Movies like Child in the Night (1990)
The best movies like Child in the Night (1990) are Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009), The Stone Tape (1972) and Dead Man's Folly (1986). If Child in the Night hooked you with its mystery and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFour Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)6.5/10 from 444 votes
- NewestPinocchio: Unstrung (2026)Released 2026
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009)
Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Jobson is forced to remember the very similar disappearance of Clare Kemplay, who was found dead in 1974, and the subsequent imprisonment of local boy Michael Myshkin. Washed-up local solicitor John Piggott becomes convinced of Myshkin's innocence and begins to fight on his behalf, unwittingly providing a catalyst for Jobson to start to right some wrongs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Stone Tape (1972)
A research team from an electronics company move into an old Victorian house to start work on finding a new recording medium. When team member Jill Greeley witnesses a ghost, team director Peter Brock decides not only to analyse the apparition, which he believes is a psychic impression trapped in a stone wall (dubbed a "stone tape"), but to exorcise it too - with terrifying results...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Man's Folly (1986)
During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
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 mystery & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaising Cain (1992)
Child psychologist Carter Nix is a loving and caring family man, but under this appearance lies a dark and troubled past. Grappling with the consequences of this past on his own psyche and the influence of his returning father and violent brother Cain, Carter becomes involved in a series of murders and kidnappings. Meanwhile, his wife Jenny rekindles an old love affair, placing herself in the crosshairs of her increasingly unstable husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLike Minds (2006)
A forensic psychologist must determine if a minor should be charged with murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Return (2006)
Joanna Mills has a successful career but feels her personal life is spinning out of control. She has few friends, an estranged father, and a crazy ex-boyfriend who is stalking her. Joanna begins having terrifying visions of a woman's murder, and it seems that she is the killer's next target. Determined to solve the mystery and escape her apparent fate, Joanna follows her visions to the victim's hometown and finds that some secrets just do not stay buried.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Locksmith (2023)
A thief fresh out of prison, tries to work his way back into the life of his daughter and ex-fiancé. Determined, he is forced to use the skills he has as a gifted locksmith. Things take a tumultuous turn after an unexpected disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisMr. Frost (1990)
Frost is arrested and committed for murder after he is apprehended burying his victims in the garden. However, even while under psychiatric care and tight hospital security, it becomes obvious that Mr. Frost is not all he seems to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKept Woman (2015)
Jessica and her fiancé Evan have just moved from the city into their dream home on a quiet suburban street. Soon after, Jessica catches her seemingly friendly new neighbor, Simon, in a strange lie and can't let her suspicions rest. The danger escalates when Simon lures her inside his home and imprisons Jessica in his secret bunker, meticulously decorated in the idealized style of the 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
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 & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Very Foul Play (2019)
At a gathering of mystery and true crime fans, Aurora Teagarden’s nephew, Phillip, is accused of murder when an unplanned onstage blackout during the play in which he is performing ends, revealing Phillip holding the bloody knife that has just killed one of the other performers. 12th installment in Aurora Teagarden Mysteries
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaXXXine (2024)
In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and It Feels So Deadly (2020)
Aurora's high school reunion turns deadly when a body is found in the hotel pool. Aurora and her Real Murders Club help investigate which classmate was most likely to kill.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBloodline (2019)
Evan values family above all else, and anyone who gets between him, his wife, and newborn son learns that the hard way. But when it comes to violent tendencies, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHailey Dean Mysteries: A Prescription for Murder (2019)
Psychologist and former prosecutor Hailey Dean aids her friend Detective Garland Fincher in investigating a rapidly growing string of murders at Atlanta Memorial Hospital when Fincher’s girlfriend Dr. Meghan Phillips is named a suspect in the first killing. As the list of suspects grows with each new victim’s death, Hailey’s keen investigative skills, her uncanny ability to read people, and her passion for justice lead her through a labyrinth of clues that eventually point to the killer. But when she gets too close to the truth, Hailey becomes the killer’s next target for murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMercy Black (2019)
A woman is sent to a mental institution after stabbing her classmate in an attempt to conjure an evil spirit called, Mercy Black. Fifteen years later she's released, and must save her nephew, who has become obsessed with the phenomenon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Harvest (2025)
Detectives are thrust into a chilling hunt for a sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grotesque, otherworldly crimes tied to a cosmic force.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Good Woman Is Hard to Find (2019)
The recently widowed mother of two, Sarah, is desperate to know who murdered her husband in front of her young son, rendering him mute. Coerced into helping a low-life drug dealer stash narcotics stolen from the local Mr. Big, she's forced into taking drastic action to protect her children, evolving from downtrodden submissive to take-charge vigilante.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & 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 thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisSex of the Devil (1971)
After a relaxing anniversary cruise, Andrea and his wife Barbara are dropped off in Istanbul, Turkey. There, they meet Andrea’s reserved assistant Silvia and his Turkish colleague Omar, who hasn’t been back to his home country in fifteen years. Andrea’s secretary has arranged a luxurious seafront villa for them to stay in while they’re in the country. Upon arriving at the villa, Omar experiences an unsettling feeling of déjà vu, as though he has been in the house before, while the married couple can’t stop bickering. However, the vacation soon turns into a nightmare when mysterious and deadly events begin to unfold.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
The Killer Is One of Thirteen (1973)
A recent widow has invited a group of family friends to her large and secluded country home. However, what the guests don't know is that the reason they've been assembled is that their host suspects one of them might be her husband's killer and she's intent on uncovering the identity of his murderer. As the guests begin to suspect each other, revealing long-kept and sinister secrets in the process, an unknown, black-gloved killer begins bumping them off in a variety of nasty ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & horror
Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)
Roberto, a drummer in a rock band, keeps receiving weird phone calls and being followed by a mysterious man. One night he manages to catch up with his persecutor and tries to get him to talk but in the ensuing struggle he accidentally stabs him. He runs away, but he understands his troubles have just begun when the following day he receives an envelope with photos of him killing the man. Someone is killing all his friends and trying to frame him for the murders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCuckoo (2024)
After reluctantly moving to the German Alps with her father and his new family, Gretchen discovers that their new town hides sinister secrets, as she's plagued by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisCrystal Eyes (2017)
Buenos Aires, 1985. It's the first anniversary of the death of Alexis Carpenter, the unstable supermodel who died tragically when she was set on fire while closing a runaway show. Lucia L'uccello - Editor-in-Chief of the most important magazine in Buenos Aires - chooses supermodels Eva Lantier and Irene del Lago to honor Alexis on the cover of the anniversary issues dedicated to the famous model. The night before the photo shoot, Alexis's original dresses that were going to be used by the models are stolen. From that moment, members of the important fashion magazine and the agency begin to disappear, one by one, at the hands of a stealthy, sinister female silhouette in a long black leather raincoat. Is someone seeking revenge? Or has Alexis returned from the grave?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Voices from Beyond (1991)
Wealthy businessman Giorgio Mainardi has died of a stomach hemorrhage, but his ghost is not so sure that it was a random misfortune and wants to know the truth. Unfortunately, almost everyone around him is happy to see him gone. Everyone, that is, except for his daughter Rosy, who still feels affection for her father even though they have drifted apart. With her medical student boyfriend, Johnathan, Rosy will try to get to the bottom of her father's death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisDaybreak (2015)
A young scholar witnesses the murder of a drug pusher and has to decide to either inform the police or help the brother of the murdered man, who is out for vengeance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Pinocchio: Unstrung (2026)
Influenced by a sinister Cricket and created by Geppetto, Pinocchio launches a violent crusade to carve himself into a real boy like his brother James, one piece at a time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Amish Double Life (2025)
By day Emma is a good Amish girl, but by night she sneaks out with her Amish friend, Rebecca, and together they lead a double life, going to clubs, flirting with boys, and falling in love in the forbidden “English” world. When Emma accidentally witnesses a murder while out, her life and community is thrown into peril.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Claudio (2022)
Claudio walks around the city without realizing that he is being followed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Like Child in the Night and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Child in the Night?
The closest matches to Child in the Night are Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009), The Stone Tape (1972) and Dead Man's Folly (1986). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Child in the Night?
Start with Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009), the closest match to Child in the Night.
What is the highest-rated movie like Child in the Night?
Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971), rated 6.5/10 by 444 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Child in the Night?
Pinocchio: Unstrung (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Child in the Night?
Yes: Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009), The Stone Tape (1972) and Dead Man's Folly (1986).
How are movies similar to Child in the Night chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Child in the Night, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.