Want to watch something suspenseful, but not in the mood for straight-up horror?
Netflix has you covered.
The streaming service has quite a few thrillers that'll get your adrenaline going or send
a shiver up your spine.
But instead of watching some of the more mainstream movies online, why not check out something
a little more obscure?
How about ...
Backcountry
Like Deliverance or The Blair Witch Project before it, Backcountry will make you think
twice before taking a walk in the woods.
Like its forebearers, this 2015 flick features folks who decide to spend a weekend in the
forest, even though they're certified city slickers.
"Where is it?"
"In the car."
"Why would you do that?"
"I didn't want you on that thing the whole time we were here."
Soon, the two find themselves map-less, phone-less and lost in the woods, and it doesn't help
matters knowing there's another hiker nearby who seems kind of dangerous.
But really, he's the least of their problems, considering they're also being stalked by
a man-eating black bear …
Blue Caprice
On October 2, 2002, a man was shot to death in the parking lot of a Maryland grocery store.
It was the first killing in a three-week long murder spree that would claim ten lives in
the Washington D.C. area.
The terror came to an end when police arrested two snipers who'd been shooting their way
across the U.S. for months, leaving a total of 17 bodies in their wake.
2013's ripped-from-the-headlines Blue Caprice takes place in the months leading up to the
shootings, focusing on the twisted relationship between the snipers, John Allen Muhammad and
Lee Boyd Malvo.
Abandoned by his mom, the teenage Malvo gravitates toward the manipulative Muhammad, who takes
the boy under his wing.
But in exchange for a father figure, Malvo agrees to help Muhammad enact his homicidal
plan.
"I did it"
Cold in July
It starts off like a typical revenge flick about a man caught in the crosshairs of an
angry ex-con.
But about midway through, 2014's Cold in July takes such a hard left turn that it becomes
a completely different beast.
"Don't you have any mirrors on this damn Pinto?
Do you know how to use it?
Who's gonna pay for it?
We could split it ..."
Richard Dane, played by Dexter's Michael C. Hall, is in a tricky situation after accidentally
killing a burglar who's broken into his home.
Things get worse when he discovers that the crook's dad is one bad dude.
At first, Cold in July plays like a cat-and-mouse game between the two, but our hero soon realizes
there's a conspiracy afoot, and he's a pawn in a much larger scheme.
The Double
If you're a fan of Jesse Eisenberg, well, 2013's The Double is definitely the movie
for you: it's got two Eisenbergs for the price of one.
Based on the novella by Dostoyevsky, The Double follows a young office worker named Simon
James, a guy beaten down by the system.
He's nervous, shy, and ignored by everyone, including Hannah, the girl of his dreams.
"Hannah, the creepy guy's here again."
"Hi, Creepy Guy."
His life gets turned upside down when a man named James Simon becomes his co-worker.
James is Simon's exact opposite in almost every way.
Simon is introverted, while James is outgoing.
Simon is full of self-doubt, whereas James is confidence personified.
Of course, the two men do share one eerie similarity: they look exactly alike, a fact
that no one else seems to notice.
Unfortunately, the creepy resemblance allows James to completely invade Simon's life, but
everybody's got a breaking point, and Simon eventually decides it's time to stand his
ground, whatever the consequences.
"He stole my face!"
"You need to leave."
"No, you do.
Get off of me!
"Arrgh!"
Frailty
The late great actor Bill Paxton also dabbled in directing, with a 2005 golfing flick starring
Shia LaBeouf called The Greatest Game Ever Played, and the 2001 thriller Frailty, a terrifying
portrait of religion gone wrong that dances on the fine line between "thriller" and "horror."
In addition to calling the shots behind the camera, Paxton also played a loving father
who becomes an axe murderer after God supposedly orders him to rid the world of demons…demons
that look like humans.
But he isn't going to fight the forces of evil by himself.
Believing he's truly a divine warrior, he recruits his two sons—one who's totally
on board, and another who think his dad has gone mad.
"We don't fear these demons.
We destroy them.
We pick them up, one by one, and we pitch them out of this world."
While ultimately more thriller than horror, be warned: the film does involve a whole lot
of head-chopping, body-burying, and disturbing scenes of child abuse.
"God saw you.
"Dad no!
Please!"
"And you can't escape God's wrath!"
The Imposter
A true story of a creepy con man that will leave your mind reeling when the credits start
to role, 2012's The Imposter is the rare documentary that also works as a pulse-pounding thriller.
"I didn't give a damn what other people were thinking and what they were feeling.
I care about myself."
The less you know about the part documentary, part staged thriller the better—but here's
a taste: The Imposter tells the story of a French criminal who posed as a missing Texas
teen and convinced the boy's family that he was their long-lost relative—even though
he was too old, had a French accent, and the wrong hair and eye color.
How?
You'll have to watch and find out.
"A story so bizarre it's hard to believe it's true."
"I mean, seriously?"
The Invitation
We've all been invited to some pretty weird parties, but none compare to the ultra-creepy
affair in 2016's The Invitation.
It all starts when quiet, brooding Will shows up for dinner at his ex-wife's house.
She's back in the States after getting remarried in Mexico and wants to get together with the
old gang—including Will, who's still struggling with their loss of their son.
So maybe that's why Will starts acting so strangely once he arrives at the party.
Or maybe there's something rotten going on in the Hollywood Hills.
"We chose you, because you matter to us."
"You chose me?"
"To be here, tonight."
After all, why are there bars on all the windows?
Why is the front door locked?
As the evening unwinds, Will finds himself battling a sneaking suspicion that something
terrible is about to happen, all while battling his own emotional breakdown.
We Need to Talk About Kevin
The 2011 domestic thriller We Need to Talk About Kevin focuses on Tilda Swinton's Eva
and her son Kevin.
To say they don't get along would be an understatement.
"I don't give a rat's ass."
Kevin is an absolute monster — a budding psychopath who charms the world into thinking
he's a normal kid.
But when he's alone with his mom, that's when we see the teen's true sadistic side, a darkness
that's been growing ever since Kevin was an infant.
"Then finally once you've sucked up that entire bottle of wine, you can go all gooey-eyed
and say how nice it is to spend quality time together."
His downward spiral divides Eva and her husband as it becomes increasingly clear what Kevin
is truly capable of.
"There is no point.
That's the point."
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