Highest-Rated Movies about 'Tense Atmosphere'

12 Angry Men (1997), Act of Violence (1949), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), The Woman in the Window (1944), The Thing (1982), Drishyam (2013), The Bride Wore Black (1968), The President's Last Bang (2005) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Tense Atmosphere movies.

#16. Straw Dogs (1971)

Storyline: Upon moving to Britain to get away from American violence, astrophysicist David Sumner and his wife Amy are bullied and taken advantage of by the locals hired to do construction. When David finally takes a stand it escalates quickly into a bloody battle as the locals assault his house.

Plot Keywords: violence, revenge, psychological thriller, isolation, rural life, fear, survival ...

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#17. Tiger Bay (1959)

Storyline: Gille Jenkins (Hayley Mills), a twelve-year-old tomboy and compulsive liar living in a sordid tenement with her single parent mother, witnesses the murder of an immigrant Polish woman living in an nearby apartment by her former boyfriend, Bronislaus Korchinsky. The young merchant marine becomes distraught when he discovers that she has become the mistress of a married British sports announcer and shoots her with her own gun. Gillie lies about the circumstances in order to keep the gun which she discovers where Korchinsky hid it. She ultimately bonds with him and misleads the police in their investigation.—duke1029@aol.com

Plot Keywords: crime, drama, thriller, british film, black and white, child protagonist, murder ...

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#18. Miss Sloane (2016)

Storyline: In the high-stakes world of political power-brokers, Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) is the most sought after and formidable lobbyist in D.C. Known equally for her cunning and her track record of success, she has always done whatever is required to win. But when she takes on the most powerful opponent of her career, she finds that winning may come at too high a price.

Plot Keywords: political thriller, drama, female lead, power struggle, ethical dilemma, courtroom drama, psychological warfare ...

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#19. Hangover Square (1945)

Storyline: George Harvey Bone is a composer in early 20th century London, who is under stress because he is writing a piano concerto. Due to this stress, he gets black outs when ever he hears dissonances. When he finds himself after the black out in a different quarter of the town, he returns home, to read in the paper that somebody in that quarter was murdered. Asking help from a doctor at Scotland Yard he is assured that he has nothing to do with it, but he is advised to cut back in his work and get some relaxation like other, ordinary people. At a cheap musical he meets Netta, a singer, who inspires him for a new motive for his concerto. But Netta discovers that this motive could also be used as a song for her. The song gets sold, and she hangs around George to get more songs out of him. George believes that Netta is in love with him, and gets in an argument with his girlfriend Barbara, the daughter of Lord Henry, who wants the concerto for one of his soirées. George has another black out, and after recovering he hears that Barbara was almost strangled to death. He starts working again on the concerto. On London's special holiday he learns that Netta, who offered him quite a lot for a new song, is going to marry theatrical producer Carstair, and he causes some violins to fall in his room, and this sound drives him to another black out...—Stephan Eichenberg <eichenbe@fak-cbg.tu-muenchen.de>

Plot Keywords: film noir, psychological thriller, crime, murder, london, 1940s, composer ...

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#20. 99 River Street (1953)

Storyline: Having lost his heavyweight championship match, boxer Ernie Driscoll now drives a taxi for a living and earns the scorn of his nagging wife, Pauline, who blames him for her lack of social status. Involved with jewel thief Victor Rawlins, Pauline is murdered by him when she impedes his ability to fence the jewels. Blamed for his wife's murder, Ernie must track down Rawlins before he leaves the country.—Doug Sederberg <vornoff@sonic.net>

Plot Keywords: film noir, crime, mystery, thriller, drama, revenge, betrayal ...

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#21. Cash on Demand (1962)

Storyline: A ruthless crook apparently abducts the wife and child of a bank manager and then masquerades as an insurance company detective while scheming to rob the institution in this crime drama. Unfortunately, some of the manager's employees learn about the plot and the terrified manager must beg them to remain silent. Fortunately, the police have been on the case all along.—Dylan Conner

Plot Keywords: crime, thriller, film noir, bank robbery, psychological warfare, suspense, british film ...

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#22. Gok-seong (2016)

Storyline: In the small village Goksung in South Korea, police officer Jong-Goo investigates bizarre murders caused by a mysterious disease. His partner relays gossip that a Japanese stranger, who lives in a secluded house in the mountains, would be an evil spirit responsible for the illness. Jong-Goo decides to visit the stranger along with his partner and a young priest who speaks Japanese. They find an altar with a goat head, pictures on the walls of the infected people that died, and an attacking guard dog that prevents their departure until the stranger arrives. Jong-Goo finds one shoe of his beloved daughter, Hyo-jin, in the house of the stranger, and soon she becomes sick. His mother-in-law summons the shaman Il-gwang to save her granddaughter while a mysterious woman tells Jong-Goo that the stranger is responsible. Who might be the demon that is bringing sickness to Goksung?

Plot Keywords: horror, mystery, thriller, supernatural, zombie, korean cinema, dark ...

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#23. Detour (1945)

Storyline: In New York, piano player Al Roberts (Tom Neal) laments when his singer girlfriend, Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake), leaves for Hollywood, Calif. When Al gets some money, he decides to hitchhike to California to join Sue. In Arizona, Al accepts a ride with Charles Haskell (Edmund MacDonald), but during a storm in a freak accident, Haskell is killed. Frightened, Al assumes Haskell's identity and car, but soon comes upon the mysterious Vera (Ann Savage), who seems to know all about his true identity.

Plot Keywords: film noir, crime, suspense, thriller, low budget, classic, american film ...

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#24. Panic in the Streets (1950)

Storyline: When a body is found in the New Orleans docks, it's pretty obvious that he died from gun shot wounds. The police surgeon notices that the man is also displaying other symptoms and Lt. Commander Clint Reed, a doctor with the U.S. Public Health Service, diagnoses a highly contagious disease, pneumonic plague. He tries to convince local officials to find everyone who may have been in contact with the dead man. The Mayor supports his efforts but many, including the police, are doubtful. Reed wants to avoid publicity so as not to panic the public. They have little information to go on - they don't know the dead man's identity - and Reed estimates they have 48 hours before disease begins to spread. With police Capt. Tom Warren going through the motions, Reed sets out to find the killers.—garykmcd

Plot Keywords: film noir, thriller, crime, drama, suspense, medical, epidemic ...

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#25. House of Games (1987)

Storyline: A famous psychologist, Margaret Ford, decides to try to help one of her patients get out of a gambling debt. She visits the bar where Mike, to whom the debt is owed, runs poker games. He convinces her to help him in a game: her assignment is to look for "tells", or give-away body language. What seems easy to her becomes much more complex.

Plot Keywords: psychological thriller, crime, mystery, film noir, con, gambling, mind games ...

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#26. Tape (2001)

Storyline: Twenty-eight year olds Jon and Vince, friends from high school, meet in Vince's seedy motel room in Lansing, Michigan. Jon had invited Vince to town from his current residence of Oakland to help celebrate the fact of his latest movie, independently shot, having a screening at the local film festival the following day, the first public screening of one of his movies. While Jon seems to have grown up in having this career path and a nice room in an upscale hotel provided by the festival, Vince, who, in preparing for the evening has already had a few beer by the time Jon arrives, hasn't, he who deals drugs for a living with no change on the horizon, and his girlfriend, who was supposed to accompany him to Lansing, having broken up with him, indirectly because of his immaturity. This divergence quickly becomes an issue of contention between the two. But as Vince's behavior is seemingly more and more substance affected, he having broken out the weed and coke, his intention with Jon may be ...

Plot Keywords: independent film, drama, psychological drama, dialogue-driven, confined space, moral dilemma, interpersonal relationships ...

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#27. Sexy Beast (2000)

Storyline: Gal, Deedee, Aitch and Jackie, having left behind respective lives of ill-repute, bask in the sun of Spain and in the most essential brand of leisure. A hazy yarn of barbecues, beer and botched hunting expeditions make up their retirements, until a sudden and unforeseen disruption emerges from their past. Enter the childishly violent and hilariously edgy Don Logan. Through a series of side-splitting negotiations and irrevocable acts, retired crook Gal is forced to shake off the rust and accept one last mission, put forth by the menacing Logan, his ex-mentor. A heist of legendary proportion and personal implications, this job should make for one hell of an encore.

Plot Keywords: crime, thriller, black comedy, british film, gangster, violence, psychological thriller ...

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#28. Proof (1991)

Storyline: Black comedy about a blind man, Martin, who takes photographs as "proof" that the world really is as others describe it to him. The film explores his antagonistic relationships with Celia, who cleans and cooks for him and habitually rearranges the furniture in the house, and with Andy, a mate he thinks he can trust.—Anonymous

Plot Keywords: thriller, mystery, drama, australian film, psychological thriller, crime, photography ...

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#30. Phantom Lady (1944)

Storyline: Unhappily married Scott Henderson spends the evening on a no-name basis with a hat-wearing woman he picked up in a bar. Returning home, he finds his wife strangled and becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Every effort to establish his alibi fails; oddly no one seems to remember seeing the phantom lady (or her hat). In prison, Scott gives up hope but his faithful secretary, "Kansas," doggedly follows evanescent clues through shadowy nocturnal streets. Can she save Scott in time?—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Plot Keywords: film noir, mystery, crime, thriller, murder, wrongly accused, investigation ...

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