(Credit: Netflix)

Netflix has plenty of thrillers, but a few stand out from the pack. The kind that don’t just scare you, but they sit with you for weeks. They make you glance at the window twice or replay a scene long after it’s done.

So why don’t you make this weekend one such, where you invite friends in and watch a horror movie? You see, not all weekends are for comfort watches. It’s for films that go for the throat. As the horror season is coming soon, make sure you start prepping for it.

Pick a horror classic that still shocks. A zombie ride that breaks your heart. A hospital trip that twists reality. And a couple of thrillers that turn the suburbs and even a phone call into nightmares. These stories all start in familiar places, but they don’t stay familiar for long.

So, if you want your weekend served with chainsaws, paranoia, and one very cursed phone line, here are five Netflix films ready to keep you up all night.

Five perfect Netflix thrillers for the weekend

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre still feels like a classic nightmare to revisit. Although Netflix remade it a few years ago, the old one is a fan favourite because of the simple setup. A group of friends who come across a lonely farmhouse while on a road trip, only to discover it is home to Leatherface and his family of killers. It’s easy to imagine what comes next. Begins with a sweaty and frantic nightmare, the kind where you can practically feel the heat of Texas and smell the gasoline in the air.

What makes it hit harder than modern slashers is how raw it feels. The handheld camera work, the screaming, the way scenes seem to spiral out of control. A true horror fan can spot that it’s not polished horror; it’s primal. Watching it today, you realise why Leatherface became such an iconic figure. He is less a character and more a force, the kind you can’t shake off once the movie’s over.

Train to Busan (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016)

This film was and will be considered one of the best horror thrillers Korean cinema has given to the world. We have all seen many zombie movies, but Train to Busan takes the genre and shoves it into a moving bullet train. Isn’t that genius? Passengers board like it’s any other day, but as the train speeds ahead, the infection spreads, turning ordinary people into sprinting nightmares. The claustrophobia of being trapped in those cars makes the action ten times more intense.

But the reason people still talk about it is the heart. Beneath the horror is a story about a father trying to protect his daughter. Between bloodied windows and desperate fights, there are moments of raw emotion that will break you. By the final act, you realise that this film is more than just horror. It’s about sacrifice and love, and that’s what makes it a fan favourite.

Fractured (Brad Anderson, 2019)

Fractured is the kind of thriller that gets under your skin because it plays tricks on your mind. It starts innocently enough: a man, his wife, and their daughter head to a hospital after an accident. She goes in for treatment, but when he tries to check on her later, the staff claim she was never there. The more he searches, the more reality unravels. And it’s all played so realistically that you feel like it’s happening to you.

The beauty of it is the paranoia. You are stuck inside his perspective, questioning everything. Is the hospital hiding something sinister? Or is his own mind collapsing under stress and guilt? Every scene feels like it could snap into horror at any second. By the end, you will be arguing with yourself about what was real.

Disturbia (D. J. Caruso, 2007)

Think teenage boredom and then mix it with Hitchcockian paranoia. There you go, you’ve got Disturbia. The story starts pretty simply. A kid stuck under house arrest spends his days spying on the neighbours through binoculars. At first, it’s just something to pass the time, like watching people mow lawns, pick fights, and live their suburban lives. But then he notices patterns, things that don’t add up, and he becomes convinced one neighbour is hiding something dark.

What makes it fun is how it balances suspense with humour. You’re right there with him, wanting to know if he is onto a killer or just going stir-crazy. The tension builds slowly, every night stakeout pulling you deeper until you are fully invested. By the time it explodes into a full-blown mess, you’re already in too deep to look away.

The Call (Lee Chung-hyun, 2020)

Here is another great Korean recommendation. The Call is one of those movies that will make you clutch your phone a little tighter. It starts with a woman making an ordinary call, only to realise she is speaking to someone living decades in the past. At first, it feels like a strange connection, almost like fate. But as the two women talk, timelines twist, and that connection turns toxic. Halfway through, they have one decision that alters lives across decades.

The genius of this film is how quickly it shifts from curiosity to terror. The past becomes a weapon, and every ring of the phone feels dangerous. You are stuck in that limbo with the main character, wondering what kind of nightmare the next conversation will unleash.