Subgenre Sampler
Suspense/Crime > Film Noir: 152 Films to Buy & Rent
- Cercle Rouge, Le (The Red Circle) (1970)
- Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonte, Yves Montand…
- A precisely–crafted colour 'noir' from the French master, dir. Melville, which rejigs the usual ingredients into an exemplary heist…
- Boucher, Le (The Butcher) (1969)
- Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Stephane Audran, Jean Yanne
- Psychological thriller probes the perhaps dangerous liaison between a celibate school–teacher and a murder suspect, the local butcher. Rich in…
- Le Samourai (The Samurai) (1967)
- Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Alain Delon
- Alain Delon plays an ultra–cool assassin whose flawless disposition is impenetrable to the Gendarmerie but not to a sexy key witness. Steely…
- Doulos, Le (The Finger Man) (1963)
- Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani
- Eschewing the French New Wave movement in favour of homage to the then ‘passe’ genre of film noir, dir. Jean–Pierre Melville adds shades of…
- High and Low (1963)
- Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Toshiro Mifune
- Adapted from a crime–novel by Ed McBain, this kidnapping–thriller is a central work in dir. Kurosawa’s series of film noirs, combining…
- Cape Fear (1962)
- Dir. J. Lee-Thompson
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck
- The original chiller that inspired the recent remake, complete with Bernard Herrmann's bombastic score. Robert Mitchum plays the ex–con…
- Blast of Silence (1961)
- Dir. Allen Baron
Feat. Allen Baron
- Grumpy, low–fi noir presides over the movements of a tetchy contract killer (dir. Baron) as he prepares to whack a two–bit mobster during…
- Criminal, The (1960)
- Dir. Joseph Losey
Feat. Sam Wanamaker, Gregoire Aslan
- Joseph–Losey–directed crime drama of a con sent to prison after a profitable robbery who is tortured by his fellow prisoners to leak…
- A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) (1959)
- Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Daniel Boulanger…
- Godard's landmark first film pulls out all the stops in the style department – with Jean–Paul Belmondo as the romantic fugitive,…
- Cry Terror! (1958)
- Dir. Andrew L. Stone
Feat. James Mason, Inger Stevens, Rod Steiger…
- Crime thriller with Rod Steiger as a mad extortionist who forces a New York shop owner (James Mason) to collect a ransom after threatening to blow up…