About Revenge Movies
Revenge isn’t just a plot device – it’s cinema’s favourite pressure cooker. The moment a character is wronged, betrayed, brutalised, or pushed one step too far, the entire story shifts gears into something far more primal. Whether it’s a time-hopping tech blogger bent on dismantling Big Pharma, a vengeful cult-slayer dipped in neon rage, or a prom-night underdog turning telekinesis into a weapon of mass humiliation, revenge films hit that sweet spot where catharsis meets chaos.
This list continues my personal love letter to payback in all its flavours – slick action retribution, supernatural vendettas, blood-drenched horror revenge, western justice, and the kind of operatic showdowns only Tarantino or John Woo could dream up. From 1970s classics to modern sci-fi thrillers, these films don’t just get even; they get creative. Strap in, because we’re diving into some of the best movies where the only rule is simple: someone messed with the wrong person.
1. 57 Seconds (2023)
Directed by Rusty Cundieff, 57 Seconds is a sci-fi thriller starring Josh Hutcherson, Morgan Freeman, Greg Germann, Lovie Simone, Bevin Bru and Sammi Rotibi. It was released in the year 2023.
57 Seconds follows a tech blogger whose niche is AI in healthcare, but his life goes haywire when he discovers a means to travel back in time by 57 Seconds, during an attack on a pharmaceutical giant. He then uses this newfound ability to enact a certain brand of justice on pharmaceutical companies who have wronged people. And judging by American News – there’s a lot of them!
2. The Equalizer 2 (2018)
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, The Equalizer 2 in the second film in The Equalizer franchise and stars Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo. It was released in the year 2018.
The Equalizer 2 continues the story of Robert McCall who is now working as a Lyft driver whilst continuing to help the less fortunate in his community. However, when Robert’s former partner and DIA officer Dave York is investigating a murder suicide, Robert quickly becomes involved when he’s targeted during a mercenary’s botched assassination attempt.
3. American Assassin (2017)
Directed by Michael Cuesta, American Assassin stars Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, Shiva Negar, David Suchet, Navid Negahban, Scott Adkins, and Taylor Kitsch. It was released in the year 2017.
American Assassin is a complicated film about main character, Mitch, whose girlfriend dies in a terrorist attack. So, in a convoluted plan to put an end to terrorism, he joins the CIA and that’s when things start to get interesting.
4. Mandy (2018)
Directed and co-written by Panos Cosmatos, Mandy is an action dark fantasy horror movie starring Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Ned Dennehy, Olwen Fouéré, Richard Brake and Bill Duke. It was released in the year 2018.
Set in the 80s, Mandy follows war veteran Red Miller and his girlfriend, Mandy, who is kidnapped by a cult with the help of a cannibalistic demonic biker gang. When the Cult Leader fails to seduce Mandy she mocks him and he murders her. Causing Red to exact his brutal revenge on everyone involved. And I mean everyone.
Mandy is a perfect film if you’re into horror or if you’re a metal head. But it’s even better if you’re both!
5. Death Wish (2018)
Directed by Eli Roth, Death Wish is an action thriller movie starring Bruce Willis, Vincent D’Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Dean Norris and Kimberly Elise. It was released in the year 2018.
A remake of the 1974 movie of the same name, Death Wish is a vigilante flick following trauma surgeon Paul Kersey whose wife is murdered and daughter left in a coma. He then sets out to get revenge on the criminals who broke into his home and changed his life forever.
6. The Revenant (2015)
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant is a western action movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter. It was released in the year 2015.
The Revenant is a period film set in the 1820s where American Soldiers burn down a Native American village. When one of them is mauled by a bear and left for dead, he is buried half-alive in a grave. He manages to get out of the grave, cauterise and bandage his wounds, before heading after those who wronged him. All the while being pursued by the very angry Arikara tribe.
7. Carrie (1976)
Directed by Brian De Palma, Carrie is a horror movie starring Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, William Katt, P. J. Soles and Betty Buckley. It was released in the year 1976.
Based on the Stephen King book of the same name, Carrie is about highschooler Carrie White who has no friends, is often bullied and lives under the roof of her religious mother who often abuses her in the name of God.
When her school bullies conspire to ensure Carrie is awarded the Prom Queen title she has pig’s blood dumped on her and so starts Carrie’s night of terror and revenge!
RELATED: 15 Movies about Revenge (PART 1)
8. Valentine (2001)
Directed by Jamie Blanks, Valentine stars David Boreanaz, Denise Richards, Marley Shelton, Jessica Capshaw, Jessica Cauffiel, Fulvio Cecere and Katherine Heigl. It was released in 2001.
After seeing David Boreanaz as the brooding and heroic Vampire with a soul in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it’s spin-off Angel, it’s hard to imagine David Boreanaz as a relentless killer in a slasher film but that’s what you get. Valentine is a sexy slasher film from the early 00s involving a killer taking out numerous attractive women in ways that can only be described as “101 ways to kill a Hollywood starlet.” The kills, brutal, inventive and sometimes random – but it makes for a better film than you’d expect given the synopsis is about a heart broken killer.
9. Face Off (1997)
Directed by John Woo, Face Off (also stylised as “Face/Off”) is an action film starring John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Gina Gershon and Alessandro Nivola. It was released in the year 1997.
Face Off follows an FBI agent who, after learning there could be a future bombing, surgically has his face swapped with a terrorist who is in a coma. He then goes into maximum security prison to gain intelligence from the bomb maker. However, things hit an all new level of extreme when that very terrorist wakes up and has the face of the FBI agent grafted onto him and assumes the identity of the FBI Agent.
Face Off is, arguably, John Travolta and Nicolas Cage at their very best!
10. Django Unchained (2012)
Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained is a Western movie starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Dennis Christopher, James Remar, Michael Parks and Don Johnson. It was released in the year 2012.
Django Unchained follows a former slave turned bounty hunter who teams up with Dr King Schultz after he’s freed. Together, then hunt down criminals and plot to rescue Django’s wife from the sadistic clutches of plantation owner Calvin Candie.
11. Friday the 13th (1980)
Directed by Sean S. Cunningham, Friday the 13th is probably the most famous slasher film (with the exception of Halloween). It stars Betsy Palmer, Kevin Bacon, Adrienne King, Robbi Morgan, and Laurie Batram.
In Friday the 13th Part 1, as it’s now known due to many other successful sequels, a group of camp counselors trying to reopen a summer camp called Crystal Lake, which has a grim past, are stalked by a mysterious killer. The killer is eventually revealed to be Mrs Vorhees, the mother of Jason Vorhees, a kid who drowned in the lake while the counsellors were off making out.
Friday the 13th has many memorable kills. The most famous of which is probably the one where Kevin Bacon is lying down on a bed and is stabbed through the mattress and through the throat. Although, an elderly woman would probably lack the strength to do so – it’s still so much fun!
12. The Fog (1980)
Directed by John Carpenter, The Fog stars John Houseman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Adrienne Barbeau and Hal Holbrook. It was released in 1980.
The Fog is about a coastal town in Northern California where an ominous fog visits and brings with it a host of vengeful ghosts of the sailors of a ship wreck from 100 years before. The Fog is an interesting watch as it merges elements of ghosts horror with slasher horror as the ghost-like apparitions approach their kills in an almost boogeyman sense.
Besides all of that, the atmosphere of The Fog is incredibly haunting and you’ve just got to applaud a film which brought the acting talents of Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh and Adrienne Barbeau under the one banner. Kudos, JC!
13. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Directed by Tim Burton, Sleepy Hollow is a supernatural gothic horror movie starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien and Jeffrey Jones. It was released in the year 1999.
Set in 1799, Sleepy Hollow follows the Washington Irving tale of Ichabod Crane who investigates a series of beheadings in the creepy town of Sleepy Hollow. Initially dismissing the rumours of a headless horsemen, it’s revealed a witch is hiding amongst the villagers and controls the Horseman by possessing his head.
14. Bad Reputation (2007)
Written and directed by Jim Hemphill, Bad Reputation is a slasher movie starring Chris Basler, Danielle Noble, Mark Kunzman, Kristina Conzen, Dakota Ferreiro, Jerad Anderson and Angelique Hennessey. It was released in the year 2005.
Bad Reputation is about Michelle Rosen, a shy high school girl who is the victim of a brutal assault at a party. Traumatised and humiliated, she becomes consumed with rage and begins using seduction and manipulation to take out revenge on her attackers and their awful girlfriends. Eventually she becomes extremely violent and psychotic, blurring the lines between victim and villain.
15. Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill: Volume 1 is a martial arts exploitation action movie starring Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Sonny Chiba, Julie Dreyfus, Chiaki Kuriyama, Gordon Liu and Michael Parks. It was released in the year 2003.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 follows Uma Thurman’s character, The Bride, an assassin who’s left for dead after a brutal massacre happens at the chapel on her wedding day – organised by her ex-lover, Bill. See where we’re going with this? The Bride wakes up in hospital after a four year coma and begins to track down those responsible. First on her list? O-Ren Ishii and the Crazy 88. As for Bill? That’s why there’s a second movie.
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