Movies like The Smiling Man (2015)
The best movies like The Smiling Man (2015) are Terrifier (2011), Dust Bunny (2025) and Z (2019). If The Smiling Man hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Old Mill (1937)7.3/10 from 229 votes
- NewestDust Bunny (2025)Released 2025
Terrifier (2011)
After witnessing a brutal murder on Halloween night, a young woman becomes the next target of a maniacal entity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDust Bunny (2025)
Ten-year-old Aurora asks her hitman neighbor to kill the monster under her bed that she claims ate her family. To protect her, he must battle an onslaught of assassins while accepting that some monsters are real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCobweb (2023)
Eight year old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tapping from inside his bedroom wall—one that his parents insist is all in his imagination. As Peter's fear intensifies, he believes that his parents could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trustworthiness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Old Mill (1937)
Night in an old mill is dramatically depicted in this Oscar-winning short in which the frightened occupants, including birds, timid mice, owls, and other creatures try to stay safe and dry as a storm approaches. As the thunderstorm worsens, the mill wheel begins to turn and the whole mill threatens to blow apart until at last the storm subsides.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCome Play (2020)
Oliver, a lonely autistic boy, seeks solace and refuge in his ever-present cell phone and tablet. When a mysterious creature uses the boy's devices against him, his parents must fight to save their son from the monster beyond the screen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlapface (2022)
A boy deals with the loss of his mother by creating a relationship with a dangerous monster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisSilver Bullet (1985)
The small city of Tarker's Mills is startled by a series of sadistic murders. The population fears the work of a maniac, but sightings of a mysterious, hairy creature soon spread. People lock themselves up at night, but there's one boy who's still outside…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy Behind the Door (2020)
Bobby tries to save himself and his best friend when they are kidnapped on their way home from school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCranston Academy: Monster Zone (2020)
An intelligent 15-year-old high school student is unexpectedly transferred to a boarding school where he opens a portal of monsters from another dimension.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightbreed (1990)
A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 Jack in the Box Rises (2024)
When a creepy Jack-in-the-Box is discovered and opened on the grounds of an exclusive girls' school, six brave students soon enter a fight to the finish against the unleashed demon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boogeyman (2023)
Still reeling from the tragic death of their mother, a teenage girl and her younger sister find themselves plagued by a sadistic presence in their house and struggle to get their grieving father to pay attention before it’s too late.
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 thisHalloween (2007)
The early years of young Michael Myers and the events leading up to his fateful Halloween night murder rampage in the quiet town of Haddonfield, Illinois.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
A concise adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" about Mr. Toad's motor mania, followed by a short retelling of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" concerning schoolmaster Ichabod Crane.
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 thisThe Jester (2023)
A malevolent being known as The Jester terrorizes the inhabitants of a small town on Halloween night, including two estranged sisters who must come together to find a way to defeat this evil entity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Host (2006)
A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLes Femmes (2022)
A young woman guides a man through a mysterious forest. In his eyes, everything seems normal, until he comes across two women waiting for him in a macabre ritual.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Pig (1999)
A young man journeys through a desert, where he is kidnapped by a sadistic stranger clad in a pig mask. The stranger proceeds to brutally torture the young man, who then finds himself escaping into his imagination, with fantasy and reality intersecting.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Willa (2019)
A classic, haunting ghost story based on Stephen King's original short.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
OSARU-CHAN (2021)
When two brothers steal a valuable heirloom from an elderly Japanese woman, they unknowingly awaken her demigod son, Osaru, who does not take kindly to thieves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
MasterChat GPT (2024)
At 3 AM, a girl tries to cook instant ramen noodles with instructions from ChatGPT
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Thousand Year Sleep (2007)
Samantha, Lydia, Isabella, and Lisa. These four young women are about to learn that humanity is just an irrelevant flame burning nowhere in the vastness of space. Their dreams will be shattered and one man will marvel at the evil he has committed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Chad Gets The AxE (2019)
A self-absorbed social media personality investigates a murder house on his live stream, and gets what he deserves... Or does he?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Like The Smiling Man and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Smiling Man?
The closest matches to The Smiling Man are Terrifier (2011), Dust Bunny (2025) and Z (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Smiling Man?
Start with Terrifier (2011), the closest match to The Smiling Man.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Smiling Man?
The Old Mill (1937), rated 7.3/10 by 229 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Smiling Man?
Dust Bunny (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Smiling Man?
Yes: Terrifier (2011), Dust Bunny (2025) and Z (2019).
How are movies similar to The Smiling Man chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Smiling Man, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.