Vigilante film

The vigilante film is a film genre in which the protagonist or protagonists engage in vigilante behavior, taking the law into their own hands. Vigilante films are usually revenge films in which the legal system fails protagonists, leading them to become vigilantes. The vigilante film has in recent years often crossed over with the superhero genre, due to character origin stories frequently involving an injustice having been committed against them.

History

In United States cinema, vigilante films gained prominence during the 1970s with "touchstones" like Death Wish and Dirty Harry, both of which received multiple sequels. The 1974 film Death Wish has been described as officially starting the genre, causing many cheap imitations and knockoffs such as Vigilante and Vigilante Force, with the most financially successful being 1980's The Exterminator.^[1]

The Los Angeles Times reported, "Vigilante vengeance was the cinematic theme of the [1970s], flourishing in the more respectable precincts of the new American cinema even as it fueled numerous exploitation flicks," referring to Taxi Driver as a respectable example of the genre.^[2] It reported in 2009 that such films were making a comeback after "the comparatively prosperous and peaceable 1990s", with examples like Walking Tall (2004), Death Sentence (2007) and Law Abiding Citizen (2009).^[2]

List of films

Pre-1965 vigilante films

Film	Year	Ref.
Tracked by Bloodhounds; or, A Lynching at Cripple Creek	1904
The White Caps	1905	[3]
The Birth of a Nation	1915
Judex	1916
The Adventures of Robin Hood	1938	[4]
The Mark of Zorro	1940
The Ox-Bow Incident	1943	[5]
The Big Heat	1953	[6]
The Bravados	1958	[7]
The Virgin Spring	1960	[8]
Treasure of the Silver Lake	1962	[9]
Youth of the Beast	1963	[10]

Late 60s-mid 80s vigilante film wave

Film	Year	Ref.
The Sons of Katie Elder	1965	[11]
The Elusive Avengers	1967	[12]
The Born Losers	1967	[13]
Death Rides a Horse	1967	[14]
The Bride Wore Black	1968
The Wild Bunch	1969	[15]
Cold Sweat	1970	[16]
Joe	1970
Ned Kelly	1970	[17]
Violent City	1970
Billy Jack	1971	[18]
Chrome and Hot Leather	1971
Dirty Harry	1971	[2]
Straw Dogs	1971
Shaft	1971	[19]
Execution Squad	1972
Ulzana's Raid	1972	[15]
Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion	1972	[20]
The No Mercy Man	1973	[21]
Coffy	1973
The Violent Professionals	1973
Magnum Force	1973
Revolver	1973
Robin Hood	1973	[22]
Thriller – A Cruel Picture	1973
Tony Arzenta	1973
Walking Tall	1973	[23]
What Have They Done to Your Daughters?	1974
Death Wish	1974	[2]
Street Law	1974
Foxy Brown	1974
Three the Hard Way	1974
The Street Fighter	1974
The Black Six	1974	[24]
Black Belt Jones	1974	[25]
Act of Vengeance	1974	[26]
The Black Gestapo	1975
Syndicate Sadists	1975
The Common Man	1975
Kidnap Syndicate	1975
Manhunt in the City	1975
The "Human" Factor	1975
The Big Racket	1976
Taxi Driver	1976	[2]
Colt 38 Special Squad	1976
Vigilante Force	1976
Zebra Force	1976
The Enforcer	1976
Lipstick	1976
Strange Shadows in an Empty Room	1976
Trial by Combat	1976
Keoma	1976	[27]
The Outlaw Josey Wales	1976	[28]
Mad Dog Morgan	1976	[29]
Brotherhood of Death	1976	[30]
An Average Little Man	1977
Double Game	1977
Rolling Thunder	1977	[31]
I Spit on Your Grave	1978	[22]
A Dangerous Toy	1979
Mad Max	1979	[32]
Defiance	1980
The Exterminator	1980	[2]
Ms. 45	1981
Lovely But Deadly	1981	[33]
Death Wish II	1982
Krodham	1982
1990: The Bronx Warriors	1982	[34]
First Blood	1982	[35]
Burst City	1983	[36]
The Graduates of Malibu High	1983
The Star Chamber	1983
Sudden Impact	1983
Escape from the Bronx	1983	[37]
Vigilante	1983	[15]
Alley Cat	1984
The Toxic Avenger	1984	[38]
Exterminator 2	1984
Savage Streets	1984
Streets of Fire	1984	[39]
Blastfighter	1984	[40]
Death Wish 3	1985
Naked Vengeance	1985
The Last Dragon	1985	[41]
Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except	1985	[42]

Late 1980s to the present

Film	Year	Ref.
The Gladiator	1986	[22]
The Seventh Curse	1986	[43]
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown	1987
Man on Fire	1987
Rolling Vengeance	1987	[22]
Miami Connection	1987	[44]
Her Vengeance	1988
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	1988	[45]
Pumpkinhead	1988	[46]
Traxx	1988	[47]
Batman	1989
The Punisher	1989	[48]
Darkman	1990
Total Recall	1990	[49]
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves	1991	[50]
Falling Down	1993	[22]
The Crow	1994	[22]
Dark Angel: The Ascent	1994	[51]
Death Wish V: The Face of Death	1994
Mr. Payback: An Interactive Movie	1995
Blood and Donuts	1995	[52]
One Tough Bastard	1995	[53]
Rumble in the Bronx	1995
A Time to Kill	1996	[2]
Eye for an Eye	1996	[2]
Night Hunter	1996	[54]
Spawn	1997	[55]
Blade	1998	[56]
The Boondock Saints	1999	[23]
Shaft	2000
Faust: Love of the Damned	2000	[57]
Collateral Damage	2002	[58]
Spider-Man	2002	[59]
Kill Bill	2003	[22]
A Man Apart	2003	[15]
The Hebrew Hammer	2003	[60]
Hellboy	2004
Man on Fire	2004	[61]
Walking Tall	2004	[2]
The Punisher	2004	[15]
Bad Reputation	2005	[62]
Batman Begins	2005	[23]
Constantine	2005	[63]
V for Vendetta	2005	[23]
Munich	2005	[15]
Four Brothers	2005	[15]
Sin City	2005
Anniyan	2005
Hard Candy	2006	[64]
Death Note	2006
The Brave One	2007	[2]
Death Sentence	2007	[2]
Urban Justice	2007
El Muerto	2007	[65]
The Dark Knight	2008	[61]
Taken	2008	[22]
Gran Torino	2008	[23]
The Horseman	2008
Gutterballs	2008	[66]
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day	2009
Defendor	2009	[67]
Law Abiding Citizen	2009	[2]
Harry Brown	2009	[23]
Inglourious Basterds	2009	[2]
Watchmen	2009	[22]
13 Assassins	2010	[68]
The Man from Nowhere	2010	[69]
Red: Werewolf Hunter	2010	[70]
22 Bullets	2010	[71]
Faster	2010	[22]
Machete	2010	[22]
Kick-Ass	2010	[72]
Super	2010	[22]
Batman: Under the Red Hood	2010	[73]
Drive Angry	2011	[74]
Hobo with a Shotgun	2011	[22]
Drive	2011
Gallowwalkers	2012	[75]
Scary or Die	2012	[76]
The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse	2012	[77]
The Amazing Spider-Man	2012	[22]
The Dark Knight Rises	2012	[22]
Bad Ass	2012
Taken 2	2012
Fire with Fire	2012	[78]
The Man with the Iron Fists	2012	[79]
The Last Stand	2013
Snitch	2013
Prisoners	2013	[80]
Avenged	2013	[81]
Kick-Ass 2	2013	[82]
The Outlaw Michael Howe	2013	[83]
Skin Trade	2014	[84]
John Wick	2014
John Doe: Vigilante	2014
In Order of Disappearance	2014
The Equalizer	2014	[85]
Mr. X	2015
Taken 3	2015
Vendetta	2015
Elle	2016
I Am Wrath	2016
The Accountant	2016
Vengeance: A Love Story	2017
The Foreigner	2017
Burning	2018
Peppermint	2018
The Equalizer 2	2018
Death Wish	2018
Mandy	2018	[86]
War	2019
Rambo: Last Blood	2019	[87]
6 Underground	2019
Birds of Prey	2020
Promising Young Woman	2020
Nobody	2021	[88]
The Protégé	2021
The Batman	2022
The Baker	2022
The Equalizer 3	2023
Jawan	2023
The Beekeeper	2024
Monkey Man	2024
The Crow	2024
A Working Man	2025
The Amateur	2025
The Accountant 2	2025
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina	2025

See also

• Poliziotteschi – Genre of Italian crime films
• Crime drama – Film genrePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Psychological thriller – Genre combining thriller and psychological fiction
• Rape and revenge film – Film subgenrePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Horror film – Film genre