Predator

Dutch leads a team into a Central American rainforest to rescue hostages. That is already enough pressure for one trip, but something else is out there: a skilled extraterrestrial with advanced technology, stalking them as they try to complete the mission. I would be looking for the quickest route home. The film, quite reasonably, has other ideas.

The fear comes from the gap between people who are used to being capable and a hunter with a clear advantage. The rainforest gives the team room to move, but it also gives the hunter room to stalk them. I find that more unsettling than a creature simply appearing and making a noise. You have time to wonder what it will do next.

This is one for a night when you want your horror with action and a steady sense of danger, rather than a quiet ghost story. It is tense and fairly frightening, though the rescue mission gives you something concrete to follow while the threat closes in.

What makes the set-up work for me is its simple change of direction: a team sent in with a job to do becomes the target of somebody else's hunt. Put the kettle on before you start. I would not count on a restful evening.