“One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…”
When it comes to movies leaving Netflix this month, August is going dark. The streamer is packed with horror content like Rob Zombie's Halloween remake as well as fan favorites like The Conjuring and A Nightmare on Elm Street. But if gritty crime dramas are more your speed, there are also a number of Martin Scorsese classics like Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, and The Departed. So whether you're in the mood for solid scares, intense thrills, or high-stakes action, you're in luck. Here are seven notable films to catch before they leave Netflix at the end of this month.
Leaving on: August 20
Director: James Wan
Writers: Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Joey King, and Mackenzie Foy
The Conjuring features Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren who are called upon by the Perron family to investigate strange occurrences in their Rhode Island farmhouse. It would've been easy for the characters of Ed and Lorraine to be reduced to horror movie caricatures, but the stellar performances from Wilson and Farmiga ground it in real human drama, emotion, and stakes. In addition to being a fun period piece with high production values, The Conjuring gets points for jump-starting an entire horror franchise, not to mention gifting us with new nightmares in the form of Annabelle, Valek, and the Crooked Man.
Leaving on: August 25
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn, Patch Darragh, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Benjamin Kanes
Director M. Night Shyamalan goes back to basics with this minimalist thriller that revolves around siblings Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) who visit with their estranged grandparents for a week. The kids are excited to meet their grandparents, but it's quickly evident that not all is as it seems. Their grandmother has strange rules (bedtime is a strict 9:30 pm) while their grandfather is convinced there's someone following them. The sense of unease mounts until the signature Shyamalan twist that's as shocking as it is creepy. The Visit is one of Shyamalan's best films with a script that prioritizes tight pacing, character, and thrills.
Leaving on: August 27
Director: Taylor Sheridan
Writer: Taylor Sheridan
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Graham Greene, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham, Julia Jones, Martin Sensmeier, Teo Briones, Apesanahkwat, Tantoo Cardinal, and Jon Bernthal
Taylor Sheridan's neo-Western follows a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracker (Jeremy Renner) and an FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) who team up to solve the murder of a young woman on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Wind River is not your run-of-the-mill murder mystery. Instead, it's a thoughtful (and nail-biting) suspense thriller featuring finely crafted drama and characters we're made to care about. It also boasts a unique setting as well as a focus on the real-world cases of the many Indigenous women who have gone missing.
Leaving on: August 31
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Morgan Freeman
The final installment in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises sees Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) living as a recluse as he reels from the events of The Dark Knight. But when Bane (Tom Hardy) arrives in Gotham City with his eye set on destruction, Bruce — and Batman — might be the only person who's able to stop his rampage of terror. It would seem an impossible feat to top the arguably perfect Dark Knight, but Nolan gives the film everything he's got. Rises is as close to a superhero epic as it gets, with multiple side plots, new characters (Anne Hathaway is particularly wonderful as Catwoman), as well as commentaries on crime, violence, and the wealthy. If you're a Batman fan that likes your superhero films grounded and gritty, Rises is a must-watch to round out the trilogy.
Leaving on: August 31
Director: Wes Craven
Writer: Wes Craven
Cast: Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Robert Englund, Johnny Depp, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Nick Corri, Leslie Hoffman, Joseph Whipp, Charles Fleischer, and Lin Shaye
A Nightmare on Elm Street solidified Robert Englund as a horror icon, not to mention making kids of the 1980s afraid to go to sleep. And with good reason. What's more terrifying than being hunted in your dreams by a man with a burned face and a glove of razor-sharp blades? The story of deceased child murderer Freddy Krueger returning to prey on a new group of kids features an original villain as well as a group of characters who are easy to root for. While many horror films have faded into obscurity, Nightmare has persisted through the decades. The film has spawned 8 subsequent installments that turned Wes Craven's low-budget feature into one of the most memorable horror franchises of all time.
Leaving on: August 31
Director: James Cameron
Writer: James Cameron
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Kathy Bates, and Victor Garber
If you haven't seen James Cameron's 1997 epic, where have you been for the past 25 years? The film is an account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland. Although details of the ship's sinking are accurate, the love story between poor artist Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and wealthy Rose (Kate Winslet) is fictionalized for the film. Audiences and critics ate it up, with Titanic earning an Oscar for Best Picture and its status as the highest-grossing film of all time (until Avatar). If you like your Hollywood glamour mixed with romance and heart-pounding thrills, grab your first-class ticket and climb aboard Titanic.
Leaving on: August 31
Director: Renny Harlin
Writers: Michael France and Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner, and Rex Linn
When it comes to fun '90s action, you can't do better than Cliffhanger. The film follows Gabe (Sylvester Stallone), a mountain climber haunted by his inability to save his best friend's girlfriend during a climbing accident. He then gets caught in the middle of terrorist Eric Qualen's (John Lithgow) attempt to steal $100 million from the U.S. Treasury. Whether Cliffhanger is an accurate depiction of mountain climbing or not, it's loaded with relentless action and suspense — not to mention the breathtaking scenery of Italy's Dolomite Mountains.
Ricky Ruszin is a Features Writer for Collider, focusing on film and TV. He is also a horror and suspense novelist, having earned his BA degree in English Language and Literature from Stevenson University. When he’s not watching or writing about movies and TV, he enjoys reading, traveling, and seeking out the world’s tallest and fastest roller coasters. He lives in Baltimore, MD, where he can be found quoting Seinfeld from the couch and eating way too many donuts.
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