10 Best Gritty American Crime Thrillers from the 1980s

When it comes to gritty thrillers, there’s no way around the fact that Hollywood sure knows how to make them. Every decade had its pioneers, its movements, and its notable filmmakers. Some of them actually learned and showed their craft through feature debuts and experimental new approaches that were later established as some of the most important movies of their careers. Needless to say, audiences have enjoyed this genre evolution, and viewers are now enamored with the basis of a good thriller. However, the 1980s are not often brought to the table as a decade whose thrillers shined through. This decade is better known for establishing the roots of commercial horror, sci-fi icons, and the occasional teen drama. American crime thrillers took a rest while its most prominent filmmakers passed the baton and others rewrote the rules that could be adapted to a whole new visual landscape. This didn’t mean some auteurs stuck to the best that they could do.

And this is how we arrive at the following list of gritty American crime thrillers that have been overshadowed by the passage of time and the lack of connection with the genre jewels of that decade. Some of them you will know, of course, and some of them will be surprises you didn’t know you needed in your life. It’s time to populate the watchlists as we navigate the unflinching territory of dark crime thrillers produced in Hollywood in the ’80s.

10 Thief (1981)

1981’s Thief tells the story of a former convict who didn’t exactly get away from crime after he left prison. Frank is a jewel thief who can basically open any safe with the right tools. He’s known around town for being open to suggestions on his own terms. But Frank’s personal life has led him to think perhaps it’s time to stop. He’s fallen in love with the right girl, and his intentions are noble enough to accept his latest gig as his last. But the crime lord who hires him thinks otherwise, and Frank will not accept other conditions but his own.

An Intimate and Realistic Portrayal of Crime

Michael Mann’s Thief is his feature directorial debut in Hollywood, and possibly his best film to date. The film is a slow-burn and intimate film about a man realizing he’s trapped in something he put together himself. Frank dreams of escaping, but there’s a magnetic force that drives him down the spiral of crime and violence in Chicago. Not even an intimate encounter with his romantic partner makes him touch ground like he does when he visits a former partner in prison. In one of the most important scenes of the film, Frank meets with David “Okla” Bertinneau, a father figure whose desperation is visible and makes Frank realize there needs to be a change. Does Frank achieve this? Only the brutal third act will tell you.

It was the film debut of actors like Dennis Farina, William Petersen, James Belushi, and Robert Prosky, and it will probably be the only film in which you see Prosky acting as a bad guy, but he does a great job at it. You can stream Thief on Tubi.

Watch a clip of Thief here.

9 Cruising (1980)

William Friedkin’s Cruising is a very complicated film that takes audiences to the underbelly of New York City’s gay scene in the early ’80s. Several bodies have appeared floating in the Hudson River, and police suspect it may be the work of a serial killer targeting gay men. Steve Burns (Al Pacino in one of his underrated roles) is assigned to the case to infiltrate S&M and leather bars in the Meatpacking District and see if he can come up with a clue about who might be the culprit. The problem is that Burns accepts a case that will take a personal toll on his life.

What’s Below the Deepest Level?

Cruising is mostly known due to its controversy. The protests, the clash between Pacino and Friedkin, the pornographic material that had to be cut from the theatrical version. There’s an abundance of rumors and confirmed facts that are sort of proportional to the narrative value of this gritty crime thriller.

In retrospect, there are some things that don’t work, and then again, Friedkin’s approach to the ambiguity of Burns and his role in deconstructing a deep layer that’s supposedly decadent is fascinating. It’s a treat for fans of the genre, and it’s one of the most interesting neo-noir films of a decade that wasn’t exactly known for being experimental. Its ending will shock you, or make you scream in anger. You can stream Cruising on Cinemax.

Watch a trailer for Cruising here.

Related: Why Erotic Thrillers Were So Popular in the ’80s and ’90s

8 Blue Velvet (1986)

Jeffrey Beaumont comes back to his hometown when his father has a heart attack in Blue Velvet. The setting is a North Carolina suburb with white picket fences, pastel colors, and the most conservative society you can think of. But then Jeffrey finds a severed ear, and when taking it to the police for further investigation, he inevitably falls down a hole of crime, decadence, and… love. When Jeffrey falls for a lounge singer, and he sees the world he’s entered, he’s going to wish he never had.

Suburbia as Seen Through the Eyes of David Lynch

One of the best romantic thrillers of the ’80s, Blue Velvet is a very interesting approach by Lynch to a more traditional style of filmmaking, and the result is one of his finest and most peculiar films. It’s no coincidence that he received a Best Director nomination at the Academy Awards the following year.

Nevertheless, you can rest assured that the director’s imprint is visible throughout the entire film as Beaumont navigates the twisted version of the underbelly of crime in a town that’s sunny by day but extremely dangerous at night when the ghouls come out. You will never forget Dennis Hopper’s depiction of Frank Boot, a drug dealer with a very specific fetish. You can stream Blue Velvet on The Roku Channel.

Watch a trailer for Blue Velvet here.

7 The Untouchables (1987)

Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables tells the story of Bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness as he becomes central to bringing down Al Capone’s business during the Prohibition era. Capone owns part of Chicago, both formally and informally. His ability to corrupt is overwhelming, so Ness decides to put together a team of justice fighters that will stop at nothing until they put Capone behind bars. The film stars Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Billy Drago, and Sean Connery, who won his only Academy Award for his performance in the film.

A Beautiful, Gritty Crime Film with an Unbeatable Cast

This is De Palma at his best in his last great decade as a filmmaker. The film goes on a deep exploration of crime and its entrepreneurs through a character-driven drama that curiously features lots of action. Back then, people weren’t very happy with the fictionalized events of the film, but De Palma’s adaptation is masterful from every perspective.

The performances are intense and follow David Mamet’s script in detail, and the cinematography by De Palma’s frequent DP, Stephen H. Burum, is beautiful. You can stream The Untouchables on Paramount+.

Watch a trailer for The Untouchables here.

6 Blood Simple (1984)

Blood Simple takes us to a shady bar located in rural Texas, which will be the setting of a dark-natured film in which no one is exactly a role model to follow. Ray and Abby are having an affair. Abby’s married to Julian, but she isn’t happy with their relationship. When her husband finds out, he hires a private investigator called Lorren Visser, who will help him blackmail the new couple. Only Visser has other plans, and he won’t hesitate when he finds an opportunity to make more cash.

An Impressive Debut by the Coen Brothers

Joel and Ethan Coen start their Hollywood run with a very effective film that doesn’t depend on fancy actors or a fancy production to make an impact. It’s a bloodcurdling portrayal of a set of corrupt characters trying to survive a dangerous situation, but without losing the sense of gaining something for themselves. It goes for a theme that the Coens have explored over and over in their career, but in their first feature, it feels fresh and exciting. Blood Simple is one of the most underrated thrillers of the 1980s. You can stream Blood Simple on Max.

Watch a trailer for Blood Simple here.

5 Blow Out (1981)

De Palma shows up again on the list, this time with one of his most underappreciated films. In Blow Out, a sound effects technician is working on a new film. Jack Terry is tasked with coming up with realistic scream sounds and wind sound effects that he can capture outside the studio. The problem is that Terry ends up recording what he believes is a crime. This is confirmed by Sally, a young woman he rescues from the car accident in which the driver was killed. Things take a very dangerous turn when Terry discovers a politician is involved with the murder.

A Tribute that Works as its Own Thing

Blow Out was based on Michelangelo Antonioni’s production of Blowup. Only De Palma changed photography to sound in his adaptation of the story. As expected, he also incorporates a visual language that heavily resembles that of Alfred Hitchcock, an obvious influence on the film.

The themes of realism and its manipulation when captured by a microphone are some of the notable subjects that viewers observe at first glance. But there’s much more to observe in this gritty crime thriller that has endlessly been acclaimed by film connoisseur and filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. You can stream Blow Out on Tubi.

Watch a trailer for Blow Out here.

4 Nighthawks (1981)

In Nighthawks, New York City Police Detectives Deke DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) and Matthew Fox (Billy Dee Williams) are tasked with bringing down a threat that the city’s not ready for. They’re both assigned to a new force that aims to fight a new terrorist cell that has infiltrated the city. Wulfgar Reinhardt is the ruthless leader of the terrorist organization, and Detective DaSilva takes it upon himself to neutralize the bad guy, but this won’t be the easy mission they had thought of. It’s an obscure ’80s thriller that always deserves a rewatch.

Stallone at His Best

Nighthawks does a great job at combining crime thriller elements with some horror tropes that make Wulfgar Reinhardt a very menacing villain (Rutger Hauer in his Hollywood debut). And while the film had some production problems, it still remains one of Stallone’s best films. His extended participation both in front and behind the cameras was crucial to saving the film from being a production disaster, and though the theatrical cut was supposedly not the best one, Nighthawks is a solid crime thriller about terrorists that will satisfy genre hounds. You can rent Nighthawks on Apple TV.

Watch a clip of Nighthawks here.

3 To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

In To Live and Die in L.A., Secret Service agents Richard Chance and Jimmy Hart save the president from being assassinated. Deserving a break, they’re assigned to bring down a counterfeit operation in California. But Hart is a fearless agent and attempts to bring a criminal to justice, and unfortunately, he gets killed. Chance then steps up and, with a new partner, decides to solve his ex-partner’s murder by hunting down the relentless counterfeiter and killer known as Rick Masters. But Chance isn’t ethically impeccable and turns to desperate resources, which the killer uses to his advantage.

Friedkin Back in His Comfort Zone

After the success of his most notable films, The Exorcist and The French Connection, Friedkin followed with less impactful, albeit great films. With To Live and Die in L.A., he realized he could stay out of the Hollywood spotlight but still accomplish an effective and traditional crime thriller.

He hired relatively unknown actors to participate in the film and decided to make it more of an indie-looking crime thriller that would keep its gritty look to achieve realism. The result was one of his best films in the post-Exorcist period, during which he had to change (some of) his ways and stay in the genre that provided him with his status in Hollywood. To Live and Die in L.A. is not available to stream today.

Watch a trailer for To Live and Die in L.A here.

Related: Best Thrillers of the 1980s, Ranked

2 Black Rain (1989)

Ridley Scott’s action crime thriller, Black Rain, tells the story of Nick Conklin, a New York City police detective who isn’t exactly having the time of his life. He’s up to his neck in an investigation from Internal Affairs, and he’s not considered a trustworthy member of law enforcement.

One day, Conklin and his partner Charlie Vincent witness a murder, and they arrest the culprit. When he’s identified as a potential member of the Yakuza, the detectives are tasked with taking him to Japan and putting him in the hands of the authorities. The problem is that things don’t go well when the criminal escapes, and Conklin and Vincent must face the wrath of the Japanese mafia.

One of Scott’s and Michael Douglas’ Lesser-Known Films

If you go through the career of Ridley Scott, Black Rain doesn’t often show up as one of his important films. The same happens with Michael Douglas, who gives life to Conklin. But the reality is that it’s one of Scott’s best crime thrillers, in which he doesn’t have to follow the accuracy of real-life events. Also, in the case of Douglas, he’s only tasked with playing the macho cop facing foreign antagonists, but it’s actually one of his best performances. Black Rain wasn’t critically acclaimed, but time has deemed it a necessary watch for fans of the neo-noir gritty thrillers that follow formulas but are still effective. You can stream Black Rain on Hoopla.

Watch a trailer for Black Rain here.

1 Manhunter (1986)

Michael Mann’s Manhunter tells the story of Will Graham reentering the world of law enforcement and criminal profiling after an attack deemed him hopeless. Graham is tasked with finding clues about the serial killer Tooth Fairy, who’s been wreaking havoc, and the police have no clues about who he might be. Graham is forced to face Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (no, not a typo), who was the one who attacked him before his retirement and left him traumatized, and who is now behind bars. Does the plot sound familiar? That’s because it’s supposed to.

A Different Kind of Hannibal

Mann is back, and to recognize his contribution to American gritty thrillers, we decided to close off the list with another one of his gems. Manhunter is his version of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon, the first novel featuring Hannibal Lecter. It would only be natural to compare Manhunter with The Silence of the Lambs, but that wouldn’t be fair because they’re extremely different films.

Manhunter is a stylish thriller depending on a much stronger Tooth Fairy, aka Francis Dollarhyde. And while Lecktor is featured in the film a lot, Mann’s film plays more like an action thriller. It’s much more faithful to the book than you would think, and it’s got Mann’s visual language written all over it. Is it his best film? It’s hard to argue against that, but we’ll leave that to you to decide. You can rent Manhunter on Prime Video.

Watch a trailer for Manhunter here.

Here’s a video with some more gritty American thrillers that will keep you on the edge of your seat: