Movies like The Puppet Masters (1994)
The best movies like The Puppet Masters (1994) are The Signal (2007), Double Blind (2024) and Slash/Back (2022). If The Puppet Masters hooked you with its horror and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Thing (1982)8.1/10 from 8,430 votes
- NewestOsiris (2025)Released 2025
The Signal (2007)
A horror film told in three parts, from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission that turns people into killers invades every cell phone, radio, and television.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisDouble Blind (2024)
After an experimental drug trial goes awry, the test subjects face a terrifying side effect: if you fall asleep you die. Trapped in an isolated facility, panic ensues as they try to escape and somehow stay awake.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlash/Back (2022)
In a remote Arctic community, a group of Inuit girls fight off an alien invasion, all while trying to make it to the coolest party in town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Light (2019)
A woman returns to her family home and discovers it to be inhabited by monsters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisContainment (2015)
Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDie Alone (2024)
Lost in a world reclaimed by nature and overrun by mysterious creatures, Ethan, a young man with amnesia navigates the dangerous landscape in search of his lost love Emma. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he encounters Mae, a hardened and eccentric survivor. Together, Ethan and Mae face threats both human and otherwise before a fateful encounter with Kai unravels a secret that lies just beyond Ethan's fractured memory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNope (2022)
Residents in a lonely gulch of inland California bear witness to an uncanny, chilling discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtinction (2015)
And suddenly, overnight, the world came to a halt. Two men, two survivors, one kid, and hatred that separates them. A place forgotten by everyone, including the creatures that inhabit the Earth... until now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImpostor (2001)
A top-secret government weapons designer is arrested by a clandestine government organization on suspicion of being a clone created by the hostile alien race wanting to take over Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLifeforce (1985)
A race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, commencing an apocalyptic descent into chaos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien Nation (1988)
A few years from now, Earth will have the first contact with an alien civilization. These aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after years of quarantine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Return (1980)
Two young children and an adult in a small town have an encounter with an alien spaceship. 25 years later the children are reunited as adults in the same town which is now beset by strange cattle mutilations. Matters become worse when the cattle mutilations are joined by human murders and mutilations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
Mulder and Scully are called back to duty by the FBI when a former priest claims to be receiving psychic visions pertaining to a kidnapped agent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBody Snatchers (1993)
When Environmental Protection Agency inspector Steve Malone travels to a remote military base in order to check for toxic materials, he brings his family along for the ride. After arriving at the base, his teenage daughter Marti befriends Jean Platt, daughter of the base's commander, General Platt. When people at the base begin acting strangely, Marti becomes convinced that they are slowly being replaced by plant-like aliens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisProject Ithaca (2019)
Five strangers awaken to find themselves trapped aboard an alien spaceship that seems to be harnessing their terror to power the ship. They begin to understand that these species have been abducting humans for decades and possibly centuries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisMargaux (2022)
As a group of seniors celebrate their final college days at a smart house, the house's highly advanced AI system, Margaux, begins to take on a deadly presence of her own. A carefree weekend of partying turns into a dystopian nightmare as they realize Margaux's plans to eliminate her tenants one way or another. Time begins to run out as the group desperately tries to survive and outsmart the smart home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisOsiris (2025)
Special Forces commandos on a mission are abducted mid-operation by a mysterious spacecraft. Upon waking aboard, they find themselves prey to a relentless alien race in a fight for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thing (1982)
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPredator 2 (1990)
A police chief in the war-torn streets of Los Angeles discovers that an extraterrestrial creature is hunting down residents - and that he is the next target.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSphere (1998)
A spacecraft is discovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, presumed to be at least 300 years old and of alien origin. A crack team of scientists and experts is assembled and taken to the ocean floor to investigate. However, the ship is not as it seems and when a giant perfect sphere is discovered in the cargo bay, things begin to fall apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvil's City (2005)
Reporters uncover the dark secret behind Acheron, a shadowy town whose inhabitants have mysteriously died.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Critters 2 (1988)
Three bounty hunters from space fly back to the town of Grovers Bend, hoping to save local residents from a new batch of Critter eggs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRing 2 (1999)
While investigating the horrifying death of her boyfriend, Mai Takano learns about a videotape haunted by the spirit of a disturbing girl named Sadako, which kills anyone who watches it exactly one week later. When her boyfriend’s son, Yoichi, starts to develop the same psychic abilities as Sadako, Takano must find a way to keep the boy and herself from becoming the next victims.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe End of the Crisis (2010)
Susanne is called to her boss's office. There she drinks from a cup containing a paralyzing liquid. When Susanne regains consciousness, she has already become a will-less, controllable puppet of the system.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
The Quiet Earth (1985)
After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvil Aliens (2006)
The sensationalist reporter Michelle Fox presents the TV show Weird World, with phony matters about UFOS and aliens. When she hears about Cat, a young woman that claims that have been abducted with her boyfriend and become pregnant by aliens, she convinces her chief to travel with a team to the remote Welsh island of Scalled to interview Cat. She invites the cameraman Ricky Anderson with his sound technician partner; the nerd expert in "ufology" and "ley lines" Gavin Gorman; the actress Candy Vixen and an obscure gay actor to prepare the matter. They get a van and wait for the low tide to reach the island, and when they find evidences that aliens are really landed in the location, the ambitious Michelle decides to film her way to fame and wealth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Pelican Brief (1993)
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVampires (1998)
The church enlists a team of vampire-hunters to hunt down and destroy a group of vampires searching for an ancient relic that will allow them to exist in sunlight.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlight of the Navigator (1986)
12-year-old David is accidentally knocked out in the forest near his home, but when he awakens eight years have passed. His family is overjoyed to have him back, but is just as perplexed as he is that he hasn't aged. When a NASA scientist discovers a UFO nearby, David gets the chance to unravel the mystery and recover the life he lost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpider (2002)
A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Puppet Masters?
The closest matches to The Puppet Masters are The Signal (2007), Double Blind (2024) and Slash/Back (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Puppet Masters?
Start with The Signal (2007), the closest match to The Puppet Masters.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Puppet Masters?
The Thing (1982), rated 8.1/10 by 8,430 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Puppet Masters?
Osiris (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Puppet Masters?
Yes: The Signal (2007), Double Blind (2024) and Slash/Back (2022).
How are movies similar to The Puppet Masters chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Puppet Masters, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.