8 Best Classic Movies on Netflix (October 2026): ‘Frankenstein’ and More

Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is a good woman who has done something very bad — she’s stolen $40,000 from her employer so she can settle down with her boyfriend, Sam (John Gavin). She immediately regrets it, though, and after she stops her getaway by checking into an empty roadside motel, she resolves to turn herself in and face the consequences. But what Marion doesn’t realize is that for some guests at the Bates Motel, they check in and never check out, and doing time for embezzlement will be the least of her worries — if she’s still alive, that is. 

Psycho is so famous that you probably know what happens to Marion, how and where it takes place and who did it. For the uninitiated, it’s a genuine thrill to watch the film’s story unfold before you, especially when Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) enters the picture. One of cinema’s most fascinating characters, Norman is Psycho’s hero and villain, and Perkins’ nervous, increasingly desperate performance makes you feel more empathy for him even when he’s doing the most vile things. Released in 1960, Psycho always feels fresh and modern, which is why the 1998 remake starring Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche was such a stinker.

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is back, but Mother is nowhere to be seen. At least, that’s what he tells everyone as he returns to his hometown, where he murdered several people as his Mother persona. He’s ready to rebuild his life, but someone or something won’t let him. People start dying again, and everyone thinks Norman killed them. Did he? Even Norman himself isn’t so sure, but he’s determined to find out who is behind the string of murders, even if it is him-as-Mother.

It seems crazy (pardon the term) to make a sequel to a film as iconic as Psycho, but director Richard Franklin doesn’t bother matching Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic. Instead, he makes an effective slasher-thriller that springs a few surprises on you, like the real reason Meg Tilly’s kind-hearted waitress Mary befriends him. What’s not surprising is Perkins’ performance, which gives new depth to an iconic character we thought we knew inside and out. In this sequel, Norman is a haunted man, with each day bringing a fresh new nightmare that he can’t escape from.

It lives! Cocky medical student Victor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh, who also directed) has done the impossible — he’s given life to a stitched-up creature made from other people’s body parts. But Victor soon learns the hard way that playing God has consequences, as the Creature (Robert De Niro) runs amok and vows revenge on a civilization that rejects him. No one is safe from his wrath, not even Victor’s beautiful bride-to-be (and adoptive sister?!?), Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter).

Coming two years after Francis Ford Coppola’s brilliant Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Branagh’s Frankenstein isn’t as great or as delirious. Instead, it’s a well-produced adaptation that’s largely faithful to Mary Shelley’s original text. With the exception of Carter’s winsome Elizabeth, most of the English people the Creature terrorizes aren’t all that sympathetic. Under pounds of makeup and prosthetics, De Niro manages to make his outcast monster the most sympathetic character in the film. 

Architect Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) doesn’t believe in love anymore. Can you blame him? His beloved wife died of cancer, and he’s still so sad that he moves from Chicago to Seattle with his eight-year-old son, Jonah (Ross Mallinger). Jonah wants his dad to be happy, which is why he impulsively calls a radio shrink on New Year’s Eve and forces him to publicly confess that love doesn’t happen twice. Across the country, Baltimore reporter Annie (Meg Ryan) begs to differ, and concocts a plan to meet Sam — even though she’s already engaged! Annie isn’t quite sure what she’s doing; all she knows is that she needs to meet Sam to see if she really loves him.

Written and directed by Nora Ephron, Sleepless in Seattle is a timeless classic about a grieving widower and a woman who wants the kind of love she’s only seen in movies. The 1957 film An Affair to Remember hovers over the film as both an inspiration and aspiration — it’s what Annie wants to happen with her and Sam, and vice versa. Hanks and Ryan have such great chemistry together that they don’t even need to share the screen to sell the movie’s far-fetched love story. Sleepless in Seattle is a one-of-a-kind movie, and to resist its spell is like swimming against a rising tide.

How do you make a sequel to a classic? For director James Cameron, you make a completely different film and amp up the action — and acid-spewing baddies. In the intense sci-fi flick Aliens, Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley is still alive — and still plagued by aliens who want to kill her and every human they encounter. When she accompanies a crew of hardened space marines to investigate the disappearance of a human colony on a distant planet, she knows they’re in for trouble, but no one listens to her. She’s proven right when the aliens start attacking, but that doesn’t do her or orphaned girl Newt (Carrie Henn) any good when the bodies start piling up. They need to leave as soon as possible, but will they last long enough to escape?

Aliens is one of the most intense movies ever made, but that’s what makes it so fun to watch. Like a rollercoaster, you’re both terrified at what’s going to happen next and can’t wait for it, too. Cameron and composer James Horner make this sequel almost unbearable to watch — just when you think you can relax, a facehugger leaps out from the shadows and attacks yet another poor character. The heart of the film is Weaver, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. This time around, her Ripley is hardened by her first brush with those pesky Xenomorphs, but she still has enough humanity left in her to care for the motherless Newt. Ripley’s climactic duel with the Alien Queen is an ‘80s film highlight, as is her iconic line that begins it: “Get away from her, you bitch!” 

Don’t. Go. In. The. Water. That’s the main message of Jaws, the 1975 summer blockbuster that changed the way movies were made, marketed and seen. When a young swimmer dies from an unexpected shark attack in a New England resort town, panic ensues, but the mayor doesn’t want to close the beaches for fear of driving away tourists. That leaves Martin (Roy Scheider), Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and Quint (Robert Shaw) with no choice but to hunt and kill the shark themselves. Can this ragtag trio overcome one of nature’s most fearsome beasts?

Over 50 years later, Jaws has lost none of its power. Director Steven Spielberg knows when to turn the screw long enough to generate sufficient tension without sacrificing character development. This is a blockbuster with depth, taking its time to build up its three central leads before they head out to the ocean for their final battle with their Great White Shark nemesis. The iconic score by John Williams has been parodied over the years, and yet when you hear it in this film, it still raises the hair on the back of your neck. The same could be said for Jaws itself, a ‘70s thriller that still packs a punch in 2026.

Moments after Lawrence of Arabia starts, its hero, T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole), dies in a motorcycle accident. That’s not a spoiler so much as a warning – this is a film that isn’t concerned with narrative logic or telling an ordinary story. Lawrence was a real-life figure who worked for the British Army during World War I. His main mission is to help Prince Faisal (Alex Guinness) battle the Turks and unite the bickering Arab nations of the Middle East. But as he is drawn more into conflict, the less Lawrence feels like himself. Or maybe the opposite is true – maybe Lawrence loves the thrill of conflict and the excitement of killing his foes in battle?

That is only a part of what Lawrence of Arabia is about – the film is 222 minutes long and uses every second of it to tell a complicated story about Western involvement in the Middle East that still has relevance today. Even if you’re not interested in what Lawrence of Arabia is about, you’ll be dazzled by what the film is – a groundbreaking epic that contains some of the most beautiful and striking images ever put on film. The Oscar-winning score by Maurice Jarre is magnificent, too, as is the Oscar-nominated performance by O’Toole as a sexually ambiguous officer who discovers he’s no gentleman in private. Lawrence of Arabia is essential viewing, even if you’ve seen it a few times.

In Spike Lee’s feature directorial debut, Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns) decides to date three men at once to figure out what kind of man she wants to be with. She goes for Greer Childs (John Canada Terrell), self-obsessed, rich and handsome; Jamie Overstreet (Tommy Redmond Hicks), protective and macho; and Mars Blackmon (Lee), a good-hearted, if awkward, nerd. Despite widening her options, Nola feels ever further from reaching a decision.

She’s Gotta Have It features a provocative and boundary-pushing take on female sexuality and monogamy, allowing the lead protagonist the sexual freedom men are often allowed to enjoy. It’s an energetic debut from a confident new director who helped to bolster the American independent film movement of the 1980s