# 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.
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. 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).

## List of films
### Pre-1965 vigilante films

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

### Late 60s-mid 80s vigilante film wave

| Film | Year |
| The Sons of Katie Elder | 1965 |
| The Elusive Avengers | 1967 |
| The Born Losers | 1967 |
| Death Rides a Horse | 1967 |
| The Bride Wore Black | 1968 |
| The Wild Bunch | 1969 |
| Cold Sweat | 1970 |
| Joe | 1970 |
| Ned Kelly | 1970 |
| Violent City | 1970 |
| Billy Jack | 1971 |
| Chrome and Hot Leather | 1971 |
| Dirty Harry | 1971 |
| Straw Dogs | 1971 |
| Shaft | 1971 |
| Execution Squad | 1972 |
| Ulzana's Raid | 1972 |
| Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion | 1972 |
| The No Mercy Man | 1973 |
| Coffy | 1973 |
| The Violent Professionals | 1973 |
| Magnum Force | 1973 |
| Revolver | 1973 |
| Robin Hood | 1973 |
| Thriller – A Cruel Picture | 1973 |
| Tony Arzenta | 1973 |
| Walking Tall | 1973 |
| What Have They Done to Your Daughters? | 1974 |
| Death Wish | 1974 |
| Street Law | 1974 |
| Foxy Brown | 1974 |
| Three the Hard Way | 1974 |
| The Street Fighter | 1974 |
| The Black Six | 1974 |
| Black Belt Jones | 1974 |
| Act of Vengeance | 1974 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| The Outlaw Josey Wales | 1976 |
| Mad Dog Morgan | 1976 |
| Brotherhood of Death | 1976 |
| An Average Little Man | 1977 |
| Double Game | 1977 |
| Rolling Thunder | 1977 |
| I Spit on Your Grave | 1978 |
| A Dangerous Toy | 1979 |
| Mad Max | 1979 |
| Defiance | 1980 |
| The Exterminator | 1980 |
| Ms. 45 | 1981 |
| Lovely But Deadly | 1981 |
| Death Wish II | 1982 |
| Krodham | 1982 |
| 1990: The Bronx Warriors | 1982 |
| First Blood | 1982 |
| Burst City | 1983 |
| The Graduates of Malibu High | 1983 |
| The Star Chamber | 1983 |
| Sudden Impact | 1983 |
| Escape from the Bronx | 1983 |
| Vigilante | 1983 |
| Alley Cat | 1984 |
| The Toxic Avenger | 1984 |
| Exterminator 2 | 1984 |
| Savage Streets | 1984 |
| Streets of Fire | 1984 |
| Blastfighter | 1984 |
| Death Wish 3 | 1985 |
| Naked Vengeance | 1985 |
| The Last Dragon | 1985 |
| Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except | 1985 |

### Late 1980s to the present

| Film | Year |
| The Gladiator | 1986 |
| The Seventh Curse | 1986 |
| Death Wish 4: The Crackdown | 1987 |
| Man on Fire | 1987 |
| Rolling Vengeance | 1987 |
| Miami Connection | 1987 |
| Her Vengeance | 1988 |
| I'm Gonna Git You Sucka | 1988 |
| Pumpkinhead | 1988 |
| Traxx | 1988 |
| Batman | 1989 |
| The Punisher | 1989 |
| Darkman | 1990 |
| Total Recall | 1990 |
| Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves | 1991 |
| Falling Down | 1993 |
| The Crow | 1994 |
| Dark Angel: The Ascent | 1994 |
| Death Wish V: The Face of Death | 1994 |
| Mr. Payback: An Interactive Movie | 1995 |
| Blood and Donuts | 1995 |
| One Tough Bastard | 1995 |
| Rumble in the Bronx | 1995 |
| A Time to Kill | 1996 |
| Eye for an Eye | 1996 |
| Night Hunter | 1996 |
| Spawn | 1997 |
| Blade | 1998 |
| The Boondock Saints | 1999 |
| Shaft | 2000 |
| Faust: Love of the Damned | 2000 |
| Collateral Damage | 2002 |
| Spider-Man | 2002 |
| Kill Bill | 2003 |
| A Man Apart | 2003 |
| The Hebrew Hammer | 2003 |
| Hellboy | 2004 |
| Man on Fire | 2004 |
| Walking Tall | 2004 |
| The Punisher | 2004 |
| Bad Reputation | 2005 |
| Batman Begins | 2005 |
| Constantine | 2005 |
| V for Vendetta | 2005 |
| Munich | 2005 |
| Four Brothers | 2005 |
| Sin City (film) | 2005 |
| Anniyan | 2005 |
| Hard Candy | 2006 |
| Death Note | 2006 |
| The Brave One | 2007 |
| Death Sentence | 2007 |
| Urban Justice | 2007 |
| El Muerto | 2007 |
| The Dark Knight | 2008 |
| Taken | 2008 |
| Gran Torino | 2008 |
| The Horseman | 2008 |
| Gutterballs | 2008 |
| The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day | 2009 |
| Defendor | 2009 |
| Law Abiding Citizen | 2009 |
| Harry Brown | 2009 |
| Inglourious Basterds | 2009 |
| Watchmen | 2009 |
| 13 Assassins | 2010 |
| The Man from Nowhere | 2010 |
| Red: Werewolf Hunter | 2010 |
| 22 Bullets | 2010 |
| Faster | 2010 |
| Machete | 2010 |
| Kick-Ass | 2010 |
| Super | 2010 |
| Batman: Under the Red Hood | 2010 |
| Drive Angry | 2011 |
| Hobo with a Shotgun | 2011 |
| Drive | 2011 |
| Gallowwalkers | 2012 |
| Scary or Die | 2012 |
| The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse | 2012 |
| The Amazing Spider-Man | 2012 |
| The Dark Knight Rises | 2012 |
| Bad Ass | 2012 |
| Taken 2 | 2012 |
| Fire with Fire | 2012 |
| The Man with the Iron Fists | 2012 |
| The Last Stand | 2013 |
| Snitch | 2013 |
| Prisoners | 2013 |
| Avenged | 2013 |
| Kick-Ass 2 | 2013 |
| The Outlaw Michael Howe | 2013 |
| Skin Trade | 2014 |
| John Wick | 2014 |
| John Doe: Vigilante | 2014 |
| In Order of Disappearance | 2014 |
| The Equalizer | 2014 |
| Mr. X | 2015 |
| Taken 3 | 2015 |
| Vendetta | 2015 |
| Elle (film) | 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 |
| War | 2019 |
| Rambo: Last Blood | 2019 |
| 6 Underground | 2019 |
| Birds of Prey | 2020 |
| Promising Young Woman | 2020 |
| Nobody | 2021 |
| 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 Accountant 2 | 2025 |
| From the World of John Wick: Ballerina | 2025 |