Movies like Running Scared (1985)
The best movies like Running Scared (1985) are Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025), The Fan (1981) and Someone's Watching Me! (1978). If Running Scared hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFollowing (1999)7.1/10 from 2,020 votes
- NewestYoh! Bestie (2026)Released 2026
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025)
Vulgar, taunting texts blow up the phones of a teen and her boyfriend. Who's sending them — and why? This twisty documentary reveals the shocking answer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fan (1981)
A record store clerk is an obsessed fan of an actress of stage and screen. However, when faced with rejection, the fan strikes out in increasingly violent ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisSomeone's Watching Me! (1978)
A young woman moves to a high-rise apartment building and soon begins to be tormented by an unknown stalker who seems to know her every move.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFatal Attraction (1987)
A married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999)
David Hyde Pierce, playing an alien (credited as infinity-cubed in the opening credits), narrates a courtship in a late-20th century American city as an extraterrestrial nature documentary. The relationship "footage" is played straight, while the voice-over (with its most often wildly inaccurate theories) and elaborate visual metaphors add comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAttraction (2001)
A writer/radio advice show host fails to heed his own advice as he stalks his ex-girlfriend and then becomes involved with an actress friend of hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Hour Photo (2002)
Sy Parrish has lovingly developed photographs for the Yorkin family since their son was a baby. But as the Yorkins' lives become fuller, Sy's only seems lonelier, until he eventually convinces himself he's part of their family. When Sy's picture-perfect fantasy collides with an ugly dose of reality, a bizarre and thrilling confrontation ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPriscilla (2023)
When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter Ever Happy (2022)
As a shocking truth about a couple's families emerges, the two lovers discover they are not so different from each other. Tessa is no longer the sweet, simple, good girl she was when she met Hardin — any more than he is the cruel, moody boy she fell so hard for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFollowing (1999)
Bill, an idle, unemployed aspiring writer, walks the crowded streets of London following randomly chosen strangers, a seemingly innocent entertainment that becomes dangerous when he crosses paths with a mysterious character.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHider in the House (1989)
A deranged man hides in the attic of a new house and becomes obsessed with the unsuspecting family that moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoh! Bestie (2026)
Thando is perpetually unlucky in love, but when her bestie returns from his travels with a fiancée in tow, she's forced to face a new emotion — jealousy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Crush (1993)
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeriously Single (2020)
While her free-living bestie urges her to embrace singlehood, a commitment-craving social media expert can't stop following the life of a former love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAddicted to Love (1997)
Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life leaves him for a suave Frenchman. He therefore does what every other normal dumpee would do — go to New York and set up home in the abandoned building opposite his ex-girlfriend's apartment, wait until she decides to leave her current lover, and then win her back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarked Men: Rule + Shaw (2025)
Shaw Landon has loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule, a fiery-tempered rebel tattoo artist, doesn’t have time for a good girl pre-med student like Shaw — even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule must figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love…or each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bodyguard (1992)
A former Secret Service agent grudgingly takes an assignment to protect a pop idol who's threatened by a crazed fan. At first, the safety-obsessed bodyguard and the self-indulgent diva totally clash. But before long, all that tension sparks fireworks of another sort, and the love-averse tough guy is torn between duty and romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnly the Lonely (1991)
Danny Muldoon, a Chicago policeman, still lives with his overbearing mother Rose. He meets and falls in love with Theresa Luna, whose father owns the local funeral parlour. Naturally, his mother objects to the relationship, and Danny and Theresa must either overcome her objections or give up the romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnlawful Entry (1992)
When Michael and Karen Carr’s home is robbed, the couple strike up a friendship with duty officer Pete Davis. But the disturbed cop develops an intense fixation on Karen, and his idea of friendship soon turns into a dangerous obsession, making him the Carrs’ worst nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Running Scared?
The closest matches to Running Scared are Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025), The Fan (1981) and Someone's Watching Me! (1978). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Running Scared?
Start with Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025), the closest match to Running Scared.
What is the highest-rated movie like Running Scared?
Following (1999), rated 7.1/10 by 2,020 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Running Scared?
Yoh! Bestie (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Running Scared?
Yes: Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025), The Fan (1981) and Someone's Watching Me! (1978).
How are movies similar to Running Scared chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Running Scared, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.