Lang's first sound film, and perhaps his most imaginative. The plot concerns the police search for a Berlin child-molester. The underworld is forced to look amongst its own for the perpetrator. Lang draws fascinating parallels between police and criminals in this radical masterpiece. find out more...

Leone's superb all-encompassing epic portraying the death of the mythical 'Wild West'. A superb cast, the collaborations of Bertolucci and Argento, and Morricone's brilliantly atmospheric score all add to the incredible style and weight of Leone's creation. A true cinematic masterpiece! A candidate for greatest movie ever made, if you haven't... then you must. find out more...

Do you really need to be told about this film? The Bates' Motel, the shower sequence and, of course, Mother! THE Hitchcock movie! find out more...

Hitchcock's masterpiece. A news photographer is confined to his apartment by an injury and spends his days watching the neighbours. He comes to believe that he is witnessing the preparations for a murder. Based on the novel by Cornell Woolrich. Suspense, ambiguity and voyuerism; total brilliance! find out more...

Four men set in motion a heist of incredible audacity, a robbery where the level of risk is only matched by the protagonists' meticulous precision, but though the thieves are consummate professionals once the job is done their emotions and animosities begin to threaten the rewards of their hard work. Rififi is renowned for its tense half hour long heist scene in which not a word is ever uttered, and acknowledged as one of the classic examples of French film noir. find out more...

The original and best version of the detective thriller classic. Philip Marlowe is hired to investigate the gambling debts of a rich man's daughter, but is plunged into a twilight world of intrigue, blackmail and violence. Stylish and gripping. find out more...

One of the first horror movies, about a hypnotist who uses a somnambulist to do his murders, and a landmark in the history of cinema. The dark shadows, crazy angles and doom laden atmosphere of German Expressionism and the film's extraordinary use of painted light have rarely been copied, and its influence, on film noir in particular, is indisputable. find out more...

Treachery and deception in this classic film noir as various groups of low life characters try to lay their mits on the ancient treasure. Sam Spade is the honest fall guy. One of the best Hollywood films ever and certainly one of the best of its type. Initiated the move away from gangster movies. find out more...

War hero Raymond Shaw returns from North Korea after being seized, brainwashed by the enemy and programmed to assassinate key establishment figures. He arouses the suspicions of former colleague Major Marco, but who really controls him? A brilliantly plotted conspiracy thriller with a sterling cast - an unmissable treat. find out more...

Laughton's only stab at directing, with Mitchum giving a stunning performance as the psychopathic preacher who, whilst in jail for a minor offence, hatches a devious plan to get his hands on the loot stashed by his condemned cell-mate. Set in '30s rural America, the film polarises into a struggle between good and evil for the souls of innocent children. Laughton's deliberately old-fashioned direction throws up a startling array of images: an amalgam of Mark Twain-like exteriors (idyllic riversid find out more...