Every genre has its legends, those who do it better than anyone else and create lasting work time and time again. Horror has John Carpenter and Sam Raimi, comedy has Judd Apatow and Steve Martin, science fiction has James Cameron and Denis Villeneuve, and fantasy has Guillermo del Toro. There are also those who are just overall film legends like Steven Spielberg.
The thriller genre is no different. While there is a huge variety to choose from in terms of directors and stars, there are some artists who either come back to the genre often or have left such an indelible mark that they’re thriller royalty.
There are so many great thrillers throughout the history of film. There are so many great filmmakers and actors who bring them to life. Artists like Brian de Palma, Sidney Pollack, the Wachowski sisters, Ben Affleck, Robert De Niro are some honorable mentions — and so many more could’ve been listed.
For this list, we've decided to keep it to the essential thriller players who define the genre and give it the prestige it has come to command over the years.
Here are the First Ballot Thriller Hall Of Famers.
Directors
Alfred Hitchcock
Photo Credit: WikimediaHitchcock is so critical to this genre that the Hall of Fame could be named after him. His style and technique are so widely copied that they seem ubiquitous.
At one point, however, Hitchcock was pioneering these techniques. With films like Psycho, Rear Window, North by Northwest, and Vertigo, Hitchcock is the master of thrills.
David Fincher
Photo Credit: WikimediaOne would be hard pressed to find a person who doesn’t understand a good “What’s in the box?” reference. That’s because Se7en is among the most noteworthy thrillers of the last fifty years.
However it would be even harder to find a list of best thrillers that doesn’t have at least three Fincher films on it. In addition to Se7en he has given us Zodiac, Gone Girl, Panic Room and The Game. It doesn’t get more bonafide than that.
M. Night Shyamalan
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Shyamalan is a polarizing figure in film, especially lately. A few things cannot be denied, however. One is that his movies matter. Two is that he’s going to throw a twist at the audience at some point.
He could’ve made this list for The Sixth Sense alone but he’s got a deep roster of thrillers like The Village, Unbreakable, and Signs that he’s a surefire thriller hall of famer.
Christopher Nolan
Photo Credit: WikimediaNolan has done so much other work that it feels wrong to categorize him as a thriller director. However, the director of Memento, The Prestige, and Insomnia must be on this list.
It’s fitting too because even in his other work, like war dramas or science fiction films, Nolan still finds a way to build suspense and keep us on the edge of our seats.
Sidney Lumet
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Lumet’s first film was 12 Angry Men and his last film was Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. Those are the perfect thriller bookends for a storied career.
However, in the middle of that he’s got such titles as The Verdict, Daniel, A Stranger Among Us, and Dog Day Afternoon. The thriller genre would not be the same without Sidney Lumet.
Actors
Robert Redford
Photo Credit: Universal PicturesRedford could easily be elevated to the overall film legend list, but his contributions to the thriller genre are too important not to mention here. Even in his later years he was still churning out awesome thrillers like The Company You Keep. However his classics are why he’s a thriller hall of fame.
These titles include Three Days of the Condor, All the President's Men, and The Sting. Redford has made plenty of great movies across many genres but thrillers are where he made his mark!
Ashley Judd
Photo Credit: Paramount PicturesJudd might not be the first name you think of when you think of any genres. The late 90s and early 2000s would not be the same without her though. From 1995 to 2004 she appears in Heat, A Time to Kill, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, High Crimes, and Twisted.
That’s the type of decade that gets you in the hall of fame.
Leonardo Di Caprio
Photo Credit: Paramount PicturesShutter Island alone might’ve been enough to get Leo on here by itself. However, much like Robert Redford, Leo has done so much other work outside the thriller genre that he needed more thrillers to be included here.
Most recently he starred in the Best Picture winner One Battle After Another. He also gave us Body of Lies, Blood Diamond, The Departed, and Inception.
Leo is a true legend of the thriller genre.
Jodie Foster
Photo Credit: Orion Pictures This description could’ve simply read “The Silence of the Lambs” and nothing else. Fortunately for movie lovers, Foster is a thriller queen. In her illustrious career, she has given us Panic Room, Flightplan, Inside Man, and The Accused.
If there’s one thing for certain it’s that Jodie Foster can anchor a thriller.
Featured images via Universal Pictures, Wikimedia, Orion Pictures.
