10. Cul-de-sac (1966)

One of Polanski's talents is a knack for subverting established genres. Equal parts gangster picture and melodrama, Cul-de-sac begins not during a heist but in the quiet moments hours later. Pushing a getaway vehicle carrying his wounded partner through a rising tide, gangster Dickie seeks refuge in a nearby castle, taking its owners hostage. More subversion: instead of the power struggle we expect, the characters develop more of an odd complacency, as each gets caught up in their own personal frustrations to the point where the hostage situation itself becomes a minor detail. Cul-de-sac is choppy at times, and the lesser performances sag into the realm of B-movie camp, but it's a strong effort.

9. Frantic (1988)

Frantic opens like a top-notch thriller: while visiting Paris for a medical conference, Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) steps into the shower of his hotel room only to exit a few minutes later to find his wife missing. It's that initial mystery, deepened by Polanski's slow and sinister tracking shots, that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Is she having an affair? Has she been kidnapped for inexplicable reasons? But when the answer comes, the deeper, more interesting questions get lost.

8. The Tenant (1976)

The final installment in Polanski's "Apartment Trilogy" stars the director himself as Trelkovsky, a polite, unassuming man who moves into a Paris apartment complex after the previous tenant inexplicably commits suicide. An atmosphere of unease begins as Trelkovsky's neighbors torment him with unfounded complaints about too much noise in his apartment at night. But during the second half of the film, a surrealist turn has Trelkovsky donning women's make-up and clothing, and from then on who can really say what the hell's happening. Still, The Tenant is captivating and filled with camera-work reminiscent of Hitchcock at his best. 

7. Death and the Maiden (1994)

Death and the Maiden was Polanski's return to form after nearly two decades of sub-par films. A taut thriller with quality performances from Ben Kingsley and Sigourney Weaver, it's a mind game where death and forgiveness are the ultimate stakes.    

6. Carnage (2011)

Polanski's shortest film to date, this "comedy of manners" is a fast-paced study in the sometimes-childish nature of "mature" parenting. When a fight between their children brings two couples together to discuss possible resolutions, the characters compete to prove who's the best parent. With smart dialogue played brilliantly on all fronts by Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and John C. Reilly, Carnage is Polanski's funniest film.

5. Repulsion (1965)

Polanski took an artistic leap with his second film, creating a setting that mirrored the inner psychosis of its main character Carole. Filmed in a surrealist style that he would later go on to perfect in Rosemary's Baby, the film is full of haunting imagery that will stay with you long after the it. The ambiguity of what's real and what's imagined keeps Repulsion captivating throughout.

4. Knife in the Water (1962)

Polanski's first feature film earned him immediate critical acclaim. The story itself is pretty straightforward: a young couple picks up a hitchhiker and, for whatever reason, invites him on their yacht for the weekend. Polanski's focus on the hitchhiker's titular knife really sets you on edge; while you wait for some sort of bloody confrontation, the suspense becomes almost unbearable. A perfect exercise in subtlety, the film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

3. The Pianist (2002)

Having titillated audiences for years with imagined horrors, Polanski confronted the very real horrors of World War II in The Pianist. Informed by the director's own experiences as a child survivor of the Holocaust, the film complicates the simple moralism of most Holocaust films. It earned three Academy Awards, with Adrian Brody winning a well-deserved Best Actor award and Polanski winning his first for Best Director. It's a sophisticated look at the role of art in the face of dehumanizing circumstances.

2. Chinatown (1974)

The nihilistic, multi-layered Chinatown is a masterful look at corruption. Via a legendary performance from Jack Nicholson, the viewer is taken along through a intricate web of deceit and double-crossings. Nothing is ever what it seems, and the title of the film serves as a metaphor for a place where anything is possible and evil lies in plain sight. Aided by screenwriter Robert Towne, Polanski created a tense mystery that constantly undermines your expectations.

1. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Universally considered one of the greatest horror movies of all time, Rosemary's Baby is also Polanski's best. It terrifies you not with buckets of blood or a masked antagonist, but with a deep, panicky uncertainty. Polanski's lens skews your perceptions of everyday objects and actions, to the point where even the most innocent act takes on sinister implications. Filmed with a perfect balance between realism and surrealism, Rosemary's Baby turns you against yourself, making you question your understanding of every detail while simultaneously daring you to look away.