A Glean movie guide
Unsung 90s Crime Thrillers
Beyond the blockbusters.
Gritty neo-noirs, clever cons, and high-tension gems from the decade that perfected.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
One False Move
A small-town police chief prepares for a violent trio of fugitives in a brilliantly tense, low-budget neo-noir masterpiece.
Following a series of drug deals and murders, three criminals -- Fantasia, Ray Malcolm and Pluto -- travel from Los Angeles to Houston, finally arriving in a small Arkansas town to go into hiding. Two detectives from the LAPD, who are already on the case, contact the town's sheriff, Dale Dixon, to alert him of the fugitives' presence in the area. Underestimating Dixon, the criminals have no idea what they are about to face.
- 02
Red Rock West
Nicolas Cage and Dennis Hopper shine in this twisty cult classic about a drifter mistakenly hired as a hitman.
When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.
- 03
The Last Seduction
Linda Fiorentino is a ruthless femme fatale who steals drug money and manipulates everyone in her path.
A devious femme fatale steals her husband’s drug money and hides out in a small town where she meets the perfect dupe for her next scheme.
- 04
Deep Cover
Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum anchor this neon-soaked, highly atmospheric undercover narcotics thriller.
Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.
- 05
Devil in a Blue Dress
Denzel Washington navigates 1948 LA political corruption in a stylish adaptation of Walter Mosley's hard-boiled novel.
In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.
- 06
Bound
The Wachowskis' directorial debut is a stylish, high-stakes independent thriller about an intricate mob money heist.
Corky, a tough female ex-convict working on an apartment renovation in a Chicago building, meets a couple living next door, Caesar, a paranoid mobster, and Violet, his seductive girlfriend, who is immediately attracted to her.
- 07
Hard Eight
Paul Thomas Anderson's feature debut features a stellar ensemble cast navigating hidden motives in Nevada casinos.
A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
- 08
Cop Land
Sylvester Stallone leads an all-star cast in a gritty look at corruption within a New Jersey town of NYPD officers.
Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.
- 09
The Spanish Prisoner
David Mamet directs a clever, cerebral puzzle box thriller driven by sharp dialogue and constant deceit.
An inventor of a secret process suddenly finds himself alone as both his friends and the corporation he works for turn against him.
- 10
Internal Affairs
Richard Gere plays a manipulative cop facing an intense internal investigator in a psychological cat-and-mouse game.
Keen young Raymold Avila joins the Internal Affairs Department of the Los Angeles police. He and partner Amy Wallace are soon looking closely at the activities of cop Dennis Peck whose financial holdings start to suggest something shady. Indeed Peck is involved in any number of dubious or downright criminal activities. He is also devious, a womaniser, and a clever manipulator, and he starts to turn his attention on Avila.