Movies like The Night of the Headhunter (1985)
The best movies like The Night of the Headhunter (1985) are The Strangers (2008), Black Phone 2 (2025) and Us (2019). If The Night of the Headhunter hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Night of the Headhunter
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Black Phone (2022)7.5/10 from 6,224 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
The Strangers (2008)
After a 4 a.m. knock at the door and haunting voices, Kristen McKay and James Hoyt’s remote getaway becomes a psychological night of terror as three masked strangers invade. Now they must go far beyond what they thought themselves capable of if they hope to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Phone 2 (2025)
Four years after defeating The Grabber, Finney Blake is struggling with life after captivity. When his younger sister Gwen begins receiving calls in her dreams from the Black Phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp, the siblings become determined to solve the mystery and confront a killer who has grown more powerful in death and more significant to them than either could imagine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUs (2019)
Husband and wife Gabe and Adelaide Wilson take their kids to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends. But as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Black Phone (2022)
Finney Blake, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)
Arriving in the small town of Fallwell, Massachusetts to claim her inheritance, horror hostess Elvira receives a less than enthusiastic reception from the conservative locals, including her sinister uncle Vincent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPorno (2019)
When a group of naive teens working at a movie theater in a small Christian town discover a mysterious film hidden in its basement, they unleash an alluring succubus who gives them a sex education…written in blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNewness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kiss of the Vampire (1963)
Honeymooning in Bavaria, a young couple becomes stranded and is forced to stay the night in the area. Doctor Ravna, owner of the impressive chateau that sits imposingly above the village, invites them to dinner that evening. Their association with Ravna and his charming, beautiful family is to prove disastrous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSplit (2016)
When Inanna, a young actress, becomes obsessed with a mask maker, she sacrifices parts of her life in order to win his love. At the same time she enters a mythic journey in the theater that blurs her performance, her dreams and her real life and results in a provocative and powerful confrontation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisLucy (2014)
A woman, accidentally caught in a dark deal, turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGinger Snaps (2000)
The story of two outcast sisters, Ginger and Brigitte, in the mindless suburban town of Bailey Downs. On the night of Ginger's first period, she is savagely attacked by a wild creature. Ginger's wounds miraculously heal but something is not quite right. Now Brigitte must save her sister and save herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Kill It (2016)
Demon hunter Jebediah Huntley teams up with an FBI agent to battle a supernatural force in the southern state of Mississippi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSweetwater (2013)
In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEve's Bayou (1997)
Summer heats up in rural Louisiana beside Eve’s Bayou, 1962, as the Batiste family tries to survive the secrets they’ve kept and the betrayals they’ve endured.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohnny Belinda (1948)
A small-town doctor helps a deaf-mute farm girl learn to communicate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLast Shift (2014)
Rookie police officer Jessica Loren has been assigned the last shift at a closing police station and must wait for a hazmat crew to collect biomedical evidence. Ordered not to leave the station under any circumstances, Jessica comes to learn that it's more than just an outdated station, it's home to the ultimate embodiment of evil and his devoted bloodthirsty followers. Jessica is left to fend for herself in the Devil's playground.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Most Hated Woman in America (2017)
The true story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair -- iconoclast, opportunist, and outspoken atheist -- from her controversial rise to her untimely demise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unforgiven (1960)
The neighbors of a frontier family turn on them when it is suspected that their beloved adopted daughter was stolen from the Kiowa tribe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Toxic Love Story (2026)
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Exit (2022)
Stranded at a rest stop in the mountains during a blizzard, a recovering addict discovers a kidnapped child hidden in a car belonging to one of the people inside the building which sets her on a terrifying struggle to identify who among them is the kidnapper.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Night of the Headhunter?
The closest matches to The Night of the Headhunter are The Strangers (2008), Black Phone 2 (2025) and Us (2019). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Night of the Headhunter?
Start with The Strangers (2008), the closest match to The Night of the Headhunter.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Night of the Headhunter?
The Black Phone (2022), rated 7.5/10 by 6,224 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Night of the Headhunter?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Night of the Headhunter?
Yes: The Strangers (2008), Black Phone 2 (2025) and Us (2019).
How are movies similar to The Night of the Headhunter chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Night of the Headhunter, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.