Special Report

Best Revenge Movies of All Time

Confucius is said to have advised Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” Getting even may seem irresistible to the wronged, but efforts for getting back at malefactors don’t always go as planned. 

Filmmakers have long been fascinated with the idea of revenge, whether failed or successful, and used it as the motivation for their plots, and many of the resulting films — often filled with fast-paced action and plenty of violence — have become classics. (These are the best action movies of all time.)

To determine the best revenge movies of all time, 24/7 Tempo considered a database of those movies tagged “revenge” on The Numbers, an online film industry data site owned by consulting firm Nash Information Services, or identified as revenge films in Vulture’s article “What Are the Best Revenge Movies?” 

We then developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of October 2021. Films that contain elements of revenge, but whose plots are not driven by a protagonist or antagonist seeking or avoiding it, were excluded from consideration. (Cast information and directorial credits come from IMDb.)

Click here to see the best revenge movies of all time

Some of the heroes in the films on the resulting list want revenge and others are its target. Many of these films dive deep into concepts of justice and morality, questioning whether revenge is ever worth it.  

The desire to get even is not unique to certain cultures and seems to be part of the human experience across time and around the world. There are films on this list from a range of countries and time periods. Some have intricate plots; others are comparatively straigthforward tales of men or women embarking on a quest for justice. A number of them didn’t do well at the box office when first released, but are now considered among the best films of all time. (These are movies audiences hate but critics love).

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

50. Cape Fear (1991)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 (183,201 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (68,903 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 73% (52 votes)
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis

“Cape Fear” is a remake of the 1962 film of the same name, telling the story of a convicted rapist seeking revenge against a former public defender whom he blames for his 14-year prison term. The movie is set around the Cape Fear River in coastal North Carolina and dives into the questions of revenge, the morality of defending a guilty client of a horrendous crimes, and the complexity of life in the American South.

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Courtesy of Rochelle Films

49. Ms. 45 (1981)
> IMDb user rating: 6.8 (8,963 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 72% (4,516 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 85% (33 votes)
> Directed by: Abel Ferrara
> Starring: Helen McGara, Zoë Lund, Bogey, Albert Sinkys

One of two films that Zoë Lund made with director Abel Ferrara, “Ms. 45” is about a mute seamstress who sets out for revenge after she is rаped twice in one day on her way home from work. The 1981 film received poor critical reviews when it was released but is now seen as a classic of independent filmmaking.

Courtesy of CBS Films Distribution

48. Seven Psychopaths (2012)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2 (248,630 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (130,170 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (219 votes)
> Directed by: Martin McDonagh
> Starring: Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken

A dark comedy and crime thriller starring several big-name actors, “Seven Psychopaths” begins with a masked vigilante killing high-ranking organized crime figures. The heroes are two small time crooks and a writer who, by their own questionable decisions, end up drawn into the world of the vigilante and the mob. Hilarity and violence ensue.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

47. Dead Again (1991)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 (27,097 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (11,941 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (47 votes)
> Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
> Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Andy Garcia, Lois Hall

“Dead Again” is a neo-noir romantic thriller that involves love, murder, and mystery spanning decades. It’s hard to say too much about the plot without giving it all away. It was well received by most critics at the time of its release (Roger Ebert gave it a four-star review) and continues to be a fan favorite. Several of the actors picked up various award nominations.

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Courtesy of Warner Bros.

46. A Time to Kill (1996)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 (140,500 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (95,242 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 68% (56 votes)
> Directed by: Joel Schumacher
> Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey

Based on John Grisham’s first novel — but the second of his books to be filmed after “The Client” — this is a courtroom drama about a novice lawyer in a bigoted Southern town defending a Black man who shot the racists who rаped his daughter.

Courtesy of Miramax

45. Gangs of New York (2002)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 (420,322 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (294,464 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 73% (216 votes)
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese
> Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jim Broadbent

In Martin Scorsese’s epic period piece, 1860s New York City comes to life filled with every type of crime, violence, and gang dynamics imaginable. The film begins with a young boy witnessing his father’s killing in a gang turf war. It skips ahead some years, and the hero (played by DiCaprio) has is grown up and out for blood. The leader of the rival gang, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, now runs the entire territory and lives like a king. He doesn’t know the son of his former enemy on a mission to finish what his father started.

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Courtesy of Buena Vista Distribution Company

44. Ruthless People (1986)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 (27,061 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 72% (21,109 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (42 votes)
> Directed by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker
> Starring: Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater

“Ruthless People” is a dark comedy about Sam Stone (Danny DeVito), a man who plots to killl his wife and run off with his mistress. Unfortunately for Stone, before he can put his plans into action, his wife is kidnapped by a couple seeking revenge on him. They threaten to kill her if their demands aren’t met, then realize he actually wants her dead. Stone’s mistress, meanwhile, has plans of her own.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

43. Furious 7 (2015)
> IMDb user rating: 7.1 (374,870 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (195,231 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (277 votes)
> Directed by: James Wan
> Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham

By the seventh movie in the “Fast and Furious” series, things have evolved dramatically from the days of simple street racing and cool custom cars. The story begins with all the previous team of criminals having returned to their normal lives after receiving amnesty for their crimes. However, a special forces assassin wants revenge for past events that left his younger brother in a coma. The movie featured actor Paul Walker’s last starring role before his death.

Courtesy of United Artists

42. The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4 (2,688 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (4,379 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (7 votes)
> Directed by: Rowland V. Lee
> Starring: Robert Donat, Elissa Landi, Louis Calhern, Sidney Blackmer

Based on the classic 1844 novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas, “The Count of Monte Cristo,” which has been brought to the screen on numerous occasions, is the story of a young man falsely accused of treason and other crimes and thrown into an island prison off the coast of France. He escapes, acquires a massive fortune in treasure, travels to Paris as the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo, and seeks revenges against those who had him imprisoned.

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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

41. Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 (353,849 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (1.7 million votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (232 votes)
> Directed by: Tim Burton
> Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall

“Sweeney Todd” originally appeared as an 1846 “penny dreadful” and his story — Todd is a barber who gets revenge on his clients by slitting their throats and having their flesh baked into meat pies — became fodder for an urban legend. slits his clients’ throats with a straight edge razor. The tale was filmed in England in 1928 and 1936, but this 2007 version is a so-called slasher musical — based on the Tony-winning 1979 musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler..

Courtesy of Cinerama Releasing Corporation

40. Straw Dogs (1971)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 (58,306 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (23,027 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (42 votes)
> Directed by: Sam Peckinpah
> Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan, T.P. McKenna

‘Straw Dogs’ is a psychological thriller based on Gordon M. William’s 1969 novel, “The Siege of Trencher’s Farm.” Released the same year as several other violent films, it launched a national conversation on violence and brutality in movies. At the time of its release, it received mixed reviews and criticism but is now seen as a classic.

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Courtesy of Lionsgate

39. John Wick (2014)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4 (576,949 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (84,099 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (219 votes)
> Directed by: Chad Stahelski & David Leitch
> Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe

A retired assassin just wants to live out the rest of his days simply and peacefully. He has a nice house, a muscle car he loves, and an adorable puppy. However, when some Russian mobsters try to strongarm him into selling his classic automobile and he says no, the mobsters make the colossal mistake of killing his dog. Wick returns to his old ways and leaves a massive pile of corpses as he seeks revenge.

Courtesy of Paramount Classics

38. Mean Creek (2004)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2 (31,291 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (32,827 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (124 votes)
> Directed by: Jacob Estes
> Starring: Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan

“Mean Creek” is a coming-of-age psychological drama that questions the morality of getting even. A group of teenagers decides to prank a bully who has been abusing one of them by inviting him on a boating trip to celebrate a fictional birthday. They plan to trick him into stripping naked and then throwing him into the river. However, things do not go as planned and they must deal with the consequences.

Courtesy of United Artists

37. Get Carter (1971)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4 (29,450 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (17,250 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (32 votes)
> Directed by: Mike Hodges
> Starring: Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, John Osborne

London gangster Jack Carter returns to his hometown in North England after his brother is killed in a mysterious accident. Carter doesn’t buy the official story and dives into the criminal world of his old city on a quest for revenge. The film’s creators aimed to craft a more honest portrayal of the criminal underworld filled with ugly violence and subterfuge. The film was praised for its technical achievements but was criticized for its violence and the lack of remorse by its main character.

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Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

36. The Revenant (2015)
> IMDb user rating: 8 (741,936 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (105,559 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 78% (401 votes)
> Directed by: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
> Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson

The movie that finally got the much-nominated DiCaprio his Best Actor Oscar, “The Revenant” follows fur trapper and frontiersmen Hugh Glass as he guides other trappers through the present-day Dakotas. The party comes under attack by an Arikara war party and most die. Those that escape stay on the run until Glass is attacked and nearly mortally wounded by a grizzly bear. His fellow trappers leave him to die. Glass recovers and sets out on a quest for revenge.

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

35. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4 (18,173 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (10,098 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (29 votes)
> Directed by: Brian De Palma
> Starring: Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham

A “rock musical horror comedy,” “Phantom of the Paradise” — loosely based on French author Gaston Leroux’s early 20th century novel “The Phantom of the Opera” — follows a young songwriter who is tricked into giving up his life’s work. To get revenge he begins to terrorize the music hall of the man he feels wronged him. The movie had a poor showing at the box office but has since become a cult classic.

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Courtesy of United Artists

34. Carrie (1976)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4 (175,705 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (353,181 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (67 votes)
> Directed by: Brian De Palma
> Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, John Travolta

Carrie is a shy 16-year-old girl who is bullied at high school and tormented by a hyper-religious mother at home. After dealing with all sorts of pranks, Carrie starts to realize she has telekinetic powers. Her mother believes she’s been cursed by the devil and the kids at school pretend to take it easy on her to lure her into even more devastating humiliation — for which she gets her revenge.

Courtesy of DreamWorks Distribution

33. Road to Perdition (2002)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7 (257,017 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (188,984 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% (214 votes)
> Directed by: Sam Mendes
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Rob Maxey, Liam Aiken

“The Road to Perdition” is about getting crossed and double-crossed and still trying to get even. Tom Hanks plays a mob enforcer in Great Depression-era Illinois. The adopted child of a local mob boss, he has problems with his jealous step-brother. Some business goes bad, people get killed, and Sullivan is blamed. He must then go on the run to clear his name and get his own back.

Courtesy of RADiUS-TWC

32. Blue Ruin (2013)
> IMDb user rating: 7.1 (70,660 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (19,741 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (143 votes)
> Directed by: Jeremy Saulnier
> Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack

Dwight Evans (Macon Blair) is living out of his car in Maryland when he is contacted by a police officer who tells him that the man who murdered his parents is being released from prison. Evans quickly decides to return to his hometown in Virginia to seek revenge. His actions quickly kick off a bloody series of events that leave everyone questioning when is it better to just live and let live.

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Courtesy of Magnet Releasing

31. I Saw the Devil (2010)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8 (114,361 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (18,403 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% (85 votes)
> Directed by: Jee-woon Kim
> Starring: Lee Byung-Hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gооk-Hwan, Ho-jin Chun

“I Saw the Devil” is a Korean film tabout a man seeking revenge for his pregnant wife’s brutal murder. Lee Byung-hun stars as a Korean intelligence agent attempting to track down the psychopathic serial killer responsible. The detective is willing to stop at nothing to find the man, including using violence and breaking any law that stands in his way.

Courtesy of Good Machine International

30. In the Bedroom (2001)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4 (39,515 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (20,139 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (139 votes)
> Directed by: Todd Field
> Starring: Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei

Based on the Andre Dubus short story “The Killing,” this indie film tells the story of a dysfunctional family as a summer in Maine comes to an end. The title refers to the part of a lobster trap known as the “bedroom,” a small compartment in which captured lobsters begin to turn on one another.

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Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

29. Point Blank (1967)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 (19,866 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (7,634 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (38 votes)
> Directed by: John Boorman
> Starring: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O’Connor

Point Blank is a film adaptation of 1963 Richard Stark noir novel “The Hunter.” It tells the tale of a man double-crossed in a robbery, shot, and left for dead. Upon recovering from his wounds, he sets out to get his share of the take and kill those that wronged him.

Courtesy of Miramax

28. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1 (1 million reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (32.6 million votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 85% (238 votes)
> Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
> Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen

Uma Thurman stars as a woman who survives a massacre and falls into a coma. Upon waking ,she sets out on a quest to kill all those involved. Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed the film, which is full of mysterious assassins, ancient martial arts masters, and over-the-top blood and gore.

Courtesy of Miramax

27. The Crow (1994)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6 (173,146 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (377,367 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (59 votes)
> Directed by: Alex Proyas
> Starring: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson

Based on the comic of the same name, “The Crow” follows Eric Draven (Brandon Lee), a slain. musician who is resurrected to seek revenge on the man murdered him and his fiancé. The film received high praise, but Lee (son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee) was tragically killed in an on-set firearms accident after he had finished filming most of his scenes.

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Courtesy of BH Tilt

26. Upgrade (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 (171,876 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (6,048 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (193 votes)
> Directed by: Leigh Whannell
> Starring: Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Steve Danielsen, Abby Craden

“Upgrade” is an Australian cyberpunk action film. Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) and his wife are attacked by four men after their self-driving car crashes. His wife is killed and he is left paralyzed after a bullet to the throat. An inventor friend implants him with a chip that allows him to control his once-paralyzed body, and he sets out to find the men responsible for tearing his life apart.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

25. Prisoners (2013)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1 (637,815 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (108,697 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% (253 votes)
> Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
> Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo

Two young girls disappear in Pennsylvania and police quickly arrest a suspect. However, he is soon released due to lack of evidence. The father of one of the girl’s decides to take matters into his own hands as he feels the police aren’t doing enough. The thriller is filled with twists and turns and asks when can attempts at vigilante justice just become crimes of their own.

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Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

24. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8 (440,178 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (119,228 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (256 votes)
> Directed by: David Fincher
> Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård

This is the second film based on the book of the same name (the first is in Swedish). It’s the story of the unlikely duo of detective Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) as Blomkvist sets out to solve the disappearance of a woman 40 years earlier from a wealthy family in northern Sweden.

Courtesy of FilmDistrict

23. Drive (2011)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8 (595,195 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (119,129 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (268 votes)
> Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
> Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks

Based on James Sallis’s novel of the same name, “Drive” follows an unnamed Hollywood stuntman who also works as a getaway driver. The main character uses few words, chews toothpicks, and wears a leather jacket. He takes a job to help a love interest but it quickly goes wrong and he becomes embroiled in a complicated web of organized crime and violence.

Courtesy of RKO Radio Pictures

22. Sudden Fear (1952)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 (5,863 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (1,411 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (12 votes)
> Directed by: David Miller
> Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett

“Sudden Fear” is a noir thriller based on a novel of the same name. Broadway playwright Myra Hudson rejects Lester Blaine as the lead for her new play. However, the two later meet on a train and end up in a romantic relationship. They soon marry, but all is not as it seems when Blaine’s mistress comes into the picture. Soon all parties are plotting murderous schemes.

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Courtesy of DreamWorks Distribution

21. Gladiator (2000)
> IMDb user rating: 8.5 (1.4 million reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (34.1 million votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (201 votes)
> Directed by: Ridley Scott
> Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed

Ridley Scott’s epic stars Russell Crowe as the Roman general Maximus, who is returns from war to find that the emperor wants him to restore the Roman Republic. However, the emperor’s son has other plans and turns on Maximus. The general manages to escape but is eventually captured by slavers and forced to become a gladiator.

Courtesy of Focus Features

20. Promising Young Woman (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 (127,151 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (640 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (399 votes)
> Directed by: Emerald Fennell
> Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown

Part thriller, part black comedy, “Promising Young Woman” follows Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan), a medical school drop-out haunted by traumatic events from her past. She begins going to clubs and pretending to be drunk to lure in rapists and predators. She then sets out to get revenge on a man who rаped one of her friends in college and those that protected him from justice.

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Courtesy of Miramax

19. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
> IMDb user rating: 8 (713,748 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (841,697 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (244 votes)
> Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
> Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah

The second and final part of the “Kill Bill” saga reveals the backstory of Uma Thurman’s character ias she continues her hunt for the assassin Bill and his associates. This time, her travels take her to Texas and Mexico. Though it moves more slowly than Vol. 1, there is plenty of blood and double-crossing — this is Tarantino, after all.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

18. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7 (116,510 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (85,576 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (64 votes)
> Directed by: Nicholas Meyer
> Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan

Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) and crew face off against the genetically modified Khan Noonien Singh. Khan has returned from exile and sets off to exact revenge on Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise for having banished him. He aims to acquire a powerful device to wreak havoc on planets throughout the galaxy.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

17. True Grit (2010)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6 (323,355 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (158,421 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (275 votes)
> Directed by: Joen & Ethan Coen
> Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin

Based on the 1968 Charles Portis novel of the same name, “True Grit ” — a remake of the original 1969 John Wayne version — follows an unlikely group as they hunt for an outlaw in the Wild West. Mattie Ross, a teenage farmgirl, recruits lawman Reuben Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to help her bring to justice the man that killed her father. Texas State Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) joins them as they traverse the continent on their quests of justice and vengeance.

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16. 13 Assassins (2010)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6 (62,599 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (23,992 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (131 votes)
> Directed by: Takashi Miike
> Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Ikki Sawamura

“13 Assassins” is set in 1944 Japan , as 13 men lay out a plot to assassinate Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu before he can be appointed to the powerful Shogunate Council. Lord Naritsugu is a ruthless leader who tortures, rаpes, and kills innocent civilians with impunity. His rise to the Council will surely bring civil war, and he must be stopped before it is too late.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

15. Cape Fear (1962)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7 (27,788 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (17,757 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (23 votes)
> Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
> Starring: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin

The original “Cape Fear” film and the second rendition to make this list (see No. 50), this noir psychological thriller stars Gregory Peck as lawyer Sam Bowden, who is being stalked by rapist Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) — who spent eight years in prison after Bowden unsuccessfully defended him. Bowden flees with his family from Georgia to their houseboat in the Cape Fear region of North Carolina, but Cady follows.

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Courtesy of Tartan

14. Oldboy (2003)
> IMDb user rating: 8.4 (525,342 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (133,530 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% (151 votes)
> Directed by: Chan-wook Park
> Starring: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-Tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok

“Oldboy” is a Korean thriller about a man who is imprisoned in a cell resembling a hotel room for 15 years with no idea who his captor is or why he is there. When he is finally released, he enters a complicated world of conspiracy and violence as he sets out on a quest for revenge that is complicated by a romantic interest along the way.

Courtesy of Janus Films

13. The Virgin Spring (1960)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1 (27,149 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (8,303 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (23 votes)
> Directed by: Ingmar Bergman
> Starring: Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson

The 1960 Swedish Ingmar Berman classic is about rаpe and revenge in medieval Sweden. The story was adapted from a 13th-century Swedish ballad about a father whose daughter is rаped and murdered by three herdsmen — who unknowingly end up stopping for the night at the house of the girl they’ve just killed. The film touches on themes of justice, morality, revenge, and religion.

Courtesy of The Weinstein Company

12. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3 (1.3 million reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (776,325 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (332 votes)
> Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
> Starring: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Melanie Laurent

This Quentin Tarantino film presents an alternative history of World War II. In it, a group of Jewish-American soldiers infiltrates Nazi Germany during the height of the war, aiming to kill Nazi officials and even have a go at Hitler. The movie is filled with wild characters and plenty of blood, violence, and suspense as the heroes sneak around enemy territory, trying to gain information on Hitler’s whereabouts.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

11. Lady Snowblood (1973)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7 (12,787 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (12,426 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (7 votes)
> Directed by: Toshiya Fujita
> Starring: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon, Miyoko Akaza

“Lady Snowblood,” originally a manga series. was an inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” films. It follows Yuki, a woman seeking vengeance against three people who rаped her mother and killed her father and brother. Yuki has been trained since childhood to exact revenge on the men who destroyed her family.

Courtesy of The Weinstein Company

10. Django Unchained (2012)
> IMDb user rating: 8.4 (1.4 million reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (429,752 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (291 votes)
> Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
> Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington

Quentin Tarantino is big on revenge, apparently. “Django Unchained” is another of his revisionist history films, inspired by a 1966 spaghetti Western called “Django”. The story follows Dr. Schultz, a bounty-hunter, and Django, a freed slave. The two travel across the American South and West searching for bounties and Django’s long lost love.

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Courtesy of Warner Bros.

9. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1 (899,312 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (128,673 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (426 votes)
> Directed by: George Miller
> Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz

“Fury Road” is the fourth “Mad Max” film and the first after a 30-year hiatus. The reboot of the franchise stars Tom Hardy as a tough-as-nails mercenary and Charlize Theron as an enforcer for a local warlord. The two become an unlikely team in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where water and gasoline are in very short supply. They race across the desert as the warlord’s henchmen chase them on all manner of motorized monstrosities.

Courtesy of United Artists

8. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
> IMDb user rating: 8 (85,564 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (24,773 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (77 votes)
> Directed by: Charles Laughton
> Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason

“The Night of the Hunter” is based on a book of the same name inspired by the true story of a man who murdered five people in 1932. Reverend Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) — a self-appointed preacher who justifies his killing as doing “God’s work” — travels through West Virginia, marrying women and then killing them for their money. During his spree, he winds up in jail for stealing a car, and there he meets a man who stole $10,000 in a bank robbery. The robber is executed and when Powell gets out of jail he sets off to find the man’s family and locate the stolen money.

Courtesy of Beta Film

7. The Great Silence (1968)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7 (14,208 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (6,777 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (13 votes)
> Directed by: Sergio Corbucci
> Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Vonetta McGee

“The Great Silence” is a spaghetti Western that follows a mute gunslinger as he fights with a group of outlaws and a vengeful widow against a team of bounty hunters. The film is set in Utah during a severe winter, where most of the townfolks resort to stealing to survive. A rich local banker calls in the bounty hunters to stop the thievery and take control of the town.

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Courtesy of Sandrew Metronome Distribution

6. Let the Right One In (2008)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9 (207,187 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (61,434 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (191 votes)
> Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
> Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl

“Let the Right One In” is a Swedish romantic horror film that follows a bullied 12-year old boy named Oskar. Oskar lives in the suburbs of Stockholm and spends a lot of time plotting violent revenge against those who have bullied him. Soon a strange girl moves in next door and they form a friendship of sorts. However, she’s not what she seems.

Courtesy of Amazon Studios

5. The Handmaiden (2016)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1 (119,636 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (11,003 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (220 votes)
> Directed by: Chan-wook Park
> Starring: Kim Min-hee, Jung-woo Ha, Cho Jin-woong, Moon So-ri

“The Handmaiden” is an erotic psychological thriller from South Korea. The film is the work of Park Chan-wook, who also directed “Oldboy” (see No. 12). The story is based on the 2002 novel “Fingersmith,” set in Victorian Britain, but the film has been transplanted to Korea under Japanese colonial rule. A con man plans to marry a rich heiress and then have her committed to an asylum, leaving him with her fortune. He hires a pickpocket to infiltrate the household as a maid, hoping she will influence the heiress to marry him.

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Courtesy of Warner Bros.

4. Unforgiven (1992)
> IMDb user rating: 8.2 (391,927 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (122,861 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (106 votes)
> Directed by: Clint Eastwood
> Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris

“Unforgiven” cleaned up at the Academy Awards, winning four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, for Clint Eastwood. Eastwood stars as Will Munny, a former outlaw who is dragged away from his tranquil farming life for one last mission. The movie begins with two cowboys slashing a prostitute’s face. The local sheriff makes the cowboys turn over some horses to the brothel owner as punishment. However, the prostitute and her associates are far from satisfied with this outcome and put a $1,000 bounty on the offenders’ heads.

Courtesy of Newmarket Films

3. Memento (2000)
> IMDb user rating: 8.4 (1.2 million reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (381,352 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (181 votes)
> Directed by: Christopher Nolan
> Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior

A psychological thriller, “Memento” follows a man looking for vengeance against the mysterious person or persons who murdered his wife during an attack that almost killed him too and left with anterograde amnesia — the inability to form new memories. Every 15 minutes, then, he forgets everything that’s happened since the attack. In order to track the killer, he tattoos clues and information on his body and uses Polaroid photos to help him navigate the past.

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

2. The Princess Bride (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1 (408,278 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (527,843 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (78 votes)
> Directed by: Rob Reiner
> Starring: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon

“The Princess Bride” saw modest success at the box office but has since become a cherished classic. This goofy and enchanting story follows a farmhand named Westley and a woman named Buttercup who fall in love. Westley runs off to seek his fortune in order to marry Buttercup, but disappears. Years late, the Princess is betrothed to the local prince but kidnapped by men who want revenge against him. A cast of wild and wacky characters populates the world as the two heroes face danger in their quest to live happily ever after.

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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

1. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
> IMDb user rating: 8.5 (314,446 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (65,906 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (65 votes)
> Directed by: Sergio Leone
> Starring: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards

Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western masterpiece follows the interwoven stories of land wars connected to building of a new railroad and a quest for vengeance against a wanted killer in a wayward desert outpost town. A mysterious gunslinging figure arrives on the scene as things start to heat up. The film was originally a flop at the box office, after studio executives cut 21 minutes out of the original for its U.S. release. Luckily, it has been restored to its original length and is now considered an absolute classic.

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