Movies like The Cottage (2012)
The best movies like The Cottage (2012) are Z (2019), The Shed (2019) and Race with the Devil (1975). If The Cottage hooked you with its horror and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGhosts (1997)8.1/10 from 305 votes
- NewestMonkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026)Released 2026
Z (2019)
A family find themselves terrorized by their eight-year-old son's imaginary friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shed (2019)
The story of Stan, an orphaned teenager stuck living with his abusive grandfather and tasked with routinely protecting his best friend from high school bullies. When Stan discovers a murderous creature has taken refuge inside the tool shed in his backyard, he tries to secretly battle the demon alone until his bullied friend discovers the creature and has a far more sinister plan in mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat's the Matter with Helen? (1971)
Two middle-aged women move to Hollywood after their sons are convicted of a notorious murder and open a dance school for children eager to tap their way to stardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Dark Mirror (1946)
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisManiac (1963)
When a stranger enters a quiet, country town and is seduced by a sensuous married woman he unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a storm of sexual guilt and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnseen (2023)
Sam receives a call from Emily, a near blind woman who is running from her murderous ex in the woods. Can she survive using Sam as her eyes via video call?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEye of the Devil (1966)
A French nobleman deserts his wife because of an ancient family secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Widow (1987)
Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChief of Station (2024)
After learning that the death of his wife was not an accident, a former CIA Station Chief is forced back into the espionage underworld, teaming up with an adversary to unravel a conspiracy that challenges everything he thought he knew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHorrors of the Black Museum (1959)
A writer of murder mysteries finds himself caught up in a string of murders in London.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisNightfall (1956)
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Cheated Himself (1950)
A veteran homicide detective who has witnessed his socialite girlfriend kill her husband sees his inexperienced brother assigned to the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeadsight (2018)
A man with partial blindness and a young pregnant police officer must work together to escape a deadly virus that has spread across Grey County.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe MacKintosh Man (1973)
A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor; only, someone finds him out and exposes him to the gang...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHe Ran All the Way (1951)
A crook on the run hides out in an innocent girl's apartment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNo Name on the Bullet (1959)
When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhosts (1997)
In the town of Normal Valley, an eccentric magician named Maestro entertains the local children every day in his spooky mansion. One stormy night, the town's mayor leads a group of angry citizens to the mansion in an attempt to run Maestro out of town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMonkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026)
After a mysterious bout of amnesia, a beloved children’s television host struggles to piece together his fractured memories, only to find his once-cheerful puppet co-stars behaving with sinister intent. As reality unravels, the line between performance and nightmare begins to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDefence of the Realm (1986)
A reporter named Mullen 'stumbles' onto a story linking a prominent Member of Parliament to a KGB agent and a near-nuclear disaster involving a teenage runaway and a U.S. Air Force base. Has there been a Government cover-up? Mullen teams up with Vernon Bayliss, an old hack, and Nina Beckam, the MP's assistant, to find out the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of Demons (2018)
Four estranged friends reunite and spend the night in a remote country house that was once home to a Manson Family like cult. As the night goes on, the strange rituals in the house's past open connections between the past, the present and the subconscious, forcing all the characters to confront their deepest secrets and darkest demons, or be destroyed by them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
The Night Listener (2006)
In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan—a young boy—via the telephone. But when questions about the boy's identity come up, the host's life is thrown into chaos.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisDeadline (2009)
A screenwriter travels to an abandoned house to finish a script on time, but a series of strange events lead her to a psychological breakdown.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisDeadly Revisions (2014)
Hypnotherapy and drugs are used to help an amnesiac horror writer, but are the terrifying images that surface real or imagined?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Still Meadows (2012)
Washed-up horror novelist Owen Slater has hit rock bottom following his exploitation of a family's tragedy in one of his best-selling novels. But, when paranormal investigator Jack Grady recruits him for his subsequent investigation in the town of Still Meadows (the setting of Owen's book) Owen sees this as the perfect opportunity to redeem himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Secret Window (2004)
Mort Rainey, a writer just emerging from a painful divorce with his ex-wife, is stalked at his remote lake house by a psychotic stranger and would-be scribe who claims Rainey swiped his best story idea. But as Rainey endeavors to prove his innocence, he begins to question his own sanity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSudden Fear (1952)
Actor Lester Blaine has all but landed the lead in Myra Hudson's new play when Myra vetoes him because, to her, he doesn't look like a romantic leading man. On a train from New York to San Francisco, Blaine sets out to prove Myra wrong...by romancing her. Is he sincere, or does he have a dark ulterior motive?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPalmetto (1998)
After being released from prison on a bum charge, Harry Barber is out for payback to regain his lost two years. He's hired by Mrs. Malroux to fake the kidnapping of her stepdaughter (the daughter of a dying millionaire). He discovers that he is being set up on multiple levels and will soon face a longer sentence if he doesn't prove the truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappily (2021)
Tom and Janet have been happily married for years. But a visit from a mysterious stranger leads to a dead body, a lot of questions, and a tense couples' trip with friends who may not actually be friends at all.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFor Love Or Murder (1970)
A wealthy, eccentric chemical company owner sends his woman to get an American writer to take a mind control drug, Kemek, to verify its potential. She accomplishes her mission, but falls totally in love with the writer. The chemical magnate, satisfied with the results of the test, rewards her with murder, just as she is about to flee to Naples with her new lover. Her ex-husband and a private detective track the killer behind it all to a remote hideaway to unravel the solution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Like The Cottage and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Cottage?
The closest matches to The Cottage are Z (2019), The Shed (2019) and Race with the Devil (1975). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Cottage?
Start with Z (2019), the closest match to The Cottage.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Cottage?
Ghosts (1997), rated 8.1/10 by 305 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Cottage?
Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Cottage?
Yes: Z (2019), The Shed (2019) and Race with the Devil (1975).
How are movies similar to The Cottage chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Cottage, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.