Movies like Demons (1985)
The best movies like Demons (1985) are Nightmare Cinema (2018), Possession (1981) and Maniac (2012). If Demons hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPossession (1981)7.3/10 from 1,504 votes
- NewestPlay Dead (2025)Released 2025
- In ItalianThe Beyond (1981)Also in Italian
Nightmare Cinema (2018)
A series of down-on-their-luck individuals enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist – a mysterious, ghostly figure who holds the nightmarish futures of all who attend his screenings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisPossession (1981)
A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspects that a man is involved. But gradually, he finds out more and more strange behaviors and bizarre incidents that indicate something more than a possessed love affair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisManiac (2012)
As he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWishmaster (1997)
The Djinn, having been released from his ancient prison, seeks to capture the soul of the woman who discovered him, thereby opening a portal and freeing his fellow Djinn to take over the earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Darling (2024)
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHostel (2006)
Three backpackers head to a Slovakian city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHostel: Part II (2007)
Three American college students studying abroad are lured to a Slovakian hostel, and discover the grim reality behind it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGrindhouse (2007)
Grindhouse combines Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, a horror comedy about a group of survivors who battle zombie-like creatures, and Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, an action thriller about a murderous stuntman who kills young women with modified vehicles. It is presented as a double feature with fictitious exploitation trailers preceding each segment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHaunt (2019)
On Halloween, a group of friends encounter an extreme haunted house that promises to feed on their darkest fears. The night turns deadly as they come to the horrifying realisation that some nightmares are real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wrath of Becky (2023)
Two years after she escaped a violent attack on her family, 16-year-old Becky attempts to rebuild her life in the care of an older woman -- a kindred spirit named Elena. However, when a violent group known as the Noble Men break into their home, attack them and take their beloved dog, Becky must return to her old ways to protect herself and her loved ones.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbarian (2022)
In town for a job interview, a young woman arrives at her Airbnb late at night only to find that it has been mistakenly double-booked and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to stay the night anyway.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlay Dead (2025)
A woman wakes up injured in a basement surrounded by corpses. To survive, she pretends to be dead while a grotesque ritual unfolds in the house above.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMother's Day (2010)
Crazed members of a sadistic family return to their childhood home to terrorize the new owners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaint Catherine (2024)
An orphaned girl is rescued from a satanic ritual and taken to Saint Catherine Institute for homeless youth. There she will learn new skills while facing demons that stalk her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Evil Dead (1983)
In 1979, a group of college students find a Sumerian Book of the Dead in an old wilderness cabin they've rented for a weekend getaway.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrick (2019)
A detective tries to track down a masked killer who reappears every Halloween to wreak bloody havoc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisV/H/S/2 (2013)
Inside a darkened house looms a column of TVs littered with VHS tapes, a pagan shrine to forgotten analog gods. The screens crackle and pop endlessly with monochrome vistas of static white noise permeating the brain and fogging concentration. But you must fight the urge to relax: this is no mere movie night. Those obsolete spools contain more than just magnetic tape. They are imprinted with the very soul of evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerrifier 3 (2024)
Five years after surviving Art the Clown's Halloween massacre, Sienna and Jonathan are still struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind. But just when they think they're safe, Art returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare. The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beyond (1981)
New Yorker Liza Merril inherits an old hotel in Louisiana and invests her savings to reopen the place, unaware that the hotel houses the body of a dead painter murdered decades earlier, and that the location is about to become a gateway to Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Banana Splits Movie (2019)
A boy named Harley and his family attend a taping of The Banana Splits TV show, which is supposed to be a fun-filled birthday for young Harley and business as usual for Rebecca, the producer of the series. But things take an unexpected turn - and the body count quickly rises. Can Harley, his mom and their new pals safely escape?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLa trajinera del terror (2005)
Seven teenagers travel by a trajinera over Xochimilco waters. Two of them use a witchboard and become possessed. The teenagers soon are arrive on an island, where one by one are murdered by their possessed friends.
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
Faces of Death (1978)
A collection of death scenes, ranging from TV material to homemade super 8 movies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Date (2016)
A girl and a boy meet online. Let's say love is pain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Shocker (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: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Convent (2000)
A group of college students break into an abandoned convent and become possessed by demonic spirits.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisCat of Death (2021)
A young woman is not kind to a small guest, but she will regret her behavior soon. An animalistic short film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005)
Father Merrin takes a sabbatical from the Church to devote himself to history and archaeology as he struggles with his shattered faith.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDark Fables (2015)
A group of kids embarks in a macabre adventure, full of characters from the Brazilian popular imaginary - the werewolf, a witch, a ghost, monsters and The Saci.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Like Demons and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Demons?
The closest matches to Demons are Nightmare Cinema (2018), Possession (1981) and Maniac (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Demons?
Start with Nightmare Cinema (2018), the closest match to Demons.
What is the highest-rated movie like Demons?
Possession (1981), rated 7.3/10 by 1,504 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Demons?
Play Dead (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Demons?
Yes: The Beyond (1981).
How are movies similar to Demons chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Demons, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.