Movies like Nightmares (2004)
The best movies like Nightmares (2004) are The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014), Cult Killer (2024) and Play Dead (2025). If Nightmares hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSuccubus (2024)8.3/10 from 279 votes
- NewestTeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026)Released 2026
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014)
A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisCult Killer (2024)
A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlay Dead (2025)
A woman wakes up injured in a basement surrounded by corpses. To survive, she pretends to be dead while a grotesque ritual unfolds in the house above.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBloodline (2019)
Evan values family above all else, and anyone who gets between him, his wife, and newborn son learns that the hard way. But when it comes to violent tendencies, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisNightbreed (1990)
A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Prowler (1981)
Thirty years after a murder on the night of Avalon Bay's graduation dance, the sleepy town's teens meet grisly ends at the hands of a prowler once thought to be a jilted soldier home from war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Strangers (2008)
After a 4 a.m. knock at the door and haunting voices, Kristen McKay and James Hoyt’s remote getaway becomes a psychological night of terror as three masked strangers invade. Now they must go far beyond what they thought themselves capable of if they hope to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRest Stop: Don't Look Back (2008)
One year after running away from home, Nicole and Jesse are still missing. When Jesse's brother, Tom, returns home from active duty, he sets out with his friends Marilyn and Jared to locate the lost couple. Their search leads them to the stretch of old highway with a mysterious Rest Stop, where they find themselves in the same predicament as Nicole and Jesse: confronting a madman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight of the Hunted (2023)
When an unsuspecting woman stops at a remote gas station in the dead of night, she's made the plaything of a sociopath sniper with a secret vendetta. To survive, she must not only dodge his bullets and fight for her life, but also figure out who wants her dead and why.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEradication (2022)
When an unknown disease wipes out most of the world’s population, a man with unique blood is isolated for study. Fearing for his wife’s safety, he breaks his quarantine – into a world overrun by monstrous Infected and a shadowy agency hunting them down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Harvest (2025)
Detectives are thrust into a chilling hunt for a sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grotesque, otherworldly crimes tied to a cosmic force.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLike Minds (2006)
A forensic psychologist must determine if a minor should be charged with murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026)
Tethered by a frightening conclusion, Maya and the Strangers are locked on an unavoidable, unforgiving collision course — a showdown that proves they’re far from strangers now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisStrange Darling (2024)
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightmares (1983)
A collection of short stories. In one a woman who leaves her house late at night to drive to the store while a killer is loose encounters some problems. In the second an arcade whiz kid's obsession with a game leads to deadly consequences. In the third a small town priest loses his faith and decides to leave town, but in the desert is stalked by a mysterious black pick-up truck. In the final story, a family's problem with a rat is larger than they think.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhisper (2007)
Sinister things begin happening to kidnappers who are holding a young boy for ransom in a remote cabin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInfluencers (2025)
In the picturesque landscapes of Southern France, a young woman's chilling fascination with murder and identity theft sends her life into a whirlwind of chaos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBone Lake (2025)
A couple’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate is upended when they are forced to share the mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. In this darkly hilarious and seductive horror story, a dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, bringing terrifying secrets to light and triggering a bloody battle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (2023)
Vicaria is a brilliant teenager who believes death is a disease that can be cured. After the brutal and sudden murder of her brother, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuccubus (2024)
A new father going through a marital separation joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman... whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe 'Burbs (1989)
When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUrban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
The making of a horror movie takes on a terrifying reality for students at the most prestigious film school in the country. At Alpine University, someone is determined to win the best film award at any cost - even if it means eliminating the competition. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisTeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026)
An ambitious director sets out to revive a faded slasher franchise, but her meeting with the film’s reclusive original star spirals into a terrifying maze of obsession, fear, and blood-soaked delusion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Corruption of Chris Miller (1973)
Chris Miller, living with her stepmother in a large secluded mansion, finds her isolation interrupted by the arrival of an unknown scythe-wielding killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Pathology (2008)
Medical student Ted Grey graduates at the top of his class and quickly joins an elite pathology program, whose top students invite him into their circle. There he uncovers a gruesome secret: They play a game in which one tries to commit the perfect, undetectable murder, then the others compete to determine the victim's cause of death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisSanta's Slay (2005)
Santa Claus is actually a demon who lost a bet with an angel, so he became the giver of toys and happiness. But this year the bet is off, and Santa is about to return to his evil ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe People Under the Stairs (1991)
Trapped inside a fortified home owned by a mysterious couple, a young boy quickly learns the true nature of the homicidal inhabitants, and secret creatures hidden deep within the walls.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisErasmus (2016)
Montse just wanted to make a documentary about partying at the Barcelona night clubs. But what begins as a fun evening out turns into hours of unending terror as Montse's video cameras capture a mysterious fiend killing off her friends one by one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Cherry Falls (2000)
When students in the small town of Cherry Falls learn a serial killer is targeting virgins, they realize their only chance of survival is to throw a “Pop Your Cherry” party.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisRomasanta: The Werewolf Hunt (2004)
A terror is stalking the land: people are disappearing daily, their bodies appearing covered in savage gashes coupled with precise surgical cuts. The legend of the 'Werewolf of Allariz' spreads across the land like wildfire. When Barbara (Elsa Pataky) falls in love with travelling vendor Manuel Romasanta, she is at first besotted with him - but soon begins to be suspicious of him. What has happened to her sister, who - after being escorted by Romasanta to the city - seems to have disappeared forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Nightmares?
The closest matches to Nightmares are The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014), Cult Killer (2024) and Play Dead (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Nightmares?
Start with The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014), the closest match to Nightmares.
What is the highest-rated movie like Nightmares?
Succubus (2024), rated 8.3/10 by 279 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Nightmares?
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Nightmares?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to Nightmares chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Nightmares, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.