Movies like The Brain (1988)
The best movies like The Brain (1988) are Scanners (1981), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) and Crimes of the Future (2022). If The Brain hooked you with its horror and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Hidden (1987)6.9/10 from 532 votes
- NewestYear 10 (2024)Released 2024
Scanners (1981)
A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called 'scanning' to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non-Scanners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
Dr Simon Helder, sentenced to an insane asylum for crimes against humanity, recognises its director as the brilliant Baron Frankenstein, the man whose work he had been trying to emulate before his imprisonment. Frankenstein utilises Helder's medical knowledge for a project he has been working on for some time. He is assembling a man from vital organs extracted from various inmates in the asylum. And the Baron will resort to murder to acquire the perfect specimens for his most ambitious project ever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrimes of the Future (2022)
With his partner Caprice, celebrity performance artist Saul Tenser publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. An investigator from the National Organ Registry obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed... Their mission — to use Tenser's notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAssimilate (2019)
Three friends making a web series about their town discover that their neighbors are being killed and replaced by creatures who are perfect copies of their victims.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Faculty (1998)
When creepy things start happening at Herrington High, the students begin to suspect that their faculty is being controlled by body-snatching aliens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hidden (1987)
When average, law-abiding citizens suddenly turn to a life of hedonistic behavior and violent crime, Detective Tom Beck is tasked with helping young FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher determine the cause.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrawlers (2020)
On Saint Patrick's day—a night of wild parties and drunken revelry—three unlikely friends band together to save a college town from a vicious horde of body-snatching aliens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisPossessor (2020)
Tasya Vos, an elite corporate assassin, uses brain-implant technology to take control of other people’s bodies to terminate high profile targets. As she sinks deeper into her latest assignment, Vos becomes trapped inside a mind that threatens to obliterate her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSplinter (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 · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
Blackmailing a young couple to assist with his horrific experiments the Baron, desperate for vital medical data, abducts a man from an insane asylum. On route the abductee dies and the Baron and his assistant transplant his brain into a corpse. The creature is tormented by a trapped soul in an alien shell and, after a visit to his wife who violently rejects his monstrous form, the creature wreaks his revenge on the perpetrator of his misery: Baron Frankenstein.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrankenstein Created Woman (1967)
A deformed tormented girl drowns herself after her lover is framed for murder and guillotined. Baron Frankenstein, experimenting with the transfer of souls, places the boy's soul into her body, bringing Christina back to life. Driven by revenge, she carries out a violent retribution on those responsible for both deaths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYear 10 (2024)
After the fall of civilization, the few survivors have been driven to cannibalism. A young man must confront a violent tribe that has murdered his father and stolen the medicine that keeps his girlfriend alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
Rescued from the guillotine by his devoted dwarf Fritz, the Baron relocates to Carlsbruck, where he continues his gruesome experiments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thing (2011)
When paleontologist Kate Lloyd travels to an isolated outpost in Antarctica for the expedition of a lifetime, she joins an international team that unearths a remarkable discovery. Their elation quickly turns to fear as they realize that their experiment has freed a mysterious being from its frozen prison. Paranoia spreads like an epidemic as a creature that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish in this spine-tingling thriller.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHollow Man (2000)
Cocky researcher Sebastian Caine is working on a project to make living creatures invisible. Determined to achieve the ultimate breakthrough, Caine pushes his team to move to the next phase — using himself as the subject. The test is a success, but when the process can't be reversed and Caine seems doomed to future without flesh, he starts to turn increasingly dangerous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappy Birthday to Me (1981)
Virginia is proud that she belongs to a clique. The best students at a private school. But before her 18th birthday, a gruesome set of murders take place and her friends are the ones who are falling prey. Could it be her? She suffers from blackouts due to a freak accident one year earlier. We soon learn the truth behind her accident and what is going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wretched (2019)
A rebellious teenage boy, struggling with his parents' imminent divorce, encounters a terrifying evil after his next-door neighbor becomes possessed by an ancient witch that feasts on children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
Mulder and Scully are called back to duty by the FBI when a former priest claims to be receiving psychic visions pertaining to a kidnapped agent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Five friends set out for a weekend at a remote cabin in the woods, expecting nothing more than fun and relaxation. As night falls, they discover that something far more unsettling is at work and that nothing about their getaway is what it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMalignant (2021)
Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities with a mysterious tie to her past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLifeforce (1985)
A race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, commencing an apocalyptic descent into chaos.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVillage of the Damned (1995)
An American village is visited by some unknown life form which leaves the women of the village pregnant. Nine months later, the babies are born, and they all look normal, but it doesn't take the "parents" long to realize that the kids are not human or humane.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRottweiler (2004)
Dante travels across a desolate, futuristic Spain in search of his girlfriend, Ula. He is pursued by a bloodthirsty, cybernetic Rottweiler.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisArachnid (2001)
Mercer's brother, an amateur pilot, crashes on an island and is killed by a giant spider. A year later, when Mercer goes in search of him, she discovers a breed of venomous arachnids ready to attack.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Mist (TBA)
After a small town in Maine is consumed by a thick mysterious fog from which creatures emerge to attack the townsfolk, a group of survivors hole up in a local grocery store.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & horror
Here On Earth (2018)
Every morning at school, when girls and boys stand in their lines, Sam, an alien boy, is confronted with his situation: he doesn't fit into this society where everything has to be classified. However, thanks to a teacher he will find his place in the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
The 'Burbs (1989)
When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGodzilla vs. Gigan Rex (2022)
When army of Gigans tries to invade and destroy the Earth, the only one who can stop them is Godzilla.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
The making of a horror movie takes on a terrifying reality for students at the most prestigious film school in the country. At Alpine University, someone is determined to win the best film award at any cost - even if it means eliminating the competition. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Taking an ill-advised detour en-route to California, the Carter family soon run into trouble when their RV breaks down in the middle of the desert. Stranded, they find themselves at the mercy of monstrous cannibals lurking in the surrounding hills.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Brain?
The closest matches to The Brain are Scanners (1981), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) and Crimes of the Future (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Brain?
Start with Scanners (1981), the closest match to The Brain.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Brain?
The Hidden (1987), rated 6.9/10 by 532 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Brain?
Year 10 (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Brain?
Yes: Scanners (1981), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) and Crimes of the Future (2022).
How are movies similar to The Brain chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Brain, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.