Movies like The Returning (1990)
The best movies like The Returning (1990) are The Shed (2019), Race with the Devil (1975) and Dead of Night (1945). If The Returning hooked you with its horror and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDead of Night (1945)7.2/10 from 316 votes
- NewestSilent Zone (2025)Released 2025
The 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 thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead of Night (1945)
An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZ (2019)
A family find themselves terrorized by their eight-year-old son's imaginary friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Stalker (1972)
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Walker (1964)
A woman is haunted by recurring nightmares, which seem to be instigated by her late husband who supposedly was killed in a fire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Watcher in the Woods (1980)
After an American family moves to an old country manor in rural England, one of the daughters is tormented by the spirit of the owner's long lost daughter, who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago during a solar eclipse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisPyewacket (2017)
A frustrated, angry teenage girl awakens something in the woods when she naively performs an occult ritual to invoke a witch to kill her mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisUnseen (2023)
Sam receives a call from Emily, a near blind woman who is running from her murderous ex in the woods. Can she survive using Sam as her eyes via video call?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Zone (2025)
In a zombie-ravaged world, a resourceful teen and her protector fight for survival, facing relentless dangers and testing the limits of hope and loyalty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSiren (2016)
A bachelor party becomes a savage fight for survival when the groomsmen unwittingly unleash a fabled predator upon the festivities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lady Vanishes (2013)
Young socialite Iris Carr befriends an older woman while traveling solo by train. When Iris wakes from a nap, the woman is gone and other passengers claim she never existed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHorrors of the Black Museum (1959)
A writer of murder mysteries finds himself caught up in a string of murders in London.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisNext of Kin (1982)
After Linda inherits a retirement home, she witnesses a series of strange events which seem connected to a dark and unspeakable evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe City of the Dead (1960)
In Whitewood, Massachusetts, a presumed witch places a curse on the town before she is burned at the stake. 300 years later, a college student arrives and checks into the mysterious Raven's Inn to research the town's history with witchcraft.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Bury the Living (1958)
The new manager of a small-town cemetery becomes convinced that he triggered the untimely deaths of several plot owners by tampering with a certain map. When nobody believes him, he risks his sanity to play God once again and prove his point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtraordinary Tales (2015)
Five tales by Edgar Allan Poe come to life thanks to a pictorical style animation, five tales that exude madness, pestilence, murder and torture.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight of the Demon (1957)
American professor John Holden arrives in London for a conference on parapsychology only to discover that the colleague he was supposed to meet was killed in a freak accident the day before. It turns out that the deceased had been investigating a cult lead by Dr. Julian Karswell. Though a skeptic, Holden is suspicious of the devil-worshiping Karswell. Following a trail of mysterious manuscripts, Holden enters a world that makes him question his faith in science.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House (2016)
Just one enchanted jewel stands between earth and an army of evil spirits led by the devious ghoul, Phears. With the help of his new girlfriend and ghost pals, Max Doyle races to find the crystal and save the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightbooks (2021)
Alex, a boy obsessed with scary stories, is trapped by a witch in her modern, magical New York City apartment. His original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping him safe as he desperately tries to find a way out of this twisted place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Water (2002)
A woman in the midst of an unpleasant divorce moves to an eerie apartment building with her young daughter. The ceiling of their apartment has a dark and active leak.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSoul Reaper (2024)
A teenager with the ability to enter other people's dreams. When he witnesses a dark spirit taking people's lives in their dreams, he quickly realizes that it's related to the mysterious deaths that are happening in the real world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Pretham Undu Sookshikkuka (2017)
A haunted mansion amidst Kingini Nagar Housing Colony is converted into a police station. Ghosts in the mansion get provoked by the intrusion of the police. To overcome the horrible night duties, cops take the help of Babu, an outlaw yet sincere guy. Will Babu and his gang be able to solve the mystery behind the haunted mansion?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Deathwatch (2002)
In the brutal trench fighting of the First World War, a British Infantry Company is separated from their regiment after a fierce battle. Attempting to return to their lines, the British soldiers discover what appears to be a bombed out German trench, abandoned except for a few dazed German soldiers. After killing most of the Germans, and taking one prisoner, the British company fortifies to hold the trench until reinforcements can arrive. Soon, however, strange things being to happen as a sense of evil descends on the trench and the British begin turn on each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
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 thriller & horror
The Shadow Within (2007)
Little Maurice Dumont lives with his mother in a village in the mountains. His twin brother Jacques died at birth. But Maurice told that he could speak with Jacques. The doctor, Dr. Prevost and her husband, who teaches at the local school, are of the opinion that his mother's strict upbringing is not good for Maurice. One day, they discover strange injuries on him. At the same time some women of the village plan to use Maurice's ability to communicate with the dead to contact their dead relatives. But this is not a good idea ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Below (2002)
In the dark silence of the sea during World War II, the submarine USS Tiger Shark prowls on what should be a routine rescue mission. But for the shell-shocked crew, trapped together in the sub's narrow corridors and constricted spaces, this is about to become a journey into the sensory delusions, mental deceptions and runaway fears that lurk just below the surface of the ocean.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like this3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)
It was an ingenious enough plan: rob the Riviera Casino's count room during an Elvis impersonator convention. But Thomas Murphy decided to keep all the money for himself and shot all his partners, including recently-freed ex-con Michael Zane. With $3.2 million at stake, the Marshals Service closing in, Michael must track down Murphy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFaces of Death (1978)
A collection of death scenes, ranging from TV material to homemade super 8 movies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisUnfriended (2014)
While video chatting one night, six high school friends receive a Skype message from a classmate who killed herself exactly one year ago. At first they think it's a prank, but when the girl starts revealing the friends' darkest secrets, they realize they are dealing with something out of this world, something that wants them dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Returning?
The closest matches to The Returning are The Shed (2019), Race with the Devil (1975) and Dead of Night (1945). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Returning?
Start with The Shed (2019), the closest match to The Returning.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Returning?
Dead of Night (1945), rated 7.2/10 by 316 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Returning?
Silent Zone (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Returning?
Yes: The Shed (2019), Race with the Devil (1975) and Dead of Night (1945).
How are movies similar to The Returning chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Returning, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.