The 8 Best Thrillers of the 1990s

The 90s ran on paranoia, twists and Bruce Willis. Here are the eight best thrillers by movie.guru score, counted down. Argue below.

Number one grossed under $3 million domestic and still beat everything here.

1. 8
   12 Monkeys (1995)7.7

   Terry Gilliam made a time-travel movie that actually respects your brain.

   A reported $29M budget turned into $168.8M worldwide. Opening crowds gave it a B CinemaScore anyway. Guru's Take is 8.4, way above its 7.7 score.
2. 7
   Carlito's Way (1993)7.9

   The Pacino crime movie everyone forgets, and they shouldn't.

   Critics and audiences agreed for once, beating 77% and 79% of movies. Still only $36.9M domestic on a reported $30M budget. Sean Penn plays a lawyer you would never hire.
3. 6
   The Sixth Sense (1999)8.1

   Everybody knows the twist. It still works anyway.

   $672.8M worldwide on a reported $40M budget. Audiences beat 87% of movies, critics only 70%. Haley Joel Osment out-acts Bruce Willis, and Willis seems totally fine with it.
4. 5
   Misery (1990)8.3

   Kathy Bates is scarier than any monster the decade produced.

   Two leads, one farmhouse, a reported 18 to 20 million dollar budget, and an 8.3 score. Guru's Take is 8.6. You will never trust a superfan again.
5. 4
   A Few Good Men (1992)8.3

   Critics shrugged. Audiences gave it an A+. Audiences were right.

   Critics beat only 62% of movies, audiences beat 95%. $243.2M worldwide. The middle drags, then Jack Nicholson steals the whole thing from Tom Cruise with a few minutes of yelling.
6. 3
   Speed (1994)8.5

   A bus, a bomb, and zero wasted minutes. Perfect premise.

   95% on Rotten Tomatoes and $350.4M worldwide for a movie about a bus that can't slow down. IMDb gives it a 7.3, which is honestly rude.
7. 2
   Fargo (1996)8.7

   Should be number one. Guru's Take agrees.

   A reported $7M budget, Metacritic 88, critics beat 96% of movies. Guru's Take is 9.2, the highest on this list. Frances McDormand's accent deserves its own museum wing.
8. 1
   Reservoir Dogs (1992)9.3

   A tiny heist movie that skips the heist tops the decade.

   Domestic gross: $2,832,029. Score: 9.3, the only Elite here. Audiences beat 98% of movies. Guru's Take is only 8.6 because half of it is guys arguing in a warehouse.

$462.83 says someone in the comments asks where The Silence of the Lambs went within ten minutes.

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