Top 5 horror movies worth watching on Netflix this January

Hello Polygonauts! Welcome to our regular roundup of the best horror movies to watch on Netflix, where the Polygon curation team carefully scours the streaming service’s library to bring you content. good.

What makes a great January horror movie? We’re in the middle of winter, which means equal amounts of frost, rain, sleet, and wind chill scrape the back of our necks as we try to crouch. We have apocalyptic action movies for Android, thrilling racing dramas, thrilling heist epics, and gripping murder mysteries that will make you bleed. in this cold month.

Here are some fun suggestions for your January viewing pleasure.

thief’s cave

Image: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Year: 2018
run time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Manager: Christian Gudegast
Cast: Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson Jr.

January is a great month to be a fan of Gerard Butler movies. The king of January blockbuster is back with his biggest January movie, very fun and cool title plane. we talking to Butler and co-star Mike Colter about how the action is filmed and what makes the movie so interesting.

While you’re in the mood, why not check out arguably the best movie in Butler’s recent action streak? heist movie 2018 thief’s cave has been described by many people (including me) as a “trash bag” Heat,” and with good reason. Like Michael Mann’s classic heist movie, it’s set in LA, with a big bank robbery showdown between cops and robbers. Alike Heat, it has a massive cast — while not as prestigious as the likes of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, the likes of Pablo Schreiber and O’Shea Jackson Jr. gave his best. But the show’s star is Butler as the dirty, often drunk “Big Nick” detective O’Brien.

A directorial debut from former rap video director Christian Gudegast, the film features high-scores from former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Cliff Martinez, and is edited by Joel Cox, a frequent Clint collaborator Eastwood. That brings professionalism and brilliance to this exciting thrill ride, helping elevate it to one of the most memorable heist thrillers of the post-Ocean age. Also, it came out 5 years ago this week which means there really isn’t a better time to watch. thief’s cave. —Pete Volk

Crime Emily

Image: Vertical entertainment

Year: 2022
run time: 1 hour 37 minutes
Manager: John PattonFord
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke

Crime Emily not a horror movie in the way that some of the others on this list. The beauty of the horror genre is that it covers everything from intense, brutal stories to thrillers; it’s about survivors of the apocalypse, psychological or otherwise. Crime Emily is on the smaller side of this movie, almost purer. However, it does contain nuances of every genre of thrilling storytelling here, the genre at its most remote and specific. When Emily descends into the criminal underworld to help ease the burden on student loans, it’s immediately a desperate apocalyptic power, a caper constantly threatening dire consequences. whether she succeeds or not. As Emily, Aubrey Plaza tries to find new shades of her personality, turning fatigue into a suit of spiky armor. In the past can be played to laugh. But with Emily, there is little hope for a happy ending. All we can do is survive. —Zosha Millman

JUNG_E

Image: Netflix

Year: 2022
run time: 1 hour 38 minutes
Manager: Yeon Sang-ho
Cast: Kim Hyun-joo, Kang Soo-yeon, Ryu Kyung-soo

We’re making a rare exception here, as we (editorial note: Pete and Toussaint) have never seen JUNG_E not yet (but Review of Polygon that dug it). But it’s the director’s new sci-fi thriller Train to Busan, movement centerand Hell is bound – they all beat. That makes it especially easy to get excited about JUNG_E.

In JUNG_E, an artificial intelligence researcher hopes to find an end to the post-apocalyptic wars by cloning a legendary mercenary into a robot. That mercenary? Her mother. Sign us up. —PV

Light blue eyes

Photo: Scott Garfield/Netflix

Year: 2022
run time: 2 hours 8 minutes
Manager: Scott Cooper
Cast: Actor: Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson

It’s January now – which means it’s cold outside, at least for central North America (despite the seasonal variation caused by climate change). You don’t have to watch some regular, perennial horror movies to see it. No, you know what you need? A horror film as cold as ice, brutal as the depths in winter. You’ll get it with the new gothic horror mystery from gauze Directed by Scott Cooper. Christian Bale plays Augustus Landor, a retired detective (meaning too old for this) who is hired to investigate a series of brutal murders at West Point military academy in New York. No one wants to help him; that is, with the sole exception of a sly young cadet with poetic inclinations named (DUN DUN DUN) Edgar Allan Poe. Doesn’t that sound good (half-hearted pun)? That’s right. —Toussaint Egan

The words our review:

The movie doesn’t make much use of the most metadata dimension of the story: the fact that Poe actually helped invent the modern detective novel. (Given that relying too much on that idea can be unbearable.) Cooper and Bale seem more comfortable with Landor’s melancholy nature, due to the absence of his wife and daughter, as well. like some of the weird, unexpected pauses that Bale encounters with some of his deliveries. At times, the movie feels like it’s having fun in spite of itself. So, in a way, it’s perfect that Edgar Allan Poe keeps popping up to revive his own story. —Jesse Hassenger

wick tree

Image: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Year: two thousand and thirteen
run time: 2 hours 3 minutes
Manager: Ron Howard
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, Olivia Wilde

We’re in the short period between the Formula 1 seasons (although Formula E is just getting started, motorsport fans) and the fifth season of Netflix. Drive to survive documentary premieres on February 24. What better way to pass the time than by watching one of the best Formula 1 movies ever made?

Ron Howard (who most recently directed the underrated true story thriller Thirteen kalpas) actually delivered with wick tree, a heart-pounding depiction of the excitement of motorsport and also an in-depth character study of the different personality types that can make top athletes. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl excel as racing legends James Hunt and Niki Lauda, ​​Hemsworth perfectly embodies Hunt’s party-loving attitude while Brühl shines as reserved, hyper-focused Lauda. It’s one of those best sports movie ever done, and there’s no better time to see it. —PV