Movies like The Satan Bug (1965)
The best movies like The Satan Bug (1965) are The Flight That Disappeared (1961), Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) and The Andromeda Strain (1971). If The Satan Bug hooked you with its science fiction and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)7.5/10 from 1,264 votes
- NewestThe End of Oak Street (2026)Released 2026
The Flight That Disappeared (1961)
A cross-country airliner, whose passengers include a nuclear physicist, a rocket expert, and a mathematical genius, is drawn beyond radar range by an unknown, unbreakable force.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
The U.S. has handed over control of its nuclear defense system to the Colossus supercomputer designed by scientist Dr. Charles Forbin. It soon becomes clear, that the now-sentient Colossus is far more intelligent than its creator realized—with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Andromeda Strain (1971)
When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scrambles to a secure laboratory and tries first to isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form, unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisQuatermass and the Pit (1967)
A mysterious artifact unearthed below a London Underground station proves to have powerful psychic effects on the people around.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Medusa Touch (1978)
A French detective in London reconstructs the life of a man lying in hospital with severe injuries with the help of journals and a psychiatrist. He realises that the man had powerful telekinetic abilities.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle Beneath the Earth (1967)
Government officials discover a horrible plot: the Chinese are tunneling their way to the United States.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Capricorn One (1977)
In order to protect the reputation of the American space program, a team of NASA administrators turn the first Mars mission into a phony Mars landing. Under threat of harm to their families the astronauts play their part in the deception on a staged set in a deserted military base. But once the real ship returns to Earth and burns up on re-entry, the astronauts become liabilities. Now, with the help of a crusading reporter, they must battle a sinister conspiracy that will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Time Travelers (1964)
Research scientists experimenting with time warps are accidentally propelled forward into an unbearable future.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974)
Colonel Pete Moore (Glenn Ford) is commander of the Whitney Radar Test Group, which has been experiencing electrical difficulties aboard its aircraft. To ferret out the problem, he sends a four-man crew on Flight 412. Shortly into the test, the jet picks up three blips on radar, and subsequently, two fighters scramble and mysteriously disappear. At this point, Flight 412 is monitored and forced to land by Digger Control, a top-level, military intelligence group that debunks UFO information. The intrepid colonel, kept in the dark about his crew, decides to investigate the matter himself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery & science fiction
Phase IV (1974)
Arizona ants mock the food chain on their way to a desert lab to get two scientists and a woman.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Cold Night's Death (1973)
Two scientists suspect that there is someone other than their research primates inhabiting their polar station.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Fiend Without a Face (1958)
An American airbase in Canada provokes resentment from the nearby residents after fallout from nuclear experiments at the base are blamed for a recent spate of disappearances. A captain from the airbase is assigned to investigate, and begins to suspect that an elderly British scientist who lives near the base and conducts research in the field of mind over matter knows more than he is letting on..
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Terminal Man (1974)
As the result of a head injury, brilliant computer scientist Harry Benson begins to experience violent seizures. In an attempt to control the seizures, Benson undergoes a new surgical procedure in which a microcomputer is inserted into his brain. The procedure is not entirely successful.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisNo Blade of Grass (1970)
A strange new virus has appeared, which only attacks strains of grasses such as wheat and rice, and the world is descending into famine and chaos. Architect John, along with his family and friends, is making his way from London to his brother's farm in northern England where there will hopefully be food and safety for all of them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisBug (1975)
An earthquake releases a strain of mutant cockroaches with the ability to start fires, which proceed to cause destructive chaos in a small town. The studies carried out by scientist James Parmiter, however, reveal an intent with much more far-reaching consequences.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisNight of the Big Heat (1967)
While mainland Britain shivers in deepest winter, the northern island of Fara bakes in the nineties, and the boys at the Met station have no more idea what is going on than the regulars at the Swan. Only a stand-offish visting scientist realizes space aliens are to blame.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
British reporters suspect an international cover-up of a global disaster in progress... and they're right. Hysterical panic has engulfed the world after the United States and the Soviet Union simultaneously detonate nuclear devices and have caused the orbit of the Earth to alter, sending it hurtling towards the sun.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe President's Analyst (1967)
At first, Dr. Sidney Schaefer feels honored and thrilled to be offered the job of the President's Analyst. But then the stress of the job and the paranoid spies that come with a sensitive government position get to him, and he runs away. Now spies from all over the world are after him, either to get him for their own side or to kill him and prevent someone else from getting him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping (1973)
A criminal organization known as OSO specializes in kidnapping high ranking U.S. representatives. Although Steve Austin has already thwarted one of their kidnappings, he is unable to stop them from grabbing William Henry Cameron right from under OSI's nose. OSO demands one million dollars in gold and Oscar Goldman takes the opportunity to try and lure them out into the open. Meanwhile, Steve accompanies Dr. Erica Bergner, who is testing a new method of brain transferal in order to find out where Cameron is being kept.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War (1973)
After Col. Steve Austin fails to retrieve the contents of a safe owned by arms dealer Arlen Findletter, he accepts an offer of a holiday in the Bahamas. There he runs into Soviet Agent Alexi Kaslov and his lovely assistant Katrina Volana, who also happen to be out to find Findletter. Is it a coincidence, or was Steve's trip all part of one of Oscar Goldman's missions?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCountdown (1967)
Desperate to land a man on the moon before Russia does, NASA hastily preps a would-be spaceman for a mission that would leave him alone in a lunar shelter for a year.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisProject X (1968)
A spy is brought back from cryogenic suspension after being almost killed in a plane crash returning from a mission to learn about a deadly new weapon being developed in the East. But the vital memories are being suppressed, so the authorities use ultra-advanced technologies to try to uncover the secret.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & mystery
The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972)
A break-in and sabotage attempt occurs at a top secret research institute and the culprit is cornered and captured. The problem is that he's been badly injured and claims to have lost his memory entirely. A cat-and-mouse game ensues between investigator Tuxan, the mystery intruder Welles and the people who sent him on the mission.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery & science fiction
The Deadly Affair (1967)
Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan. Dobbs suspects that Fennan's wife, Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi Germany extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. So Dobbs hires a retiring inspector, Mendel, to quietly make inquiries. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trollenberg Terror (1958)
A United Nations investigator crosses paths with a pair of psychic sisters on his way to Trollenberg observatory in the Swiss Alps, which has been plagued by a series of mountaineer disappearances that may be related to a radioactive cloud at the mountain's south face.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisMirage (1965)
After a blackout in his office building, accountant David Stillwell emerges outside to find out a man he did not know either jumped or was pushed out a window to his death — and that he can't remember the past two years of his life. Enlisting the help of a rookie private eye and a reluctant old flame, Stillwell uncovers the mystery detail by unexpected detail.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Invasion (2007)
Washington, D.C. psychologist Carol Bennell and her colleague Dr. Ben Driscoll are the only two people on Earth who are aware of an epidemic running rampant through the city. They discover an alien virus aboard a crashed space shuttle that transforms anyone who comes into contact with it into unfeeling drones while they sleep. Carol realizes her son holds the key to stopping the spread of the plague and she races to find him before it is too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thirteenth Floor (1999)
In Los Angeles, a wealthy man, known as Mr. Fuller, discovers a shocking secret about the world he lives in. Fearing for his life, he leaves a desperate message for a friend of his in the most unexpected place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe End of Oak Street (2026)
After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Satan Bug?
The closest matches to The Satan Bug are The Flight That Disappeared (1961), Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) and The Andromeda Strain (1971). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Satan Bug?
People who watched The Satan Bug most often go on to The Flight That Disappeared (1961), Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) and The Andromeda Strain (1971).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Satan Bug?
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), rated 7.5/10 by 1,264 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Satan Bug?
The End of Oak Street (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Satan Bug?
Yes: The Flight That Disappeared (1961), Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) and The Andromeda Strain (1971).
How are movies similar to The Satan Bug chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Satan Bug, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.