Movies like Shadow Part 1 (1980)
The best movies like Shadow Part 1 (1980) are Pulse (2001), Be Afraid (2017) and Dream Scenario (2023). If Shadow Part 1 hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedTokyo Story (1953)8.1/10 from 1,290 votes
- NewestDream Scenario (2023)Released 2023
- In JapanesePulse (2001)Also in Japanese
Pulse (2001)
In the immense city of Tokyo, the darkness of the afterlife lures some of its inhabitants desperately trying to escape the sadness and isolation of the modern world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBe Afraid (2017)
Not long after John Chambers and his family arrive at their new home in a small country town of Pennsylvania, John begins to experience sleep paralysis. Lying there paralyzed, trapped within his own nightmare, other-worldly beings visit John. They are entities which exist in the darkest shadows of the night and can only be seen out of the corner of one's eye. These encounters begin to haunt John, transforming to complete terror as he discovers the entities' sole purpose... the abduction of his seven year old son. In the end, John will uncover the town's horrific secret, a portal on his land, and make one last attempt to save his son before the shadow people permanently take him away to their world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDream Scenario (2023)
Hapless family man Paul Matthews finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. But when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Death of Stalin (2017)
When dictator Joseph Stalin dies, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. As they bumble, brawl and back-stab their way to the top, the question remains — just who is running the government?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThree Christs (2017)
Dr. Alan Stone breaks new ground for treatment of the mentally ill through an experiment on three paranoid schizophrenic patients who believe they are Jesus Christ.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFatal Frame (2014)
High school student Aya Tsukimori becomes cursed and is unable to leave her school dormitory. Meanwhile, many students begin reporting ghost sightings at the school, while others go missing and are later discovered to have drowned mysteriously. Soon, Aya attempts to communicate with fellow student Michi Kazato, who begins investigating the disappearances of her friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFreud: The Secret Passion (1962)
An examination of Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud's career when he began to treat patients diagnosed with hysteria, using the radical technique of hypnosis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPossessor (2020)
Tasya Vos, an elite corporate assassin, uses brain-implant technology to take control of other people’s bodies to terminate high profile targets. As she sinks deeper into her latest assignment, Vos becomes trapped inside a mind that threatens to obliterate her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaniel Isn't Real (2019)
A troubled college freshman resurrects his imaginary friend to help him cope with a violent trauma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappy Birthday to Me (1981)
Virginia is proud that she belongs to a clique. The best students at a private school. But before her 18th birthday, a gruesome set of murders take place and her friends are the ones who are falling prey. Could it be her? She suffers from blackouts due to a freak accident one year earlier. We soon learn the truth behind her accident and what is going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this6 Souls (2010)
A female forensic psychiatrist discovers that all of one of her patient's multiple personalities are murder victims. She will have to find out what's happening before her time is finished.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhostland (2018)
A mother of two inherits a home from her aunt. On the first night in the new home she is confronted with murderous intruders and fights for her daughters’ lives. Sixteen years later the daughters reunite at the house, and that is when things get strange...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPuppetmaster (1989)
After being contacted by their mysterious former colleague, four psychics arrive at a secluded hotel where they are stalked by a group of murderous puppets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisHyena Road (2015)
Three different men, three different worlds, three different wars – all stand at the intersection of modern warfare – a murky world of fluid morality where all is not as it seems. A unique and dramatic look at the Canadian Army in Afghanistan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRequiem for a Dream (2000)
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisStir of Echoes (1999)
After being hypnotized by his sister-in-law, Tom Witzky begins seeing haunting visions of a girl's ghost and a mystery begins to unfold around her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
A psychiatrist, familiar with the knife-wielding dream demon Freddy Krueger, helps teens at a mental hospital battle the killer who is invading their dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpellbound (1945)
When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an impostor. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him, but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however is convinced his impostor is innocent of the man's murder, and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJimmy P. (2013)
At the end of WWII, Jimmy Picard, a Native American Blackfoot who fought in France, suffers from unexplainable symptoms and is admitted to a military hospital. When doctors suspect schizophrenia, an eccentric psychoanalyst takes up the case and starts a conversation with the veteran.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Story (1953)
The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shadow Part 1?
The closest matches to Shadow Part 1 are Pulse (2001), Be Afraid (2017) and Dream Scenario (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shadow Part 1?
Start with Pulse (2001), the closest match to Shadow Part 1.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shadow Part 1?
Tokyo Story (1953), rated 8.1/10 by 1,290 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shadow Part 1?
Dream Scenario (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Shadow Part 1?
Yes: Pulse (2001), Fatal Frame (2014) and Tokyo Story (1953).
How are movies similar to Shadow Part 1 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shadow Part 1, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















