10 best thrillers on Hulu for an intense night in

Seeking a shiver down your spine? Hankering for a rush of adrenaline? Frantic for a flush across your cheeks? Whatever kind of thrill you’re seeking, Hulu has got you covered with a library full of twisted tales, sexy mysteries, genre-bending adventure, dark laughs, and creepy creature features. We’ve scoured the lot to bring you the cream of the crop.

Here are the best thrillers on Hulu streaming now.

1. 12 Hour Shift (2020)

Want chills with a heavy dose of humor? Then, you’ll appreciate this dark comedy/horror thriller about a pair of bumbling black-market organ harvesters. Written and directed by Brea Grant, 12 Hour Shift begins in a rundown Arkansas hospital, where Mandy (Angela Bettis) is running on fumes (and some illicit drugs) to get through a long night that involves a kidney handoff to her perky but dunderheaded cousin Regina (Chloe Farnworth). When a cooler mix-up sends a ruthless kingpin (Mick Foley) some chilled cola cans instead of the kidney, the cousins have a few short hours to find the MIA organ…or surrender theirs. Grant’s smart and sassy script sleekly blends grim gags with thundering threats and a giddy brand of mayhem to make for a wildly fun ride.

How to watch: 12 Hour Shift is streaming on Hulu.

2. Crawl (2019)

Kaya Scodelario  versus a congregation of gators in ‘Crawl.’
Credit: Paramount Pictures/Filmstore/Shutterstock

Craving a thrilling creature feature? Then, you’ll want to snap up this pulse-pounding gator tale from horror auteur Alexandre Aja. Set on the coast of Florida, Crawl follows a father and daughter in a frightening fight for survival. It’s bad enough that a Category 5 hurricane is barreling toward their family home while tough-love dad (Barry Pepper) is trapped below in a crawl space. Making matters more menacing, the home is invaded by a congregation of hungry alligators. College swim star Haley (Kaya Scodelario) will have to put her skills to the ultimate test. Not only must she outlast the relentless waters that flood their home level by level, but also she has to drag her injured dad out of the jaws of death to safety. Studded with jump scares, close-calls, grisly attacks, and great escapes, Crawl will have the whole family at the edge of their seats and hollering.*

How to watch: Crawl is streaming on Hulu.

3. Memories of Murder (2003)

‘Memories of Murder’ doesn’t mess around.
Credit: Cj/Sidus/Kobal/Shutterstock

South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho has forged a reputation as a modern master of suspense with films like the kinetic creature feature The Host, the seething sci-fi thrill ride Snowpiercer, the ruthlessly intimate drama Mother, and the genre-bending Oscar-winner for Best Picture Parasite. Many of these are also on Hulu right now. But to truly appreciate this heralded director’s genius, you must check out his sophomore feature, which has only recently been accessible in the States. Loosely based on a real series of mysterious killings, Memories of Murder centers on a trio of cops on the hunt for a sinister stalker, who murders women whenever it rains. Laced with grisly details, this is a stomach-churning film. Yet true to form, Bong works in edged humor and snarling cultural criticism. In this instance, his sharp script illuminates the dangers of toxic masculinity and copaganda films by playing as a biting parody of the latter. Recurring Bong collaborator Song Kang-ho co-stars with Kim Roi-ha and Kim Sang-kyung.

How to watch: Memories of Murder is streaming on Hulu.

4. Gone Girl (2014)

Ben Affleck making the smirk that launched a thousand think pieces in ‘Gone Girl.’
Credit: Merrick Morton / 20th Century Fox / Regency / Kobal / Shutterstock

Gillian Flynn’s wildly popular novel got a star-studded movie adaptation, helmed by none other than the king of crime-thrillers, David Fincher. Ben Affleck stars as Nick Dunne, a married man whose life is thrown into a spin when his picture-perfect wife (Rosamund Pike) goes missing. Baffled about her disappearance, Nick swiftly becomes the prime suspect. To survive, he must engage in a deadly game of clues, resentments, and wits. Flynn’s adapted screenplay keenly brought her wild novel to vivid life. Pike earned an Academy Award nomination for playing the dizzyingly complex Amy, while critics cheered Fincher’s superb eye for casting and a mercilessly thrilling execution. But be warned: this story of soured love is not for the faint of heart. There will be blood and that’s not even the darkest bit.

How to watch: Gone Girl is streaming on Hulu.

5. The Conversation (1974) 

Gene Hackman eavesdropping in ‘The Conversation ‘
Credit: Filmstore/Shutterstock

Sometimes the difference between life and death can hang on a single word. No one understands this better than surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), who has been hired to record a conversation between a couple as they stroll around a San Francisco park. A paranoid and isolated man by nature, Harry becomes obsessed with understanding who this couple is and what they meant by what was said. But in chasing down the motive of his mysterious client, he steps out of the shadows and into an uncomfortable spotlight. That move might be his last. A supremely suspenseful mystery, this classic from writer/director Francis Ford Coppola has wowed audiences, critics, and the Academy, boasting three Oscar nominations, including a nod for Best Picture.*

How to watch: The Conversation is streaming on Hulu.

6. Black Swan (2010)

The spotlight can scorch Natalie Portman in ‘Black Swan.’
Credit: Fox Searchlight/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

Thirsty for a sensational and sexy psychological thriller? Then you’ll want to leap into the thrall and frenzy of Darren Aronofsky’s universally heralded Black Swan. In an Academy Award-winning role, Natalie Portman stars as a ballerina poised to snatch the coveted lead in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. However, the New York Ballet scene is one of brutality and ferocious competition. A bitter has-been (Winona Ryder), a relentless artistic director (Vincent Cassel), a sensual rival (Mila Kunis), and a harping stage mom (Barbara Hershey) push her body and mind to their breaking points. Bones crack, synapses snap, and…are those feathers sprouting out from her back? Swirled with surreal sequences, this fascinating film ushers audiences into its heroine’s splintering psyche, which bleeds with lust, ambition, and nightmares. The result is beguiling, haunting, and uniquely exciting. Dare you join the dance?

How to watch: Black Swan is streaming on Hulu.

7. Prospect (2018)

Blending science-fiction and Western elements, this is a hidden gem you won’t want to overlook. Its wild west is a far-flung alien moon, rich in rare minerals but rife with toxic spores and treacherous rogues. There, an adolescent girl (Sophie Thatcher) is the cautious apprentice to her prospecting father (Jay Duplass). But once they get separated, she reluctantly teams up with a smooth-talking gunslinger (Pedro Pascal) to find the treasure and get out of dodge, before it’s too late. Writers/directors Zeek Earl and Christopher Caldwell create an intoxicating genre blend that makes every turn rich with possibilities for danger and heroism. Yet the greatest thing Prospect has to offer is the dynamic chemistry between a surly Thatcher and a smirking Pascal as their characters form a volatile yet powerful friendship. A slow-burn thriller that sparks with action and the charisma of its stars — which includes A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night’s Sheila Vand — Prospect is a dazzling indie to be treasured.

How to watch: Prospect is streaming on Hulu.

8. Eye for an Eye (1996)

Kiefer Sutherland and Sally Field face off in ‘Eye For An Eye.’
Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock

Academy Award-winning director John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) vividly channels a parents’ worst nightmare into this gripping thriller. In a first act that is so chilling it’ll spur goosebumps, a bright and bubbly teen girl is chatting with her mother (Sally Field) on the phone as she decorates their house for her little sister’s birthday party. Without a warning, a stranger invades their beautiful suburban home, and he attacks without mercy. Hearing it all over the phone, her mother is helpless to save her. But when the system fails to convict her daughter’s killer (Kiefer Sutherland), this incensed mother will do whatever it takes to reclaim justice. Could this dark path lead her to lose herself? Her family? Or her life? Electric with pain and paranoia, Field is breath-taking as a woman on the edge, while Sutherland is absolutely terrifying as the bogeyman your parents warned you about.

How to watch: Eye for an Eye is streaming on Hulu.

9. Knives and Skin (2019)

Want a thriller that’ll tingle your spine and have you singing along? Then, you must indulge in writer/director Jennifer Reeder’s hypnotic musical, which begins with a teen girl gone missing. To the audience, there’s no mystery to what became of Carolyn Harper. It’s her grief-stricken mother, confounded peers, and distracted neighbors who struggle with the question. Through this fog of dread and fear, they come together in snarled threads and haunting cover songs, the latter of which are all of ‘80s hits, like “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” The ennui of small-town life and teen angst is thoughtfully knitted into the emotional tension of an uncertain future. With a candy-colored aesthetic and an eerie atmosphere, Reeder and her crackling ensemble manifest a world that’s as enchanting as it is unnerving.

How to watch: Knives and Skin is streaming on Hulu.

10. American Animals (2018)

Evan Peters schemes in  “American Animals.”
Credit: Kobal/Shutterstock

Documentarian Bart Layton first wowed film critics with The Imposter, which revealed a twisted tale of a French con man who posed as a missing American kid. His fascinating follow-up blurs the lines between documentary and docudrama to unravel the disturbing case of the Transylvania University library heist. The stranger-than-fiction details involve an obsession with the movie Reservoir Dogs, a plot to fence a rare art book, and old man disguises. Yet Layton takes things to a mind-bending new level. Not only does he cast famous performers like Evan Peters and Barry Keoghan to play the young thieves, but also he weaves their real counterparts into sequences with them. Plopped into a movie set, the convicted crooks reflect and quibble over differing details with their movie-doppelgängers, as they barrel through to a disastrous plan. The result is a thriller that invites audiences to experience the rush of a heist flick, then the agony of its subjects, who got in over their heads and lived to regret it.*

How to watch: American Animals is streaming on Hulu.

(*) denotes writeup comes from a previous Mashable list.