Best South African thriller movies

As a child, Ali Neuman narrowly escaped being murdered by Inkhata, a militant political party at war with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. Only he and his mother survived the carnage of those years. But as with many survivors, the psychological scars remain.

Over the course of one fateful day, a corrupt businessman and his socialite wife race to save their daughter from a notorious crime lord.

An ex-fireman with PTSD goes on the run when accused of a crime he doesn't even remember committing, leading him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy to the highest degree.

Emma le Roux just wants to go home for the holidays. Gentle, beautiful, pacifist Emma. She's made the trip to her father's farm a thousand times. Piece of cake. But not today. Today she will cross paths with members of a violent drug syndicate. Everything starts falling apart, and fast. At first they were driven by hate and revenge. Suddenly, it's survival.

A mother and her three daughters — romantic Bee, sensible Evie, and child of nature Daisy — occupy the titular glass building, which has been completely sealed off to protect its occupants from a dementia-inducing toxin called the Shred that’s poisoning the air outside. Fearful of becoming like the lost souls who wander the abyss outside, the family keep a grasp on their past by performing sacred rituals. When Bee breaks the rules and lets an injured stranger into their midst, the family dynamic is shattered forever, as hidden truths upend the illusions the women have worked so hard to protect.

Years ago, the young Five Fingers fought for the rural town of Marseilles against brutal police oppression. Now, after fleeing in disgrace, Tau, one of them, returns to Marseilles, seeking only a peaceful life. When he finds the town under new threat, he must reluctantly fight to free it.

When an undercover cop is tasked with investigating a historic gold heist in Johannesburg, he’s forced to choose between his conscience and the law.

A CIA agent is sent to get Professor Braun before the KGB can seize him as the Prof's knowledge, together with a recently stolen diamond, could be used to make a laser cannon.

1901, South Africa. As the Second Anglo-Boer War rages on, a wounded General seeks refuge in the small home of a woman and her young daughter. As the hurt man settles in, he begins noticing that something is off about the two women, particularly the daughter, and before long, he’ll learn the real reason for why they’ve invited him and for how they’ve survived on their own for so long.

François van Heerden, a mid-40s Afrikaans family man, has become devoid of any care or concern for his own measure of happiness, and so convinced of his ill-fated existence, that he is wholly unprepared when a chance encounter unravels his clean, controlled life.

A biological experiment goes bad, this time releasing a gaggle of mutated great white sharks with a taste for human flesh. Soon enough, shark expert Nick West is on the case, leading a crew to study them and eventually bring them back into captivity. West's plans hit a snag, however, when Australian shark hunter Roy Bishop is called in to wipe out the fishy menace.

Thami has recently lost his job at a top firm following accusations of fraudulent activities. This is the last straw for his wife Noluthando who, fearing a drop in her standard of living, abandons her marriage, taking their daughter Lerato with her. Thami is desperate to maintain a relationship with his daughter, while Noluthando does everything in her power to ensure that Thami is denied access to Lerato. After exhausting all known avenues, and desperate to be reunited with his daughter, Thami kidnaps Lerato from school, intending to flee Johannesburg for Kimberley by bus. This is an ill-conceived move which angers Noluthando and puts him on a collision course with the law. Thami’s actions put his life, that of Lerato and their fellow passengers in danger and leads to a high-stakes hostage situation on the bus. Then a shot rings out…

Entrapped in his apartment, Randal, a recent paraplegic, is given a gift of binoculars by his devoted girlfriend, Pam. But Randal is in financial debt to a sadistic loan shark, and when he witnesses a powerful criminal commit a murder while observing his neighbours through binoculars, he initiates a treacherous blackmail scheme.

A murderer has strangled four pretty girls. Joan Nichols and her police officer fiancé come to the conclusion that the wrong man has been imprisoned for the crime. Joan’s cousin Carla is a medium. In a vision she sees the face of the real killer, the face of someone they know.

Timeless tale of Beauty and the Beast set in the period of the Vikings. Freya, a warrior and the beautiful daughter of a Viking king, is held prisoner on an island castle by a Beast whom has been cursed by his god Odin.

A young woman goes to teach at the Ravenscroft Institute, a spooky old girls' school overrun by ants and staffed by some unusual types. Spurred on by a series of horrific hallucinations, she begins to investigate the mysterious disappearances of several students.

A Cape Town couple, Katherine and Hugh, are headed to their private mountain getaway, when they pick up a hitchhiker, Liza, who carries a gun. Liza is invited for lunch, but soon the couple can't get rid of her.

Two brothers are torn apart after they steal a bag of money and are hunted down by a ruthless killer.

Unable to find justice for her sister, who killed herself after being raped a decade ago, avenging angel Zola Kunene lures the man she believes responsible to an empty apartment - She ties him up and puts on a show-trial, live-streamed on social-media. The public will be judge and jury.Should it be necessary, Zola will be the executioner.

Action-packed suspense thriller finds innocuous-looking purser Carter (Harris) the unlikely hero when the floating casino on which he works is hijacked by a heavily armed group of mercenaries, led by John Vernon. Complicating matters, a nuclear warhead has been smuggled aboard as collateral for a rendezvous with another ocean liner, loaded with gold bullion. A cast full of supernovas, dazzling set & stunt work, and a catchy theme tune by Jeff Wayne create a pleasing audio-visual experience light on logic but fast paced and entertaining nonetheless.

After sixteen years as the reverend of the mother church, Tienie Benade is confronted with a steep decline in the number of churchgoers and a modern society that is rapidly changing. Do clergymen, or even the church, still have a role to play in this world? He is trying his best to adapt and make sense of the changes, but, in the process, he is alienating his wife and children. After an incident with a dying vagrant, Tienie finds himself at a crossroads. Will he be able to regain his self-confidence and win back the love of his family and will he be brave enough to provide guidance to his congregation in this new era? Based on the play by Dana Snyman.

Random people are terrorized by a malevolent man who brings their worst fears to life.

A patient at a private clinic for sufferers of sexual dysfunction begins a tentative affair with one of the other patients while a killer stalks the institution.

Abel is preparing for a special gift to himself on his 50th Birthday. He wants to find himself a new face, that of a beautiful young woman. Ella Nesser is the attractive, but inexperienced murder detective, in charge of the case to track down the serial killer who has been praying on the city's young woman. When Abel develops an obsession with not only her face, but also her tattooed skin - the Hunter becomes the Hunted.

New York City is in a panic caused by an insane murderer; Maria, a police officer is entrusted with the case; to do this, she pretends to be a prostitute. One night, she meets a possible suspect who holds her and her partner hostage.

In a secluded cove on the South African coast, a middle-aged writer grieving the deaths of his wife and daughter is drawn into an affair with an alluring teenage girl who is grappling with demons of her own, in this gripping psychological thriller adapted from the award-winning novel by Alistair Morgan. (TIFF)

A rock band gets stuck on a haunted farm while visiting its lead singer's family.

Layla Fourie, a young single-mother in South Africa, receives a job assignment as polygraphist. In the constant presence of mistrust, lies and fear Layla soon becomes a suspect herself.

A former member of South Africa's infamous death squad must atone for his past when he helps one survivor search for the bodies of a missing anti-apartheid cell. Unaware that as they hunt for answers, they too are being hunted.

When the husband of an affluent woman kills himself, she loses the high life and pretty much everything and ends up on the street, days before she was due to give birth. With nowhere to go and no money, she is attacked and mugged, but a good Samaritan rescues her and takes her to a shelter called God's Haven, a place of safety where she delivers her baby, but it turns out to be an entirely different world. A world run by danger, desire and deception.

A proud man's traumas and prejudice push away his loving partner, opening him to the seduction of an ancient evil.

What is supposed to be the best holiday of their lives turns to horror as a group of teenagers is picked off one by one in a small coastal village.

A year after the events of “The Private Eye And The Murder” Wilbur has been brought back into the detective business. Him and Jason have become partners investigating crimes and solving cases, but now their latest case could be the most dangerous one where they are called to inspect a murder that could be linked to a ruthless drug, mob boss known as “Frank Santano”

In a post-nuclear world, a happy family of ranchers is beseiged by a roving band of ne'er do well marauders who want to eat the men and mate with the women. Having already killed and eaten an entire mission full of nuns, the family has no choice but to grab their rifles and defend their homestead. Meanwhile, the lonely, nubile daughter begins to have feelings for the buff blond stranger with no family who has wandered onto the property. It's romance, intrigue, action, and violence on the dark continent!

A Half-Caste is a Human/Leopard hybrid believed to feast on unsuspecting Travelers, but after Bobby is found soaked in blood, the police think that he murdered his friends. After hearing tell of the half-caste, a half-leopard, half-man said to exist in the wilds of South Africa, four filmmakers set out on safari in search of the mysterious creature. But is the bloodthirsty beast real, or just the stuff of local legend?

Evil poachers killing rhino’s who turn to butchering humans instead, blah, blah, blah... Deon Stewardson kills the main villain in a fight at a taxidermists workshop - impaling him on, wait for it, wait for it... a rhino horn!

A psycho college janitor threatens to start killing female students if he isn't given a million dollars.

Soldier of fortune, Monroe Bieler, is sent to dole out some American-style justice when the wife and child of an African president are kidnapped by terrorists.

Two women clean a farm murder scene.

A Horror comedy with unexpected twists in an equally strange cable ... and an outright lie only be returned by the end neck.

ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

A short film of a character's reflection on his life and how he is in a better place mentally but also questions if his demons have truly went away.

When Kay Kay, a powerful, ruthless businessman sets out on a mission of revenge against two men accused of killing his brother, he strong-arms the local sheriff into forming a posse of thugs to aid in his vendetta.

In the final days of the pro-apartheid government, bigoted policeman and assassin Andries Fourie is assigned an undercover job. His task is to pose as a political progressive to infiltrate the African National Congress and assassinate one of the party’s leaders.

A sadistic rapist is atacking female students on a college campus. The college enlists the help of wealthy record producer Craig Merkel who hires his old friend Don Potter to teach the students self-defence. Don meets waitress Eve Campo who has her heart set on a singing career, so Don introduces her to Craig. However Craig has much more than her career on his mind.

A Hunter gets ambushed by a bunch of mercenary snipers. It turns out that the Hunter is also very skilful in combat.

The police discover trace the perpetrators of a bank robbery to a group of organized criminals. The criminals attempt to use the sister of a deceased gang member to infiltrate the cops, but when she learns the gang was responsible for her brothers' death, she turns coat and assists the police in foiling the gang's plans.

This TV movie revolves around a husband and wife struggling to pay their debts while getting involved in thoughts about human trafficking. The plot follows the tension when two men are kidnapped and held as hostages, raising the question of whether they will escape or remain trapped. It's a gripping story that delves into the complexities of human trafficking and its impact on individuals. The film provides a dramatic exploration of the challenging realities of human trafficking.

A nightclub singer must flee after being involved in a crime.

In a desire to find the ultimate wave, a surfer travels to the Kalahari Desert. His car breaks down in an isolated area where he is befriended by a farmer and his wife, who becomes attracted to the stranger.

Jack Cavanaugh, handpicked by the US president, is a hard-nosed diplomat constantly on the move between hot-spots around the world. When Russia's KGB use his wife to get access to a top secret computer system, the world's future is at stake. Time is running short and Cavanaugh see no other way out than to take on the foreign agents himself.

Steve is a zoologist who does research on poisonous snakes with the help of his friend Thabo. He and his wife Katrien are newly weds and very much in love but Steve's dangerous occupation casts a shadow over Katrien's happiness and causes tension between them. Sonja, an aspiring artist and Katrien's best friend, visits the couple and seeks inspiration for her paintings. She becomes aware of sinister undercurrents and a series of strange murders start feeding her anxiety. Will an unexpected discovery seal her fate?

‘Snuff film’ with a little boy witnessing a real life on-camera murder.

Twenty years ago, twin brothers Adriaan and Paul van der Bijl went their separate ways after an argument that left Adriaan blind. Embittered, Adriaan stayed on in his diabetic father’s mansion, eventually marrying the sick man’s beautiful nurse Marie.On the day of his father’s funeral, which Adriaan does not attend, Paul returns. The brothers’ meeting is not friendly: a shot rings out, and one lies dead. Adriaan tells his manservant, Freddie, that he killed Paul in self-defence. As the two are trying to dispose of the body, a detective knocks on the door. He has been hired to find Paul, who may be a beneficiary in the old man’s will. And to make matters worse, Marie is becoming suspicious as well.

"Tenth of a Second" is the account of one man's desperate attempt to fight the oppressive apartheid regime of South Africa. This political thriller centres around Michael Wilder (James Whyle), a schoolteacher and political activist, with a failing marriage. Wilder is a member of the "Organisation" which is involved in subversive activities against the state. One day, Raymond (Nicky Rebelo), a fellow member, visits Wilder and leaves him with a suitcase containing a bomb. Wilder is expected to place in a busy shopping centre. But things do not go according to plan and the consequences of his actions result in devastating effects for Wilder and his grip on reality.

Beach-set James Ryan thriller

A U.S. agent saves a journalist and her son from an East German-Libyan chemical warfare plot in Africa.

A honeymooning couple take a vacation in a remote country bungalow. Before long, they’re visited by two backwoods psychos. Terror, assault, and rape are inevitable. The U.S. video release from Genesis (released in 1988 under the title DEMON LUST) is missing ten minutes.

The manager of a leading stockbroking firm is found dead in his car. On inspection, an audit team find that one-and-a-half million pounds worth of shares are missing.

Busi, a young destitute woman with dangerously repressed emotions, lands a job as a cleaner at a rundown hospital in the heart of Johannesburg. Desperate for the money so she can bring her younger sister to Johannesburg, she must cope despite the predatory and corrupt hospital manager. When Busi discovers an abandoned young girl in the hospital, who believes she is tormented by a supernatural force, Busi must face her own demons from her past in order to save the child from the abusive monster that pursues them both relentlessly.