Movies like An American Terror (2013)
The best movies like An American Terror (2013) are The New Kids (1985), The Spiral Staircase (1946) and The House That Jack Built (2018). If An American Terror hooked you with its drama and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSleepers (1996)7.6/10 from 4,136 votes
- NewestThe Girl with the Needle (2024)Released 2024
The New Kids (1985)
A brother and his young sister come to a small town to find out a local gang terrorizes the population.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spiral Staircase (1946)
On a stormy night, the mute servant to an ailing matriarch is stalked by a serial killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe House That Jack Built (2018)
Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering piece of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer for twelve years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZero Day (2003)
Two troubled adolescents chronicle the events that ultimately lead up to a terrifying assault on their school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnd Then I Go (2017)
In the cruel world of junior high, Edwin suffers in a state of anxiety and alienation alongside his only friend, Flake. Misunderstood by their families and demoralized at school daily, their fury simmers quietly until an idea for vengeance offers them a terrifying release.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisF (2010)
A group of teachers must defend themselves from a gang of murderous kids when their school comes under siege after hours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Final (2010)
A group of high school outcasts get revenge on the students that torment them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Loved Ones (2010)
When Brent turns down his classmate Lola's invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCry_Wolf (2005)
After a local woman is murdered, a group of teenage liars create a warning e-mail of a serial killer named “The Wolf”, coming on the next full moon. The teens describe each death method The Wolf uses, but when the described victims actually do start turning up dead, suddenly no one knows where the lies end and the truth begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisWake Up (2024)
A group of young activists set out to make an environmental statement by vandalizing a home superstore as it closes. But their plan goes terribly wrong when they become trapped inside and must face a deranged security guard with a gruesome passion for primitive hunting. As the night fills with violence and terror, the teenagers find themselves in a desperate fight for their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMassacre at Central High (1976)
Maimed by bullies at a California high school, a new student engineers acts of revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisBang Bang You're Dead (2003)
A troubled and bullied high school student fights against judgement from his community after threatening to bomb the football team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Evil (1978)
Shortly after moving into a dark, brooding mansion, a psychologist and his co-workers are terrorized by a horrible evil being.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Life Before Her Eyes (2008)
As the 15th anniversary of a fatal high school shooting approaches, former pupil Diana McFee is haunted by memories of the tragedy. After losing her best friend Maureen in the attack, Diana has been profoundly affected by the incident - her seemingly perfect life shaped by the events of that day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Friend Dahmer (2017)
Jeffrey Dahmer struggles with a difficult family life as a young boy. During his teenage years he slowly transforms, edging closer to the serial killer he was to become.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleepers (1996)
Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Black Phone (2022)
Finney Blake, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMa (2019)
Sue Ann is a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie, a new teenager in town, to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to make some unsuspecting, if younger, friends of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisCarrie (1976)
Withdrawn and sensitive teenager Carrie White faces bullying from her classmates and abuse from her fanatically pious mother. When she begins to suspect that she has supernatural powers, things take a dark and violent turn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNightwatch (1997)
A law student takes a job as a night watchman at a morgue and begins to discover clues that implicate him as the suspect in a series of murders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCamp Harlow (2014)
On the brink of a family crisis, Alex finds herself being sent to the last place she wants to be, summer camp. Knowing that a young admirer from school will be at the camp, Alex reluctantly agrees. Thrown into a group of people she has never met, Alex is determined to shut out the world. However, Alex is brought out of the corners of her own heart by the most unlikely of friends: a horse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nerve (2001)
A man seems to possess a psychic link to a serial killer who has abducted his 4-year-old son. This black-and-white short played numerous film festivals in 2001. Parts were eventually folded into Prendes' 2003 feature Corpses Are Forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBridge to Terabithia (2007)
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Latent Image (2019)
A young writer retreats to an isolated cabin to work on a mystery thriller. One night, a mysterious stranger arrives at his door needing help.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Girl with the Needle (2024)
Struggling to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen, a newly unemployed and pregnant young woman is taken in by a charismatic elder to help run an underground adoption agency. The two form an unexpected bond, until a sudden discovery changes everything.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYeonji (2016)
On her birthday a teenager adventures off to a birthday party that promises to be a memorable one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pilgrim (2019)
In an attempt to remind her family of their privilege and help them bond, Ms. Anna Barker invites Pilgrim reenactors to stay with them over Thanksgiving. When the “actors” refuse to break character, the Barker family learns that there is such a thing as too much gratitude.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like An American Terror?
The closest matches to An American Terror are The New Kids (1985), The Spiral Staircase (1946) and The House That Jack Built (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after An American Terror?
Start with The New Kids (1985), the closest match to An American Terror.
What is the highest-rated movie like An American Terror?
Sleepers (1996), rated 7.6/10 by 4,136 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like An American Terror?
The Girl with the Needle (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like An American Terror?
Yes: The New Kids (1985), The Spiral Staircase (1946) and The House That Jack Built (2018).
How are movies similar to An American Terror chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside An American Terror, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.