Underappreciated Thrillers You Need To Watch On Netflix

Want to watch something suspenseful, but not in the mood for straight-up horror? Don't worry, Netflix has got you covered. The streaming service has quite a few of the best thrillers that'll get your adrenaline going or send a shiver up your spine. But like any genre fan, you've probably already seen most of the big hits and acknowledged classics, so instead of watching some of the more mainstream movies online, why not check out something a little more obscure? Do a little digging and you might discover a revenge tale from Israel, an animal attack flick from Canada, or a mind-bending documentary set in the Lone Star State. Whether you're looking for something with snipers, doppelgängers, or uber-creepy kids, plenty of streaming goodness awaits. Make room in your queue and clear your schedule for a few hours—or days—then be sure to check out these underappreciated thrillers you need to watch on Netflix.

On October 2, 2002, a man named James Martin 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 John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, snipers who'd been shooting their way across the U.S. for months, leaving a total of 17 bodies in their wake.

It was a terrifying moment in American history, one that caused people to ask, "What kind of person would commit such a crime?" Blue Caprice offers one answer. Directed by Alexandre Moors, the film takes place in the months leading up to the shootings, focusing on the twisted relationship between Muhammad (Isaiah Washington) and Malvo (Tequan Richmond). 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 a murderous plan of "total chaos."

Shockingly, Blue Caprice (a reference to the snipers' car) barely focuses on the actual crimes. Instead, as Wesley Morris writes, the movie "creates one of the most chillingly becalmed portraits of insanity" ever put to film. It's a disturbing look at the mind of a psychopath, and as Well Leitch of Deadspin argues, "It is a monster movie in the truest sense. It shows you how this evil is cultivated, how it flourishes, how it is unleashed...and how it could be right next door to you, and you'd never know."

We've all been invited to some pretty weird parties, but none compare to the ultra-creepy affair in Karyn Kusama's The Invitation. It all starts when quiet, brooding Will (Logan Marshall-Green) shows up for dinner at his ex-wife's (Tammy Blanchard) house. The two split up after their son passed away, and his wife, Eden, wound up in Mexico where she remarried. Now, she's back in the States with her new hubby and wants to get back together with the old gang—including Will, who's still struggling with their loss.

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. After all, why are there bars on all the windows? Why is the front door locked? And why does Eden want everyone to watch a disturbing recruitment video for her freaky cult? Making things even weirder, there's a guy who looks a lot like John Carroll Lynch lurking in the background, watching over everyone at the party. 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.

The Invitation works on multiple unsettling levels. As Drew Tinnin of Dread Central writes, the film explores "how our survival instinct has been muted and ignored in order to maintain the appearance of being polite." And Priscilla Page of Birth.Movies.Death. points out that The Invitation is "an agonizing, poignant film about the way grief can strengthen us or disfigure us." On top of all that, this movie is guaranteed to make you scream "Get out of there!" even though you might not follow your own advice in a similar situation.

Plus, as Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune writes, The Invitation is "capped by one of the nicest final shots since Hitchcock's The Birds," and he ain't exaggerating.

Richard Kuklinski was a Mafia hitman, a guy convicted of five murders who confessed to killing over 100 people. He claimed to have murdered his victims with weapons ranging from a crossbow to grenades, and he earned his chilling nickname—"The Iceman"—because he would freeze the corpses to make it harder to determine time of death. So if you were going to make a movie about this guy, then you'd need an actor who could channel that ice cold cruelty...an actor like Michael Shannon.

Directed by Ariel Vromen, The Iceman finds Shannon simmering with rage as Richard Kuklinski, a man who can only choke down the crazy when he's with his unsuspecting wife (Winona Ryder) and his kids, the only people in the world Kuklinski cares about. But when the hitman steps into the streets, he becomes a blood-splattered butcher. And while he refuses to kill women or kids, Kuklinski takes no prisoners when it comes to rival gangsters, potential witnesses, or James Franco.

Seriously, the scene where Kuklinski torments Franco's sniveling victim by having him pray for salvation is one of the all-time scariest Shannon moments. But thanks to Vromen's direction and Shannon's incredible talent, the film walks that incredibly thin wire of making us sympathize with Kuklinski while fearing him at the same time. As Dana Stevens of Slate put it, "Shannon inhabits this character so completely that by the end of this hard-to-watch, hard-to-look-away-from-movie you feel you can, if not understand Richie, at least wish he had some redemption in life."

Plus, in addition to Shannon's performance, keep an eye out for a long-haired Chris Evans as the world's grungiest assassin. When you see him chopping up body parts and hunting young girls, you'll totally forget this hippie hit man is Captain America.

Inspired by the most infamous study in the history of psychology, The Stanford Prison Experiment will leave you battered, bruised, and gasping for breath. And by the time the credits roll, you'll feel like you've just been paroled from the worst jail on the planet.

Starring Billy Crudup as Dr. Philip Zimbardo, The Stanford Prison Experiment follows a group of college students selected to take part in the scariest RPG of all time. Half are assigned the part of prisoners, and the others are given guard duty, and if you're familiar with the actual experiment, then you know things don't end well. The "inmates" are beaten, humiliated, and locked in solitary confinement. These poor guys even stage a revolt before suffering some serious nervous breakdowns.

It's a grueling experience, made all the more intense by the talented young stars. Ezra Miller is incredible as a brash young prisoner who slowly begins to break, and Michael Angarano is totally terrifying as "John Wayne," a cruel guard who takes his job way too seriously. Crudup is equally scary as Zimbardo, a character that film critic Michael Phillips described as "a better-dressed variation on Charles Manson, all wild, unblinking eyes and ferocious devotion to the experiment going out of control."

If it weren't based on a true story, this would feel more like a horror movie. Instead, as pointed out by Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post, it "serves as an uncannily timely reminder about structures, systems, the abuse of power and the fragility of identity." Plus, it reminds us that prison guards should never, ever watch Cool Hand Luke.

Directed by Evan Katz—the same twisted mind behind Cheap Thrills—Small Crimes takes Jaime Lannister out of Westeros and sticks him in the middle of small town America. Played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Denton is a corrupt cop recently released from prison after carving up the local DA like a Christmas turkey. Now that he's a free man, this alcoholic narcissist is trapped in limbo, with everyone giving him the evil eye. His mom is (rightfully) pressuring him to clean up his life, his wife and kids won't talk to him, and random strangers are trying to bash his head in.

Worse still, a sleazy police lieutenant (Gary Cole) wants Joe to murder a dying gangster to make sure the mobster doesn't squeal on all the dirty cops in town. But really, this is a movie that defies plot description, as Small Crimes—written by Katz and Macon Blair—delves into some twisty labyrinthian scandals involving prostitution, drunken soldiers, and a deranged gangster (Pat Healy) with his own personal torture dungeon.

Along with Cole and Blair (pulling double duty here as a writer and actor), the movie stars some incredibly talented names like Robert Forster, Jacki Weaver, and Molly Parker. Coster-Waldau is at his Bryan Cranston best here, and this complicated plot unfolds with a gut-punch of a final showdown, one that will leave you looking at our deadbeat protagonist in a completely different light. But as David Ehrlich of IndieWire put it, despite all the twists and turns, "At heart, this is a simple story of second chances," a movie about forgiveness and whether or not we deserve it.

Directed by Neil Jordan, The Crying Game was hailed as one of the best films of 1992, but in subsequent years, it's been overshadowed by some of its cinematic cousins. That's a shame, because this moody thriller has it all, from heart-wrenching romance to hair-pulling tension. It also features one of the most talked-about scenes of the '90s, a moment that sparked quite a bit of shocked conversation back in the day — but the less you know about that, the more effective the film will be.

The film follows an IRA terrorist named Fergus (Stephen Rea) who befriends a British soldier (Forest Whitaker). Unfortunately for their friendship, Fergus is supposed to kill the poor trooper. As his death draws nearer, Whitaker's character asks Fergus to check on his girlfriend after he's gone. Eventually Fergus leaves the IRA, travels to London, and meets Dil (Jaye Davidson), the soldier's girlfriend. He quickly falls for her, but that whole "I killed your boyfriend" secret is always looming in the background. It doesn't help matters that the IRA is busy looking for Fergus, wanting to bring him back to the fold.

Honestly, there's a lot more going on in this film than we can possibly say. So if you want to experience the entire emotional experience — suspense, sadness, romance, you name it — then you'll definitely want to visit Netflix and try playing The Crying Game.

Written and directed by Joel Edgerton, The Gift is a creepy little suspense flick that will make you think twice when an old friend calls and wants to catch up. The plot follows Simon and Robyn Callem, a seemingly happy couple played by Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall. They've gone through some trauma, but now they're looking to start over in a new city, in a new house, and with new lives.

Unfortunately for the couple, Simon runs into an old friend from school, a real weirdo named Gordo (Edgerton), the kind of guy you don't even want to make eye contact with. At first, Gordo just seems a little too eager to please, but as strange gifts show up on the Callems' porch, a dog disappears, and tensions escalate, it looks like Gordo might have more on his mind than reminiscing about the good old days. However, we're just scratching the surface of the story here, and without saying much more about the plot, The Gift is a tense and nasty little movie with unsettling performances from its three brilliant leads, not to mention an ending that will leave you genuinely upset.

If you like your film noir laced with historical fiction and a touch of sci-fi, then have we got a treat for you. Co-written and directed by Jenna Ricker, The American Side is a hardboiled detective story that features a mysterious machine and quite a few nods to classic thrillers of old. The story involves a scummy detective named Charlie Paczynski (Greg Stuhr) who does his dirty work in Buffalo, New York. In addition to solving crimes, he's also big into the blackmail game. And in true film noir form, he loves dropping quips and one-liners more devastating than any gun.

But after someone close to him is murdered, Charlie is drawn into a conspiracy involving two mysterious women, a device created by Nikola Tesla, and impressive actors like Matthew Broderick and Robert Forster. The movie makes excellent use of its New York setting — especially when it comes to Niagara Falls — and it even has a 1970s thriller vibe thanks to the score from David Shire (The Conversation, All the President's Men). Because of its unique dialogue and ambiguous script, it feels like a movie outside of time, and film fans will love spotting all the homages, like the plane attack from North by Northwest. True, the plot gets a bit complex, but hey, what self-respecting film noir doesn't have a lot of twists?

From first-time filmmaker Raúl Arévalo, The Fury of a Patient Man is a gritty revenge movie brimming with hatred and malice. Set in Madrid, the story follows a seemingly gentle man named Jose (Antonio de la Torre) who falls in love with a lonely woman named Ana (Ruth Diaz). Her husband, Luis (Luis Callejo), has been behind bars for his part in a deadly jewel heist, and of course, we all know things are going to get messy when he's finally released.

Only The Fury of a Patient Man subverts that tired old formula. As it turns out, Jose doesn't have to worry about Luis, but Luis might have a big problem once he comes home. Jose has chosen a path of mayhem and destruction, and with Ana as his bargaining chip, he sets off on a quest for vengeance with Luis along for the ride. This Spanish-language film features some brilliantly suspenseful scenes, like a tense moment in a boxing gym and a one-shot car chase that ends in a terrific wreck. The Fury of a Patient Man feels like a shotgun blast to the face — brutal and bloody and 100 percent effective.

Directed by Bryan Fogel, Icarus picked up the Oscar for Best Documentary at the 90th Academy Awards, and while it's a story of athletes, Olympics, and PEDs, it works as taut thriller about a whistleblower on the run from one of the most powerful governments in the world. The film opens with Fogel wanting to explore the world of performance enhancing drugs by injecting himself with all kinds of chemicals before competing in a bike race. His little stunt soon leads him to Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, a colorful character and the man in charge of Russia's anti-doping program. At first, Rodchenkov is just there to help Fogel beat the system, but soon, both men find themselves embroiled in a scandal fresh from the headlines.

As it turns out, Fogel isn't the first person Rodchenkov has assisted with PEDs — he's been helping Russian athletes cheat in the Olympic games for quite some time. And as international organizations begin investigating Russia's sports figures, Rodchenkov starts talking about his involvement in the scandal, claiming he was following orders that came from the very top of the Russian government...the very top. Soon, Rodchenkov is fearing for his life, and we watch as he maneuvers around KGB agents, escapes the country, and faces the possibility of assassination. A documentary that will have you on the edge of your seat, Icarus is timely as 21st century news stories and universal as sports themselves.