Best Thriller Movies of 1979

San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and other inmates begin to carefully prepare an escape plan.

In the ravaged near future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face ofa police force hell-bent on stopping them. But they underestimate one officer: Max Rockatansky. And when the bikers brutalize Max's best friend and family, they send him into a mad frenzy that leaves him with only one thing left in the world to live for – revenge!

An ethical Baltimore defense lawyer disgusted with rampant legal corruption is forced to defend a judge he despises in a rape trial under the threat of being disbarred.

While doing a series of reports on alternative energy sources, opportunistic reporter Kimberly Wells witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant. Wells is determined to publicize the incident, but soon finds herself entangled in a sinister conspiracy to keep the full impact of the incident a secret.

After Drax Industries' Moonraker space shuttle is hijacked, secret agent James Bond is assigned to investigate, traveling to California to meet the company's owner, the mysterious Hugo Drax. With the help of scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond soon uncovers Drax's nefarious plans for humanity, all the while fending off an old nemesis, Jaws, and venturing to Venice, Rio, the Amazon...and even outer space.

Writer H. G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper to modern day San Francisco after the infamous serial killer steals his time machine to escape the 19th century.

A conservative Midwest businessman ventures into the sordid underworld of pornography in search for his runaway teenage daughter who’s making porno films in the pits of Los Angeles.

Vampires are invading a small New England town. It's up to a novelist and a young horror fan to save it.

A psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again.

After their car breaks down, a group of young travelers find themselves stranded at a roadside museum run by the mysterious Mr. Slausen and populated by his collection of supernatural mannequins.

Sherlock Holmes is drawn into the case of Jack the Ripper who is killing prostitutes in London's East End. Assisted by Dr. Watson, and using information provided by a renowned psychic, Robert Lees, Holmes finds that the murders may have its roots in a Royal indiscretion and that a cover-up is being managed by politicians at the highest level, all of whom happen to be Masons.

When a suburban couple goes camping for the weekend at a remote beach, they discover that nature isn't in an accommodating mood.

England, 1926. An American journalist looks for mystery writer Agatha Christie when she suddenly disappears without explanation, leaving no trace.

At first simply grating, the presence of a hard-edged, macho plumber who damages more than he repairs and returns day after day soon turns menacing for the intellectual wife of a distracted doctor.

After a collision with a comet, a nearly 8km wide piece of the asteroid "Orpheus" is heading towards Earth. If it will hit it will cause a incredible catastrophe which will probably extinguish mankind. To stop the meteor NASA wants to use the illegal nuclear weapon satellite "Hercules" but discovers soon that it doesn't have enough fire power. Their only chance to save the world is to join forces with the USSR who have also launched such an illegal satellite. But will both governments agree?

Set in 1970s Britain, a man drives from London to Bristol to investigate his brother's death. The purpose of his trip is offset by his encounters with a series of odd people.

A farm girl's life turns upside down after being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She moves to Chicago and becomes trapped in a vicious cycle of prostitution and crime.

An elaborate mystery involving a famous mentalist, his unfaithful wife who is trying to literally scare him to death, the best friend of the family, and the wife's ham-actor lover -- not only an intriguing who- (or whether) dunit, but also a literate, adult dramatic puzzle with an endless series of twists.

On the eve of World War II, zany heiress Amanda Kelly travels by train to Switzerland. While passing through Germany, she meets a sweet elderly lady, who suddenly vanishes. Distraught, she questions her fellow passengers who claim that the woman was never there. Unsure if it's all in her mind or if there's a more sinister plot afoot, Amanda teams up with photographer Robert Condon to discover the truth.

19 years after President Timothy Keegan was assassinated, his brother Nick discovers a dying man claiming to have been the gunman. While trying to avoid his wealthy and domineering father's attempts to control his actions, Nick follows the clues that have been handed to him. As he progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to discern the real trails from the dead ends, and increasingly dangerous as unknown parties try to stop Nick from uncovering the truth.

In the 1940s, a young couple moves into a remote house near a small town in Louisiana. The house has a history of violence that seems to be repeating itself…

A low-ranking Secret Service agent is conned into supplying information to Eastern Bloc countries. Although he is not a suspect due to his unimportant position, when his office partner is hauled in as a suspect he realises he has got himself into very deep water.

The descendant of Elizabeth Bathory is abducted by a cult of self-proclaimed supermen who achieve this state of superiority by drinking from the "blood cows" (read: people) kept at the "dairy farm", and they try to get her to join them.

Secret agent Harry Hannan suffers a mental breakdown when a botched mission in Mexico results in the death of his wife. He is sent to a mental asylum, after which he eventually returns to work. But, once again, he begins to doubt his sanity when he receives a bizarre death threat written in Hebrew. Not knowing which of his colleagues wants to kill him, Hannan teams up with pretty young college student Ellie Fabian to attempt to unravel the mystery.

A woman on her way home notices a car following her.

Scotty moves into Mrs. Engels' seaside mansion where three other college students are boarding. Mrs. Engels prefers to stay in her room in the attic, but her son Mason helps the students get settled. Soon one of the students is killed. The policemen on the case begin uncovering the Engels family secret as the remaining students become endangered

A group of people converge on a barren Arctic island. They have their reasons for being there but when a series of mysterious accidents and murders take place, a whole lot of darker motives become apparent. Could the fortune in buried Nazi gold be the key to the mystery? Donald Sutherland and Vanessa Redgrave investigate

Aviation disaster-prone Joe Patroni must contend with nuclear missiles, the French Air Force and the threat of the plane splitting in two over the Alps.

Charlie Muffin, top British Intelligence operative, has just broken up a major Soviet spy network in England. However, a new Director with new ideas takes over and wants Charlie out. But then a high-ranking Soviet spy-master hints that he wants to defect, and both British Intelligence and the CIA want him and will do anything to get him. Charlie may be the only man who can bring the defection off successfully, but is the whole thing an elaborate set-up? And when your so-called allies are stabbing each other and you in the back to get this prize, whom can Charlie trust on either side?

A British mercenary arrives in pre-Revolution Cuba to help train the corrupt General Batista's army against Castro's guerrillas while he also romances a former lover now married to an unscrupulous plantation owner.

The wife of a greedy man comes back to haunt him after he scares her to death.

Blue-collar worker Tony Giannetti vows to avenge the murder of his wife and child in a no-knock drug raid led by ruthlessly ambitious narcotics officer Capt. Lou Mikalich.

A well-to-do family of five takes in cousin Julia, whose parents recently perished in a car crash. While the rest of the family and those around them are completely charmed by Julia, teenaged daughter Rachel comes to suspect that her cousin has an ulterior agenda – one that possibly includes witchcraft.

Karate champion Matt Logan is enlisted by the police to train officers in self-defense after narcotics agents are killed by an assailant using the martial arts.

A man plots to kill his wife and children, seeking advice by disguising his plan as a fictional story for his business. Paul Steward, editor of a scientific journal, is a failed husband, a failed father, he considers his entire life a failure. His decision is made, there's only one escape: to kill his family and himself. Professional interviews, trips on public transport, discussions with friends... A normal yet oppressive day unfolds.

The hunter becomes the prey as a Vietnam veteran (Perry King) tries to ferret out the real culprit after being tagged as the prime suspect in the murders of his former Army pals.

Like NIGHT OF THE DEMON, this adaptation is based only very loosely on the original ghost story by M.R. James. However, it does feature eerie scenic views and is directed by Lawrence 'Ghost Story for Christmas' Gordon Clark.

A young woman with precognition realizes she is being stalked by a killer -- a mass murderer she previously had used her psychic powers to identify to the skeptical police.

Elderly marrieds Edward and Louisa discover a stray cat in their garden. It reacts so positively to Louisa's classical piano playing that she is convinced the cat is the reincarnation of Franz Liszt. Edward grows tired of her obsession and decides to get rid of the cat.

John Connor is a soon-to-retire hitman that agrees to take on one last job. After years plying his deadly trade, he has finally had enough. Seeking to retire to Dublin and maybe salvage his dying marriage, Connor wants to leave the lonely world of the marksman behind him and melt into the background. Unfortunately, his handler O'Neal is reluctant to let him go, and, after much coertion, manages to talk him into accepting one final job.

Two 12-year-olds, the products of Upper West Side broken homes, struggle to make sense of their parents lives and their own adolescent feelings.

A group of old friends on an outing re-live various traumas and tragedies via flashback whilst trapped high above a ravine in a disabled cable-car.

A group of celebrants find themselves trapped in an amusement park that is being torn apart by a hurricane during a Fourth of July holiday. The real Ocean View Park in Norfolk, Virginia, scheduled for demolition by the city, actually was blown up and burned down during the filming.

CIA agent Harry Wargrave is sent to aid Gen. Marenkov, a senior Russian official, who is defecting to the west. Wargrave decides they should travel to safety on a train across Europe, the "Atlantic Express". During the journey, they must survive attacks by terrorists and an avalanche, all planned by Russian spy-catcher Nikolai Bunin.

Sergeant Boyd's police search to find a sniper who has been shooting hookers.

Two men commit a robbery. One is caught but the other escapes. He ends his escape on a lonely and deserted beach where he meets a beautiful woman named Erótica. They start a passionate love affair that is interrupted when the other con man escapes from prison and joins them. A sexual/sentimental love triangle begins leading to a violent confrontation between the two men.

A Manhattan priest with a penchant for solving crimes goes to the aid of a young actress. She is becoming enmeshed in a series of bizarre incidents she can't explain, and her complaints to the police have gone ignored.

A young hairdresser enters into the modeling world while fearing retaliation from her puritanical mother and stalker ex-boyfriend.

When her father is murdered, a cosmetics heiress becomes the next target of an unknown killer amid the international jet set.