Sometimes, less is more! Check out these wildly thrilling movies with brilliantly simple concepts…
The great thing about cinema is that it has something for everyone. You want action, you can find it. Comedy? We got you. Rob Schneider films? Each to their own. Many a Christopher Nolan film has perplexed and bewildered audiences with his intricate plots and layers that often need multiple viewings to comprehend. Or you might enjoy the ambiguous elusiveness of an arthouse masterpiece.
Sometimes, though, a film can have the most basic story. In the right hands, even the simplest story can still provide plenty of thrills, taking audiences on a rollercoaster. That singular focus on a premise that can be laid out quickly and told efficiently can actually be a huge benefit, particularly with genre cinema. From cat and mouse chases to malevolent creatures, here are eight brilliantly simple films that are insanely thrilling….
Duel
Duel put Steven Spielberg on the map. It’s almost ruthlessly simple. A guy overtakes a truck and from then on gets trailed and terrorised across the Mojave desert. It was made for TV by Spielberg, something of a young upstart with limited experience. He threw every rulebook out the window and actively rebelled against the rigid and formulaic way directors were expected to shoot TV shows/movies. What we got instead was cinematic shot choices, inventive blocking, dynamic camera work and editing.
Spielberg takes one of the most simplistic narrative thrillers ever made and absolutely aces the execution. We get fed just a hint of back story suggesting David (Dennis Weaver) is a white collar, middle-class guy who avoids conflict wherever possible. Of course, he finds himself thrust into a situation where conflict is bearing down on him in a ten-ton truck. Weaver plays it to perfection. Spielberg also builds this cat and mouse chase up brilliantly with ever increasingly psychotic behaviour from Weaver’s unseen foe. The numerous chase scenes are occasionally seat of the pants, health and safety out the window, but it makes them all the more dynamic. For such an early film in his career, this really does show masterful execution, and for the most part, it’s just a truck chasing a car for 95 minutes.
Predator
You know, one of the biggest weaknesses in this long-running franchise after the first? It was trying to fit in too much. Let’s show back story for the Predators, let’s add some sub-plots, let’s…etc. The original classic movie was a perfect example of playing to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s strengths. They didn’t overcomplicate the narrative but threw in masses of action, thrills and creature horror with a relentless pace. It’s as much a ride as it is a movie.
SEE ALSO: Ten Reasons Why Predator Is Awesome
Predator drops Arnold and his merc buddies in the jungle to find a missing band of his mercenary brethren. Action ensues as they tear up a camp full of enemy soldiers. Soon after, however, they get picked off by an unseen foe in the jungle who can glide across the ground and through the trees under perfect camouflage, until his true horrifying form is revealed. For what Predator is, it’s absolutely (fucking) perfect. More impressively, Schwarzenegger doesn’t need huge expositionary dumps of back story; his character gets fleshed out by his actions, and he gives one of his best performances, aided by an eclectic and colourful band of buddies.
Speed
A disgruntled former bomb squad cop blows up a bus. He then plants another bomb on a bus Sandra Bullock is travelling on. If it goes over 50mph, it activates and if it drops back below? Kaboom. Keanu Reeves has to get onto the bus and try to figure out a way to outsmart Dennis Hopper. That’s basically it. It shouldn’t work. We spend a huge chunk of screen time on a bus, but Jan De Bont cranks up the tension brilliantly. 50mph isn’t a huge speed either, but the movie picks perfect moments to add a sense of chaos with the bus having to take tight turns through thick traffic, or leap over unfinished bridges and navigate highways.
SEE ALSO: Speed: The Story Behind the Pulse-Pounding Action-Thriller
Even a subplot with Jeff Daniels seeking to uncover the bomber responsible doesn’t drag this one back or slow it down either. The film is also further aided by an excellent Keanu Reeves and a superstar performance from Sandra Bullock, and as a pair? They sizzle. Dennis Hopper, meanwhile, chews up scenery as only Dennis Hopper could.
Jaws
Spielberg’s big cinematic breakout, a few years after Duel, was also incredibly simple. A shark terrorises a popular holiday spot right as the vacation season approaches. Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss then try to figure out how to contain and stop Bruce the shark.
Jaws laid plenty of groundwork for the blockbuster model, which George Lucas and Star Wars then went and ran with. In a mere space of four years after Duel (and with a couple more movies in between), he showed an even greater assurance behind the camera. Given every shark film since has paled hugely in comparison, it could be said that a film like Jaws has no right to be such a bona fide masterpiece. Setting the scene, delivering the thrilling sequences and establishing well-rounded characters. It’s all performed exceptionally well. The film is genuinely gripping and still manages to hammer you with some great jump scares.
The Hitcher
The Hitcher probably owes a beer or three to Duel. Like the Spielberg classic, Robert Harmon’s highway terror tale is a chase across desert roads. However, the biggest difference here, in this equally simple tale, is that the antagonist shows his face and gets up close and personal with the object of his terror.
SEE ALSO: 6 Great Rutger Hauer Sci-Fi Films That Aren’t Blade Runner
C. Thomas Howell is a young guy driving a car across country on his way to a new life, who makes the mistake of picking up hitch-hiker, Rutger Hauer. From then on, Hauer keeps popping up like a ghoul, and Howell is unable to shake him. Bodies begin to pile up, too, as Howell finds himself implicated. The intimate sequences with Hauer genuinely unnerved the young Howell, with his unpredictable improvisations really add to the film, whilst the vehicle chases in that cross-country cat and mouse are also superb. It’s all brilliantly realised by Robert Harmon, aided by incredible photography from John Seale and a haunting and atmospheric Mark Isham score, which all give this film a strange, ethereal quality. Or as Hauer once described it: It’s a fucked up fairytale.
The Warriors
A simple quest can provide a great backbone for any genre film. In the case of The Warriors, the titular gang find themselves far from their turf and framed for murder. Hunted across the City, they make a visceral, violent and perilous journey home, trying to stay alive.
Walter Hill’s slick direction and gift for producing thrilling set pieces are on display here. The production design is simple, punky, grungy, but effective and our band of Warriors, though morally obtuse, are easy to get behind. David Patrick Kelly, as one of their chief antagonists, steals the movie.
Phone Booth
Joel Schumacher’s career was filled with highs and lows, but he knocked it out of the park on occasion. One such was Phone Booth, co-written with B-movie maestro (and a master of simple but great concepts), Larry Cohen.
An arrogant publicist (Colin Farrell) answers a call from a phone booth and finds himself under threat from an unseen sniper (Kiefer Sutherland). The danger is quickly apparent, and the tension and thrills escalate in this tight and brilliantly executed film. Every complication added puts Farrell’s character through the wringer, and he delivers an excellent performance.
Mad Max: Fury Road
You could probably also pick the first and second films in the franchise for the lithe action-driven storytelling. However, Fury Road’s incredible scale and relentless pacing make this one an unstoppable juggernaut. Our anti-hero Max (here played by Tom Hardy), once again, stumbles into a greater story. It all boils down to a journey across Wastelands after escaping Immortan Joe, in his ivory tower, where he controls the water supply to his workers below. The final act twist sees them heading back from where they came to take control of the Citadel.
Cue astonishing set pieces that leave you gripping the chairs and a spine-shaking soundtrack. Aforementioned DOP John Seale (The Hitcher, Mad Max 1-3) really brings this to life so vividly. The film looks stunning. As many said upon its critically acclaimed release, the movie belongs to Furiosa, and Charlize Theron’s performance really gives this some dramatic weight. If there’s even a weakness in the film, you might well say it’s the titular Max, with Tom Hardy never feeling totally attuned to the role and lacking the enigmatic, quiet charisma and nonchalance Mel Gibson brought to the role. Hardy has brooding down, but he’s not as effortlessly compelling.
What’s your favourite simple but thrilling movie? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe
