Director William Friedkin was a key figure in New Hollywood cinema, the movement that began in the mid-60s and included filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. Of all his peers from this era, Friedkin was perhaps the most skilled at crafting thoughtful thrillers. His best work, like The French Connection and The Exorcist, is still remarkably effective, even chilling, today.

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Friedkin got his start making documentaries in the early 1960s, before switching to narrative features with 1965's Good Times starring Sonny and Cher (a film Friedkin later called "unwatchable"). His big break came with The Boys in the Band in 1970, and from there he delivered a string of critical and commercial successes, a few of which influenced later filmmakers. Friedkin passed away on August 7 in Los Angeles, at 87. According to cinephiles on IMDb, these are his best movies.

'Rules of Engagement' (2000)

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IMDb Score: 6.4/10

Samuel L. Jackson stars in this war movie as Childers, a colonel facing court-martial after his men opened fire on civilians outside a US embassy in Yemen. Childers enlists his old friend Colonel Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones) to defend him in the trial. The two men served together in Vietnam, where Childers committed a war crime to save Hodges's life.

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While far from Friedkin's best work, Rules of Engagement succeeds thanks to the killer performances from Jones and Jackson.

'The Brink's Job' (1978)

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IMDb Score: 6.5/10

Based on a true story, this crime comedy follows a gang of thieves in 1950 who rob a security company. They steal close to $3 million - then the largest heist in American history. For years, it seemed that the thieves would never be brought to justice, but in 1956 one of them turned state witness against the others. In a case of life imitating art, armed robbers stole 15 reels of film from the set, but Friedkin told them to keep the footage as they had only taken outtakes.

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"Friedkin has great control of tone," wrote Roger Ebert in a positive review. "He gives us characters who are comic and yet seem realistic enough that we share their feelings, and he gives us a movie that's funny and yet functions smoothly as a thriller." Ebert praised the filmmaking as seamless, saying, the picture is so well-crafted it "doesn't draw attention to its direction."

'Cruising' (1980)

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IMDb Score: 6.5/10

Detective Steve Burns (Al Pacino) goes undercover in the New York S&M scene to track down a serial killer preying on gay men. Burns is a complicated character and is willing to do immoral things to catch the murderer. "There are no obvious heroes in any of my films because I don’t believe in the concept of heroes," Friedkin has said.

Cruising received negative reviews on release, but its critical standing has improved in the decades since. It has been cited as a favorite by the Safdie brothers, Quentin Tarantino and Nicolas Winding Refn.

'Killer Joe' (2011)

Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe
Image via LD Entertainment

IMDb Score: 6.7/10

After his stash is stolen, drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) hires detective and hitman Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) to kill his mother so that he can collect her $50 000 life insurance policy. The situation grows even more complicated when Cooper demands that he keep Chris's sister Dottie (Juno Temple) as collateral.

It makes for one of the most twisted crime thrillers in decades, although it's shot through with black comedy. McConaughey steals the show, hands down; Killer Joe was an essential title in the conversation surrounding the "McConaissance."

'To Live and Die in L.A.' (1985)

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IMDb Score: 7.3/10

Richard Chance (William Petersen) and Jimmy Hart (Michael Greene) are two Secret Service agents investigating counterfeiters in Los Angeles. After Hart is murdered, Chance sets out to get revenge on his killer. The film strives to deliver a realistic depiction of agents, as it was co-written by Gerald Petievich, a real-life former Secret Service agent. It also features a breakneck chase scene which is widely regarded as one of the best in film history.

Once again, Friedkin explores themes of morality and complicated ethical decisions. To Live and Die in L.A feels of its time, but it's a meaty crime yarn that tackles timeless themes.

'The Boys in the Band' (1970)

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IMDb Score: 7.6/10

The Boys in the Band was one of the first mainstream movies to center on gay main characters and has since been regarded as a milestone in queer cinema. Taking place over the course of a dinner party, it explores the resentments and hidden anxieties among a group of friends. They play a party game where each guest has to phone someone that they truly loved. Tensions mount as the game goes on, with revealing consequences.

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"The Boys in the Band drew me because it was a wonderful script," Friedkin said. "I found it both funny and touching — not at the same moment, but it sort of evolves from being very funny and superficial." It was remade in 2020, starring Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto. The remake (on Netflix) received generally positive reviews, but it's no match for the influence of Friedkin's original.

'Sorcerer' (1977)

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IMDb Score: 7.7/10

Sorcerer is a gritty thriller that follows four people in Colombia who are assigned the task of transporting large cargoes of unstable dynamite by truck. The dynamite is leaking nitroglycerin and threatens to explode at the slightest provocation.

Sorcerer was a box office flop, grossing just $6 million against a roughly $20 million budget, and drew negative reviews. However, in the decades since, it has come to be regarded by many fans and critics as one of Friedkin's best movies.

'The French Connection' (1971)

French Connection

IMDb Score: 7.7/10

Based on a true story, this classic crime film depicts two police officers' hunt for a French drug smuggler. Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider play the lead cops. The French Connection was a major hit and swept the Academy Awards in 1972, winning Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture.

The French Connection ranks among Friedkin's very best work and still holds up today. It's particularly notable for its groundbreaking car chase sequence, daringly shot by director of photography Owen Roizman.

'12 Angry Men' (1997)

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IMDb Score: 7.8/10

This TV movie is Friedkin's remake of the classic 1957 Sidney Lumet film. It centers on the jurors in a murder trial. The defendant is a teenage boy (Douglas Spain) from a poor neighborhood accused of murdering his father. A non-unanimous verdict will result in a mistrial; but if all twelve jurors are in agreement, the boy will receive a mandatory death sentence.

Much of the drama revolves around the conversations among the jurors. Each of them has a unique backstory and its own moral principles. Courtney B. Vance is terrific, as is James Gandolfini ins his role as a mild-mannered house painter. Friedkin said he was drawn to the project because the script is timeless. He wanted to update it with a new generation of actors "because [the film] tells us a lot about ourselves as well as the American justice system."

'The Exorcist' (1973)

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IMDb Score: 8.1/10

The Exorcist is the quintessential possession story: a mother worries that demons have taken hold of her daughter (Linda Blair), so she asks two Catholic priests to save the child. It was a cultural sensation on release. There were dozens of stories of audience members fainting or running out of the theater, even some claims of heart attacks.

RELATED: Best Demonic Possession Movies, Ranked It's hard to blame them. The film has no shortage of chilling moments: the head-spinning scene, the angiogram, Regan's spider-like walk, and, of course, that scene with the crucifix. The Exorcist also broke ground as the first horror movie to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, paving the way for future prestige horrors like The Silence of the Lambs.

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