Movies like The People Under the Stairs (1991)
The best movies like The People Under the Stairs (1991) are Ice Cream Man (2026), The 'Burbs (1989) and The Vagrant (1992). If The People Under the Stairs hooked you with its horror and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGremlins (1984)7.1/10 from 7,270 votes
- NewestIce Cream Man (2026)Released 2026
Ice Cream Man (2026)
An idyllic summer town descends into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe 'Burbs (1989)
When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Vagrant (1992)
A business man buys a house, but he has a hard time trying to get rid of its previous tenant, a dirty bum.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisPopcorn (1991)
While holding a horror film festival, a group of students are stalked by a madman who may have a sinister connection to a cult leader.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisParents (1989)
Michael is a young boy living in a typical 1950s suburbanite home... except for his bizarre and horrific nightmares, and continued unease around his parents. Young Michael begins to suspect his parents are cooking more than just hamburgers on the grill outside, but has trouble explaining his fears to his new-found friend Sheila, or the school's social worker.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisAlone in the Dark (1982)
A quartet of murderous psychopaths break out of a mental hospital during a power blackout and lay siege to their doctor's house.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Frighteners (1996)
Once an architect, Frank Bannister now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his "special" gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Stepfather (1987)
Seemingly mild-mannered Henry Morrison has just murdered his entire family. After adopting a new identity and skipping town, he begins building a new relationship with a widow and her teenage daughter. However, he soon begins struggling to hide his true identity and maintain a grip on reality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerror Tract (2000)
A real estate agent terrifies a couple with the grim fates of the previous owners of a house they're looking at.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight of the Demons (1988)
When partygoers at a deserted funeral home decide to have a séance on Halloween night, they awaken something evil with a thirst for blood.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCandyman (1992)
The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPortal to Hell (2025)
After a debt-collector finds a portal to hell in a washing machine at his local laundromat, he’s propositioned into feeding it sinners to save his neighbor’s soul, maybe even at the expense of his own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWaxwork (1988)
Wealthy slacker Mark, his new girlfriend Sarah, and their friends, are invited to a special showing at a mysterious wax museum which displays eighteen of the most evil men of all time. After his ex-girlfriend and another friend disappear, Mark becomes suspicious…
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCreepshow (1982)
Five grisly tales from a 1950s-style comic, including a murdered father rising from beyond, a bizarre meteor, a vengeful husband, a mysterious crate's occupant, and a plague of cockroaches.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShocker (1989)
About to be electrocuted for a catalog of heinous crimes, the unrepentant Horace Pinker transforms into a terrifying energy source. Only young athlete Jonathan Parker, with an uncanny connection to him through bizarre dreams, can fight the powerful demon.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisScary Movie (1991)
On Halloween night, big-time nerd Warren attends a spookhouse in a small Texas town. But is the haunted house as harmless as it seems, or has a psychotic mental patient found a new stomping ground?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & horror
House (1985)
A divorced horror novelist coming to terms with the disappearance of his young son inherits an old mansion home to malevolent supernatural residents.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStepfather 3 (1992)
After escaping a Puget Sound institution, "Stepfather" Gene Clifford alters his appearance with plastic surgery and takes on another new identity: Keith Grant. Moving to Deer View, California, Keith falls for a divorced school principal, arousing the suspicions of her wheelchair-bound, computer-savvy son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisChild's Play 3 (1991)
Eight years after seemingly destroying the killer doll, teen Andy Barclay is placed in a military school, and the spirit of Chucky returns to renew his quest and seek vengeance after being recreated from a mass of melted plastic.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisShrunken Heads (1994)
Three teens killed by a local crime boss return for revenge after a witch doctor revives them through voodoo magic.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & horror
Gremlins (1984)
After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBasket Case (1982)
A young man carrying a big basket that contains his extremely deformed, formerly conjoined twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI, Madman (1989)
A bookshop clerk starts seeing the disfigured killer from her favorite 1950s pulp novels come to life and start killing people around her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisChild's Play (1988)
After being shot in a toy store, a serial killer transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll. A mother then gifts it to her six-year-old son Andy, which unleashes terror upon the city.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTales from the Hood (1995)
A strange mortician tells four horrific tales to three drug dealers that he traps in a local funeral parlor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Willies (1990)
Two brothers camping with their cousin try to frighten each other by telling stories. They start with urban legends, but then there are two main narrations: one involves strange happenings at an elementary school; the other, a teenage boy with a peculiar interest.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisTales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
Ex-soldier Frank Brayker is the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil; the sinister Collector is a demon who wants the key so he can initiate the apocalypse. On the run from wicked mercenaries for almost 90 years, Brayker finally stops in at a boarding house in New Mexico where — with the help of its residents — he plans to face off against the Collector and his band of ghouls, preventing them from ever seizing the key.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCastle Freak (1996)
John Reilly discovers that his family's newly inherited castle in Italy is haunted by a relentless, bloodthirsty creature.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFreddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
Just when you thought it was safe to sleep, Freddy Krueger returns in this sixth installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street films, as psychologist Maggie Burroughs, tormented by recurring nightmares, meets a patient with the same horrific dreams. Their quest for answers leads to a certain house on Elm Street -- where the nightmares become reality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisFright Night (1985)
Charley Brewster, a high school student, accidentally discovers the true and creepy nature of Jerry Dandrige, his dashing and enigmatic new neighbor; but no one seems willing to believe him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The People Under the Stairs?
The closest matches to The People Under the Stairs are Ice Cream Man (2026), The 'Burbs (1989) and The Vagrant (1992). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The People Under the Stairs?
People who watched The People Under the Stairs most often go on to Ice Cream Man (2026), The 'Burbs (1989) and The Vagrant (1992).
What is the highest-rated movie like The People Under the Stairs?
Gremlins (1984), rated 7.1/10 by 7,270 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The People Under the Stairs?
Ice Cream Man (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The People Under the Stairs?
Yes: Ice Cream Man (2026), The 'Burbs (1989) and The Vagrant (1992).
How are movies similar to The People Under the Stairs chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The People Under the Stairs, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.