Movies like The Scent of Evil (1987)
The best movies like The Scent of Evil (1987) are The Surrender (2025), The Transfiguration (2016) and Caged (2021). If The Scent of Evil hooked you with its horror and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Entity (1982)6.9/10 from 620 votes
- NewestThe Spiral (2026)Released 2026
- In ItalianThe Spiral (2026)Also in Italian
The Surrender (2025)
A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Transfiguration (2016)
When troubled teen Milo, who has a fascination with vampire lore, meets the equally alienated Sophie, the two form a bond that begins to blur Milo's fantasy into reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaged (2021)
An African American male is imprisoned and placed in solitary confinement after being found guilty of murdering his wife, as he's haunted by internal demons and his dead wife, and pushed to the breaking point by an abusive female guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spiral (2026)
On a stormy night in Rome, Anna arrives at her daughter Alice’s apartment with a devastating confession: their entire family history is built on a lie. Twenty years earlier, after a horrific accident that nearly cost Alice her leg, Anna claims she made a pact with a mysterious Stranger to save her. But the miracle came at a price. What she believed was a single desperate bargain has in fact unleashed a spiraling chain reaction — a domino effect of increasingly dark events that have haunted their lives ever since. Now, the Stranger has come to collect. And Anna is convinced that only Alice can break the spiral and set things right. But at what cost?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMedusa (2020)
After being bitten by a lethal snake, a young woman experiences changes in her senses and appearance, as she sheds her old self and slowly turns into a deadly weapon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlackwater Lane (2024)
An American school teacher in England drives past an abandoned car late one night, unaware that the driver was the victim of a murder. As she comes to terms with the realization, seemingly supernatural events start to affect the gothic manor she lives in with her husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Watch (1973)
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaron Blood (1972)
A young man, Peter, returns to Austria in search of his heritage. There he visits the castle of an ancestor, a sadistic Baron who was cursed to a violent death by a witch whom the Baron had burned at the stake. Peter reads aloud the incantation that causes Baron Blood to return and continue his murderous tortures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOlder Gods (2023)
After the disappearance of his troubled friend, American Chris Rivers travels to the remote Welsh countryside to investigate what happened – leading him to a dark apocalyptic cult.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAzrael (2024)
In a world where no one speaks, a devout female hunts down a young woman who has escaped her imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, Azrael is due to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil deep within the surrounding wilderness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevil's Pond (2003)
After a brief courtship, Julianne marries her handsome boyfriend, Mitch. To celebrate their honeymoon, the couple travel to a remote cabin on a small island. When they arrive, however, Mitch becomes aggressive and physically abusive, and Julianne soon realizes he's not the ideal husband she once thought he was. Knowing that Mitch doesn't plan on ever letting her leave the island, Julianne, who is afraid of water, must find a way to escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Evil (1978)
Shortly after moving into a dark, brooding mansion, a psychologist and his co-workers are terrorized by a horrible evil being.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Possessed (2021)
A man with the ability to exorcise demons fights to protect his loved ones after a sudden surge in demonic possessions. After discovering his nephew's girlfriend has the same supernatural gift, they join forces for the ultimate confrontation. Inspired by actual events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Entity (1982)
A single mom is raped by an invisible force. Her psychiatrist believes the experience stems from childhood trauma, while she knows something supernatural is at play.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGod Is a Bullet (2023)
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971)
A rich, mentally-unstable man with a penchant for playing deadly S&M games with women who resemble his dead wife, sparks off a chain of bizarre events after getting remarried.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Harvest (2023)
In a small Midwestern town, a deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare, Sawtooth Jack, rises from the cornfields and challenges the town’s teenage boys in a bloody battle of survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInferno (1980)
A young man returns from Rome to his sister's satanic New York apartment house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLucifer, My Love (2022)
A man's life becomes threatened after he goes on a date with a woman who's in love with the Devil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & drama
Spellbinder (1988)
After leaving work one night, Los Angeles attorney Jeff Mills and his colleague rescue a young, beautiful woman from an abusive boyfriend. Jeff soon becomes romantically involved with her and embroiled in the web of intrigue that follows her, despite a string of ominous happenstances and repeated warnings from his secretary.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Masque of the Red Death (1964)
A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDiabolical Narco Satanists (1991)
Roberto makes a pact with the devil to please his multiple lovers sexually, Satan accepts the deal but promises to snatch his soul when he finds true love. Meanwhile, two cops are on the lookout for those responsible of a murderous drug on the streets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe House of the Devil (2009)
A young college student who’s struggling financially takes a strange babysitting job which coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Black Cat (1934)
After a road accident in Hungary, the American honeymooners Joan and Peter and the enigmatic Dr. Werdegast find refuge in the house of the famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig, who shares a dark past with the doctor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Possession of Michael King (2014)
Michael King asks occultists to summon all evil spirits to prove his point that they do not exist. But something goes wrong and he becomes a danger to everyone.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnholy Ground (2016)
A Swedish village in the 18th Century: the seemingly idyll is disturbed by a group of soldiers they appear to beware their heavily injured comrade from death. Despite of first hospitality the arrivals notice that the villagers are not only devout, it seems that they hide a dark secret. As the mysterious events become more frequent, the suspicion stays inevitable: some villagers seem to believe in another God.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Deep House (2021)
While diving in a remote French lake, a couple of YouTubers who specialise in underwater exploration videos discover a house submerged in the deep waters. What was initially a unique finding soon turns into a nightmare when they discover that the house was the scene of atrocious crimes. Trapped, with their oxygen reserves falling dangerously, they realise the worst is yet to come: they are not alone in the house.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like this6:66 PM (2017)
A team of ghost hunters gets more than they bargained for when the house they’re pretending is haunted turns out to be occupied by the evil spirit of a serial killer. Everything goes haywire as the demon fights to take possession of their bodies. Can they make it out alive?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Scent of Evil?
The closest matches to The Scent of Evil are The Surrender (2025), The Transfiguration (2016) and Caged (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Scent of Evil?
Start with The Surrender (2025), the closest match to The Scent of Evil.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Scent of Evil?
The Entity (1982), rated 6.9/10 by 620 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Scent of Evil?
The Spiral (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like The Scent of Evil?
Yes: The Spiral (2026), Baron Blood (1972) and The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971).
How are movies similar to The Scent of Evil chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Scent of Evil, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.