Movies like Better Watch Out (2017)
The best movies like Better Watch Out (2017) are The Children (2008), A Nasty Piece of Work (2019) and There's Something in the Barn (2023). If Better Watch Out 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 ratedIdentity (2003)7.2/10 from 4,649 votes
- NewestSilent Night, Deadly Night (2025)Released 2025
The Children (2008)
A relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nasty Piece of Work (2019)
A mid-level corporate employee finds out he’s not getting the Christmas bonus he was expecting, but his boss invites him to earn a promotion by beating his professional rival in a violent competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThere's Something in the Barn (2023)
An American family fulfills their dream of moving back to their roots after inheriting a remote cabin in the mountains of Norway. But there's a surprise waiting for them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrick (2019)
A detective tries to track down a masked killer who reappears every Halloween to wreak bloody havoc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisKrampus (2015)
When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Evil (1978)
Shortly after moving into a dark, brooding mansion, a psychologist and his co-workers are terrorized by a horrible evil being.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Mean One (2022)
In a sleepy mountain town, Cindy witnesses the murder of her parents by a blood-thirsty green figure in a red Santa suit. Twenty years later, the Christmas-hating monster begins to terrorize the town once more. Cindy finds new purpose in stopping the creature and saving the holiday.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrick 'r Treat (2007)
Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: an everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank, and a bitter old recluse receives an uninvited guest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDangerous Game: The Legacy Murders (2022)
A family reunion at a remote mansion takes a lethal turn when they are trapped inside and forced to play a deadly survival game where only one will make it out alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBagman (2024)
For centuries and across cultures, parents have warned their children of the legendary Bagman, who snatches innocent children and stuffs them into his vile, rotting bag—never to be seen again. Patrick McKee narrowly escaped such an encounter as a boy, which left him with lasting scars throughout his adulthood. Now, Patrick’s childhood tormentor has returned, threatening the safety of his wife Karina and son Jake.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jester 2 (2025)
When teen magician Max crosses paths with the sinister Jester on Halloween night, she must outsmart a supernatural killer whose magic is all too real and whose tricks always end up in blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
After a man dressed as Santa Claus brutally murders Billy Chapman's parents, little Billy then endures the cruelty of a sadistic nun at his orphanage. Years later, when adult Billy has to fill in for an absent in-store Santa, his childhood trauma brings him to the breaking point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisInsidious (2011)
A family discovers that dark spirits have invaded their home after their son inexplicably falls into an endless sleep. When they reach out to a professional for help, they learn things are a lot more personal than they thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed Snow (2021)
A struggling vampire romance novelist must defend herself against real-life vampires during Christmas in Lake Tahoe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisHunted (2021)
A woman flees two serial killers who are hot on her heels in a forest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Night, Deadly Night (2025)
After witnessing his parents' brutal murder on Christmas Eve, Billy transforms into a Killer Santa, delivering a yearly spree of calculated, chilling violence. This year, his blood-soaked mission collides with love, as a young woman challenges him to confront his darkness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrahms: The Boy II (2020)
After a family moves into the Heelshire Mansion, their young son soon makes friends with a life-like doll called Brahms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFright Night (1985)
Charley Brewster, a high school student, accidentally discovers the true and creepy nature of Jerry Dandrige, his dashing and enigmatic new neighbor; but no one seems willing to believe him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Body (2018)
In Los Angeles, on Halloween night, a hitman tries to transport a corpse in plain sight, but people he stumbles upon on the street, believing that his sophisticated appearance is a magnificent disguise, constantly stand in his way to congratulate him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGremlins (1984)
After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThousand 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 comedy & horror
The Tell-Tale Heart (2010)
A computer-generated rendering of the classic Poe tale about a man's sanity being a point of contention as he confesses to murdering an elderly man, driven by the victim's pale blue 'vulture eye', culminating in guilt-induced auditory hallucinations of the victim's beating heart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Balearic Caper (1966)
A scepter is stolen, and it's hunted for by various groups of international robbers and spies, for various reasons - in a parody of 007 movies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & comedy
Law of Desire (1987)
Pablo, a successful film director, disappointed in his relationship with his young lover, Juan, concentrates in a new project, a monologue starring his transgender sister, Tina. Antonio, an uptight young man, falls possessively in love with the director and in his passion would stop at nothing to obtain the object of his desire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeed Poll (2004)
Two drug-addicted, incestuous, rich siblings kill a call-boy to make playing cards out of his skin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Identity (2003)
Complete strangers stranded at a remote desert motel during a raging storm soon find themselves the target of a deranged murderer. As their numbers thin out, the travelers begin to turn on each other, as each tries to figure out who the killer is.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYoung and Innocent (1937)
When a young writer is falsely accused of murdering a famous actress, he escapes custody and joins forces with the daughter of a police constable to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeauty Betrayed (2002)
A gun fires and supermodel Lily Sampson is dead. Two cops, Clark and his new partner Allie, are on the case. Their only clues are a revealing videotape of the victim in a searing game of bondage with a famous fashion photographer, and Lily's high school yearbook which reveals a mysterious twin sister and clues to a lifelong rivalry with another model.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
After a series of scientific experiments directed towards freeing the inner man and controlling human personalities, the kindly, generous Dr Henry Jekyll succeeds in freeing his own alter ego, Edward Hyde, a sadistic, evil creature whose pleasure is murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJakarta (1988)
A CIA agent roams the streets of New York haunted by the death of the beautiful woman he fell in love with while on assignment in Jakarta. When he is kidnapped and drugged, the destination is Jakarta once again where he tries to unravel the mystery that is the city which broke him three years earlier.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Better Watch Out?
The closest matches to Better Watch Out are The Children (2008), A Nasty Piece of Work (2019) and There's Something in the Barn (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Better Watch Out?
Start with The Children (2008), the closest match to Better Watch Out.
What is the highest-rated movie like Better Watch Out?
Identity (2003), rated 7.2/10 by 4,649 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Better Watch Out?
Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Better Watch Out?
Yes: The Children (2008), A Nasty Piece of Work (2019) and There's Something in the Barn (2023).
How are movies similar to Better Watch Out chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Better Watch Out, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.