Even nail biting movies that keep you on the edge of your seat can be fun to watch, like these scary Halloween movies. Check out this list!
When people refer to nail-biting movies, they usually mean thrillers. These are movies with exciting plots, typically involving crime or espionage.
Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety.
Thrillers generally keep the audience on the “edge of their seats” as the plot builds towards a climax.
The cover-up of important information is a common element.
Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively.
A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome. (Source)
4 Movies Guaranteed to Stress You Out
By: The Movie Experts at Redbox
As The Fresh Prince (aka Will Smith) said (sang!) best in 1991, “Summer, summer, summertime! Time to sit back and unwind.”
But eventually all of that chilling out can get old. When summertime boredom starts to hit, I have just the cure: an edge-of-your-seat thriller to get the ol’ heart racing.
Here are 4 movies guaranteed to stress you out so much that you’ll be back to fully appreciating the lazy days of summer:
Gravity
George Clooney and Sandra Bullock are stuck alone together in outer space. Yeah, I know, it sounds like the makings of a lighthearted blockbuster rom-com. Instead it won 7 Oscars and is an extreme nailbiter.
SEE MORE: Oscar Winning Movies on Netflix
The duo’s communication with Earth has been cut off, their resources are running low, and their options are pretty much nonexistent. Watching them fight to survive is as nerve-wracking as it gets. You’ll certainly have a newfound appreciation for basic things like, you know, OXYGEN, after seeing this one.
A Quiet Place
I’ve joked to my friends that whoever came up with this plot must have young kids, because long before this movie came out I used to have a recurring nightmare that my family’s lives were all dependent on us all remaining completely silent in some harrowing situation.
And, well, we always ended up goners, because three and six year olds do not know the meaning of “quiet.” Unfortunately for John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, their family’s lives do depend on everyone being 100% silent . . . or else aliens will freaking EAT THEM.
From the very first scene, this one will have you holding your breath. It’s a must-see! (And then you have my permission to go blast music and scream at the top of your lungs after it’s over—just because you CAN.)
SEE MORE: Alien Movies on Netflix
Buried
It sucks to be Ryan Reynolds. Well, not in real life, obviously. Though it probably did suck to be him while filming this movie back in 2010, because he’s literally buried in a coffin underground the entire time and the whole film is shot in that coffin.
Claustrophobics need not come within 20 feet of this one! Reynolds plays a civilian truck driver in Iraq who wakes up in the wooden box of doom and needs to piece together 1) how he got there and 2) how he might possibly get out. With pretty much just a lighter and a phone.
Your stress level will definitely be off the charts as you fear for poor Deadpool’s life.
Prisoners
As a human being with a conscience I am compelled to warn you that not only will this movie stress you out, but it might also give you nightmares for weeks. That’s what happened with me.
Hugh Jackman plays a father looking for his missing daughter, and Jake Gyllenhaal co-stars as the lead detective on the case. Anytime something bad has happened to little kids in a movie, that right there is enough to freak most people out.
But Prisoners takes it to another level and explores what horrific acts a desperate parent might be driven to commit. You’ll be mega-stressed up until the very last frame. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
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HALLOWEEN MOVIES
- Scariest Halloween Movies
- Halloween Movies on Hulu
- Halloween Movies on Netflix for Kids
- Halloween Movies on Netflix
- Halloween Costumes Based on Movies
What are the best nail biting movies you've seen?
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