Movies like The Nightmare
The best movies like The Nightmare are Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026), Smile (2022) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). If The Nightmare hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Nightmare
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Thing (1982)8.1/10 from 8,439 votes
- NewestMonkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026)Released 2026
Monkey’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 thisSmile (2022)
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can't explain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
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 · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Play (2020)
Oliver, a lonely autistic boy, seeks solace and refuge in his ever-present cell phone and tablet. When a mysterious creature uses the boy's devices against him, his parents must fight to save their son from the monster beyond the screen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerrifier (2011)
After witnessing a brutal murder on Halloween night, a young woman becomes the next target of a maniacal entity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCobweb (2023)
Eight year old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tapping from inside his bedroom wall—one that his parents insist is all in his imagination. As Peter's fear intensifies, he believes that his parents could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trustworthiness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
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 · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDust Bunny (2025)
Ten-year-old Aurora asks her hitman neighbor to kill the monster under her bed that she claims ate her family. To protect her, he must battle an onslaught of assassins while accepting that some monsters are real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Shall Not Sleep Tonight (2024)
A boy is haunted by terrifying nightmares where a monster lurks inside the closet. To his relief, his father appears in the middle of the night helping him to face his fears. But the boy will begin to question the true nature of these apparitions, having to face the truth about his father's destiny and the evil force that threatens to consume him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisNever Let Go (2024)
As an evil takes over the world beyond their front doorstep, the only protection for a mother and her twin sons is their house and their family’s protective bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMalignant (2021)
Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities with a mysterious tie to her past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome True (2020)
Looking for an escape from her recurring nightmares, 18-year-old Sarah submits to a university sleep study, but soon realizes she's become the conduit to a frightening new discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisHalloween (2018)
Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
A demonic force has chosen Freddy Krueger as its portal to the real world. Can Heather Langenkamp play the part of Nancy one last time and trap the evil trying to enter our world?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKill List (2011)
Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rule of Jenny Pen (2025)
Confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child's puppet to abuse the home's residents with deadly consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArcadian (2024)
In the near future, on a decimated Earth, Paul and his twin sons face terror at night when ferocious creatures awaken. When Paul is nearly killed, the boys come up with a plan for survival, using everything their father taught them to keep him alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Mountain Side (2016)
A group of archaeologists working in Northern Canada uncover a strange structure dating over ten thousand years before the present. The team soon finds themselves isolated when their communication systems fail and they begin to feel the effects of solitude.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlood: The Last Vampire (2000)
In Japan, the vampire-hunter Saya, who is a powerful original, is sent by her liaison with the government, David, posed as a teenage student to the Yokota High School on the eve of Halloween to hunt down vampires. Saya asks David to give a new katana to her. Soon she saves the school nurse Makiho Amano from two vampires disguised of classmates and Makiho witnesses her fight against the powerful demon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGremlins (1984)
After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Young sweethearts Billy and Kate move to the Big Apple, land jobs in a high-tech office park and soon reunite with the friendly and lovable Gizmo. But a series of accidents creates a whole new generation of Gremlins. The situation worsens when the devilish green creatures invade a top-secret laboratory and develop genetically altered powers, making them even harder to destroy!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEraserhead (1977)
First-time father Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren take on one last terrifying case involving mysterious entities they must confront.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like this12:21:21 (2017)
A Psychologically ill person with schizophrenia who is undergoing constant medical treatments recalls his past reminiscences.He distinguishes the reality and illusion from a different perspective.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
CELSIUM (TBA)
When a young man opens his window on a hot summer night, an unwanted demonic creature is allowed inside - throwing him into a hot, sweaty fight for his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Thing (1982)
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Host (2006)
A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Nightmare?
The closest matches to The Nightmare are Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026), Smile (2022) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Nightmare?
Start with Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026), the closest match to The Nightmare.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Nightmare?
The Thing (1982), rated 8.1/10 by 8,439 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Nightmare?
Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Nightmare?
Yes: Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026), Smile (2022) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987).
How are movies similar to The Nightmare chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Nightmare, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.