Welcome again to the second part of my favourite thrillers list. In addition to PART 1, there are several more thrillers that are worthy of your attention. So, lets get on with it, shall we? ....
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The Sixth Sense (1999)
Bruce Willis is Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, who at the start of the film we learn that he is shot by a young man who breaks into his house. The young man is actually a former patient of Dr. Crowe, whom he treated when he was a boy for having hallucinations. Then the film introduces Cole, a 9-year-old boy who has similar problems. Cole kept saying that he 'can see dead people walking like regular people', so he is always afraid and because of that he doesn't have any friends. Dr. Crowe of course thinks Cole is delusional but dedicated to stay close to him as he remembers his failure with his former patient. Meanwhile, Dr. Crowe is sometimes seen as having problems with his wife, as if they are uncommunicative due to his dedication to work. As the film progresses, Dr. Crowe finally knows that Cole has the ability to see ghosts (and perhaps his former patient too), and tries to convince Cole that there might be a reason the ghosts keep haunting him and so ask the boy to communicate with them. Cole follows his advice and in the end solving some mysteries that finally give peace to the wandering souls. Cole finally accepts his abilities as a gift and also be at peace with it. With this success, Dr. Crowe finally finds himself at home, looking at his wife sleeping. In his wife's grasp, there's a wedding ring. When he realizes that he's not wearing one, finally the cold truth comes to him. What's the truth? Ahh, you guys already know...but I'm saving it to those who haven't seen this movie. Kinda sad...actually. Although this one is ghostly-themed, it is not the same as other horror movies.
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Trauma (2004)
Those outside Malaysia may not know this suspense-thriller, because this is the product of a Malaysian director, Aziz M. Osman. Nurul (Amy Mastura) is a traumatised woman who's trying to get a grip back to her normal life. The reason of her trauma is an accident in which she accidently hit a man while driving and the man died. Her husband (Azhar Sulaiman) and her younger sister (Sharifah Aleya) have been very supportive and help her a lot in her effort to make a comeback. However, things slowly changes when she hires Jeslina (Nasha Aziz) as her personal assistant in her office. Being utterly efficient, caring, honest and reliable, Jeslina gains Nurul's trust until one day Nurul invited her to stay temporarily at her house while she tries to find a place to stay. It seems that Jeslina isn't what she seems to be. Nurul starts to be haunted by the trauma of her past again, and due to certain events, her husband and sister is convinced that Nurul should be sent to the psychiatric award for medication. Little do they know that it's all the works of Jeslina. How does she do it? Who is Jeslina? What is the reason behind it all? Can Nurul prove that she is not insane and overcome her trauma? For me, this is a good thriller. Too bad there's not many of this kind nowadays (locally).
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Blood Diamond (2006)
An adventure thriller, and some reviews also call it a political-thriller. The background of this story is based on true events of the unimaginably difficult situations in African countries such as Sierra Leone, where there's civil wars, humanity is foreign, people enslaved into diamond minings to satisfy the greediness of corrupted leaders and businessmen. Archer is a white Rhodesian diamond smuggler, arrested while trying to smuggle diamond, and Vandy is a Sierre Leone's fisherman, whom, after being captured by rebel armies, is enslaved as diamon miner (a bit lucky, since other captives are being maimed). Vandy found a valuable pink diamond and hid it for his own, however he's captured when the mine he works at are attacked by other army. In prison, the two persons meet and after a chain of events, they become acquainted and go through the adventure together. Archer wants the pink diamond that Vandy found. Vandy wants to find his family, especially his son, who is separated in the earlier army raid. While at it, they meet Maddy, a journalist and humanitarian, and through her, they manage to go to some places to achieve their goal. During the process, Archer and Vandy share a bond and we know that both of them are just victims of war. Archer assisted Vandy until Vandy is reunited with his family, retrieve the stone and leave the country, while Maddy continues the effort to reveal the bloody trade on the conflict diamonds until it reaches the court of law. There are both happy and sad ending, but in the end, it's the issue that matters. A good movie staying true to its main blood diamond topic, makes us realize what's happening to the other side of the world, and what blood diamond means...
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Shutter Island (2010)
A mind-boggling psycho-thriller indeed! I just didn't know which/whose story to believe right until the end. This movie is an adaptation from a novel of the same name (and the author also wrote the novel Mystic River, which is also turned into a film). U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is sent to Shutter Island with his partner, Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), to conduct an investigation of a missing patient, Rachel Solando in a psychiatric facility there. Rachel is admitted there after drowning her own children. While investigating, Daniels feels that the director of the facility and some of the staff are not giving him a 100% cooperation. Furthermore, he is forbidden to enter one ward inside the facility. Daniels also have recurring dreams and visions about his late wife, who died in a fire in their apartment caused by an arsonist, and also about his past missions in Germany. He also suffers migrain attacks while in the facility. Somehow, after a sequence of events, he begins to set the course of his investigations into finding the arsonist after finding out that he is on the island. The 'real' Rachel Solando is formerly a psychiatrist in the facility but being held as a patient after she finds out that the facility is performing some kind of dangerous and illegal experiment to the patients. But, is this really true? Is Daniels really who he thinks he is?
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Inception (2010)
I watched this one two times in cinema. With that, it means great! And I have reviewed it here. An extract from my previous writing;
... Inception is about a group of thieves, and
they steal ideas from the victims' mind inside their dreams. There are rules of
sharing the same dreams, there are dreams within dreams and in due process of
their mission, they must not lost their minds in the layers of dreams and they
have to keep in check which is a dream and which is reality.
Each of the group members has a role in the
mission. There's The Extractor, The Point-Man, The Architect, The Forger, The
Chemist and The Tourist.. (..like Ocean's 11...anyway, this movie is about a
heist anyway, albeit a different kind..). Usually, they steal the idea, but on
this mission, they have to 'plant' an idea in someone's mind. That's what
'inception' means in this movie.
A brilliant story.
And so, that concludes my list. Perhaps there are more....but, at the moment, these are the ones that are close to my mind and memory. Hopefully, my friend will be able to enjoy it as much as I have. And to you guys....what are your favourite thrillers? :)
