Movies like El Espanto (2018)
The best movies like El Espanto (2018) are Hereditary (2018), Paranormal Activity (2009) and The Wretched (2019). If El Espanto hooked you with its horror and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Exorcist (1973)7.8/10 from 9,023 votes
- NewestThe Moonlight Detective (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishThe Exorcist (2022)Also in Spanish
Hereditary (2018)
When the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her daughter begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about her ancestry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParanormal Activity (2009)
After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly the most active in the middle of the night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wretched (2019)
A rebellious teenage boy, struggling with his parents' imminent divorce, encounters a terrifying evil after his next-door neighbor becomes possessed by an ancient witch that feasts on children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unholy (2021)
Alice is a young hearing-impaired girl who, after a supposed visitation from the Virgin Mary, is inexplicably able to hear, speak and heal the sick. As word spreads and people from near and far flock to witness her miracles, a disgraced journalist hoping to revive his career visits the small New England town to investigate. When terrifying events begin to happen all around, he starts to question if these phenomena are the works of the Virgin Mary or something much more sinister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dogs (2025)
After fleeing his psychotic father, a young teen and his mom seek refuge in a remote farmhouse, only to face a pack of ferocious dogs and the sinister spirits that haunt the property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Sweet Home: Rebirth (2025)
When a city is overrun with a demonically-possessed crowd, a cop must find the source of evil to save his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisStigmata (1999)
A young woman with no strong religious beliefs, Frankie Paige begins having strange and violent experiences, showing signs of the wounds that Jesus received when crucified. When the Vatican gets word of Frankie's situation, a high-ranking cardinal requests that the Rev. Andrew Kiernan investigate her case. Soon Kiernan realizes that very sinister forces are at work, and tries to rescue Frankie from the entity that is plaguing her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Exorcist (1973)
When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Deliverance (2024)
Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Exorcist (2022)
Ophelia, a young nun recently arriving in the town of San Ramon, is forced to perform an exorcism on a pregnant woman in danger of dying. Just when she thinks her possession has ended, she discovers that the evil presence hasn't disappeared yet. The director of the award-winning Here Comes the Devil and Late Phases adds a new twist to possession movies in one of this year's Latin American horror surprises.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Two teenage couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of serial killers end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDiabolic (2025)
A woman's hope for a miracle cure turns into a nightmare when she confronts the vengeful spirit of a cursed witch, determined to claim her as a vessel for her evil power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisPárvulos: Children of the Apocalypse (2024)
In a dystopian future ravaged by a viral apocalypse, three young brothers—Salvador, Oliver, and Benjamin—find themselves isolated in a remote cabin deep within the woods. As they navigate this desolate world, they harbor a dark and disturbing secret in their basement, a presence they must feed to ensure their own survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pope's Exorcist (2023)
Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like this825 Forest Road (2025)
After a family tragedy, Chuck Wilson hopes to start a new life in Ashland Falls with his wife Maria and little sister Elizabeth, but he quickly discovers that the town has a dark history of being haunted by a ghostly woman who drives residents to suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDaddy's Head (2024)
A boy and his stepmother fear for their safety after an eerie creature resembling the boy's recently deceased father visits them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Nun II (2023)
In 1956 France, a priest is violently murdered, and Sister Irene begins to investigate. She once again comes face-to-face with a powerful evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood on Satan's Claw (1971)
After a landsman in 18th century England discovers a corpse covered in fur buried in a field, the town becomes infected by "the devil's skin," leading the local children to engage in demonic rituals and criminal behavior.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Old Ways (2021)
Cristina, a journalist of Mexican origin, travels to her ancestral home in Veracruz to investigate a story of sorcery and healing. There, she is kidnapped by a group of locals who claim she's the devil incarnated.
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 thisDon't Look Back (2021)
The plot of the film takes place in a foreign company located in southern Serbia. The warehouse manager enjoys his free weekend, which is interrupted by a warehouse worker who invites him to come to the warehouse in order to have a serious conversation with a new client from London. The manager had no idea what had happened there and what is yet to happen in the warehouse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Meurtre du tableau (2025)
An artist, surrounded by the mess in her studio, struggles with frustration as she tries to find inspiration for her new painting.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Terrorise (2024)
Quaid and Kurk escape from prison and kidnap a pretty woman to ensure their protection. Kurk dislikes the way Quaid treats her, and the two begin a deadly cat-and-mouse game with two corrupt police officers Doug & Charles hot on their trail. Terrorise is the ultimate & Final Cut of the cult exploitation film Tortured. It has been remastered from the original camera tapes, re-cut, re-graded, re-scored, new and alternate footage all to create the directors closest vision.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Moonlight Detective (2026)
A grieving sister reaches out to a mysterious detective to investigate her brother's strange disappearance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Girl Upstairs (2022)
A successful but isolated artist, struggling with agoraphobia, has her life turned upside down when one of her works of art comes to life. At first, she joyfully accepts this reprieve from her self-imposed exile, but her new friends are not all they seem, and her small world starts to come apart as her fear of the outside comes into conflict with her new creations and their need for freedom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Exorcist (1976)
A SOV remake of The Exorcist, made by children.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Severed Sun (2025)
Magpie lives in an isolated church community ruled over by her father, The Pastor. When a man is murdered, paranoia sets in and people start to whisper about a strange 'Beast' that lives in the forest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Mama Minta Hotspot (2024)
A documentary filmmaker team is haunted by a series of supernatural events while working on a documentary about the urban legend "Mama Minta Hotspot".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Planned Sequel to Nefarious (TBA)
Planned sequel to Nefarious
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Classmate (2024)
At her best friend’s burial, a young woman bumps into an old classmate she used to bully, unaware that she’s changed radically over the last ten years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like El Espanto?
The closest matches to El Espanto are Hereditary (2018), Paranormal Activity (2009) and The Wretched (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after El Espanto?
Start with Hereditary (2018), the closest match to El Espanto.
What is the highest-rated movie like El Espanto?
The Exorcist (1973), rated 7.8/10 by 9,023 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like El Espanto?
The Moonlight Detective (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like El Espanto?
Yes: The Exorcist (2022), Párvulos: Children of the Apocalypse (2024) and The Classmate (2024).
How are movies similar to El Espanto chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside El Espanto, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.