Now on Netflix! Obscure movies you can’t miss: “Ten Inch Hero” and “The Baby’s Room”

Whether you’re coming home from work, from school, or the gym, you deserve to be a potato plopped on the couch for an hour or two. Nothing beats a night in with Netflix, and your loved ones of course. With over 20 million subscribers, chances are you’re one to agree. There are, however, thousands of titles to choose from and you can only watch so many episodes of “How I Met Your Mother” at a time. For your convenience, I’ve scoped out two titles streaming now on Netflix, you may have overlooked, that are sure to put a satisfying end to your day: a romantic comedy and a horror flick.

“Ten Inch Hero”

Directed by David McKay. Written by Betsy Morris. Starring Elisabeth Harnois, Clea DuVall, and Sean Patrick Flanery

Beginning with a Help Wanted sign posted on a sandwich shop window that reads “Normal people need NOT apply,” this 2007 romantic comedy is charming from the get-go and never loses steam. “Ten Inch Hero” follows the lives of four workers at Beach City Grill, a Santa Cruz subway shop (hence the movie’s title) run by a hippie surfer who goes by Trucker.

Tish is the bombshell and promiscuous one of the bunch. She justifies her promiscuity with the assertion that since men are so easily tempted, they deserve to be taken advantage of. Priestly is the always tardy, tatted-up, sharp-tongued, pierced, and mohawked punk rocker who carries an air of confidence yet has no luck with the ladies. Jen is a girl caught up in an internet romance a la “You’ve Got Mail” with a mystery man who goes by the name fuzzy_22.

The main focus centers around the newest member of the bunch, Piper, played by the lovely Elisabeth Harnois (“CSI,” “Adventures in Wonderland”). Piper is adorable and sweet, and proves to be a very talented artist. She also has a secret. The reason she moved to Santa Cruz was to track down an 8-year old girl she believes to be her daughter, a girl she gave up for adoption after giving birth at the young age of 15.

We come to find that every member of the sub shop has their own secrets and their own insecurities, including Trucker himself.

In the spirit of “The Breakfast Club,” this movie deals with sensitive issues concerning sex, superficiality, and the difficulty in coping with a dark past, in a way that is tasteful and funny without being melodramatic. It’s sometimes corny, but in a way that only makes it all the more endearing. With an excellent cast and a handful of touching moments, “Ten Inch Hero” proves to be a tasty treat.

This movie is Rated R for sexuality and language.

“The Baby’s Room”

Co-written and Directed by Alex de la Iglesia. Starring Javier Gutierrez, Leonor Watling, and Sancho Garcia

Before there was “Paranormal Activity,” there was “The Baby’s Room.” This 2006 thriller is included in a Spanish horror collection titled “6 Films to Keep You Awake.” It’s fitting, because “The Baby’s Room” is creepy enough to deliver at least one night of insomnia.

The movie isn’t filmed in the documentary style of “The Blair Witch Project” or the “Paranormal Activity” Series. It does, however, toy with the notion that various electronic devices have the ability to pick up signals and images from a dimension beyond the living.

Juan and Sonia move into an old house with their newborn baby. Though it’s a real fixer upper, it has potential to be their dream home. They are indeed a cute family, and the witty banter between husband and wife make them easily likeable. The dream home, however, reveals itself to be a nightmare once the couple starts to notice an extra voice coming from the audio baby monitor.

In most movies of this nature, the male figure is oftentimes portrayed as the rational, level-headed realist, who rejects any notion of the supernatural and accuses his wife of being delusional. “The Baby’s Room” offers a breath of fresh air when Juan turns out to be just as freaked out, if not more so, than his wife Sonia, sending him on a mental trip that borders insanity.

Through the use of a more advanced video baby monitor, Juan delves deeper into the history behind his newly acquired home, and finds himself caught in a world he would’ve never imagined, not only a ghost story, but a murder mystery as well. This vehicle lets Director Alex de la Iglesia create moments in the movie that are both suspenseful and innovative.

“The Baby’s Room” is perfect for a movie night amongst friends, and a good chance to cuddle up real close to your significant other.

This movie is Not Rated.

Here is a preview of the Spanish horror series “6 Films to Keep You Awake”: