Movies like Brief History of Horror (1985)
The best movies like Brief History of Horror (1985) are Terrifier (2011), The Wailing (2024) and American Horror House (2012). If Brief History of Horror hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Brief History of Horror
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDust Bunny (2025)6.7/10 from 441 votes
- NewestThe Virgin of the Quarry Lake (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishThe Wailing (2024)Also in Spanish
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 thisThe Wailing (2024)
Andrea, in search of her biological family, feels stalked by an invisible threat. Other women before them have suffered the same fate. Twenty years earlier, on the other side of the world, Camille, fascinated by Marie, tries to warn her of a threat hanging over her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisAmerican Horror House (2012)
On Halloween night, a sorority house is overrun with ghosts, while a vengeful housemother goes on a killing spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912)
Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisOther Side of the Box (2018)
A couple receives a mysterious package from an old friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
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 horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe House of Snails (2021)
A writer secludes himself in the mountains and falls in lust with local Berta. After realizing the oddities of the rural community the author starts to question the lines between reality and fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Woman in Black (1989)
A lawyer travels to a small seaside town to settle the estate of a recently deceased woman, but soon becomes ensnared in something much more sinister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlinky™ (2011)
A story about a boy, his robot and the consequences of his anger at the disintegration of his parents marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Virgin of the Quarry Lake (2026)
On the eve of the 2001 outbreak, a young woman falls for her lifelong friend but turns to incantations and curses with her grandmother's help when a more experienced rival threatens their romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisMonster (2005)
A mother battles with her son's fear of a monster lurking in the closet, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
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 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 thisStopmotion (2024)
Ella Blake, a stop-motion animator struggling to control her demons after the loss of her overbearing mother, embarks upon the creation of a film that becomes the battleground for her sanity. As Ella’s mind starts to fracture, the characters in her project take on a life of their own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Inhabitant (2022)
Like any other teenage girl, Tara is just surviving high school — yet her father and mother seem strangely distant. Amidst a nearby spree of gruesome ax murders, Tara has sightings of terrifying entities, forcing her to question her own sanity and shocking ancestry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies 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 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 thisPlay Dead (2022)
Criminology student Chloe fakes her own death to break into a morgue, in order to retrieve a piece of evidence that ties her younger brother to a crime gone wrong. Once inside, she discovers that a sadistic coroner is using the corpses for his sick and twisted business, and when he realises that Chloe still has a pulse, a terrifying game of cat and mouse ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBloodline Killer (2024)
Moira Cole endeavors to rebuild her shattered life after her family's murder at the hands of her deranged and obsessed cousin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Awful Dr. Orlof (1962)
Dr. Orlof, a former prison doctor, abducts beautiful women from nightclubs to use their skin to repair his daughter's fire-scarred face. He is assisted by Morpho, a deformed monstrosity who delights in biting his victims. Orlof had better hurry, though -- a young police inspector and his ballerina girlfriend are onto his sadistic practices.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisBEYOND SIGHT (2025)
In Beyond Sight, Dália is a teenager desperate to belong, even if it means adopting the cruel prejudices of her toxic group of friends. But when an unexpected accident leaves her blind, Dália finds herself on the other side of the judgment she once inflicted. Struggling to adapt, she crosses paths with a mysterious doctor who offers her a chance to regain her sight—through an experimental substance that promises not just vision, but a transformation into her best self: Zoe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The First Wave (2014)
Following the outbreak of an aggressive virus, a young woman awakes in a hospital bed. As the horrifying events that led her there are revealed, it becomes clear that the cure is just the beginning. This short film is a prequel for the feature film, The Third Wave, which was written at the Binger FilmLab 2012. The project also won the Best Story Pitch award at the Edinburgh Film Festival, June 2012.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Snuff: A Director's Cut (2008)
An intense and disturbing horror short film made in 2008 for the "CUT!" competition. British channel Zone Horror. The work explores the sinister atmosphere behind the production of a snuff film from the director's point of view. It was selected among the 10 finalists of the competition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Daughters of Darkness, revised and corrected (1987)
The daughters of Pandora on a special mission ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Refused (1980)
Frieda Liappa in this short film casts an alternative gaze on the notion of historicity. Loukia is a teenager currently staying at her cousin’s house in Athens. Unlike her cousin she is timid and quite stressed for the school exam. She studies history. Between the lines of her book the historical events sprung up in a multidimensional way. Liappa transverses the dimensions of the real the imaginary and the symbolic. She invites the viewer to consider the construction of the filmic as well as the historical text. She succeeds in making a film with an open end and to leave room for our own contingent constructions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Moddey Dhoo (2025)
Past and present collide when a mythical beast is reawakened by a couple exploring a historic castle on the Isle of Man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Delicious (2020)
Scarlet invites her friends to a family dinner but the host's signature dish makes the night unforgettable.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Paralys (2016)
A sleepy Sunday afternoon in an apartment. A woman dozes off in front of the TV. When she wakes up she finds herself in a kind of limbo between dream and reality. And in the periphery a dark figure is moving towards her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Wrath of God: Confrontation (2012)
WRATH OF GOD: CONFRONTATION is the first in a series of films with overarching stories that take us from the dawn of human civilization all the way to its technological epitome. A mysterious relic lies at the heart of their pursuit. Some want power to dominate. Others want peace and freedom. In the end, the choice is our own... Adam is a man with a violent past and a desire to escape the terrible wrath he has wrought on many others. Hurt and betrayed, he turns his anger on those who gave him up in search of the relic he helped steal. Kruger is a man whose allegiance lies to whomever pays him the most. Having lost his family to war early in life, Kruger's innocence was twisted into a solitary desire for self preservation at any cost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Valencia - Chapter I (2016)
One December night, Alice works as a babysitter while the baby's parents go out for the night. As time passes and the night deepens, she begins to receive chilling threats from a man who seems to be watching her from every blind spot in the darkness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Like Brief History of Horror and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Brief History of Horror?
The closest matches to Brief History of Horror are Terrifier (2011), The Wailing (2024) and American Horror House (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Brief History of Horror?
Start with Terrifier (2011), the closest match to Brief History of Horror.
What is the highest-rated movie like Brief History of Horror?
Dust Bunny (2025), rated 6.7/10 by 441 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Brief History of Horror?
The Virgin of the Quarry Lake (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Brief History of Horror?
Yes: The Wailing (2024), The House of Snails (2021) and The Virgin of the Quarry Lake (2026).
How are movies similar to Brief History of Horror chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Brief History of Horror, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.