Movies like Return of the Ape Man (1944)
The best movies like Return of the Ape Man (1944) are The Creeping Flesh (1973), Blood of the Vampire (1958) and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969). If Return of the Ape Man 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 Invisible Man (1933)7.5/10 from 1,014 votes
- NewestBlood and Snow (2023)Released 2023
The Creeping Flesh (1973)
A Victorian scientist returns to London with his paleontological bag-of-bones discovery from Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, when exposed to water, flesh returns to the bones, unleashing a malevolent entity on the scientist's family and friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlood of the Vampire (1958)
A man and wife are terrorized by Mad Scientist Dr. Callistratus who was executed but has returned to life with a heart transplant. Along with his crippled assistant Carl, the 'anemic' Mad Scientist, believed to be a vampire, conducts blood deficiency research on the inmates of a prison hospital for the criminally insane to sustain his return to life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisFrankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
Blackmailing a young couple to assist with his horrific experiments the Baron, desperate for vital medical data, abducts a man from an insane asylum. On route the abductee dies and the Baron and his assistant transplant his brain into a corpse. The creature is tormented by a trapped soul in an alien shell and, after a visit to his wife who violently rejects his monstrous form, the creature wreaks his revenge on the perpetrator of his misery: Baron Frankenstein.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
Dr Simon Helder, sentenced to an insane asylum for crimes against humanity, recognises its director as the brilliant Baron Frankenstein, the man whose work he had been trying to emulate before his imprisonment. Frankenstein utilises Helder's medical knowledge for a project he has been working on for some time. He is assembling a man from vital organs extracted from various inmates in the asylum. And the Baron will resort to murder to acquire the perfect specimens for his most ambitious project ever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invisible Man (1933)
After experimenting on himself and becoming invisible, scientist Jack Griffin, now aggressive due to the drug's effects, seeks a way to reverse the experiment at any cost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man They Could Not Hang (1939)
Dr. Henryk Savaard is a scientist working on experiments to restore life to the dead. When he is unjustly hanged for murder, he is brought back to life by his trusted assistant. Re-animated he turns decidedly nasty and sets about murdering the jury that convicted him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan-Made Monster (1941)
Mad scientist turns a man into an electrically-controlled monster to do his bidding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
Rescued from the guillotine by his devoted dwarf Fritz, the Baron relocates to Carlsbruck, where he continues his gruesome experiments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScanners (1981)
A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called 'scanning' to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non-Scanners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tingler (1959)
A pathologist experiments with a deaf-mute woman who is unable to scream to prove that humans die of fright due to an organism he names The Tingler that lives within each person on the spinal cord and is suppressed only when people scream when scared.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDonovan's Brain (1953)
A scientist takes the brain of dead man and revives it via electrodes as it lays suspended in a tank of liquid. Soon, the brain grows to possess enormous psychic powers and inflicts its personality upon the doctor who saved it, creating a "Jekyll and Hyde" paradigm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIsland of Lost Souls (1932)
An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZygote (2017)
The two remaining crew members of a mining operation in the Arctic Circle fight to survive against an alien creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlood and Snow (2023)
When researchers rescue a fellow scientist who survived a meteorite strike in the Arctic, they discover she may not be who they think she is. Is she some-how changed?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnnihilation (2018)
A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrimes of the Future (2022)
With his partner Caprice, celebrity performance artist Saul Tenser publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. An investigator from the National Organ Registry obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed... Their mission — to use Tenser's notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeep Blue Sea (1999)
Researchers on the undersea lab Aquatica have genetically altered the brains of captive sharks to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease. But there's an unexpected side effect: the sharks got smarter, faster, and more dangerous. After a big storm damages their remote research facility, they must fight for their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCreature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
When scientists exploring the Amazon River stumble on a “missing link” connecting humans and fish, they plan to capture it for later study. But the Creature has plans of his own, and has set his sights on the lead scientist's beautiful fiancée, Kay.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Baron Victor Frankenstein has discovered life's secret and unleashed a blood-curdling chain of events resulting from his creation: a cursed creature with a horrid face — and a tendency to kill.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Trap (2017)
A group of students become trapped inside a mysterious cave where they discover time passes differently underground than on the surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEraserhead (1977)
First-time father Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReturn of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988)
Crazy old Professor Gangreen has developed a way to make tomatoes look human for a second invasion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like this20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
When the first manned flight to Venus returns to Earth, the rocket crash-lands in the Mediterranean near a small Italian fishing village. The locals manage to save Colonel Robert Calder, the mission commander. A young boy also recovers what turns out to be a specimen of an alien creature. Growing at a fantastic rate, it manages to escape and eventually threatens the city of Rome.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Day After Tomorrow (2004)
After paleoclimatologist Jack Hall is largely ignored by UN officials when presenting his environmental concerns about the beginning of a new Ice Age, his research proves true when a superstorm develops, setting off catastrophic natural disasters throughout the world. Trying to get to his son, Sam, who is trapped in New York City with his friend Laura and others, Jack and his crew must travel to get to Sam before it's too late.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCube Zero (2004)
A young programmer whose job is to watch over the reality-warping Cube defies orders to rescue an innocent mother trapped in one of its rooms.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCube (1998)
A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison. It soon becomes clear that each of them possesses the peculiar skills necessary to escape, if they don't wind up dead first.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hole (2001)
Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Days (1995)
In the last days of 1999, ex-cop turned street hustler Lenny Nero receives a disc which contains the memories of the murder of a prostitute. With the help of bodyguard Mace, he starts to investigate and is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of murder, blackmail and intrigue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMark's Secret to Eternal Life (2013)
18-year-old Mark wakes up in a parallel world where no one knows who he is - not his family, friends or girlfriend - and discovers that he and all the people he loves will soon die a painful death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Return of the Ape Man?
The closest matches to Return of the Ape Man are The Creeping Flesh (1973), Blood of the Vampire (1958) and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Return of the Ape Man?
Start with The Creeping Flesh (1973), the closest match to Return of the Ape Man.
What is the highest-rated movie like Return of the Ape Man?
The Invisible Man (1933), rated 7.5/10 by 1,014 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Return of the Ape Man?
Blood and Snow (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Return of the Ape Man?
Yes: The Creeping Flesh (1973), Blood of the Vampire (1958) and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969).
How are movies similar to Return of the Ape Man chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Return of the Ape Man, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.