Let’s be honest—noir and neo-noir movies are good old-fashioned cinema catnip for anyone who adores dark city streets, ethically gray characters, and plots that turn and twist until your head is happily fuzzy. Sure, genre classics such as Double Indemnity or Chinatown tend to receive all the accolades, but there exists a treasure trove of lesser-known films in waiting—movies that demonstrate noir’s somber magic never really went out of fashion. Whether you’re a long-time noir fan or just starting to get to know its trance-like depths, these lesser-known gems of the late ’50s through the 2000s are well worth your attention.
1. Merci pour le chocolat (2000)
Dir. Claude Chabrol
Isabelle Huppert and Claude Chabrol are a legendary actor-director pair, and this French psychological thriller demonstrates precisely why. Huppert’s chill performance makes you feel off-kilter, and Chabrol’s subtle direction makes a seemingly polite household into something ominously sinister. There isn’t gore—just an unsettling atmosphere that unsettles you long after the credits have rolled. According to Taste of Cinema, “Everything seems so civil, but at the same time, you feel the chills.”
2. Hollywoodland (2006)
Dir. Allen Coulter
Mixing fiction and reality, Hollywoodland examines the enigmatic death of the first Superman, George Reeves. Ben Affleck received serious praise (and a Volpi Cup) for his tragic performance as Reeves, and the film itself evokes the glamour and tragedy of 1950s Tinseltown. Stylish, sad, and worth seeing.
3. The Crimson Kimono (1959)
Dir. Samuel Fuller
Sam Fuller’s uncompromising crime drama excels not only for its murder thriller but for its pioneering investigation into interracial love. In post-war Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, it’s a noir that’s ahead of its time—both socially and aesthetically.
4. City of Fear (1959)
Dir. Irving Lerner
Half prison escape, half apocalypse flick, this stripped-down noir traces the escape of a prisoner who flees with a container of radioactive substance, without realizing the risk he poses. The suspense is heightened by Jerry Goldsmith’s jangling score and gritty, location-cinema photography.
5. Private Property (1960)
Dir. Leslie Stevens
Lost for decades and rediscovered in recent years, Private Property is a raw, disturbing look at male violence and manipulation. Two drifters invade a wealthy woman’s quiet life, leading to a tense, unsettling standoff. Shot in ten days on a shoestring budget, it still packs a psychological punch.
6. Johnny Cool (1963)
Dir. William Asher
Henry Silva stars as a Sicilian hoodlum who becomes an assassin, leaving a trail of revenge through America. It’s a pulpy, breakneck, stylishly brash film with a killer jazz score, and Elizabeth Montgomery and Sammy Davis Jr. cameos. It’s noir energy shot through with a jolt of espresso.
7. Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
Dir. Joseph Cates
Filmed in the seedy corners of 1960s New York, this transgressive noir features Sal Mineo as a psychologically scarred stalker stalking a female DJ. It was daring for its era, bordering on erotic thriller borders well before the genre even had a title.
8. Mickey One (1965)
Dir. Arthur Penn
Half Kafka, half Godard, this dreamlike noir features Warren Beatty as a stand-up comedian on the lam from an anonymous danger. Paranoid and surreal, with a Stan Getz jazz score, Mickey One is a tough sell—but for the perfect audience member, it’s a haunting experience.
9. Seconds (1966)
Dir. John Frankenheimer
Suppose you were able to begin anew—to become another person altogether? Seconds traces the journey of a man who does exactly that, only to find that reinvention is its horror. Rock Hudson is wondrous in a performance far outside his expectations as a romantic leading man, and James Wong Howe’s expressionistic camerawork is unforgettable.
10. The Boston Strangler (1968)
Dir. Richard Fleischer
Part procedural, part psychological analysis, this groundbreaking true-crime film features Tony Curtis in a career-best performance. Employing split screens, disorienting cuts, and a chilly, documentary aesthetic, it conveys the terror and unease that seized Boston during the actual murders.
11. The Detective (1968)
Dir. Gordon Douglas
Frank Sinatra delivers a surprisingly complex performance as a detective entangled in a complex of prejudice, corruption, and hidden truths. Daring for 1968, its subject matter—particularly sexuality—was, and its darkly moody tone makes it a stand-out among late-period classic noir.
12. Uptight (1968)
Dir. Jules Dassin
A searing reinterpretation of The Informer, Uptight transposes the tale to post-MLK Cleveland, where a botched robbery touches off tensions among a group of Black revolutionaries. Co-written by Ruby Dee and Julian Mayfield, political noir at its most urgent and emotionally compelling.
If you assumed noir was strictly about fedoras and femme fatales, you’d be wrong. These movies push the boundaries of the genre, incorporating social commentary, psychological depth, and stylistic flair. From cheap sleepers to underrated auteur films, these slept-on noirs attest that there are still plenty of shadows left to play in the genre.