Arthouse action film

The arthouse action genre is an emerging film genre in contemporary cinema that traces its roots back to Asian and European films. Various sources have recently begun referring to various films under this label. Such titles include Hanna, Drive, Haywire, and Looper.

The genre is often characterized by heavy action and suspense, and dark humor, interlaced with stylized imagery and cinematographic techniques, that convey an overall feeling of surrealism. Most recently, these titles have shown stronger depictions of violence. The narrative of these movies may also be quite surreal, and the viewer is given a strong sense that the movie is not meant to be interpreted literally. While most of these films also have a smaller production cost than most mainstream films, others can be very expensive. The costliest film in this genre is George Miller's 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road, with an estimated $150 million production budget.

As of 2015, the most financially successful of these films (not factoring inflation) is Tim Burton's Batman, with a total worldwide gross of $411,348,924. However, the most critically successful of the lot is James Cameron's 1984 breakout hit The Terminator, which has a 100% Fresh rating on the Rotten Tomatoes movie review website.

List of films

• Drunken Angel (Akira Kurosawa, 1948)
• Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
• Samurai, The Legend of Musashi (Hiroshi Inagaki, 1954)
• Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (Hiroshi Inagaki, 1955)
• Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (Hiroshi Inagaki, 1956)
• The Killing (Stanley Kubrick, 1956)
• Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa , 1957)
• The Hidden Fortress (Akira Kurosawa, 1958)
• North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)
• Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, 1961)
• Cruel Gun Story (Takumi Furukawa, 1964)
• Pale Flower (Masahiro Shinoda, 1964)
• A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964)
• Assassination (Masahiro Shinoda, 1964)
• Samurai Spy (Masahiro Shinoda, 1965)
• Abashiri Prison (Teruo Ishii, 1965)
• For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)
• Samurai Assassin (Kihachi Okamoto, 1965)
• The 10th Victim (Elio Petri, 1965)
• Tattooed Life (Seijun Suzuki, 1965)
• Pierrot le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966)
• Tokyo Drifter (Seijun Suzuki, 1966)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
• Django (1966 film) (Sergio Corbucci, 1966)
• Branded to Kill (Seijun Suzuki, 1967)
• Django, Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (Giulio Questi, 1967)
• The Unknown Man of Shandigor (Jean-Louis Roy, 1967)
• Point Blank (John Boorman, 1967)
• Le Samouraï (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)
• Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
• The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968)
• They Came to Rob Las Vegas (Antonio Isasi, 1968)
• Gli specialisti (Sergio Corbucci, 1968)
• The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)
• The Sicilian Clan (Henri Verneuil, 1969)
• Performance (Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell, 1970)
• Le Cercle Rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1970)
• And God Said to Cain (Antonio Margheriti, 1970)
• Matalo! (Cesare Canevari, 1970)
• Sympathy for the Underdog (Kinji Fukasaku, 1971)
• A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
• Get Carter (Mike Hodges, 1971)
• Young and Healthy As a Rose (Jovan Jovanović, 1971)
• The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971)
• Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! (Romain Gary, 1971)
• Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah, 1971)
• Dirty Harry (Don Siegel, 1971)
• A Touch of Zen (King Hu, 1971)
• Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (Kenji Misumi, 1972)
• Street Mobster (Kinji Fukasaku, 1972)
• Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (Kenji Misumi, 1972)
• Female Convict 701: Scorpion (Shunya Itō, 1972)
• The Getaway (Sam Peckinpah, 1972)
• Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades (Kenji Misumi, 1972)
• Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (Shunya Itō, 1972)
• Super Bitch (Massimo Dallamano, 1973)
• Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah, 1973)
• Battles Without Honor and Humanity (Kinji Fukasaku, 1973)
• Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (Kenji Misumi, 1973)
• Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
• The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Peter Yates, 1973)
• Lady Snowblood (Toshiya Fujita, 1973)
• Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (Toshiya Fujita, 1974)
• Jailbreak Hiroshima murder prisoner (Sadao Nakajima, 1974)
• Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah, 1974)
• The Yakuza (Sydney Pollack, 1975)
• Riot Shimane prison (Sadao Nakajima, 1975)
• The Killer Elite (Sam Peckinpah, 1975)
• C'était un rendez-vous (Claude Lelouch, 1976)
• Keoma (Enzo G. Castellari, 1976)
• The Man on the Roof (Bo Widerberg, 1976)
• Assault on Precinct 13 (John Carpenter, 1976)
• The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (John Cassavetes, 1976)
• L'Alpagueur (Philippe Labro, 1976)
• Osaka blitzkrieg (Sadao Nakajima, 1976)
• Sorcerer (William Friedkin, 1977)
• The Threat (Alain Corneau, 1977)
• Cross of Iron (Sam Peckinpah, 1977)
• The Driver (Walter Hill, 1978)
• Mad Max (George Miller, 1979)
• Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
• The Warriors (film) (Walter Hill, 1979)
• Raining in the Mountain (King Hu, 1979)
• Gloria (John Cassavetes, 1980)
• Shogun Assassin (Robert Houston, Kenji Misumi, 1980)
• The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie, 1980)
• Thief (Michael Mann, 1981)
• Ms. 45 (Abel Ferrara, 1981)
• Southern Comfort (Walter Hill, 1981)
• Diva (Jean-Jacques Beineix, 1981)
• Cutter's Way (Ivan Passer, 1981)
• Le Professionnel (Georges Lautner, 1981)
• Escape From New York (John Carpenter, 1981)
• Choice of Arms (Alain Corneau, 1981)
• Mad Max 2:The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981)
• Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Shinji Sōmai, 1981)
• Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
• Angel (Neil Jordan, 1982)
• Golgo 13: The Professional (Osamu Dezaki, 1983)
• Duel to Death (Ching Siu-tung, 1983)
• Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983)
• Angst (Gerald Kargl, 1983)
• The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)
• Streets of Fire (Walter Hill, 1984)
• Blood Simple (Coen Brothers, 1984)
• To Live and Die in L.A. (William Friedkin, 1985)
• Year of the Dragon (film) (Michael Cimino, 1985)
• Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)
• A Better Tomorrow (John Woo, 1986)
• Manhunter (Michael Mann, 1986)
• Highlander (Russell Mulcahy, 1986)
• Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
• Tragic Hero (Taylor Wong, 1987)
• City on Fire (Ringo Lam, 1987)
• A Better Tomorrow 2 (John Woo, 1987)
• Rich and Famous (Taylor Wong, 1987)
• RoboCop (Paul Verhoeven, 1987)
• Rich and Famous 2 (Taylor Wong, 1987)
• Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow, 1987)
• Straight to Hell (Alex Cox, 1987)
• Akira (Katsuhiro Otomo, 1988)
• Batman (Tim Burton, 1989)
• Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Shinya Tsukamoto, 1989)
• Elephant (Alan Clarke, 1989)
• The Killer (John Woo, 1989)
• Violent Cop (Takeshi Kitano, 1989)
• Black Rain (Ridley Scott, 1989)
• My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (Patrick Tam, 1989)
• Bullet in the Head (John Woo, 1990)
• Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven, 1990)
• Revenge (Tony Scott, 1990)
• The Swordsman (King Hu, Tsui Hark, 1990)
• Boiling Point (Takeshi Kitano, 1990)
• Darkman (Sam Raimi, 1990)
• Hardware (Richard Stanley, 1990)
• Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty, 1990)
• King of New York (Abel Ferrara, 1990)
• Miller's Crossing (Coen Brothers, 1990)
• Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 1990)
• La Femme Nikita (Luc Besson, 1991)
• The Last Boy Scout (Tony Scott, 1991)
• Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, 1991)
• Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992)
• Hard Boiled (John Woo, 1992)
• Batman Returns (Tim Burton, 1992)
• El Mariachi (Robert Rodriguez, 1992)
• Pigs (Władysław Pasikowski, 1992)
• Sonatine (Takeshi Kitano, 1993)
• True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993)
• Ninja Scroll (Yoshiaki Kawajiri 1993)
• Carlito's Way (Brian De Palma 1993)
• Léon: The Professional (Luc Besson, 1994)
• Shinjuku Outlaw (Takashi Miike, 1994)
• Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
• Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone, 1994)
• The Crow (Alex Proyas, 1994)
• Pigs 2: The last blood (Władysław Pasikowski, 1994)
• Ashes of Time (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
• Ghost in the Shell (Mamoru Oshii, 1995)
• 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995)
• Gonin (Takashi Ishii, 1995)
• Nothing Personal (Thaddeus O'Sullivan, 1995)
• Shinjuku Triad Society (Takashi Miike, 1995)
• Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-wai, 1995)
• The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
• Strange Days (film) (Kathryn Bigelow, 1995)
• Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)
• Fargo (Coen Brothers, 1996)
• Silent Trigger (Russell Mulcahy, 1996)
• Gonin 2 (Takashi Ishii, 1996)
• Bound (The Wachowskis, 1996)
• Full Metal Yakuza (Takashi Miike, 1997)
• Face/Off (John Woo, 1997)
• Black Angel Vol. 1 (Takashi Ishii, 1997)
• Six Ways to Sunday (Adam Bernstein, 1997)
• Brother (Aleksei Balabanov, 1997)
• L.A. Confidential (film) (Curtis Hanson, 1997)
• Dobermann (Jan Kounen, 1997)
• Hana-bi (Takeshi Kitano, 1997)
• Dark City (Alex Proyas, 1998)
• Thursday (Skip Woods, 1998)
• Six-String Samurai (Lance Mungia, 1998)
• Goodbye 20th Century (Darko Mitrevski, 1998)
• Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Ritchie,1998)
• The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
• Spriggan (Hirotsugu Kawasaki,1998)
• Ronin (John Frankenheimer,1998)
• Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1999)
• Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jim Jarmusch,1999)
• Black Angel Vol. 2 (Takashi Ishii, 1999)
• Dead or Alive (Takashi Miike, 1999)
• The Boondock Saints (Troy Duffy, 1999)
• Three Kings (David O. Russell, 1999)
• Battle Royale (Kinji Fukusaku, 2000)
• Blood: The Last Vampire (Hiroyuki Kitakubo, 2000)
• Gangster No. 1 (Paul McGuigan, 2000)
• Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer, 2000)
• Brother (Takeshi Kitano, 2000)
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
• Dead or Alive 2: Birds (Takashi Miike, 2000)
• Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
• Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Shinichiro Watanabe, 2001)
• Pistol Opera (Seijun Suzuki, 2001)
• Wasabi (Gérard Krawczyk, 2001)
• Ichi the Killer (Takashi Miike, 2001)
• Irréversible (Gaspar Noé, 2002)
• Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002)
• Good Thief (Neil Jordan, 2002)
• Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2002)
• The Man of the Year (José Henrique Fonseca, 2003)
• Grimm (Alex van Warmerdam, 2003)
• Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
• Zatōichi (Takeshi Kitano, 2003)
• Gozu (Takashi Miike, 2003)
• Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (Prachya Pinkaew, 2003)
• The Gun (From 6 to 7:30 p.m.) (Vladimir Alenikov, 2003)
• Kill Bill: Volume 1 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
• Kill Bill: Volume 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2004)
• Man on Fire (Tony Scott, 2004)
• Casshern (Kazuaki Kiriya, 2004)
• House of Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou, 2004)
• Izo (Takashi Miike, 2004)
• Collateral (Michael Mann, 2004)
• Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (Mamoru Oshii, 2004)
• A Bittersweet Life (Kim Jee-woon, 2005)
• A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
• The Proposition (John Hillcoat, 2005)
• Domino (Tony Scott, 2005)
• Bal-Can-Can (Darko Mitrevski, 2005)
• Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2005)
• Tom-Yum-Goong (Prachya Pinkaew, 2005)
• Exiled (Johnnie To, 2006)
• Apocalypto (Mel Gibson, 2006)
• The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
• Curse of the Golden Flower (Zhang Yimou, 2006)
• Miami Vice (Michael Mann, 2006)
• No Country for Old Men (Coen Brothers, 2007)
• American Gangster (Ridley Scott, 2007)
• Sword of the Stranger (Masahiro Ando, 2007)
• Mad Detective (Johnnie To, Wai Ka-Fai, 2007)
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik 2007)
• Red Cliff (film) (John Woo, 2008)
• Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (Uli Edel, 2008)
• Chocolate (Prachya Pinkaew, 2008)
• Vengeance (Johnnie To, 2009)
• Public Enemies (Michael Mann, 2009)
• Valhalla Rising (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2009)
• A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009)
• Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009)
• In the Shadows (Thomas Arslan, 2010)
• Outrage (Takeshi Kitano, 2010)
• Essential Killing (Jerzy Skolimowski, 2010)
• Nokas (Erik Skjoldbjærg, 2010)
• The American (Anton Corbijn, 2010)
• I Saw The Devil (Kim Jee-Woon, 2010)
• Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011)
• Elephant White (Prachya Pinkaew, 2011)
• Haywire (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)
• Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011)
• The Raid: Redemption (Gareth Evans, 2011)
• Beyond Outrage (Takeshi Kitano, 2012)
• Dredd (Pete Travis, 2012)
• Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (John Hyams, 2012)
• Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012)
• Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1 (Anurag Kashyap, 2012)
• Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
• Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2 (Anurag Kashyap, 2012)
• Seven Psychopaths (Martin McDonagh, 2012)
• Drug War (Johnnie To, 2012)
• Pusher (Luis Prieto, 2012)
• The Place Beyond the Pines (Derek Cianfrance, 2012)
• Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
• Hummingbird (Steven Knight, 2013)
• Why Don't You Play in Hell? (Sion Sono, 2013)
• Only God Forgives (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2013))
• Prisoners (Denis Villeneuve, 2013)
• Blue Ruin (Jeremy Saulnier, 2013)
• The Grandmaster (Wong Kar-wai, 2013)
• The Guest (Adam Wingard, 2014)
• Cold in July (Jim Mickle, 2014)
• The Raid 2 (Gareth Evans, 2014)
• The Rover (David Michôd, 2014)
• Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho, 2014)
• John Wick (David Leitch, Chad Stahelski 2014)
• Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)
• Skin Trade (Ekachai Uekrongtham, 2014)
• Blackhat (Michael Mann, 2015)
• Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
• Sicario (Denis Villeneuve, 2015)
• Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier, 2015)
• The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 2015)
• The Revenant (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2015)
• Triple 9 (John Hillcoat, 2016)