Romantic Thriller Movie Ideas for a Date Night

A stay-at-home date night is the perfect time to snuggle with your special someone to enjoy a movie. Tired of all the cliche, saccharine fluff of romantic comedies? Consider a thriller movie: many thrillers have a romantic element to them, whether it’s a subplot between characters or a villain driven by love, however misguided. Surprise your honey with one of these quirky, lesser-known gems:

Boy Eats Girl

Boy loves girl. Boy doesn’t exactly know how to tell girl. In typical high school fashion, boy misinterprets situation when he sees girl with another boy. So is the story of Nathan and Jessica. After drinking a bit too much, Nathan decides life isn’t worth living and goes to hang himself. He quickly realizes that he is overreacting (no one is worth killing yourself over, ever) and thinks better of it. However, at that same moment, Nathan’s mother opens the door and knocks his chair over, sending him to his death. Desperate, Nathan’s mother uses an old spell to try to bring him back to life. The spell is somewhat successful – Nathan is now the undead. If he thought he had trouble expressing his feelings for Jessica before, things just got a whole lot more complicated. Made in 2005, this British movie is a cute story with plenty of blood, gore, and humor.

Dance of the Dead

It’s prom night at the local high school, which also just happens to be the same day the dead rise from the earth to feed. These two events intersect when a couple on their way to the prom is caught making out in the cemetery by the risen zombies. The zombies soon take over the town, and it’s up to the dateless losers to storm the prom and kill the zombies and save whoever they can – namely, the girls who turned them down for the prom. This 2008 film is sweet and funny, has its share of blood and gore, and is a thoroughly enjoyable watch.

Cold Storage

Meet Clive. He’s a harmless guy, a little bit special, lives by himself on the outskirts of a small town. Clive doesn’t bother anyone and only ventures into town when he needs a couple things from the market. One night on his way home, he comes across a car accident where a pretty woman has been thrown from her car and is in pretty bad shape. A kind-hearted, helpful soul, Clive takes her home with him. However, the town folk start to talk when Clive keeps showing up at the market for disinfectant and dresses for his deceased new girlfriend. When the woman’s sister and boyfriend show up looking for her, Clive panics and violence ensues. This 2006 film is a bit of a sad story, just a long-tormented man trying to hold on to love in all the wrong ways.

Summer’s Blood

Summer is on a mission to find her real father. While searching in a small town, she meets Tom, a cute guy at a bar, and decides to go home with him. When she tries to sneak out the next morning, the surprise is on her. Tom adds her to his “garden,” where he keeps his beautiful girls restrained amongst flowers and plants, as he tries to nurture their relationships. On one hand, Tom knows what he’s doing is wrong, and he has a violent side to him. But really he’s just looking for the right girl to connect with. With an abusive father and incestuous relationship with his mother, Tom really doesn’t stand a chance at a normal relationship. Made in 2009, this creepy film is also known as “Summer’s Moon.”

Restraint

Ron and Dale are a violent couple on the run, looking for a place to lay low from the law. What they find is Andrew, a timid agoraphobic, alone in a huge house on the countryside. Andrew is a hurt soul, pining for his mysteriously absent girlfriend. Deciding Andrew is no use to them, Ron is ready to kill him. Andrew stalls the inevitable, offering them money, but Dale must pose as his girlfriend to retrieve it from the bank. Andrew coaches her on how to dress, speak, and act, transforming her from street trash to an elegant lady, with a starling resemblance to Andrew’s girlfriend. Jealousy, anger, and greed boil over in the house and the surprising, unsettling twist at the end of this 2008 psychological thriller will leave you feeling a little dirty.