1.   But this mutiny-on-a-nuclear-submarine thriller has Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington and, actually, a cooler plot.

2.   But this knotty investigative thriller has trouble achieving the rock-solid credibility to hold an audience in thrall.

3.   But then it bails out with the kind of messy resolution your basic straight-to-video thriller might have.

4.   Or that this thriller has room for countless other small, knowing touches that bring it to life.

5.   Swift and pulse-quickening, this thriller has more than its share of surprising twists, including a whopper at the finale.

6.   This Angelina Jolie-Antonio Banderas thriller had hot stars and hot sex.

7.   This supernatural thriller has some neat campy moments, but it turns preachy when the girls are punished for getting what they want.

8.   A good thriller has to be defined in terms of results, whether it is a whodunit, whydunit or howdunit.