Movies like Darkness (2002)
The best movies like Darkness (2002) are Hereditary (2018), Bloody Birthday (1981) and The Children (2008). If Darkness hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)7.4/10 from 6,063 votes
- NewestPlease Don't Feed the Children (2025)Released 2025
Hereditary (2018)
When the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her daughter begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about her ancestry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBloody Birthday (1981)
In 1970, three children are born at the height of a total eclipse. Due to the sun and moon blocking Saturn, which controls emotions, they have become heartless killers ten years later, and are able to escape detection because of their youthful and innocent facades. A boy and his teenage sister become endangered when they stumble onto the bloody truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Children (2008)
A relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBring Her Back (2025)
Following the death of their father, a brother and sister are sent to live with a foster mother, only to learn that she is hiding a terrifying secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlood on Satan's Claw (1971)
After a landsman in 18th century England discovers a corpse covered in fur buried in a field, the town becomes infected by "the devil's skin," leading the local children to engage in demonic rituals and criminal behavior.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDagon (2001)
A boating accident off the coast of Spain sends Paul and his girlfriend Barbara to the decrepit fishing village of Imboca. As night falls, people start to disappear and things not quite human start to appear. Paul is pursued by the entire town. Running for his life, he uncovers Imboca's secret..they worship Dagon, a monstrous god of the sea...and Dagon's unholy offspring are on the loose...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Hill (2006)
Rose, a desperate mother, takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill in an attempt to cure her of her ailment. After a violent car crash, Sharon disappears, and Rose embarks on a horrific journey to get her back and begins to uncover the truth behind the apocalyptic disaster that burned the town 30 years earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlease Don't Feed the Children (2025)
After a viral outbreak ravaged the country’s adult population, a group of orphans heads south in search of a new life, only to find themselves at the mercy of a deranged woman harboring a dangerous secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoltergeist (1982)
The Freelings' suburban home becomes the center of paranormal activity that opens a portal to the 'other side'. With help, they must cross over to get their daughter back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner's clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dark Song (2016)
A determined young woman and a damaged occultist risk their lives and souls to perform a dangerous ritual that will grant them what they want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuperstition (1982)
A witch put to death in 1692 swears vengeance on her persecutors and returns to the present day to punish their descendants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like this825 Forest Road (2025)
After a family tragedy, Chuck Wilson hopes to start a new life in Ashland Falls with his wife Maria and little sister Elizabeth, but he quickly discovers that the town has a dark history of being haunted by a ghostly woman who drives residents to suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThir13en Ghosts (2001)
Arthur and his two children inherit his uncle's estate: a glass house that serves as a prison to twelve ghosts. When the family, accompanied by a nanny and an attorney, enter the house they find themselves trapped inside an evil machine 'designed by the Devil and powered by the dead' to open the Eye of Hell. Aided by a ghost hunter and his rival, a ghost rights activist out to set the ghosts free, the group must do what they can to get out of the house alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCase 39 (2009)
In her many years as a social worker, Emily Jenkins believes she has seen it all, until she meets 10-year-old Lilith and the girl's cruel parents. Emily's worst fears are confirmed when the parents try to harm the child, and so Emily assumes custody of Lilith while she looks for a foster family. However, Emily soon finds that dark forces surround the seemingly innocent girl, and the more she tries to protect Lilith, the more horrors she encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMartyrs Lane (2022)
Leah, 10, has terrible nightmares. Her mother seems distant somehow, lost in her thoughts. A small, nightly visitor brings Leah comfort, but soon Leah will realize that her little visitor offers knowledge that might be very, very dangerous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Feeds (2025)
A clairvoyant therapist confronts her own personal demons while trying to save a young girl who believes a malevolent entity is feeding on her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOddity (2024)
After the brutal murder of her twin sister, Darcy goes after those responsible by using haunted items as her tools for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCobweb (2023)
Eight year old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tapping from inside his bedroom wall—one that his parents insist is all in his imagination. As Peter's fear intensifies, he believes that his parents could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trustworthiness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 'Burbs (1989)
When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Water (2002)
A woman in the midst of an unpleasant divorce moves to an eerie apartment building with her young daughter. The ceiling of their apartment has a dark and active leak.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalmon Baits (2019)
A murderous lust to kill and eat drives a sushi lover to a violent deed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Shocker (1989)
About to be electrocuted for a catalog of heinous crimes, the unrepentant Horace Pinker transforms into a terrifying energy source. Only young athlete Jonathan Parker, with an uncanny connection to him through bizarre dreams, can fight the powerful demon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisRottweiler (2004)
Dante travels across a desolate, futuristic Spain in search of his girlfriend, Ula. He is pursued by a bloodthirsty, cybernetic Rottweiler.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisRomasanta: The Werewolf Hunt (2004)
A terror is stalking the land: people are disappearing daily, their bodies appearing covered in savage gashes coupled with precise surgical cuts. The legend of the 'Werewolf of Allariz' spreads across the land like wildfire. When Barbara (Elsa Pataky) falls in love with travelling vendor Manuel Romasanta, she is at first besotted with him - but soon begins to be suspicious of him. What has happened to her sister, who - after being escorted by Romasanta to the city - seems to have disappeared forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Grudge (2019)
After a young mother murders her family in her own house, a detective attempts to investigate the mysterious case, only to discover that the house is cursed by a vengeful ghost. Now targeted by the demonic spirits, the detective must do anything to protect herself and her family from harm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisCherry Falls (2000)
When students in the small town of Cherry Falls learn a serial killer is targeting virgins, they realize their only chance of survival is to throw a “Pop Your Cherry” party.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisFreak (2020)
A bloody legend becomes all too real for a group of kids heading out for a weekend of camping and partying. Will they survive what waits for them in the woods?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Psycho III (1986)
When Maureen Coyle, a suicidal nun who resembles Norman's former victim, Marion Crane, arrives at the motel, all bets are off and "Mother" is less than happy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Darkness?
The closest matches to Darkness are Hereditary (2018), Bloody Birthday (1981) and The Children (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Darkness?
Start with Hereditary (2018), the closest match to Darkness.
What is the highest-rated movie like Darkness?
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), rated 7.4/10 by 6,063 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Darkness?
Please Don't Feed the Children (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Darkness?
Yes: Hereditary (2018), Bloody Birthday (1981) and The Children (2008).
How are movies similar to Darkness chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Darkness, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.