Movies like The Returning (1983)
The best movies like The Returning (1983) are The Dogs (2025), The Inhabitant (2022) and The Cellar (2022). If The Returning hooked you with its horror and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)7.3/10 from 6,794 votes
- NewestPassenger (2026)Released 2026
The Dogs (2025)
After fleeing his psychotic father, a young teen and his mom seek refuge in a remote farmhouse, only to face a pack of ferocious dogs and the sinister spirits that haunt the property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Inhabitant (2022)
Like any other teenage girl, Tara is just surviving high school — yet her father and mother seem strangely distant. Amidst a nearby spree of gruesome ax murders, Tara has sightings of terrifying entities, forcing her to question her own sanity and shocking ancestry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Cellar (2022)
When Keira Woods' daughter mysteriously vanishes in the cellar of their new house in the country, she soon discovers there is an ancient and powerful entity controlling their home that she will have to face or risk losing her family's souls forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Woman in Black (1989)
A lawyer travels to a small seaside town to settle the estate of a recently deceased woman, but soon becomes ensnared in something much more sinister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dark Song (2016)
A determined young woman and a damaged occultist risk their lives and souls to perform a dangerous ritual that will grant them what they want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParanormal Activity (2009)
After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly the most active in the middle of the night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Car (1977)
The Utah community of Santa Ynez is being terrorized by a mysterious black coupe that appears out of nowhere and begins running people down. After the car kills off the town sheriff, Captain Wade Parent is determined to stop the murderous driver.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren encounter what would become one of the most sensational cases from their files. The fight for the soul of a young boy takes them beyond anything they'd ever seen before, to mark the first time in U.S. history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defense.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Vigil (2020)
A man providing overnight watch to a deceased member of his former Orthodox Jewish community finds himself opposite a malevolent entity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPassenger (2026)
After a young couple witnesses a gruesome highway accident, they soon realize they did not leave the crash scene alone, as a demonic presence called the Passenger that won't stop until it claims them both turns their van life adventure into a nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Possession (2012)
A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner's clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Kill It (2016)
Demon hunter Jebediah Huntley teams up with an FBI agent to battle a supernatural force in the southern state of Mississippi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Deliverance (2024)
Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Silence (2007)
Jamie returns to his hometown in search of answers to his wife's murder, which occurred after receiving a weird package containing a ventriloquist dummy named Billy, which may be linked to the legend of ventriloquist Mary Shaw. Destined to find out the truth, Jamie goes to the town of Raven's Fair, where Shaw used to perform and is buried. But Jamie is in for more than he expected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaddy's Head (2024)
A boy and his stepmother fear for their safety after an eerie creature resembling the boy's recently deceased father visits them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like this825 Forest Road (2025)
After a family tragedy, Chuck Wilson hopes to start a new life in Ashland Falls with his wife Maria and little sister Elizabeth, but he quickly discovers that the town has a dark history of being haunted by a ghostly woman who drives residents to suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDark Harvest (2023)
In a small Midwestern town, a deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare, Sawtooth Jack, rises from the cornfields and challenges the town’s teenage boys in a bloody battle of survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeliver Us from Evil (2014)
When a frightening wave of violence sweeps through New York City, troubled cop Sarchie fails to find a rational explanation for the bizarre crimes. However, his eyes are opened to a frightening alternate reality when renegade Jesuit priest Mendoza convinces him that demonic possession may be to blame for the gruesome murders. Together, they wage a valiant supernatural struggle to rid the city of an otherworldly evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDa Possessed (2014)
A cowardly man unwittingly unleashes three spirits seeking revenge against the family he works for. The spirits take turns taking over his body, causing all sorts of mischief along the way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
2:59 (2019)
A boy cannot live a normal life because every night at 2:59 AM a demon pays a visit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Ouija Exorcism (2015)
In 1985 an exorcist locked a demonic spirit inside a Ouija board. Now, when his grandson stumbles upon the board game, the evil is unleashed and free to torment those responsible for its banishment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisOminous (2015)
Michael and Rachel are devastated when their six-year-old son dies in a tragic accident. When a stranger offers to bring the boy back to life, they take the offer. However, the child who returns is not the child they once knew.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Turn of the Screw (1974)
In a mid-19th century Essex country house, a young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Hold Your Breath (2012)
There is an old wives tale that you should hold your breath when passing by a cemetery because an evil spirit rejected by both heaven and hell can get inside of you when you inhale. Somewhere in a carload of college kids on holiday doesn't follow the rules when driving by a graveyard, allowing a spirit of a recently executed serial killer to get inside him/her to begin a killing spree of body-jumping carnage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDark Figures (2020)
Five friends accidentally awaken an ancient evil while hiking in Arizona. They must fight to survive both a demonic spirit and the small tribe who worships it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Super Ball (1974)
Film school grad Steve heads to Hollywood with big dreams as he shops around his amazing script. Of course, no one wants to give this neophyte the time of day until he runs meets up with a sleazy porn producer. What is idealistic little Stevie to do? Naturally, he decides to give the X- rated world a shot and begins to see his fragile soul get jaded.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Forsaken (2016)
When a Priest discovers his wife is deathly ill, he decides to go against his faith and use his knowledge of exorcisms to possess her in order to save her life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Like The Returning and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Returning?
The closest matches to The Returning are The Dogs (2025), The Inhabitant (2022) and The Cellar (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Returning?
Start with The Dogs (2025), the closest match to The Returning.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Returning?
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), rated 7.3/10 by 6,794 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Returning?
Passenger (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Returning?
Yes: The Dogs (2025), The Inhabitant (2022) and The Cellar (2022).
How are movies similar to The Returning chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Returning, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.