Movies like 2012: Curse of the Xtabai (2012)
The best movies like 2012: Curse of the Xtabai (2012) are God Is a Bullet (2023), The Car (1977) and Older Gods (2023). If 2012: Curse of the Xtabai hooked you with its comedy and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSleepy Hollow (1999)7.2/10 from 7,718 votes
- NewestTelaga Suriram (2025)Released 2025
God Is a Bullet (2023)
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
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 & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOlder Gods (2023)
After the disappearance of his troubled friend, American Chris Rivers travels to the remote Welsh countryside to investigate what happened – leading him to a dark apocalyptic cult.
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 thisBody Cam (2020)
As a police officer investigates the gruesome murder of her colleague, she discovers that a mysterious supernatural force is behind it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Sweet Home: Rebirth (2025)
When a city is overrun with a demonically-possessed crowd, a cop must find the source of evil to save his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
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 & thriller
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 thisNocebo (2022)
A fashion designer suffers from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband until help arrives in the form of a Filipino caregiver who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCheat (2023)
On the surface it's believed to be another urban legend - a supernatural being from the afterlife is violently killing anyone who cheats on their significant other in the small college town of Silvercreek, Pennsylvania. But the town's unusually high suicide rate is finally convincing both locals and college students that everything is not as it seems. When Maeve - a female college student - sleeps with Charlie, the married man of the host family she is staying with, both sense the deadly curse is closing in on them. Unable to get anyone to believe them, Maeve and Charlie seek out a local history student to help find answers and figure out a way to defend themselves. It all comes undone, however, as several people are horrifically killed by the savage being - one-by-one at a rapid pace. Eventually, Maeve, Charlie and the few survivors band together in an attempt to defeat the monster once and for all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisFrank and Penelope (2022)
A tale of love and violence when a man on his emotional last legs finds a savior seductively dancing in a run-down strip club. And a life most certainly headed off a cliff suddenly becomes redirected - as everything is now worth dying for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisNight Watch (1973)
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGotcha! (1985)
A student on a trip to France is tricked into smuggling secrets across the Iron Curtain by a sexy spy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDave Made a Maze (2017)
Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave’s girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. Once inside, they find themselves trapped in an ever-changing supernatural world, threatened by booby traps and pursued by a bloodthirsty Minotaur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleepy Hollow (1999)
Skeptical young detective Ichabod Crane gets transferred to the hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, New York, where he is tasked with investigating the decapitations of three people – murders the townsfolk attribute to a legendary specter, The Headless Horseman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSea of Trees (TBA)
Nearly two decades after the unexplained disappearance of a vlogger in England’s Epping Forest, a documentary crew ventures into the same woods to uncover the truth—only to find themselves drawn into a chilling mystery where folklore, grief, and the act of filming begin to blur the line between reality and something far more sinister.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Terrified (1995)
Traumatized after witnessing her jealous husband kill her adulterous lover and then himself, an unbalanced, nymphomaniac young woman finds herself stalked by an unknown assailant, but she cannot make anyone believe her desperate situation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Telaga Suriram (2025)
In a remote village, a young girl named Suriram goes mysteriously missing. Maimon, who is deaf and mute, is the prime suspect in the case because she was last seen with Suriram. The village folks also believed that someone in the village was retrieving a mystical ancient ritual that involves children sacrifices.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Flu Bird Horror (2008)
A group of teenagers go on a excursion to the mountains. There, they are attacked by birds infected with a lethal virus. When the teens reach a nearby village, the haunting birds start passing their virus on to all the dwellers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Sleepless (2001)
An elderly and retired police detective and a young amateur sleuth team up to find a serial killer whom has resumed a killing spree in Turin, Italy after a 17-year hiatus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Samaritan (2018)
A thief makes a disturbing discovery in the house where he breaks in. Later, when he returns to the same house with his partner in crime, things are no longer how he expected.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuperheroes (2010)
When a policewoman is unfairly accused of selling drugs, her three deadbeat brothers come to the rescue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
War on Terror: KL Anarchy (2023)
Khalid, a rebellious cop from an elite special force must prove he is able to work as a team in order to thwart terrorist threats to bring down Kuala Lumpur.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Wild Life (1984)
Eighties teen romp involving Bill and his new apartment, Jim and his rebellious antics, Tom and his crazy self, and Anita with her older man David.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCops (1922)
Buster Keaton gets involved in a series of misunderstandings involving a horse and cart. Eventually he infuriates every cop in the city when he accidentally interrupts a police parade.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like 2012: Curse of the Xtabai?
The closest matches to 2012: Curse of the Xtabai are God Is a Bullet (2023), The Car (1977) and Older Gods (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after 2012: Curse of the Xtabai?
Start with God Is a Bullet (2023), the closest match to 2012: Curse of the Xtabai.
What is the highest-rated movie like 2012: Curse of the Xtabai?
Sleepy Hollow (1999), rated 7.2/10 by 7,718 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like 2012: Curse of the Xtabai?
Telaga Suriram (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to 2012: Curse of the Xtabai chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside 2012: Curse of the Xtabai, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.