Movies like Self-Defense (1980)
The best movies like Self-Defense (1980) are Splinter (2008), Alien: Specimen (2019) and Gemini Man (2019). If Self-Defense hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBarbie as the Island Princess (2007)7.3/10 from 798 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishSuper Crazy (2018)Also in Spanish
Splinter (2008)
When their plans for a nature trip go awry, Polly and boyfriend Seth decide to check into a motel. On their way, they're carjacked and kidnapped by low-rent crooks Dennis and Lacey, who take the victims and their SUV to a nearby gas station. Along the way, they encounter an increasingly terrifying horde of parasites, and if any of them intend to survive, they'll have to outsmart the deadly organisms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien: Specimen (2019)
During the night shift in a colony greenhouse, a botanist does her best to contain suspicious soil samples that have alarmed her sensitive lab dog.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGemini Man (2019)
Henry Brogan is an elite 51-year-old assassin who's ready to call it quits after completing his 72nd job. His plans get turned upside down when he becomes the target of a mysterious operative who can seemingly predict his every move. To his horror, Brogan soon learns that the man who's trying to kill him is a younger, faster, cloned version of himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuper Crazy (2018)
A 36-year-old meek woman realizes that there’s younger people trying to outpace her doing much less, so she makes a risky change by removing her filter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFuturama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008)
Fresh off ripping space-time a new one at the end of "Bender's Big Score," the Planet Express crew is back to mend the tear in reality, or (hopefully) at least not make it worse. Beyond the tear, though, lurks a being of inconceivable...tentacularity. What will become of Earth, and indeed, our universe, when faced with the Beast with a Billion Backs?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMass Effect: Paragon Lost (2012)
An untold chapter in the Mass Effect saga, following the early career of Alliance Marine, James Vega, as he leads a squad of elite special forces into battle against a mysterious alien threat known as The Collectors. Stationed at a colony in a remote star system, Vega and his troops must protect the inhabitants from an invasion of the deadly insectoid warriors determined to collect the population for unknown purposes. Soon after the attack, Vega's commanding officer falls in battle, forcing the young officer to embrace the responsibility of leadership for the colony's survival. Having idolized Earth's greatest hero and warrior, Commander Shepard (the central character in the Mass Effect video games), the young and idealistic Vega must now make life and the death decisions that will effect not only the lives of his squad, but the lives of every person in the colony - all of whom he has sworn to protect...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Little Pony: The Movie (1986)
The first day of Spring is on its way and the Little Ponies are preparing for it with a big festival. But all the fun may come to an end if the witch Hydia has her way! Can the Ponies defeat Hydia and her evil daughters, Reeka and Draggle? More importantly, can they save Ponyland from the witches’ concoction, the strange purple goo called Smooze, that’s threatening to bury the whole town?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbie: Skipper and the Big Babysitting Adventure (2023)
When her babysitting business takes a hit, Skipper takes a summer job at the water park. Here she can quickly put her skills as a nanny to good use.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoudica (2023)
Inspired by events in A.D. 60, Boudica follows the eponymous Celtic warrior who rules the Iceni people alongside her husband Prasutagus. When he dies at the hands of Roman soldiers, Boudica’s kingdom is left without a male heir and the Romans seize her land and property. Driven to the edge of madness and determined to avenge her husband’s death, Boudica rallies the various tribes from the region and wages an epic war against the mighty Roman empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFire and Ice (1983)
The villainous Nekron and his mother, Queen Juliana, plot against the human race from their frigid fortress. Creating mass destruction with huge glaciers, mother and son incur the wrath of Larn, a warrior whose entire village was destroyed by ice. When Nekron's underlings kidnap the beautiful Princess Teegra, Larn sets out to rescue her, assisted by the fierce and enigmatic Darkwolf.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbie as the Island Princess (2007)
Young Rosella is saved by a few kind animals after a shipwreck. Now called Ro, she learns to talk to animals. One day, she saves the life of a prince and returns to civilisation to discover her past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonsters vs Aliens (2009)
When Susan Murphy is unwittingly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk on her wedding day, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches. The military jumps into action and captures Susan, secreting her away to a covert government compound. She is renamed Ginormica and placed in confinement with a ragtag group of Monsters...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBilly Two Hats (1974)
After a bank robbery, runaway Scottish outlaw Arch Deans and his young half-breed Kiowa partner Billy Two Hats develop a father-son relationship, but Sheriff Henry Gifford is determined to capture or kill them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania (2017)
Blast off to adventure in this animated feature where our favorite space-age family, The Jetsons, meet the superstars of WWE! When George unearths WWE’s Big Show, who has been frozen for 100 years, the futuristic face-off begins! Once thawed, Big Show wastes no time in taking the WWE belt from the current robot champ as well as taking total control of Orbit City. It’s up to The Jetsons to travel back in time and enlist help from WWE’s brightest stars: Sheamus, Alicia Fox, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and the Uso brothers. Can this cosmic tag-team prevail and set this twisted time-warp straight? Tune in and see with The Jetsons and WWE!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Toxic Love Story (2026)
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday (2021)
Barbie, Chelsea and their family go on a cruise ship for Chelsea's birthday. But when they cross the international date line skipping her birthday, Chelsea escapes to the jungle island to find a fabled wish and get her birthday back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)
86-year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion: his 8 year-old grandson, Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Knack... and How to Get It (1965)
A nebbish schoolteacher begs his smooth (and misogynistic) pal to teach him 'the knack' – how to score with women. Serendipitously, the men meet up with a new girl in town, as well as a friendly lunatic who can’t help but paint things white.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Self-Defense?
The closest matches to Self-Defense are Splinter (2008), Alien: Specimen (2019) and Gemini Man (2019). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Self-Defense?
Start with Splinter (2008), the closest match to Self-Defense.
What is the highest-rated movie like Self-Defense?
Barbie as the Island Princess (2007), rated 7.3/10 by 798 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Self-Defense?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Self-Defense?
Yes: Super Crazy (2018).
How are movies similar to Self-Defense chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Self-Defense, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.