This weekend, two wildly different movies are set to premiere in theaters that will most likely appeal to wildly different audiences. Terrifier 3, about the murderous Art the Clown, is sure to make horror movie nerds happy, while Saturday Night will appease those in need of a breezy hagiography about one of television’s longest-running programs.
If you’re not in the mood to watch either movie, then stay at home and check out what’s streaming on Netflix. In addition to new movies and TV shows like Nobody Wants This and The Platform 2, the streamer has these three underrated movies that are worth watching this weekend.
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Red Dragon (2002)
Both 1986’s Manhunter and 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs are pretty much perfect psychological thrillers that have Hannibal Lecter as a key supporting character. It’s pure folly to try to best them, but let’s give credit where credit is due: Red Dragon isn’t half bad. For a picture directed Brett Ratner of all people, it’s surprisingly effective, and it features a great performance by Ralph Fiennes as the film’s other creepy villain.
For those that don’t know, Red Dragon concerns the increasingly desperate attempts of FBI agent Will Graham (a very serious Edward Norton) to capture a serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy (Fiennes). To do so, he must do the unthinkable: consult with another serial killer, Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins, reprising his role from Lambs and Hannibal), to get into the mind of the Tooth Fairy and figure out his next move. Strange bedfellows, indeed!
Red Dragon is streaming on Netflix.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
Now here’s a true hidden gem that went largely unnoticed when it was first released, but has slowly gained a reputation as a great horror thriller. Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch star as father-and-son coroners who are tasked with an increasingly perplexing problem: a young woman’s corpse that seems to violate everything they know about their profession.
As they examine the girl’s body, they find strange markings on her corpse, a tooth wrapped in a cloth that bears strange markings and diagrams, and other odd things that simply don’t add up. Soon, they hallucinate strange visions like other dead people walking around. After they find themselves trapped in their own mortuary, the two men must figure out the mystery of Jane Doe before it’s too late for them.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe is the very definition of a slow-burn horror movie, and it rewards your patience with genuinely frightening scenes that only get scarier as the movie progresses. The ending is just right, and also still incredibly upsetting to think about even now.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe is streaming on Netflix.
The Terminal (2004)
The prior two movies on this list are incredibly grim and violent, so here’s a movie that is as light and gore-free as they come. What else would you expect from a movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks? The Terminal is neither creative’s best work, but it’s a pleasant entertainment that’s primarily designed to bring a smile to your face. Mission accomplished.
Inspired by a true story, The Terminal stars Hanks as Viktor Navorski, who has just arrived at New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport only to discover that his home country, Krakozhia, has experienced a coup d’état. Now without a home country the U.S. government recognizes, Viktor cannot leave the airport until the situation is resolved. Armed with only his suitcase and a curious, friendly nature, Viktor befriends several airport employees and finds out home isn’t so far away after all.
The Terminal is streaming on Netflix.