10 Conspiracy Movies That Will Make You Paranoid
10. Marathon Man
Marathon Man, the 1976 John Schlesinger thriller about a history student caught up in a Nazi conspiracy, is one of the best in the genre.
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, William Devane and Laurence Olivier in an Oscar-nominated performance, the film (based on the novel of the same name), exemplifies all there is to love about the seventies' love-affair with conspiracy thrillers, adopting a decidedly more violent tone to drive home its horror. Olivier, in particular, is absolutely bone-chilling as the story's Nazi war criminal, bringing his talents to bear in an excruciatingly painful torture sequence that would delay anyone's next visit to the dentist.
It was immediately controversial upon its release, but the real terror of Marathon Man lies in the way it's shot. It follows in the footsteps of Alan Pakula's 'Paranoid Trilogy', intimating an eerie atmosphere that refuses to subside up until the film's admittedly unfaithful ending, and while villains don't get any more clear-cut than, y'know, actual Nazis, the film derives its suspense from the deception of its leading characters; you, like Babe, never know who can be trusted.
Throw in a score composed by Michael Small, and you have one of the seventies best - and most iconic - conspiracy thrillers.