Movies like American Poltergeist (2015)
The best movies like American Poltergeist (2015) are The Curse of Buckout Road (2017), Nightmare Cinema (2018) and Play Dead (2025). If American Poltergeist hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)7.3/10 from 297 votes
- NewestBodycam (2026)Released 2026
The Curse of Buckout Road (2017)
A college class project on creation and destruction of modern myth, turns terrifying when a trio of young people come to realize the urban legends surrounding the famed Buckout Road may, in fact, be REAL.
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 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 thisTwo Witches (2023)
A matriarchal witch passes on her sinister inheritance to her grand-daughter, triggering the most horrific curses.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaddy's Head (2024)
A boy and his stepmother fear for their safety after an eerie creature resembling the boy's recently deceased father visits them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisAnd Now the Screaming Starts! (1973)
In the late 18th century, two newlyweds move into the stately mansion of the Fengriffen family. The young bride is victim of terrifying visions and apparitions, threatening her very sanity. A London psychiatrist comes to her help and uncovers the terrible secret that haunts the estate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisBooks of Blood (2020)
A journey into uncharted and forbidden territory through three tales tangled in space and time.
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 thisBunnyman Vengeance (2017)
The man known as Bunnyman returns home to find his family running a haunted house attraction. The family welcomes him home, but soon realizes you cannot domesticate a wild animal. Death and mayhem ensue as the family turn on one another to fulfill their bloodlust.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisHush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisCheat (2023)
On the surface it's believed to be another urban legend - a supernatural being from the afterlife is violently killing anyone who cheats on their significant other in the small college town of Silvercreek, Pennsylvania. But the town's unusually high suicide rate is finally convincing both locals and college students that everything is not as it seems. When Maeve - a female college student - sleeps with Charlie, the married man of the host family she is staying with, both sense the deadly curse is closing in on them. Unable to get anyone to believe them, Maeve and Charlie seek out a local history student to help find answers and figure out a way to defend themselves. It all comes undone, however, as several people are horrifically killed by the savage being - one-by-one at a rapid pace. Eventually, Maeve, Charlie and the few survivors band together in an attempt to defeat the monster once and for all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Resurrected (1991)
Charles Dexter Ward, a wealthy scientist, uses an ancient diary and human remains to begin a terrifying and bloody pursuit for immortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Secret of Sinchanee (2021)
An industrial tow truck driver suffering from insomnia returns to his childhood home after the untimely death of his father, to discover that a paranormal presence has been living in the house and haunting the sacred land it was built on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaint Catherine (2024)
An orphaned girl is rescued from a satanic ritual and taken to Saint Catherine Institute for homeless youth. There she will learn new skills while facing demons that stalk her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBodycam (2026)
A call to a quiet suburban home unleashes unthinkable carnage when two officers mistakenly shoot a man and his infant child, spiraling the tragedy into a fierce, unrelenting fall into the unknown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Covenant (2006)
Four young men who belong to a supernatural legacy are forced to battle a fifth power long thought to have died out. Another great force they must contend with is the jealousy and suspicion that threatens to tear them apart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Door (2017)
A mysterious abandoned factory began the first day of shooting. When carrying the heroine Zhu Sha, deputy director, "the forefront of the film" program host a dream bus and other people arrived at the factory, shooting the venue was empty, landlord let everyone in the factory standby, he went out to during supper we buy, wait, deputy director bizarre but died in the bathroom
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Sosok Ketiga: Lintrik (2025)
After six months of marriage, Andin begins to notice many oddities in her marriage. From the beginning, Uncle Bagyo suspected the marriage was rushed, and together with Amara—Andin's younger sister who also inherited the mystical arts—he often noticed disturbing, odd signs. Their suspicions were proven correct when it was revealed that Ario, Andin's husband, had been having a special relationship with Naura, a wealthy woman in their town who was trying to steal Ario completely from Andin using the Lintrik love spell, a dangerous mystical power that dragged Andin and her family into endless supernatural terror. What will happen to Andin and Ario's marriage going forward?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
I'm Haunted (2022)
A young woman documenting paranormal occurrences in her apartment realizes she's dealing with something much more terrifying than a troublesome ghost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Happy Graduation! (2023)
A young woman is literally haunted by her future at her university graduation party.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Devil's Well (2018)
Karla Marks mysteriously vanishes while conducting a paranormal investigation with her husband. A year after her disappearance, a group of paranormal investigators attempt to uncover the truth about her disappearance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Reaper (2014)
Criminals and a beautiful but cunning hitchhiker must battle a supernatural force known as the Reaper.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisHeidi (2014)
After discovering a mysterious doll in an attic, two high school friends are increasingly plagued by a series of disturbing and unexplained events.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of Flesh Mannequins (2009)
A loner artist with a history of abuse meets a beautiful woman who takes an interest in his life and work; leading to a chilling path of tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Kang Mak from Pee Mak (2024)
Returning home with his friends, a soldier reunites with his wife, not knowing she's become a ghost. But her death's not the end of their love story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like American Poltergeist?
The closest matches to American Poltergeist are The Curse of Buckout Road (2017), Nightmare Cinema (2018) and Play Dead (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after American Poltergeist?
Start with The Curse of Buckout Road (2017), the closest match to American Poltergeist.
What is the highest-rated movie like American Poltergeist?
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), rated 7.3/10 by 297 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like American Poltergeist?
Bodycam (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like American Poltergeist?
Yes: The Curse of Buckout Road (2017), Nightmare Cinema (2018) and Play Dead (2025).
How are movies similar to American Poltergeist chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside American Poltergeist, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.