Best Thriller Movies of 1972

A recently released ex-con and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes awry.

A disturbed gang of youths kidnap, torture and murder two teenage girls; unbeknownst to the gang, the parents of one of the girls live nearby...

A hired killer hunts down a schoolteacher to get something she has. She doesn't know what it is, but he's already killed twice to get it.

Andy Griffith plays a philandering apartment house manager who picks up a pretty young girl (Suzanne Hildur) in a bar. He takes her home, whereupon the girl's male cronies show up armed with guns. Griffith and his wife (Ida Lupino) are held hostage by the crooks, who plan to use the apartment as headquarters while they pull off a big robbery. Director Paul Wendkos stages the action essentially from the victim's point of view; we see only what they see, and are kept guessing as to the full details of the crime and the ultimate fate of the hostages. Based on a novel by Fielden Farrington, The Strangers in 7A was first telecast on November 14th, 1972 as a CBS Movie of the Week.

A successful and popular nightclub owner who believes financial independence is the path to equality and success, must act as a go-between for militant-minded brother and the white gang syndicate his brother has attacked and robbed. Their involvements lead to a breathless race course chase, the destruction of a dopepusher and a violent waterfront climax.

An American lawyer on vacation in Europe is asked by a book publisher to stop by the Austrian town of Salzburg to see a photographer who's taking pictures for a book on picturesque Austrian lakes. Upon his arrival he senses that something is wrong when the photographer seems to have vanished, leaving a near panic-stricken wife and a sinister, secretive brother. Before he knows it, the lawyer finds himself mixed up with spies, assassins, and the hunt for a list made up by the Nazis during World War II of people who collaborated with them.

In this grimy biker flick we see a group of campers headed out to the woods to try to enjoy a nice peaceful weekend. However, a group of sex hungry bikers muscle in and literally steal the women. This film was shot in a way so that it could be released in a hard porn version (running 57 minutes) or a soft core version (running 54) for drive-in / grindhouse markets.

A man having marital problems with his shrewish wife picks up a young, pretty and pregnant hitchhiker. Before he knows it, he's in over his head and mixed up in violence and murder.

A traveling salesman is lured by a precocious teenage girl to her shack in the desert for some sexual escapades. However, a scuzzy biker comes along and they both find themselves dominated and tormented by him.