Movies like Pernicious (2015)
The best movies like Pernicious (2015) are MaXXXine (2024), Hellraiser (1987) and Play Dead (2025). If Pernicious hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFreaks (1932)7.8/10 from 1,360 votes
- NewestThe Dogs (2025)Released 2025
MaXXXine (2024)
In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHellraiser (1987)
A hedonistic man finds a mysterious puzzle box that summons a group of gruesome beings known as the Cenobites. These otherworldly entities open the doors to a dominion where pain and pleasure are indivisible.
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 thisThe Entity (1982)
A single mom is raped by an invisible force. Her psychiatrist believes the experience stems from childhood trauma, while she knows something supernatural is at play.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dogs (2025)
After fleeing his psychotic father, a young teen and his mom seek refuge in a remote farmhouse, only to face a pack of ferocious dogs and the sinister spirits that haunt the property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHaunter (2013)
A teenager is stuck in a time loop that is not quite the same each time. She must uncover the truth but her actions have consequences for herself and others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDressed to Kill (1980)
After witnessing a mysterious woman brutally slay a homemaker, prostitute Liz Blake finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation. While the police thinks she is the murderer, the real killer is intent on silencing her only witness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightmare Cinema (2018)
A series of down-on-their-luck individuals enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist – a mysterious, ghostly figure who holds the nightmarish futures of all who attend his screenings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisHostel: Part II (2007)
Three American college students studying abroad are lured to a Slovakian hostel, and discover the grim reality behind it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDaddy's Little Girl (2014)
After the police find Derek’s daughter brutally murdered on the beach, he vows to make the culprit suffer for his actions, even if that person is ‘part of the family.’ With careful research into the history of torture, Derek prepares himself and his basement for a week of brutal tactics that will make his daughter’s killer feel the pain that he has inflicted upon so many others. In a time when stranger danger is ever present, a single father learns that it’s the ones you trust most who have to be watched the closest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisV/H/S/94 (2021)
After the discovery of a mysterious VHS tape, a brutish police SWAT team launches a high-intensity raid on a remote warehouse, only to discover a sinister cult compound whose collection of pre-recorded material uncovers a nightmarish conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisV/H/S/99 (2022)
A thirsty teenager's home video leads to a series of horrifying revelations, harkening back to the final punk rock analog days of VHS, while taking one giant leap forward into the hellish new millennium.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisNever Let Go (2024)
As an evil takes over the world beyond their front doorstep, the only protection for a mother and her twin sons is their house and their family’s protective bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Vampire Lovers (1970)
In the heart of Styria the Karnstein Family, even after their mortal deaths, rise from their tombs spreading evil in the countryside in their lust for fresh blood. Baron Hartog whose family are all victims of Karnstein vampirism, opens their graves and drives a stake through their diabolical hearts. One grave he cannot locate is that of the legendary beautiful Mircalla Karnstein. Years of peace follow that grisly night until Mircalla reappears to avenge her family's decimation and satisfy her desire for blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMandy (2018)
The Shadow Mountains, 1983. Red and Mandy lead a loving and peaceful existence; but when their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Final (2010)
A group of high school outcasts get revenge on the students that torment them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJigsaw (2017)
Law enforcement finds itself chasing the ghost of a man dead for over a decade, embroiled in a diabolical new game that's only just begun.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kindred (2021)
After her father’s suicide, a young mother investigates what led to his death. But when she is haunted by spirits and unearths an unsolved mystery from 30 years ago, she discovers a dark family history that could prove deadly for her child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
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
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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFreaks (1932)
A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnforgotten Love (2010)
Korn was hit at the head during a robbery, when he wake up, he lost his memory over what had happen before. Now he has to write down everything before he forgets them. However, Korn always feels that there is something happened to someone during the robbery and he has to find out before it's too late. Time passes and Korn is still unable to recall who is that "someone". One day, Korn was told about a haunted 13 floor near his house, and coincidentally he appears at that floor for some reason. Is it "someone" that draws Korn's attention to the 13th floor? What happened to that "someone" during the robbery?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Signal 100 (2020)
A group of high school students are forced into a game where they are hypnotized to commit suicide on an unknown command. Where no one is safe from a sudden death, how can they avoid their fates?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The House of Ghosts (1998)
A doctor opens an ordination in the abandoned house of his parents which is supposedly haunted by ghosts, as claimed by its only tenants - the old servant and two maids. He starts having nightmares in which a pretty and young girl shows up.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Classmate (2024)
At her best friend’s burial, a young woman bumps into an old classmate she used to bully, unaware that she’s changed radically over the last ten years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Shutter (2008)
A newly married couple discovers disturbing, ghostly images in photographs they develop after a tragic accident. Fearing the manifestations may be connected, they investigate and learn that some mysteries are better left unsolved.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisWillard (2003)
Desperate for companionship, the repressed Willard befriends a group of rats that inhabit his late father's deteriorating mansion. In these furry creatures, Willard finds temporary refuge from daily abuse at the hands of his bedridden mother and his father's old partner, Frank. Soon it becomes clear that the brood of rodents is ready and willing to exact a vicious, deadly revenge on anyone who dares to bully their sensitive new master.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Frighteners (1996)
Once an architect, Frank Bannister now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his "special" gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDahmer (2002)
On February 15, 1992 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jeffrey Dahmer, one of the world's most infamous serial killers, was convicted of 15 counts of murder and sentenced to 937 years in federal prison. This movie is based on events from his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisSilk (2006)
A scientist uses his invention - the "Menger Sponge" - to capture the energy of a dead child's spirit in an old building. In trying to determine why the energy of the ghost does not dissipate, the team discovers the identity and the dramatic story of the boy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Pernicious?
The closest matches to Pernicious are MaXXXine (2024), Hellraiser (1987) and Play Dead (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Pernicious?
Start with MaXXXine (2024), the closest match to Pernicious.
What is the highest-rated movie like Pernicious?
Freaks (1932), rated 7.8/10 by 1,360 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Pernicious?
The Dogs (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Pernicious?
Yes: MaXXXine (2024), Hellraiser (1987) and Play Dead (2025).
How are movies similar to Pernicious chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Pernicious, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.