17 Best Psychological Thriller Movies in Hollywood of All Time

Watching scary scenes in Horror web series or Horror movies is one thing, but psychological thrillers are all about disordering your mind. And it’s totally a different genre. Alfred Hitchcock, one of the top directors of the psychological thriller movie in Hollywood said that people often get confused between the word “ Surprise “ and “ Suspense”. Psycho English movies mainly focus on suspense and more on the internal meaning of the words of the Heros and Villans. Do you love to watch psycho movies in Hollywood? Then keep an eye till the end of the guide, as here we are going to discuss the top 17 best psychological thriller movies in Hollywood that you can watch. 

List of psycho-thriller Movies in Hollywood

In the undermentioned section, we have tried to cover the top 17 must-watch psychological thriller movies that you can watch and feel some thriller environment. 

1. Gaslight (1944)
2. Les Diaboliques (1955)
3. The Bad Seed (1956)
4. Shock Corridor (1963)
5. Repulsion (1965)
6. The Baby (1973)
7. The Conversation (1974)
8. The Stepfather (1987)
9. Dead Ringers (1988)
10. Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
11. Cure (1997)
12. Perfect Blue (1997)
13. Memento (2000)
14. Oldboy (2003)
15. Caché (2005)
16. Gone Girl (2014)
17. Searching (2018)

Let’s understand the Hollywood psycho-thriller movies in detail, including IMDb rating, Storyline, Cast & Crew. 

#1. Gaslight (1944)

Rating: 7.8/10 IMDb

After her aunt’s death, Paula Alquist moves to Italy to become a great opera singer. Over time, the lady falls in love with a charming guy, named Gregory Anton. Soon they married and returned to London to stay at Paula’s aunt’s house. Now, stranger things happen as Paula discovers strange footsteps in the night. Paula starts doubting her husband’s behavior. 

Directed By: George Cukor

Written By: John Van Druten, John L. Balderston, Walter Reisch

Cast: Joseph Cotten, Charles Boyer, Angela Lansbury, May Whitty

#2. Les Diaboliques (1955)

Rating: 8.1/10 IMDb

The psycho movie in Hollywood is based on the novel of the same name written by Pierre Bouleua (Planet of the Apes). The movie is a combination of horror and thriller. The story revolves around a woman and her husband’s mistress who was brutally murdered. After that, unexpected things start happening. The movie is considered one of the best English psycho movies of all time and it ran at the box office for more than 10 years. 

Directed By: Henri-Georges Clouzot

Written By: Henri-Georges Clouzot, Pierre Boileau

Cast: Thomas Narcejac, Jérôme Géronimi, Pierre Boileau

#3. The Bad Seed (1956)

Rating: 7.5/10 IMDb

The movie starts with Christine Penmark, a sweet eight-year-old girl. Her father thinks that she is the best daughter in the world. But since childhood, she has suffered from terrible nightmares. Her father believes that it’s some kind of disease and consults with the doctor to save her daughter. But, only Christine knows the truth. What is the truth? For that, you must watch this psychological thriller movie in Hollywood. 

Directed By: Mervyn LeRoy, 

Written By: Maxwell Anderson, William March

Cast: Joan Croydon, Gage Clarke, William Hopper, Jesse White

#4. Shock Corridor (1963)

Rating: 7.4/10 IMDb

This is one of the best English psycho movies that we include in the list. The movie tells us the story of a journalist. In order to win a Pulitzer Prize, the journalist admits himself into a mental institution so that he can solve a murder mystery and win the prize. The movie is full of psycho-thrillers with an excellent climax. 

Directed By: Samuel Fuller

Written By: Samuel Fuller

Cast: Gene Evans, Peter Breck, Hari Rhodes, Constance Towers

#5. Repulsion (1965)

Rating: 7.7/10 IMDb

The repulsion movie starts with a sex-repulsed woman. Over time, she realizes that her sister’s boyfriend is sex-addicted and raped many women. After realizing this, she was against the relationship and tried to convince her sister not to marry the guy. Watch the psychological thriller mystery movie to know what will happen in the end. 

Directed By: Roman Polanski

Written By: Gérard Brach, David Stone, Roman Polanski

Cast: John Fraser, Catherine Deneuve,  Yvonne Furneaux, Ian Hendry

#6. The Baby (1973)

Rating: 6.1/10 IMDb

 This psychological thriller mystery movie starts with a social worker who lost his architect husband. She doubted the Wadsworth family consisting of two daughters, a single mother, and one mentally disordered adult son. Is the Wadsworth family really responsible for her husband’s disappearance? 

Directed By: Ted Post

Written By: Abe Polsky

Cast: Marianna Hill, Anjanette Comer, Susanne Zenor, Ruth Roman

#7. The Conversation (1974)

Rating: 7.8/10 IMDb

This Hollywood psycho movie revolves around a surveillance expert. He spies on some people. But the twist begins when he slowly realizes that the people whom he is spying on were killed one after another. Will he be able to save the remaining people? 

Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola

Written By: Francis Ford Coppola

Cast: Frederic Forrest, Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield

#8. The Stepfather (1987)

Rating: 6.8/10 IMDb

The stepfather is the story of a psycho killer. He killed his entire family and decided to marry a widow. The widow has already a 17-years daughter. Still, he wants to marry the widow. Now, the twist began when the daughter didn’t want to accept the serial killer as her stepfather. The movie is a complete package of thrillers, emotions, and relationships between a mother and daughter. 

Directed By: Joseph Ruben

Written By:  Donald E. Westlake, Brian Garfield, Carolyn Lefcourt

Cast: Charles Lanyer, Terry O’Quinn, Shelley Hack, Jill Schoelen

#9. Dead Ringers (1988)

Rating: 7.3/10 IMDb

This psychological thriller movie in Hollywood revolves around two gynecologists. They take full advantage of the situation as there is nobody who can tell them anything. But, their relationship becomes worse when a stranger woman enters into their life. 

Directed By: David Cronenberg

Written By: David Cronenberg, Bari Wood, Norman Snider

Cast: Barbara Gordon, Jeremy Irons, Heidi von Palleske, Geneviève Bujold

#10. Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

Rating: 7.5/10 IMDb

Jacob singer wants to recover his memories about his first wife, child, and his tour of duty in Vietnam. But he was unable to memorize anything. He consults with his friends and loves once but nobody can’t help you out. This is one of the best psychological thriller movies in Hollywood of all time and was highly appreciated by the audiences. 

Directed By: Adrian Lyne

Written By: Bruce Joel Rubin

Cast: Danny Aiello, Tim Robbins, Matt Craven, Elizabeth Peña

#11. Cure (1997)

Rating: 7.5/10 IMDb

The movie shows the story of a frustrated detective. He deals with lots of gruesome murder mysteries. But, the people who did all these murders don’t have any ideas about what they are doing. Will the detective be able to stop the murder? For that, you must watch this psychological thriller movie. 

Directed By: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Written By: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Cast: Anna Nakagawa, Kôji Yakusho, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Masato Hagiwara

#12. Perfect Blue (1997)

Rating: 8.0/10 IMDb

Perfect Blue movie shows the story of a pop singer who wants to be an actress. Over time, she slowly realizes that she has been stalked by one of her obsessed and die-hard fans. The fan knows many of her dark secrets and always reminds the pop singer about her past. Can she escape from her past? 

Directed By:  Satoshi Kon

Written By: Sadayuki Murai, Yoshikazu Takeuchi

 Cast: Masaaki Ôkura, Junko Iwao, Yôsuke Akimoto, Rica Matsumoto

#13. Memento (2000)

Rating: 8.4/10 IMDb

Memento is the story of a revenge-seeking husband. They lived happily. But, one day his wife was killed. Also, the enemies hit him so hard that he lost his memory. When he recovered from the injury, he realized that he can memorize his memory for a short time. However, he decides to take revenge for his wife’s death. 

Directed By: Christopher Nolan

Written By: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan

Cast: Mark Boone Junior, Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano, Carrie-Anne Moss

#14. Oldboy (2003)

Rating: 8.4/10 IMDb

The psychological thriller movies in Hollywood starts with an old boy who has been kidnapped for more than 15 years. Now, one day when the kidnaper released him, he wanted to find his captor. But, he has only five days left. Will he be able to find out his captor?

Directed By:  Park Chan-wook, 

Written By: Park Chan-wook, Nobuaki Minegishi, Garon Tsuchiya

Cast: Park Chan-wook, Garon Tsuchiya, Joon-hyung Lim

#15. Caché (2005)

Rating: 7.3/10 IMDb

The movie shows the dark side of digital media.  A married couple lives happily.  But, one day they discover a series of surveillance videotapes left on the front porch. The videotapes contain some private moments of them. The movie was highly appreciated when it was released and won many awards. 

Directed By: Michael Haneke

Written By: Michael Haneke

Cast: Annie Girardot, Daniel Auteuil, Maurice Bénichou, Juliette Binoche

#16. Gone Girl (2014)

Rating: 8.1/10 IMDb

A woman is missing and the media thinks that her husband is the culprit. But, the husband knows that he is totally innocent. Unfortunately, he can’t convince the media and police about his innocence. Then, he decides that he will investigate the case on his own and try to find his wife. Can he find out his wife and prove himself innocent? This is one of the 

best psychological thriller movies in Hollywood of all time. And we recommend you to watch the movie at least once. 

Directed By: David Fincher

Written By: Gillian Flynn

Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike

#17. Searching (2018)

Rating: 7.6/10 IMDb

The Searching movie tells us what a father can do for his angel daughter.  The movie starts with a young girl who was kidnapped. After seeking help from everyone, her father decides to investigate the case on his own. He opened his daughter’s laptop and try to find clues from it. 

Directed By: Aneesh Chaganty, 

Written By: Sev Ohanian,  Aneesh Chaganty

Cast: Megan Liu, John Cho, Alex Jayne Go, Sara Sohn

 

Also read,

 

• The 10 Best Movies Like Avatar That One Should Not Skip
• 30 Top Thought-Provoking Movies That Helps You Think Deeply
• Complete Watchlist of Best Hunger Games Movie Series In Hollywood

 

Bottom Lines…

That’s it. In the guide, we have prepared a list of the top 17 best psychological thriller movies in Hollywood of all time that you can watch with your friends and family members. Do you think we have missed your favorite movie’s name? Mention it in the comment section.