Movies like Play Hooky (2012)
The best movies like Play Hooky (2012) are Tales from the Hood (1995), Horsemen (2009) and The Thinning: New World Order (2018). If Play Hooky hooked you with its horror and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSaw (2004)7.4/10 from 10,478 votes
- NewestVicious (2025)Released 2025
Tales from the Hood (1995)
A strange mortician tells four horrific tales to three drug dealers that he traps in a local funeral parlor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHorsemen (2009)
A recently widowed detective still grieving over his wife's death discovers a shocking connection between himself and the suspects in a serial killing spree linked to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thinning: New World Order (2018)
Blake Redding is trapped in this dark room wanting to protect his love so the only thing he will do is escape like no failed student has done before.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWerewolf: The Beast Among Us (2012)
Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGrave Encounters (2011)
A crew from a paranormal reality television show lock themselves in a haunted psychiatric hospital. They search for evidence of paranormal activity as they shoot what ends up becoming their final episode.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMa (2019)
Sue Ann is a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie, a new teenager in town, to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to make some unsuspecting, if younger, friends of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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 & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo One Gets Out Alive (2021)
An immigrant in search of the American dream is forced to take a room in a boarding house and soon finds herself in a nightmare from which she can't escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisGhost Stories (2018)
Professor Philip Goodman devotes his life to exposing phony psychics and fraudulent supernatural shenanigans. His skepticism soon gets put to the test when he receives news of three chilling and inexplicable cases -- disturbing visions in an abandoned asylum, a car accident deep in the woods and the spirit of an unborn child. Even scarier -- each of the macabre stories seems to have a sinister connection to the professor's own life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
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 thisStonehearst Asylum (2014)
An Oxford Medical School graduate takes a position at a mental institution and soon becomes obsessed with a female mental patient, but he has no idea of a recent and horrifying staffing change.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shed (2019)
The story of Stan, an orphaned teenager stuck living with his abusive grandfather and tasked with routinely protecting his best friend from high school bullies. When Stan discovers a murderous creature has taken refuge inside the tool shed in his backyard, he tries to secretly battle the demon alone until his bullied friend discovers the creature and has a far more sinister plan in mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisPlay Dead (2022)
Criminology student Chloe fakes her own death to break into a morgue, in order to retrieve a piece of evidence that ties her younger brother to a crime gone wrong. Once inside, she discovers that a sadistic coroner is using the corpses for his sick and twisted business, and when he realises that Chloe still has a pulse, a terrifying game of cat and mouse ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Call (2013)
Jordan Turner is an experienced 911 operator but when she makes an error in judgment and a call ends badly, Jordan is rattled and unsure if she can continue. But when teenager Casey Welson is abducted in the back of a man's car and calls 911, Jordan is the one called upon to use all of her experience, insights and quick thinking to help Casey escape, and not just to save her, but to make sure the man is brought to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbarian (2022)
In town for a job interview, a young woman arrives at her Airbnb late at night only to find that it has been mistakenly double-booked and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to stay the night anyway.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unhealer (2021)
A botched faith healing bestows supernatural Shaman powers on a bullied teenager. When his lifelong tormentors pull a prank that kills someone he loves, he uses his powers for revenge and goes on a bloody rampage to settle the score.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisVicious (2025)
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaw (2004)
Two men wake up to find themselves shackled in a grimy, abandoned bathroom. As they struggle to comprehend their predicament, they discover a disturbing tape left behind by the sadistic mastermind known as Jigsaw. With a chilling voice and cryptic instructions, Jigsaw informs them that they must partake in a gruesome game in order to secure their freedom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReady or Not (2012)
A new reality television show chooses six contestants to travel to a secluded mansion to compete for one million dollars. The game is Hide-and-Seek. But the rules change when one contestant is found murdered by the very cameraman who was sent to record their every move. The players realize that this is no game. It's a real life horror film and they are the stars. What began as a contest for quick fame and easy fortune becomes a battle for survival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Rewind (2017)
A mysterious natural phenomenon sets an end to the party night of a group of young adults. The morning after begins with far more than just a hangover.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Blindness (2008)
When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReel 2 (2020)
After being convinced his first movie REEL wasn't a blockbuster success because it starred a man, director SlasherVictim666 makes it his personal mission to find the perfect woman to star in REEL 2.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Through Your Door (2013)
An unseen Intruder stalks and terrorizes an innocent family, recording every move on a head-mounted camera. A terrifying cat and mouse game ensues as the Intruder removes the father and daughter from the house, leaving the mother to fend for herself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
The next great psycho horror slasher has given a documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo, all the while deconstructing the conventions and archetypes of the horror genre for them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScaler, Dark Spirit (2016)
A Paranormal researcher has been handed video footage from a ghost hunter, which reveals clues to a bad and old soul.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Reel (2015)
One of the sickest bloodbaths in horror movie history occurs after a deranged stalker becomes obsessed with real life horror film critic Todd Smith.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
It's with You Now (2023)
A horror podcaster and social media enthusiast gets more than he bargained for when investigating strange claims in a nearby forest. Things become strange as something is with him now and his life may never recover.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
It Exists (2014)
"Ia Wujud" follows a a group of teenagers who breaks into an abandoned theme park. Set at a time before the flurry of horror stories from the Highland Tower case, the group believes that ghosts do not exist. So they challenge each other to a 'spirit of the coin' game in the abandoned park, but they soon find that ultimately what they are looking for actually exists.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Like Play Hooky and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Play Hooky?
The closest matches to Play Hooky are Tales from the Hood (1995), Horsemen (2009) and The Thinning: New World Order (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Play Hooky?
Start with Tales from the Hood (1995), the closest match to Play Hooky.
What is the highest-rated movie like Play Hooky?
Saw (2004), rated 7.4/10 by 10,478 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Play Hooky?
Vicious (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Play Hooky?
Yes: Tales from the Hood (1995), Horsemen (2009) and The Thinning: New World Order (2018).
How are movies similar to Play Hooky chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Play Hooky, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.