Movies like The Poltergeist (1950)
The best movies like The Poltergeist (1950) are R.L. Stine's Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls (2015), Don't Look Under the Bed (1999) and SpongeBob SquarePants: Kreepaway Kamp (2024). If The Poltergeist hooked you with its tv movie and comedy, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Poltergeist
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPsych: The Movie (2017)7.2/10 from 264 votes
- NewestRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)Released 2025
R.L. Stine's Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls (2015)
Teenage friends must resist the spell of an evil showman staging a house of horrors show in their small town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Look Under the Bed (1999)
A girl calls on her brother's imaginary friend to banish a mischievous boogeyman who has framed her for his pranks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpongeBob SquarePants: Kreepaway Kamp (2024)
While at Kamp Koral for a reunion, SpongeBob and the gang are stalked by a mysterious figure lurking in the shadows as campers start disappearing one by one!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDouble, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)
On Halloween night, two precocious little girls try to save their parents from their nasty old capitalist aunt's greedy clutches. Magic abounds and they meet mysterious new friends along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHalloween with the New Addams Family (1977)
The original TV Addams Family members prepare for Halloween.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMegaboa (2021)
On a trip to Colombia, a group of college students encounter a fifty-foot boa constrictor, hungry for blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBasilisk: The Serpent King (2006)
Two millennia ago, a Lybian king has a basilisk (snake-shaped dragon), which petrifies people, subjected to the same fate with a golden scepter during a solar eclipse. Both these and several victims are dug up by modern archaeologist Harrison 'Harry' McColl's expedition. Despite a cryptic warning from tribal locals, everything goes to his Colorado university's museum. It's all exhibited during another eclipse, which leads to the monster reviving. Harry and some of his friends must try to petrify the monster again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Horror House (2012)
On Halloween night, a sorority house is overrun with ghosts, while a vengeful housemother goes on a killing spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisRoadkill (2011)
Six young friends on a road trip in Ireland run afoul of gypsies who curse them for accidentally running down an old woman. The curse takes the form of a terrifying flying beast that tries killing them all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Woman in Black (1989)
A lawyer travels to a small seaside town to settle the estate of a recently deceased woman, but soon becomes ensnared in something much more sinister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Stalker (1972)
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDreams in the Witch House (2005)
A college student renting an old room in a boarding house discovers a plot by sinister, otherworldly forces to sacrifice his neighbor's infant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It (2007)
Cassie, a 13 year old Gothic girl, is trying to fit in at her new school. To entertain herself, she plays a series of pranks on the popular kids and her younger brother, Max. When she goes to a Halloween store looking for new tricks, she finds a little book called "The Evil Thing"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsych: The Movie (2017)
The ambitious friends come together during the holidays after a mystery assailant targets one of their own. A comedic thrill-ride follows, as the wild and unpredictable Psych team pursues the bad guys, justice … and, of course, food!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fair Haired Child (2006)
A creepy couple kidnaps a teenage outcast and locks her in their basement with their seemingly kindhearted adolescent son - who harbors a terrifying secret involving the forces of evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)
Ricky Gervais tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1991)
Reclusive vampires lounge in a lonely American town. They wear sunscreen to protect themselves. A descendant of Van Helsing arrives with hilarious consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bad Seed (2018)
A widower suspects that his seemingly perfect adolescent daughter is a heartless killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFreaks of Nature (2015)
In the town of Dillford, humans, vampires and zombies were all living in peace - until the alien apocalypse arrived. Now three teenagers-one human, one vampire, and one zombie-have to team up to figure out how to get rid of the visitors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBloody Hell (2020)
A man with a mysterious past flees the country to escape his own personal hell... only to arrive somewhere much worse. In an effort to survive this new horror, he turns to his personified conscience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Poltergeist?
The closest matches to The Poltergeist are R.L. Stine's Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls (2015), Don't Look Under the Bed (1999) and SpongeBob SquarePants: Kreepaway Kamp (2024). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Poltergeist?
Start with R.L. Stine's Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls (2015), the closest match to The Poltergeist.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Poltergeist?
Psych: The Movie (2017), rated 7.2/10 by 264 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Poltergeist?
Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Poltergeist?
Yes: R.L. Stine's Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls (2015), Don't Look Under the Bed (1999) and SpongeBob SquarePants: Kreepaway Kamp (2024).
How are movies similar to The Poltergeist chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Poltergeist, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.