10 Forgotten Thrillers That Have Aged Like Fine Wine

These thrillers are not little indie films with a cast of unknowns. Instead, they're packed with household names at the top of the game. For whatever reason, whether it was bad timing or something else, the thrillers on this list were forgotten. Today, they deserve to be discovered again by all new generations and those who never gave them a chance the first time around.

'The Game' (1997)

After the mammoth success of 1995's Se7en, director David Fincher was launched into the stratosphere. He went even higher with 1999's Fight Club, but in between those two instant classics was 1997's The Game. It stars Michael Douglas as Nick Van Orton, a mean and broken rich man who is lured into playing an all-consuming game by his brother Conrad (Sean Penn). The bizarre game and its lack of rules quickly get dangerous, with Van Orton put in various deadly situations. Is it all for real, or is someone playing a very sick trick on him?

The Game is all about breaking down our fallible protagonist, a man accustomed to being in control, who suddenly loses it. Douglas is a genius casting, an actor in his prime who can effortlessly play the awful jerk and the redeemable hero, both of which he does perfectly. Like Se7en, The Game is full of twists and turns, all taken to great heights by Fincher's directing touch.

'The Taking of Pelham One Two Three' (1974)

Modern audiences may be more familiar with the 2009 Denzel Washington reboot, but the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is even better. If you know Walter Matthau best from his work with Jack Lemmon in movies such as Grumpy Old Men, check him out in this thriller, which co-stars Robert Shaw, a year before he was Quint in Jaws. The tense plot revolves around criminals, led by Shaw's Mr. Blue, taking a group of people on a train hostage for ransom, and it'll be up to Matthau's Lt. Zachary Garbder to bring them to justice.

There is a lot of comedy in Joseph Sargent's film, and thank God, because this one is almost unbearably tense, and moments of levity help keep the viewer's nerves at bay. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is full of twists and turns, making the most out of the realistic tension of the setting. Peter Stone's script wisely goes deeper than the premise and makes us care about the good guys and bad guys both.

'Arlington Road' (1999)

1999 was a big year for great movies. Arlington Road was one of them, yet it gets forgotten with the rest. Written by Ehren Kruger and directed by Mark Pellington, the film stars some of the late '90s' biggest and most talented names in Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, and Hope Davis. Bridges plays Michael Faraday, a terrorism professor who becomes suspicious of his new next-door neighbor, Oliver Lang (Robbins). Is there something sinister going on, or is Faraday seeing something that isn't there?

The conspiracy thriller keeps its audience guessing until the end. With well-crafted scenes of paranoia and dramatic tension, along with some great performances by Bridges and Robbins, Arlington Road pulls you in and refuses to let go. Yes, the twisty ending was far-fetched at the time. However, after 9/11, the film became more important than ever.

'Blow Out' (1981)

By 1981, Brian De Palma was already well established as a maestro of the thriller with Carrie and Dressed to Kill. Then he got together with John Travolta for perhaps his most underrated film. Blow Out stars Travolta as Jack Terry, a sound technician whose job is to pick up real-world sounds to use in movies. One night, he accidentally records a crime, leading him on a journey to unravel an assassination plot and save a woman named Sally (Nancy Allen).

Co-starring John Lithgow and Dennis Franz, Blow Out is De Palma doing his best Alfred Hitchcock impression. Packed with suspense and paranoia, along with a loving wink to slasher films, this gem isn't a horror film, but a rather chilling score and a jolt of an ending certainly push boundaries. Blow Out is the movie that showed that Travolta could do so much more than sing and dance, and it deserves far more recognition.

'Take Shelter' (2011)

Take Shelter is a slow-burn psychological thriller starring Michael Shannon as Curtis LaForche, a small-town guy from Ohio who suddenly begins having dreams of something horrific coming so convincing that he builds a storm shelter. The abrupt change leads those closest to him, including his wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain), to doubt him. Is an apocalyptic storm headed their way, or is Curtis suffering from a severe mental illness?

Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter is a film of building dread. Shannon is at his absolute best as a good man who might be the hero or someone no longer to be trusted, and he was honestly robbed of an Oscar nomination. This independent movie showed that it didn't need a massive Hollywood budget to have a nervous audience eating out of a filmmaker's palm. It all comes to a head with an ending that will leave you thinking about it for days after.

'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' (2005)

Few filmmakers have done action and thrillers better than Shane Black. After writing several gems like Lethal Weapon and The Long Kiss Goodnight, Black made his directorial debut with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from a script he also wrote. Robert Downey Jr. stars as a criminal named Harry Lockhart who accidentally walks into a casting audition for a movie. His confusion impresses the casting director, who sends him to Hollywood to learn more about his role with a real-life P.I. played by Val Kilmer. When a dead body shows up, everything changes.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is filled with Black's unique touch, a combination of dark thriller and quirky comedy with rapid-fire, witty dialogue. Downey plays the type of character he's known for. He's amazing at it, but Kilmer steals this movie. He'll have you forget he ever played Batman with his hilarious performance as the overly flamboyant Gay Perry.

'A Simple Plan' (1998)

Say the name Sam Raimi, and The Evil Dead is probably the first thing that comes to mind. However, his best movie might just be A Simple Plan. Based on Scott B. Smith's novel of the same name, this crime thriller takes place in a small town Minneosta, where three men, played by Bill Paxton, Brent Briscoe, and an Oscar-nominated Billy Bob Thornton, find a crashed plane. Inside rest millions of dollars in cash, and with no one to report them, they steal the money, leading to a cascade of issues.

With its unique setting and quirky approach to small-town characters, A Simple Plan was hurt by similarities to Fargo, even though the book was written before the Coens' movie came out. It deserves to be rediscovered today for its smart writing, crisp humor, and tense scenes of violence. It's also a great way to remember Bill Paxton in one of his finest performances.

'Thief' (1981)

Long before Heat, Thief showed where Michael Mann's career was headed. He writes and directs this crime thriller starring James Caan as Frank, an ex-con diamond thief who aims to get away from his past sins and start a normal life with the woman he loves. He can't get away, though, and is pulled back into a life of murder and mob bosses in what he hopes will be one last job. It just might.

Thief is Mann's feature film directorial debut, yet there is not a sign of indecision or amateurish techniques to be found in this gem. Mann's signature, stylish grit is ever-present in a tragic tale about a flawed man who only wants to change. The script won't let him, which is great for us, because Caan is at his absolute best in a performance that should've brought him Oscar recognition.

'Breakdown' (1997)

It's mind-boggling that Breakdown didn't make more of an impact when it first came out. Co-written and directed by Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), the movie stars Kurt Russell as Jeff Taylor, a husband on a road trip with his wife, Amy (Kathleen Quinlan), when the ultimate nightmare happens: Amy goes missing, and those entrusted to help find her can't.

Breakdown is frustrating in the best way possible. Usually, Kurt Russell is the badass hero, shining in movies like The Thing and Escape From New York. This time, he's helpless, a man believed by no one and with no one by his side. If anyone is going to save his wife, it's him. Perhaps even better is J.T. Walsh as the infuriating bad guy. It was sadly one of his last performances before his untimely death.

'Phone Booth' (2002)

Another great action and thriller director makes this list with Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth. The man behind huge studio movies like The Lost Boys helms his unique story starring Colin Farrell as Stu, a flawed man pushed to the brink when he answers the phone in a booth one day. On the other end is an unseen caller voiced by Kiefer Sutherland. With a sniper rifle aimed at his head, Stu must do whatever the caller asks or pay the ultimate price.

Phone Booth is a very small movie that takes place in mostly one location, focused on one actor's face and another actor's voice. That's it. Larry Cohen's tense script, Farrell and Sutherland's acting chops, and Schumacher's tight direction create a tense atmosphere that never lets up. At only 81 minutes long, Phone Booth makes every scene count. This way of making calls might not exist anymore, but movies like this will never go out of style.