10 Movies That Used Your Imagination Against You
4. Duel
One of Spielberg’s earliest onscreen efforts, Duel, is an efficient and effective small screen thriller. Centring on one desperate driver’s attempts to escape a terrifying trucker whose hell bent on driving him off the road to his death, the taut television film succeeds admirably due to the veteran director’s restraint.
Not only do we never hear a motivation for the villain beyond being annoyed at our protagonist, we never even get to see his (or her) face, with the frustrating ambiguity rendering this road rage psycho far scarier than the bad guys of Joy Ride or Monster Man, later attempts to tread over similar territory with sillier results.
This isn’t to say average people can’t make for an unexpectedly unsettling antagonist (looking at you, 8MM/ One Hour Photo/ every second psychological thriller), but something tells us that meeting Brian the big rig driver who’s just having a bad day may have dulled the edge of Spielberg’s exercise in suspense, tension, and terror.