20. Manhunter (1986) Dir. Michael Mann
Based on Thomas Harris' brilliant novel, Red Dragon, this film is the precursor to The Silence of the Lambs. Before Clarice Starling probed Hannibal Lecter's mind and chased after Buffalo Bill, Will Graham - the FBI profiler who caught Lecter - has to find the Tooth Fairy, a deeply disturbed and frighteningly fragile serial killer who kills entire families. While Lecter is a minor character in this film, and Brian Cox relies on a more grounded performance than Anthony Hopkins' more theatrical one, this film shows a different side to the serial killer game in that it explores the turmoil that Graham endures because of his innate ability to think like a serial killer. Atmospheric, eerie, and imbued with the type of quiet threat that Mann really gives the movie, Manhunter is an unsettling look at how serial killers think and why one's ability to tap into them can leave him in horror.
19. Dead Calm (1989) Dir. Phillip Noyce
This is a deeply upsetting and unsettling film, mainly because it is scary to imagine being in Rae Ingram's (Nicole Kidman) place. After she and her husband find a stranded ship out in the Pacific and see that the entire crew has been killed, Rae becomes the kidnap victim of the killer himself as he tries to steer the two of them away from the crime scene and her abandoned husband. Trapped on this boat with a psychotic killer, Rae is forced to use everything in her arsenal to survive, including sleeping with her kidnapper in order to keep him happy. It's an impossible situation that forces you to ask what you would do to save your own life and your partner's. Unfortunately, it would probably require doing some unpleasant and scarring things.
18. Side Effects (2013) Dir. Steven Soderbergh
It would make sense that a movie about mental illness and clinical psychology's use of psychiatric drugs would be psychologically screwy. But this twisty thriller asks the question of whether or not the drugs so many of us take could be responsible for some of our most despicable behavior. Are the drugs we take responsible for our violent outbursts? That's the puzzle that this film tries to solve as Dr. Banks (Jude Law) tries to figure out if his patient, Emily (Rooney Mara), has developed bad side effects to her drugs or is manipulating him. The ending is pretty wild and it's a total mind f*ck when you realize what everyone's motivations were from the very beginning.
17. Monster (2003) Dir. Patty Jenkins
How does someone turn into a serial killer? It's a question that psychologists and criminologists continue to study and while there is no exact formula, there do seem to be some unfortunate circumstances that lead to a life of horrific crime. In Monster, Jenkins brings famous serial killer Aileen Wournos' life to the screen in a very realistic and unsettling way, utilizing Charlize Theron's incredible performance to depict a hopeless, pathetic life full of misery and self-defeat. As the viewer, it's difficult to hate Aileen as you begin to understand how and why she has become this 'monster.' But it is equally painful to see how Aileen's murders escalate; killing a rapist is one thing but killing an innocent man is another. This dilemma makes the film that much more engrossing and psychologically difficult for the viewer who cannot figure out how to feel about a serial killer.
16. The Life of David Gale (2003) Dir. Alan Parker
Criminally underrated, this death penalty drama centers on professor David Gale, one of the nation's leading anti-death penalty advocates. But here's the deal: Gale has been accused of murdering one of his colleagues and is now on death row for her heinous murder. As the film unfolds, Gale tells a reporter how he ended up on death row and why he refuses to appeal his case. The final ending and great reveal is shocking and incredible, so much so that it will leave you questioning all of your conceptions about the death penalty. This one will stay with you.
15. Prisoners (2013) Dir. Denis Villeneuve
This amazing thriller is a breathless, taut knuckle-biter about a pair of married friends whose daughters are both kidnapped on Thanksgiving. When one of the dads (Hugh Jackman) becomes convinced that a strange and lonely young man is responsible for the kidnappings, he takes it upon himself to kidnap and torture the man into a confession while the detective on the case (Jake Gyllenhaal) tries to find the girls, not knowing what one father has already done. There is a great twist ending and it will rock you, but the entire lead-up to that reveal is stressful in itself as a desperate father tries to gain justice for his daughter. How much would you be willing to do to find your child? That question becomes one of the most frightening premises of this film as a good man succumbs to extreme violence to find his daughter. You'll be disturbed, scarred, and amazed.
14. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Dir. Jonathan Demme
This classic is just a clusterf*ck of psychological mind-games, and that's one of the reasons it has remained so beloved. Both villains in the film - Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill - are scary in their own rights and pose unsettling questions for the audience and Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster). While Buffalo Bill is a deranged recluse who uses human skin to aid his fantasy world, the incarcerated Dr. Lecter is a cultured, educated psychologist smarter than anyone else in the room who knows it and uses it to his advantage when Starling begins visiting him for advice. It is frightening enough to deal with the idea of serial killers who use human beings for their own personal fantasies and lonely lives, but it is even more frightening to imagine serial killers who seem perfectly well-adjusted, self-aware, and intelligent. Human nature at its most terrifying.
13. The Prestige (2006) Dir. Christopher Nolan
Leave it to Christopher Nolan to make magic cool again. In this period piece about rival magicians (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman), the mind f*ck in this movie comes about when we realize how it was that Alfred Borden (Bale) was able to pull off the greatest illusion (magic trick) of all time. Get ready for a mind explosion when we find out the reason that not only will leave you saying, "No way!" but will deeply sadden you when you consider how much these characters all lose simply for a magic trick.
12. Gone Girl (2014) Dir. David Fincher
You think you know someone... In this great adaptation of the bestseller, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) becomes the prime suspect when his wife goes missing from their small Missouri town. The evidence is stacked against him from his young student mistress to the thousands of dollars of credit card debt he's accrued and the sloppy clean-up of an obvious crime in his house. So is he guilty? The answer to that question is an intricate, brilliantly-crafted masterpiece of an answer that will leave you questioning everything you think you know about relationships and the person you love. Mind blown.
11. Black Swan (2010) Dir. Darren Aronofsky
This is not just a movie about ballet. Part psychological horror and part body horror, this incredible film is really about mental illness and the damage it can do a human being's psyche. Nina (Natalie Portman) seems to run into constant obstacles as she tries to get the lead role of the Swan Queen in her company's production: an overbearing, jealous mother, a frustrating director, and a new colleague who seems intent on stealing her part. But as the film unfolds we begin to see that perhaps Nina's greatest obstacle isn't anyone else but actually her own mind. The fact that our own brains can work against us is a frightening concept and it will blow your mind how far that danger can go for this little ballerina.
10. Planet of the Apes (1968) Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner
From beginning to end, this classic sci-fi drama messes with your mind. After crash-landing on a strange planet somewhere in the galaxy, astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) discovers that this planet is run by walking, talking apes who act as if they're the higher species and humans are the animals. By now we've seen the horrible Tim Burton remake and the successful prequels, but it's hard to beat the original when Taylor tries to get back to earth and then realizes... he's on earth. If this movie doesn't leave you questioning everything, I don't know what will.
9. The Sixth Sense (1999) Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
By now we all know the twist ending of this psychological horror. Still, you can't help but wonder just how shocked audiences must have been when they first saw this spooky thriller back in 1999. The twist ending is great and it's a testament to the talent Shyamalan had once upon a time (what happened, bro?) when he was able to convincingly fool the entire world. But the film is also a very heartbreaking and somber look at what it would be like for people if they could communicate with the dead. What seems cool and exotic to so many of us would actually be much more of a psychological burden, especially for a young child. Carrying the secrets of the dead would be like living in a constant nightmare, and that's exactly how it is for young Cole (Haley Joel Osment).
8. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Dir. Wes Craven
Speaking of nightmares, Wes Craven created one of the most popular horror franchises of all time when he made this little indie horror. Although Freddy and the Nightmare films have become pretty much jokes they're so iconic, the premise of this film is still impressive. Running from a serial killer is one thing but trying to escape one who can take on any form and can kill you in your dreams is another. What made this story so frightening was the idea that you couldn't escape your own nightmares, an idea that Craven got when he read a story about Cambodian refugees who had escaped Pol Pot but died after waking up from nightmares. If that's not the scariest psychological possibility and mind f*ck, then I don't know what is.
7. The Usual Suspects (1995) Dir. Bryan Singer
Two words: Keyser Soze. If this movie didn't leave you with a huge mind f*ck, you're a psychological genius.
6. Fight Club (1999) Dir. David Fincher
Once again, the astonishing things the mind can do... This hugely popular manifesto about male Gen X apathy and disillusionment in modern consumerist society pulls one hell of a punch when you realize who was the instigator of the entire idea behind "fight club." Believing that the bad-ass and enviable Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) was the impetus for the protagonist's own mental breakthrough, it isn't until the very end that "the narrator" (Edward Norton) discovers that actually he is Tyler Durden, that he has been the leader, ladies' man, and anarchist hero all along. Talk about self-empowerment.
5. American Psycho (2000) Dir. Mary Harron
This wickedly smart satire of '80s corporate America is a constant puzzle for the viewer. It initially seems that Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), successful New York investment banker and member of the high elite, is succumbing to his psychopathic fantasies as he begins to violently murder people around him. But then you begin to wonder if perhaps these murders are simply fantasies that Bateman has still not carried out yet. Both possibilities are frightening, but the idea that someone could live a perfectly normal life to the outside world and still maintain this sadistic fantasy world is mind-blowing. It makes you wonder just how many people may be living like this out in the world, and if they are, whether you know them.
4. Se7en (1995) Dir. David Fincher
Here's another serial killer story to mess with your mind. Fincher's classic crime thriller about a serial killer who concocts brilliant murders to coincide with the seven deadly sins does lead to a crescendo of an ending in which we discover how the killer has constructed his violent magnum opus. Despite its horrific nature, it's pretty brilliant. But the killer's explanations for his murders may be the most psychologically unsettling facet of the film because it makes sense. When accused of murdering innocent people, John Doe (Kevin Spacey) begins a tirade against society and the people he killed, refusing to see them as innocent when they themselves were guilty of some morally heinous acts. The very fact that you can see the logic of this killer is a mind f*ck but then when you couple that with his entire plan, which includes his own moral culpability, you will be scarred.
3. The Game (1997) Dir. David Fincher
Holy sh*t! That's what you'll be saying at the end of this entire mind f*ck of a movie when you realize what the "game" is all about and how it ultimately ends for poor Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas). No spoilers here. This is something you have to see to believe.
2. No Way Out (1987) Dir. Roger Donaldson
No Way Out deceives its audience into thinking that this is a political thriller about a young naval officer (Kevin Costner) who gets in over his head when he's assigned to solve the murder of the woman he was sleeping with, and who also happened to be sleeping with the Secretary of Defense (Gene Hackman). When everyone also begins to believe that the killer could be a KGB mole, the stakes rise as our hero has to find the killer and make sure that he doesn't become a suspect. You have no idea what's coming when this drama unfolds and you will never expect the mind f*ck that awaits.
1. Memento (2000) Dir. Christopher Nolan
Probably the biggest psychological mind f*ck of a movie you will ever see as we try to go back to the beginning by starting in the end. Honestly, this one still gets me.
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