8 creepy-sexy film noir flicks you can watch on Netflix right now

Directed by Billy Wilder.

This Oscar-winning film — for Best Score, Best Art Direction for a Black-and-White Film, and Best Original Screenplay — makes unforgettable storytelling out of Hollywood's tendency to throw away talent with age. The plot is laced with love, murder, and plenty of tragedy.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Filmed during the Watergate scandal that prompted president Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, this political thriller, an updated noir, questions the invasion of privacy through audio surveillance. The film reminds us that even the walls have ears.

Directed by Roman Polanski.

Inspired by the California Water Wars, "Chinatown" is full of conspiracy. Capturing the golden age of 1930s and '40s Hollywood, it won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and is recognized as one of the best films in cinematic history, as well as a classic new noir whose style was influenced by an earlier era.

Directed by Martin Scorsese.

Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) stands in front of a mirror, revolver in hand, and speaks the famous line, "You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who do you think you're talking to?" Yeah, that's a scene from this movie.

Directed by David Lynch.

"Blue Velvet" was highly criticized at its release, but it still earned Lynch an Oscar for Best Director. The film draws you in by using the camera as a set of eyes, making you feel what the characters feel. It was a comeback film for Dennis Hopper, and it gave Isabella Rossellini, daughter of Ingrid Bergman, her first taste of stardom.

Directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Setting the tone for what's to come, the opening scene involves an ice pick, blood, and animalistic sex. Another highlight: A rock star is killed mid-coitus.

Directed by Quentin Tarantino.

"Pulp Fiction" launched Uma Thurman's career, alerted the world to Tarantino's dark genius, and reintroduced John Travolta to a whole new generation of moviegoers. In short, the film is an organized tangle of unrelated characters, drugs, guns, cheeseburgers, and pop culture references.