Obscure Neo Noir
by Giantjott | created - 13 Sep 2019 | updated - 13 Sep 2019 | PublicA list of films considered to be Neo Noir (a term which essentially just serves to transfer the characteristics of a cinematic movement [Film Noir] into a cinematic genre) which have not stood the test of time, or else never got the attention they deserve, due to either poor box office receipts, or because of a smear campaign launched by the critics.
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1. The Conversation (1974)
PG | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 121,822 | Gross: $4.42M
2. Blood Simple (1984)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies, and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh
Votes: 105,215 | Gross: $2.15M
3. Frantic (1988)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Harrison Ford, Betty Buckley, Emmanuelle Seigner, Djiby Soumare
Votes: 57,794 | Gross: $17.64M
4. Hard Eight (1996)
R | 101 min | Crime, Drama
Professional gambler Sydney teaches John the tricks of the trade. John does well until he falls for cocktail waitress Clementine.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson
Votes: 54,875 | Gross: $0.22M
5. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama
After his last crime has him looking at a long prison sentence for repeat offenses, a low level Boston gangster decides to snitch on his friends to avoid jail time.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats
Votes: 12,196
6. Frenzy (1972)
R | 116 min | Thriller
A serial murderer is strangling women with a necktie. The London police have a suspect, but he is the wrong man.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Anna Massey
Votes: 49,395 | Gross: $12.60M
7. Love Is Colder Than Death (1969)
Not Rated | 88 min | Comedy, Crime
Unusual gangster story, in which a small-time pimp Franz, who is torn between his mistress and Bruno the gangster sent after him by the syndicate that he has refused to join. Things are ... See full summary »
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Ulli Lommel, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake, Liz Söllner
Votes: 3,459
8. The Grifters (1990)
R | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A small-time conman has torn loyalties between his estranged mother and new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Annette Bening, Jan Munroe
Votes: 30,541 | Gross: $13.45M
9. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003)
R | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A former gangster reenters the criminal underworld after his brother suspiciously commits suicide.
Director: Mike Hodges | Stars: Clive Owen, Malcolm McDowell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 8,988 | Gross: $0.36M
10. Body Heat (1981)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
During an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson
Votes: 40,124 | Gross: $24.06M
11. The American Friend (1977)
Not Rated | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Tom Ripley, who deals in forged art, suggests a picture framer he knows would make a good hit man.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Lisa Kreuzer, Gérard Blain
Votes: 18,556
12. A Simple Plan (1998)
R | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Three blue-collar acquaintances come across millions of dollars in lost cash and make a plan to keep their find from the authorities, but it isn't long before complications and mistrust weave their way into the plan.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda, Brent Briscoe
Votes: 76,120 | Gross: $16.31M
13. Bad Lieutenant (1992)
NC-17 | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness and redemption.
Director: Abel Ferrara | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Brian McElroy, Frank Acciarito, Peggy Gormley
Votes: 47,873 | Gross: $2.00M
14. Croupier (1998)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama
An aspiring writer is hired as a croupier at a casino, where he realizes that his life as a croupier would make a great novel.
Director: Mike Hodges | Stars: Clive Owen, Nick Reding, Nicholas Ball, Alexander Morton
Votes: 23,517 | Gross: $6.20M
15. Dressed to Kill (1980)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon
Votes: 48,202 | Gross: $31.90M
16. The Limey (1999)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An extremely volatile and dangerous Englishman goes to Los Angeles to find the man he considers responsible for his daughter's death.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán
Votes: 34,818 | Gross: $3.19M
17. Miami Blues (1990)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An ex-con's first act of freedom is moving to Miami where he restarts his old criminal ways with even more potency.
Director: George Armitage | Stars: Fred Ward, Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Cecilia Pérez-Cervera
Votes: 10,162 | Gross: $9.89M
18. Cruising (1980)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police officer goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Richard Cox
Votes: 28,023 | Gross: $19.80M
19. Something Wild (1986)
R | 114 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-convict husband shows up.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, George 'Red' Schwartz, Leib Lensky
Votes: 21,080 | Gross: $8.36M
20. Angel Heart (1987)
X | 113 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 95,794 | Gross: $17.19M
21. Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
R | 104 min | Mystery, Thriller
A famous fashion photographer develops a disturbing ability to see through the eyes of a killer.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, Rene Auberjonois
Votes: 12,085 | Gross: $20.00M
22. Where the Truth Lies (2005)
R | 107 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Karen O'Connor, a young journalist known for her celebrity profiles, is consumed with discovering the truth behind a long-buried incident that affected the lives and careers of showbiz team Vince Collins and Lanny Morris.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman, David Hayman
Votes: 18,765 | Gross: $0.87M
23. Light Sleeper (1992)
R | 103 min | Crime, Drama
A drug dealer reconsiders his profession when his boss plans to go straight and an old flame reappears.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany, David Clennon
Votes: 9,376 | Gross: $1.05M
24. Night Moves (1975)
R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Los Angeles private investigator Harry Moseby is hired by a client to find her runaway teenage daughter. Moseby tracks the daughter down, only to stumble upon something much more intriguing and sinister.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Edward Binns, Harris Yulin
Votes: 17,706
25. One False Move (1991)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A small town police chief awaits the arrival of a gang of killers.
Director: Carl Franklin | Stars: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Cynda Williams, Michael Beach
Votes: 13,963 | Gross: $1.54M
26. U Turn (1997)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A man heading to Vegas to pay off his gambling debt before the Russian mafia kills him is forced to stop in an Arizona town where everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Billy Bob Thornton
Votes: 54,762 | Gross: $6.63M
27. The Big Easy (1986)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A corrupt lieutenant in the homicide division is threatened by the righteous DA while trying to solve a string of mysterious murders.
Director: Jim McBride | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, Ned Beatty, John Goodman
Votes: 13,978 | Gross: $17.69M
28. The Big Fix (1978)
PG | 108 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
An ex-'60s radical now working as a private eye is hired by an old flame to investigate a political smear campaign. The case becomes more dangerous as it unfolds.
Director: Jeremy Kagan | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Anspach, Bonnie Bedelia, John Lithgow
Votes: 2,399
29. Black Rain (1989)
R | 125 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two NYC cops arrest a Yakuza member and must escort him when he's extradited to Japan.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura, Kate Capshaw
Votes: 59,684 | Gross: $46.21M
30. Fingers (1978)
R | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Music
A dysfunctional young man is pulled between loyalties to his Italian mob-connected loan-shark father and his mentally-disturbed Jewish concert-pianist mother.
Director: James Toback | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Tisa Farrow, Jim Brown, Michael V. Gazzo
Votes: 2,881
31. Hardcore (1979)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama
A religious businessman from Michigan has to venture into the world of pornography in California, desperately searching for his runaway teenage daughter.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: George C. Scott, Peter Boyle, Season Hubley, Dick Sargent
Votes: 13,790
32. Johnny Handsome (1989)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being double crossed and thrown in jail, a deformed gangster gets a new face and rehabilitation, but his desire for revenge looms.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 11,003 | Gross: $7.24M
33. The Parallax View (1974)
R | 102 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Walter McGinn
Votes: 21,766 | Gross: $2.15M
34. Marlowe (1969)
PG | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A young woman from Kansas hires LA private detective Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother.
Director: Paul Bogart | Stars: James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O'Connor, Rita Moreno
Votes: 4,016
35. Mona Lisa (1986)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A man recently released from prison manages to get a job driving a call girl from customer to customer.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane
Votes: 18,698 | Gross: $5.79M
36. China Moon (1994)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Detective Kyle Bodine falls for Rachel Munro who is trapped in a violent marriage. After shooting her husband, Kyle reluctantly agrees to help hide the body, but Kyle's partner is showing an unusual flair for finding clues.
Director: John Bailey | Stars: Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe, Charles Dance, Patricia Healy
Votes: 7,715 | Gross: $3.04M
37. To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
R | 116 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, Jane Leeves, Cherise Bates
Votes: 39,320 | Gross: $17.31M
38. Mulholland Falls (1996)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In 1950's Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri
Votes: 18,981 | Gross: $11.50M
39. Red Rock West (1993)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Upon arriving to a small town, a drifter is mistaken for a hitman, but when the real hitman arrives, complications ensue.
Director: John Dahl | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle, Craig Reay
Votes: 25,184 | Gross: $2.50M
40. The Two Jakes (1990)
R | 137 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The sequel to Chinatown (1974) finds J.J. "Jake" Gittes investigating adultery and murder, and the money that comes from oil.
Director: Jack Nicholson | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe
Votes: 15,493 | Gross: $10.01M
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