Movies like Absolutely Scary Urban Legend (2012)
The best movies like Absolutely Scary Urban Legend (2012) are Noroi: The Curse (2005), Bodycam (2026) and Paranormal Activity (2009). If Absolutely Scary Urban Legend hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBackrooms (2026)7.0/10 from 4,089 votes
- NewestBackrooms (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseNoroi: The Curse (2005)Also in Japanese
Noroi: The Curse (2005)
A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBodycam (2026)
A call to a quiet suburban home unleashes unthinkable carnage when two officers mistakenly shoot a man and his infant child, spiraling the tragedy into a fierce, unrelenting fall into the unknown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParanormal Activity (2009)
After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly the most active in the middle of the night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarebito (2004)
A fear-obsessed freelance cameraman investigates an urban legend involving mysterious spirits that haunt the subways of Tokyo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCult (2013)
Three female idols appear on a television show to investigate an exorcism. An exorcist with psychic powers named Unsui claims that the show’s subjects, the Kaneda family, are cursed by a demon that’s too powerful for him to banish on his own, so he calls in a fellow exorcist to help. Soon, a reckless ghost hunter enters the fray as the three idols witness a series of terrifying events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhoenix Forgotten (2017)
Twenty years after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of mysterious lights appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBackrooms (2026)
A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRing 2 (1999)
While investigating the horrifying death of her boyfriend, Mai Takano learns about a videotape haunted by the spirit of a disturbing girl named Sadako, which kills anyone who watches it exactly one week later. When her boyfriend’s son, Yoichi, starts to develop the same psychic abilities as Sadako, Takano must find a way to keep the boy and herself from becoming the next victims.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Curse of Buckout Road (2017)
A college class project on creation and destruction of modern myth, turns terrifying when a trio of young people come to realize the urban legends surrounding the famed Buckout Road may, in fact, be REAL.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOccult (2009)
Koji Shiraishi interviews the survivors of an indiscriminate attack at a sightseeing resort and starts investigating the strange events that have been happening to them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisV/H/S/94 (2021)
After the discovery of a mysterious VHS tape, a brutish police SWAT team launches a high-intensity raid on a remote warehouse, only to discover a sinister cult compound whose collection of pre-recorded material uncovers a nightmarish conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisV/H/S/99 (2022)
A thirsty teenager's home video leads to a series of horrifying revelations, harkening back to the final punk rock analog days of VHS, while taking one giant leap forward into the hellish new millennium.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Conspiracy (2012)
A documentary about conspiracy theories takes a horrific turn after the filmmakers uncover an ancient and dangerous secret society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisHaunter (2013)
A teenager is stuck in a time loop that is not quite the same each time. She must uncover the truth but her actions have consequences for herself and others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisV/H/S (2012)
When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire one rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they had bargained for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor (2023)
A group of cold case investigators stay at the Carmichael Manor, site of the grisly and unsolved murders of the Carmichael family back in the eighties. After four nights, the group was never heard from again. What is discovered on their footage is even more disturbing than anything found on the Hell House tapes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSana (2023)
Takashi Shimizu's newest film is about a mysterious cassette tape containing a melody. People who hear this melody gradually begin to hum it themselves and become involved in a mysterious incident. What is the mystery behind this melody ?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStrange Harvest (2025)
Detectives are thrust into a chilling hunt for a sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grotesque, otherworldly crimes tied to a cosmic force.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHell House LLC (2015)
Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Den (2013)
A young woman studying the habits of webcam chat users from the apparent safety of her apartment witnesses a brutal murder online and is quickly immersed in a nightmare in which she and her loved ones are targeted for the same grisly fate as the first victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Shark (2023)
Love Shark is a wildly unhinged parody of Japanese paranormal TV and YouTube popularity culture. Natsume and Momoka run the failing psychic investigations channel Big Summer until a clickbait dating show they put on leads Momoka to find true love- with a contestant who is also a man-shark. Cue assassins, magic priests, decapitations, and chaos galore in this hysterical rom-com monster movie.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Live Escape (2022)
Two cops investigate an eerie empty homeless shelter with an endless maze of spaces and are attacked by zombies. They discover how these zombies were created. What will happen if zombies escape into the city?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Seikimatsu no noroi Zoshoku (2000)
A female documentary writer approaches the case of a hikikomori boy's murder of a young girl and a high school girl's classmate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Stake Land: Origins (2011)
As a mysterious virus starts affecting middle America, a young boy films his father, a butcher, for a school project.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Namade Kowasugi! 2.5 (2022)
Spin-off film in Kōji Shiraishi's "Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi!" series. Broadcast on NicoNico.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Dreams of a Dead God (2026)
October 1936: In the swamps north of New Orleans, sanity and reality itself are tested during the filmed interrogation of a kidnapper and murderer with ties to an ancient cult.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Brandon Corey Story (2006)
A faux-documentary directed by Brian Kraft, detailing the disappearance of an anti-war activist during his investigations into Dick Cheney.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Conspiracy Theory (2016)
A television crew heads to Nevada to search for alien life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Bayou Ghost Story (2017)
A paranormal investigator travels to the South to research a series of deaths connected to a supernatural curse haunting an old Louisiana family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Tahoe Joe (2022)
In 2022, filmmaker Dillon Brown set out with Green Beret and wilderness survival expert, Michael Rock, to document an attempt to find a missing person. What they found instead was a horror thought to be a myth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Absolutely Scary Urban Legend?
The closest matches to Absolutely Scary Urban Legend are Noroi: The Curse (2005), Bodycam (2026) and Paranormal Activity (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Absolutely Scary Urban Legend?
Start with Noroi: The Curse (2005), the closest match to Absolutely Scary Urban Legend.
What is the highest-rated movie like Absolutely Scary Urban Legend?
Backrooms (2026), rated 7.0/10 by 4,089 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Absolutely Scary Urban Legend?
Backrooms (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Absolutely Scary Urban Legend?
Yes: Noroi: The Curse (2005), Marebito (2004) and Cult (2013).
How are movies similar to Absolutely Scary Urban Legend chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Absolutely Scary Urban Legend, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.