Movies like Backwoods (2009)
The best movies like Backwoods (2009) are Spell (2020), Just Before Dawn (1981) and The Empty Man (2020). If Backwoods 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 ratedThe Forever Purge (2021)6.8/10 from 2,782 votes
- Newest28 Years Later (2025)Released 2025
Spell (2020)
A father survives a plane crash in rural Appalachia, but becomes suspicious of the elderly couple who take him in to nurse him back to health with the ancient remedies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Before Dawn (1981)
In the Oregon mountains, a pair of hunters encounter a machete-wielding killer in an abandoned church. Meanwhile, five campers arrive to examine some property one of them has inherited but are warned by the forest ranger not to venture forth. Soon after they set up camp, they begin hearing strange noises, encounter a mysterious singing girl and start disappearing one by one.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Empty Man (2020)
On the trail of a missing girl, an ex-cop comes across a secretive group attempting to summon a terrifying supernatural entity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlone (2020)
A recently widowed traveler is kidnapped by a cold blooded killer, only to escape into the wilderness where she is forced to battle against the elements as her pursuer closes in on her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJigsaw (2017)
Law enforcement finds itself chasing the ghost of a man dead for over a decade, embroiled in a diabolical new game that's only just begun.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWrong Turn (2021)
Jen and a group of friends set out to hike the Appalachian Trail. Despite warnings to stick to the trail, the hikers stray off course—and cross into land inhabited by The Foundation, a hidden community of mountain dwellers who use deadly means to protect their way of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisGreen Room (2016)
Members of a punk rock band and a tough young woman are forced to fight for survival after witnessing an act of violence at a skinhead bar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hunt (2020)
Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are—or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted turns the tables on her pursuers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunted (2021)
A woman flees two serial killers who are hot on her heels in a forest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this28 Years Later (2025)
Twenty-eight years after the Rage virus outbreak, a heavily-defended island survives connected to the mainland by a single causeway. When one of the group leaves the island into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWrong Turn (2003)
Chris crashes into a carload of other young people, and the group of stranded motorists is soon lost in the woods of West Virginia, where they're hunted by three cannibalistic mountain men who are grossly disfigured by generations of inbreeding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
Retired military commander Colonel Dale Murphy hosts the simulated post-apocalyptic reality show where participants are challenged to survive a remote West Virginia wasteland. But the show turns into a nightmarish showdown when each realizes they are being hunted by an inbred family of cannibals determined to make them all dinner!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Forever Purge (2021)
All the rules are broken as a sect of lawless marauders decides that the annual Purge does not stop at daybreak and instead should never end as they chase a group of immigrants who they want to punish because of their harsh historical past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWolf Creek (2005)
Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlanet Terror (2007)
Two doctors find their graveyard shift inundated with townspeople ravaged by sores. Among the wounded is Cherry Darling, a dancer whose leg was ripped from her body. As the invalids quickly become enraged aggressors, Cherry and her ex-boyfriend El Wray lead a team of accidental warriors into the night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVacancy (2007)
A young married couple becomes stranded at an isolated motel and find hidden video cameras in their room. They realize that unless they escape, they'll be the next victims of a snuff film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMercy Falls (2023)
A group of friends set off into the Scottish Highlands in search of a long lost cabin. Once far from civilization, an unforeseen tragedy befalls the group and one bad decision leads to suspicion, betrayal and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaw IV (2007)
Despite Jigsaw's death, and in order to save the lives of two of his colleagues, Lieutenant Rigg is forced to take part in a new game, which promises to test him to the limit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaw VI (2009)
Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaw III (2006)
Jigsaw has disappeared. Along with his new apprentice Amanda, the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon and Jeff Reinhart are unaware that they are about to become the latest pawns on his vicious chessboard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Stranger She Brought Home (2021)
A new twisted story where the predator is trapped at his own game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Jason Voorhees is tracked down and blown to bits by a special FBI task force, reborn with the bone-chilling ability to assume the identity of anyone he touches.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHigh Tension (2003)
Best friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia's parents' secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResurrection (1999)
A jaded homicide detective has been put on the case of a ruthless killer in the city of Chicago, who leaves a trail of horribly mutilated and dismembered corpses along with perversely ironic biblical quotes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989)
The pregnant Alice finds Freddy Krueger striking through the sleeping mind of her unborn child, hoping to be reborn into the real world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisUnwritten Obsession (2017)
Bestselling author Skye Chaste hasn't had any success since her hit book, "Maya's Fall", was released years ago. Now desperate for cash, Skye accepts a job to mentor one of her young fans, Holly, who is writing a novel herself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Waltz's Veil (2009)
A woman retraces a violence she suffered was born.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Hostile Intent (1997)
Paint-ball playing computer geeks who invent a computer chip which can keep the government or any agency from gaining access to computer files are targeted by government assassins during a paint-ball competition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Another Alice (2024)
Alice leaves a party with her best friend, who tries to kiss her. She pushes him away, and he becomes violent... Alice then flees into a dreamlike world, revisiting a wonderland that resembles a nightmare.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Suicide Theory (2014)
Steven Ray was never quite normal. But when tragedy strikes in the form of a deadly hit-and-run incident at a city cross walk, his violent and bizarre behavior becomes uncontrollable. One night, as Steven plots his next murder, he meets Percival, whose unsuccessful attempt at suicide not only interferes with Stevens plans, but the chance encounter also introduces the two into each others sad and lonely lives. Percival believes hes cursed after miraculously surviving each suicide attempt and concludes fate brought he and Steven together. So he hires Steven to assist him in suicide. Steven does not believe in fate and thinks Percival is desperate and delusional. But he accepts the offer. Easy money. After Percival continues to miraculously survive each attempt on his life, Steven starts to believe. He tries to help Percival figure out ways to break the curse. And in the process, they form an unlikely friendship through the common bond of tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Backwoods?
The closest matches to Backwoods are Spell (2020), Just Before Dawn (1981) and The Empty Man (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Backwoods?
Start with Spell (2020), the closest match to Backwoods.
What is the highest-rated movie like Backwoods?
The Forever Purge (2021), rated 6.8/10 by 2,782 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Backwoods?
28 Years Later (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Backwoods?
Yes: Spell (2020), Just Before Dawn (1981) and The Empty Man (2020).
How are movies similar to Backwoods chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Backwoods, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.