20 Greatest Revenge Movies Of All-Time

18. The Bride Wore Black

United Artists

Francois Truffaut isn't the first person you'd expect to be behind the likes of a revenge thriller, and yet The Bride Wore Black - released in 1968 - was written and directed by the man himself following his success with films such as The 400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player and Jules And Jim.

Starring Jeanne Moreau, Charles Denner, Alexandra Stewart, the plot focuses on the Bride of the title, Julie Kohler, who sets out to seek revenge upon the men who killed her husband on her wedding day. Sound familiar? That's right: Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill owes a fair amount to this flick (who claims he has never seen it), which - in turn - was actually based on a novel (of the same name) by William Irish.

Though criticised upon first release, The Bride Wore Black has since been reappraised. It remains a somewhat muddled movie in places, but as an inventive B-movie revenge thriller, it hits all the right buttons; a bizarre cross between arthouse movie and grindhouse flick.

 
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Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.