Ah, the ’90s, a great time to be a film lover. The decade presented a genuine cultural shift, abandoning the ’80s studio-driven and hyper-commercialized approach in favor of an independent-leaning and more subversive tone that, while not quite as artistic driven as New Hollywood, did more than enough to stir cinema into new, bolder, and more risky territories. Most genres flourished throughout the ’90s, from drama to crime to romantic epics to, of course, thrillers.

This last genre was particularly revived during the ’90s, starting with Martin Scorsese‘s bold remake of Cape Fear in 1990 and ending with Anthony Minghella’s stylish The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999. From Oscar-winning gems like The Silence of the Lambs to outright cult classics like Dark City, the thriller dominated the ’90s, producing some of its strongest offerings. With such an embarrassment of riches, it’s logical that some of the decade’s best thrillers slipped through the cracks, and it’s especially sad considering just how many of them are genuine bangers. This list will highlight the best ’90s thrillers that have aged like fine wine despite remaining forgotten by most mainstream audiences. If you haven’t watched them, I highly encourage you to do so ASAP.

5

‘The Russia House’ (1990)

John le Carré‘s novels are a favorite of Hollywood to adapt, yet few of them are actually good adaptations of the revered writer’s style. However, Fred Schepisi‘s <em>The Russia House</em> is among the best yet most underappreciated adaptations of le Carré’s work. Based on his 1989 eponymous novel, The Russia House stars Sean Connery as Barley Blair, a British publisher who visits Moscow and discovers a manuscript that supposedly contains details about Russia’s nuclear capabilities. Tasked by the CIA to investigate the book, Blair instead falls for its publisher, Katya Orlova (Michelle Pfeiffer), and fights to protect her and her family.

Despite featuring a central age gap that would make Classic Hollywood proud, The Russia House is a riveting spy story that effectively recaptures the spirit of le Carré’s novel. Connery is a solid lead, effortlessly conveying the stoic yet flawed quality that makes le Carré’s heroes so captivating. However, it’s Pfeiffer who dominates the movie as the shifting and resilient Katya, a performance rich in contradictions that keeps this spy story on its toes. Alas, The Russia House has sort of gotten lost in the crowd of great ’90s thrillers, and it’s a shame because it’s an incredibly effective and taut spy tale, the kind that presents no clear villainy and instead focuses on the many dangers that come with merely living in such a political world. It’s one of the best spy movies of the ’90s, and yet another reminder of how bright the stars of Connery and Pfeiffer were at their prime.

4

‘The Last Seduction’ (1994)

The erotic thriller had its heyday during the late ’80s and early ’90s, largely thanks to the influence of Fatal Attraction. Arguably, its last truly great offering came in 1994 with the stellar The Last Seduction, directed by John Dahl and starring a career-best Linda Fiorentino. The story centers on Bridget Gregory, a manipulative and clever woman unhappily married to Clay (Bill Pullman), a physician in debt to a loan shark. Convincing him to sell cocaine to drug dealers, Bridget takes the money and flees to Chicago. There, she meets insurance man Mike Swale (Peter Berg), whom she charms and recruits to kill Clay.

Both film noir and the erotic thriller often live and die with a series of tropes, mainly the doomed antihero and the manipulative femme fatale. The Last Seduction has two pretty decent doomed antiheroes in Pullman and Berg, but neither can match the sheer level of alluring brutality achieved by Fiorentino. The single greatest femme fatale since Barbara Stanwyck‘s seminal Phyllis Dietrichson, Bridget Gregory is a true monster of the silver screen, and Fiorentino relishes the chance to sink her sharp teeth into such a ruthless and unrepenting character. The Last Seduction is a pretty solid noir thriller, but Fiorentino elevates it to new heights, creating one of the best and most unapologetic pieces of dramatic erotica of the ’90s. It’s sleazy, tantalizing, and featuring an all-time great performance at its center; what more could you possibly want?

3

‘Exotica’ (1994)

1994 delivered yet another great piece of erotic fiction, although this one is more a psychological drama than an outright erotic thriller. Atom Egoyan‘s Exotica stars a career-best Bruce Greenwood as Francis Brown, a tax auditor grieving the devastating loss of his teenage daughter and adulterous wife in an accident and a kidnapping, respectively. He frequents a strip club, Exotica, where he pays a young dancer, Christina (Mia Kirshner), for a lap dance every time. Soon, Francis’ obsession increases, all while Christina is also lusted after by her former boyfriend and the club’s DJ, Eirc (Elias Koteas).

Like most of Egoyan’s movies, Exotica has an enduring sense of gloom and melancholy throughout. At its core, it’s a character study about sex, obsession, and the dark corners the human mind secludes itself into when unable to deal with the realities of life. Greenwood is outstanding as Francis, an entirely broken man — physically, spiritually, and emotionally — who seeks arousal as a substitute for comfort. Opposite him is an equally remarkable Mia Kirshner playing a deconstruction of the femme fatale. As Christina, Kirshner is alluring but entirely vulnerable; there’s a gentleness to her performance that makes her hypnotic, but Egoyan never fetishizes her, instead capturing her through the eye of someone fascinated by but not necessarily attracted to her. Through both characters, Exotica becomes a haunting reflection of sex, its role in shaping our dynamics,                                 </p>