is her dual nature. While she’s smart and appears harmless, she can suddenly unleash her vicious and sadistic side.

5. Agent 47

Agent 47 is the eponymous hitman of the Hitman video game franchise. He’s the 47th clone created from the DNA of five different men. He’s designed to have human physical strength and intelligence, but can still be controlled.

Aside from his genetic advancements and skills, his cold, monotone demeanor hints at a personality that’s barely even there. The mission is always his top priority, no matter the situation.

6. Bryan Mills

Bryan Mills is a father whose daughter is kidnapped while on vacation in France. What the kidnappers don’t know is he’s got a particular set of skills that make him a nightmare for people like them. With only 96 hours to find his daughter, he turns to desperate measures to find her.

His desperation and skills create a terrifying force that won’t stop at anything until he finds his daughter. Even if it’s taking on an entire prostitution ring by himself.

7. John Wick

Nicknamed the “Baba Yagga,” John Wick is a globally well-respected and feared hitman. He is known to be relentless, ruthless, and extremely skilled to the point that he could kill three men with only a pencil. And after a long time away from the profession, he’s coming back with a vengeance.

As a man of focus and sheer will, he’s unstoppable when provoked. This, and his skills, are what make him a top-tier assassin in the John Wick universe.

8. Nikita

Nikita is a troubled teen who’s no stranger to anarchy and violence. She participates in a robbery that goes sideways and accidentally murders a policeman. Her death is faked in prison and her handlers gradually transform her into a killer.

Nikita is a prime example of the femme fatale, able to look innocent and charm her targets to get close enough for the kill.

9. Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad

Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad is one of the most influential assassins in the Assassin’s Creed universe. Over the course of his career, he made several discoveries and inventions that led to his organization’s spread throughout the Old World.

He could perform leaps from incredible heights, scale virtually any structure, and take down targets only to meld back into the shadows. In this regard, he was the epitome of an assassin: silent, deadly, and unstoppable.

10. Deadpool

The merc with a mouth is a witty, unhinged, and extremely deadly assassin who has to cover himself up because he’s scarred all over his body. He’s a skilled user of a wide variety of weapons. If it can hurt someone, then he definitely knows how to use it.

But his most terrifying ability is his regeneration that makes him virtually unkillable. This, combined with his insanity and skills, makes him an unstoppable and unpredictable killer.

11. Mitch Rapp

Mitch Rapp was a gifted college athlete whose girlfriend was murdered in a terrorist attack. He is then recruited into the CIA, where he transforms into a ruthless and unapologetic killer who has is it in for every terrorist in the world.

To finish the job, he’s willing to take measures more extreme than what the agency accepts. Combined with his skills and resources, this makes him a frightening adversary for terrorists.

12. Villanelle

After killing her father’s murderers, Villanelle is adopted and trained to be a hitwoman by a mysterious group called The Twelve. As a psychopath, her genuine love of murdering the world’s most powerful people makes her a difficult adversary.

She’s not only skilled in violence but her intelligence and ability to disguise herself so completely means that no one really knows what she’s thinking or where she is.

13. Waylander

Dakeyras became a killer when his family was brutally murdered in a bandit attack. He tracked the killers down for two decades under the name Waylander, where he earned a reputation as one of the deadliest assassins in the land.

He was one of the earliest depictions of an assassin as the protagonist instead of the villain. His disdain for armor, battle tactics, and skills make him one of the most memorable assassins in fantasy fiction.

Who Is the Best Fictional Assassin?

There’s really no way to determine who is the best fictional assassin. They move in different worlds, possess different skill sets, and are portrayed with varying degrees of believability. This makes deciding who’s the best largely subjective.

Take the Assassin’s Creed series as an example. The “leap of faith,” where a character dives off a high structure and lands in a cushioning material, is a signature move of assassins. But it’s highly unlikely to work in reality.

Personally, I like the idea of Deadpool. He’s a tragic figure who undergoes an experiment to cure his cancer. Instead, it accelerated the cancer cells, making him insane and hideous. That didn’t diminish his fighting skills, though. In fact, his newly gained regeneration made him even deadlier. Plus, his wisecracks and frequent breaking of the fourth wall make him easier to like.

I’ve definitely missed some great examples of fictional assassins in this list. If I tried to add them all, I imagine it would easily reach a hundred. The ones I listed here are in no way the only excellent examples of this character type, so feel free to share your favorites in the comments below.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 13 of the Most Dangerous Fictional Assassins appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

For many thriller fans, Amazon Prime offers a treasure trove of nail-biting entertainment, where you can stream anything from heist films to psychological thrillers.

It’s one of the most convenient libraries for movie lovers, and easy to access from anywhere. Simply subscribe to the service and start watching.

Popular Thrillers on Amazon Prime

If you’re new to Amazon Prime Video, the enormous variety of options available can be daunting. It’s hard to pick what you want when there are so many choices!

To get you started, here are some of the best thrillers on Amazon Prime you can watch now. Each of these is the perfect blend of action, suspense, and mystery that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.

Note: All of the movies below are available on Amazon Prime as of this writing. Normally, movies remain on the platform as long as Amazon and whoever owns the movie have a licensing agreement. If any of the licenses of those below expire, they’ll probably no longer be available on the platform.

1. Overlord

Near the end of World War 2, a team of soldiers is sent to destroy a radio tower. But when their plane is shot down only a handful survive, and the enemies they face aren’t the usual Nazis they’re used to.

2. The Handmaiden

Sook-hee is a pickpocket who enters the service of the troubled Lady Hideko. Teaming up with a conman, they plan to steal the lady’s inheritance. But then Sook-hee unexpectedly falls for her mark.

3. The Report

The September 11 attacks send everyone into panic mode. To get to the truth, the CIA begins using “enhanced interrogation techniques.” As the senate investigates, people are divided into two sides: those who justify the torture and those who find it monstrous.

4. Blow the Man Down

An argument drives Mary Beth to the bar and ends with her bashing in a man’s head. With the help of her sister, they dispose of the body. Now it’s just a matter of keeping up appearances.

5. Crawl

There’s a hurricane raging outside and her house is slowly filling up with water. There’s nowhere to run and no way to call for help. And then there are the gators…

6. Under the Silver Lake

A disenchanted man meets up with his new and gorgeous neighbor. The next day, he finds her gone. Following her trail, he stumbles into the grip of a dangerous conspiracy that’s been going on throughout history.

7. A Simple Favor 

Widow Stephanie Smothers befriends a local woman named Emily. They forge a bond, but Emily disappears soon after. When Stephanie goes looking for her, what she finds is a dark and twisted past inconsistent with the woman she knew.

8. Harry Brown

Harry Brown is an elderly pensioner living in an apartment complex ruled by gangsters. His best friend is murdered and those responsible remain free. With the police failing to help, Harry begins cleaning up the trash on his own.

9. Climax

A group of dancers throw a party after rehearsals, but someone laces their drinks with LSD. With no way to control themselves, things can get wild — and extremely dangerous.

10. High Life

Monte is a death row prisoner placed aboard a spaceship by a scientist obsessed with harvesting energy from a black hole. Because of constant backstabbings, he finds himself the lone survivor hurtling through the void.

11. The Lincoln Lawyer

Attorney Mickey Haller finds offices overrated. Instead, he meets his clients on a chauffeured Lincoln Town Car. His newest case, defending the son of a real estate mogul, draws up disturbing parallels with a past case. Now he needs to decide whether to help his client walk free, or see that justice is met.

12. American Hustle

FBI agent Richie DiMaso catches con artists Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser red-handed. But instead of sending them to jail, he recruits them to set up the corrupt politicians in the city.

13. Searching

David Kim comes home to find his daughter, Margot, missing. With no leads, he turns to the one thing that could help him find her—her laptop—and begins to discover secrets that reveal a daughter he barely knows.

14. The Hunter

Mercenary Martin David is hired to track down a supposedly extinct creature, the Tasmanian tiger. In its DNA is a secret that could lead to the development of a dangerous weapon. But the tiger is elusive, and he’s not alone in the search.

15. Sicario

An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted to bring down the leader of a powerful drug cartel. But the mission is more than what she thought it would be. Surrounded by enemies and doubtful allies, she must find a way to survive and keep her beliefs intact.

Why Do We Love Thrillers?

Thrillers are popular simply because they’re a study of the human condition. What makes a person tick? How do they choose which side to stand on?

By answering these questions, good and evil are given faces, rather than remaining ambiguous concepts in the background. Good and bad people aren’t inherently so, but are products of societal and personal experiences.

Thriller stories drive home the message that humanity is infinitely more complicated than a common dichotomy. The idea that bad people can still turn good and vice versa implies that change is always an option for each of us—and maybe that’s where we can find hope.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 15 of the Best Thrillers on Amazon Prime (2021) appeared first on killerthrillers.net.