Film institute ranks top thrillers of all time

Associated Press

The mother of all slasher films, "Psycho," topped the American Film Institute list of 100 most thrilling movies announced last week, with "Jaws" and "The Exorcist" coming in second and third.

"Psycho" director Alfred Hitchcock and "Jaws" director Steven Spielberg combined for 15 films on the list.

The rankings were announced in a special aired on CBS. The institute began issuing an annual list on different movie themes three years ago, with a roster of the top 100 American films.

The thrillers' list was chosen by about 1,800 directors, actors, studio executives, critics and others in Hollywood, who voted from a field of 400 nominated movies.

100 best nail-biters

Here's the list:

1. "Psycho," 1960

2. "Jaws," 1975

3. "The Exorcist," 1973

4. "North by Northwest," 1959

5. "The Silence of the Lambs," 1991

6. "Alien," 1979

7. "The Birds," 1963

8. "The French Connection," 1971

9. "Rosemary's Baby," 1968

10. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981

11. "The Godfather," 1972

12. "King Kong," 1933

13. "Bonnie and Clyde," 1967

14. "Rear Window," 1954

15. "Deliverance," 1972

16. "Chinatown," 1974

17. "The Manchurian Candidate," 1962

18. "Vertigo," 1958

19. "The Great Escape," 1963

20. "High Noon," 1952

21. "A Clockwork Orange," 1971

22. "Taxi Driver," 1976

23. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962

24. "Double Indemnity," 1944

25. "Titanic," 1997

26. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941

27. "Star Wars," 1977

28. "Fatal Attraction," 1987

29. "The Shining," 1980

30. "The Deer Hunter," 1978

31. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," 1977

32. "Strangers on a Train," 1951

33. "The Fugitive," 1993

34. "The Night of the Hunter," 1955

35. "Jurassic Park," 1993

36. "Bullitt," 1968

37. "Casablanca," 1942

38. "Notorious," 1946

39. "Die Hard," 1988

40. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968

41. "Dirty Harry," 1971

42. "The Terminator," 1984

43. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939

44. "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982

45. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998

46. "Carrie," 1976

47. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," 1956

48. "Dial M for Murder," 1954

49. "Ben-Hur," 1959

50. "Marathon Man," 1976

51. "Raging Bull," 1980

52. "Rocky," 1976

53. "Pulp Fiction," 1994

54. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969

55. "Wait Until Dark," 1967

56. "Frankenstein," 1931

57. "All the President's Men," 1976

58. "The Bridge on the River Kwai," 1957

59. "Planet of the Apes," 1968

60. "The Sixth Sense," 1999

61. "Cape Fear," 1962

62. "Spartacus," 1960

63. "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", 1962

64. "Touch of Evil," 1958

65. "The Dirty Dozen," 1967

66. "The Matrix," 1999

67. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," 1948

68. "Halloween," 1978

69. "The Wild Bunch," 1969

70. "Dog Day Afternoon," 1975

71. "Goldfinger," 1964

72. "Platoon," 1986

73. "Laura," 1944

74. "Blade Runner," 1982

75. "The Third Man," 1949

76. "Thelma & Louise," 1991

77. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," 1991

78. "Gaslight," 1944

79. "The Magnificent Seven," 1960

80. "Rebecca," 1940

81. "The Omen," 1976

82. "The Day the Earth Stood Still," 1951

83. "The Phantom of the Opera," 1925

84. "Poltergeist," 1982

85. "Dracula," 1931

86. "The Picture of Dorian Gray," 1945

87. "The Thing from Another World," 1951

88. "12 Angry Men," 1957

89. "The Guns of Navarone," 1961

90. "The Poseidon Adventure," 1972

91. "Braveheart," 1995

92. "Body Heat," 1981

93. "Night of the Living Dead," 1968

94. "The China Syndrome," 1979

95. "Full Metal Jacket," 1987

96. "Blue Velvet," 1986

97. "Safety Last," 1923

98. "Blood Simple," 1984

99. "Speed," 1994

100. "The Adventures of Robin Hood," 1938