Movies like Santa Isn't Real (2023)
The best movies like Santa Isn't Real (2023) are Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025), Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) and Terrifier 3 (2024). If Santa Isn't Real hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPsycho (1960)8.4/10 from 11,442 votes
- NewestSilent Night, Deadly Night (2025)Released 2025
Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025)
After witnessing his parents' brutal murder on Christmas Eve, Billy transforms into a Killer Santa, delivering a yearly spree of calculated, chilling violence. This year, his blood-soaked mission collides with love, as a young woman challenges him to confront his darkness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
After a man dressed as Santa Claus brutally murders Billy Chapman's parents, little Billy then endures the cruelty of a sadistic nun at his orphanage. Years later, when adult Billy has to fill in for an absent in-store Santa, his childhood trauma brings him to the breaking point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisTerrifier 3 (2024)
Five years after surviving Art the Clown's Halloween massacre, Sienna and Jonathan are still struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind. But just when they think they're safe, Art returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare. The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisTrick (2019)
A detective tries to track down a masked killer who reappears every Halloween to wreak bloody havoc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisHalloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Two decades after surviving a massacre on October 31, 1978, former baby sitter Laurie Strode finds herself hunted by persistent knife-wielder Michael Myers. Laurie now lives in Northern California under an assumed name, where she works as the headmistress of a private school. But it's not far enough to escape Myers, who soon discovers her whereabouts. As Halloween descends upon Laurie's peaceful community, a feeling of dread weighs upon her -- with good reason.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jester 2 (2025)
When teen magician Max crosses paths with the sinister Jester on Halloween night, she must outsmart a supernatural killer whose magic is all too real and whose tricks always end up in blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014)
A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisHalloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens on Halloween Eve and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nasty Piece of Work (2019)
A mid-level corporate employee finds out he’s not getting the Christmas bonus he was expecting, but his boss invites him to earn a promotion by beating his professional rival in a violent competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jester (2023)
A malevolent being known as The Jester terrorizes the inhabitants of a small town on Halloween night, including two estranged sisters who must come together to find a way to defeat this evil entity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScream 4 (2011)
Fifteen years after the original Woodsboro murders, Sidney Prescott returns home to promote her new book about surviving trauma, only for a new Ghostface killer to emerge, targeting a new group of teens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHalloween Kills (2021)
Michael manages to free himself from Laurie Strode's trap to resume his ritual bloodbath. As she fights for her life from injuries from their last encounter, she inspires her daughter Karen, her granddaughter Allyson, and all of Haddonfield to rise up against the unstoppable monster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight of the Living Dead (1990)
A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHalloween (2018)
Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am Not a Serial Killer (2016)
In a small Midwestern town, a troubled teen with homicidal tendencies must hunt down and destroy a supernatural killer while keeping his own inner demons at bay.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClown in a Cornfield (2025)
Quinn and her father have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down. As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jack in the Box Rises (2024)
When a creepy Jack-in-the-Box is discovered and opened on the grounds of an exclusive girls' school, six brave students soon enter a fight to the finish against the unleashed demon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScream 3 (2000)
As bodies begin dropping around the Hollywood set of STAB 3, the third film based on the gruesome Woodsboro killings, Sidney and other survivors are once again terrorized by another Ghostface killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHalloween II (1981)
After failing to kill stubborn survivor Laurie and taking a bullet or six from former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael Myers has followed Laurie to the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, where she's been admitted for Myers' attempt on her life. The institution proves to be particularly suited to serial killers, however, as Myers cuts, stabs and slashes his way through hospital staff to reach his favorite victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerror in Times Square: A Guide To Nightmare's Grindhouse Kingdom (2015)
2015 featurette documentary behind the experience of Nightmare and grindhouse cinema.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Cut Wide Open (2010)
On the last day of the holidays, the small village of Woodcreek is homed by a nightmare, everyone who enter the forest of Woodcreek is hunted and met by an unknown killer, among them is also jane, a single mother, and her baby. Will the both of them success in escaping the reign of the murderous psychopath or will the day end in terror and death for them too. The hunt begins. In a disconnected children's hospital a bloody showdown begins... Who will survive this nightmare and what will be left of them?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Sorority Row 2 (TBA)
Sequel to Sorority Row (2009).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
M-Agent (2013)
A group of drunk students kills a person in road accident and disposes the body. The ghost of deceased starts to get revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Psycho (1960)
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Absolute CinemaMovies 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: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChopper (2023)
CHOPPER is a modern-day re-imagining of the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow. After taking a strange new drug with supernatural side effects at a Daytona Bike Week party, a troubled young bartender and her biker friends start seeing ghosts. They are stalked by the Reaper, a headless ghost on a motorcycle who collects the souls of sinners in the afterlife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Andro (2024)
After taking a blood test, Andro begins to be stalked by an entity whose intentions are not good.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Dentist (1996)
Dr. Alan Feinstone has everything: a beautiful wife and a successful career in dentistry. However, when he discovers his wife's affair, he realizes that behind every clean, white surface lies the stench of decay.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Classmate (2024)
At her best friend’s burial, a young woman bumps into an old classmate she used to bully, unaware that she’s changed radically over the last ten years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Santa Isn't Real?
The closest matches to Santa Isn't Real are Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025), Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) and Terrifier 3 (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Santa Isn't Real?
Start with Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025), the closest match to Santa Isn't Real.
What is the highest-rated movie like Santa Isn't Real?
Psycho (1960), rated 8.4/10 by 11,442 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Santa Isn't Real?
Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Santa Isn't Real?
Yes: Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025), Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) and Terrifier 3 (2024).
How are movies similar to Santa Isn't Real chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Santa Isn't Real, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.