Movies like The Killer Shrews (1959)
The best movies like The Killer Shrews (1959) are Island of Lost Souls (1932), Island of Terror (1966) and Tarantula (1955). If The Killer Shrews 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 ratedInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)7.5/10 from 1,266 votes
- NewestMonster Summer (2024)Released 2024
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIsland of Terror (1966)
When a small island community becomes overrun with creeping, blobbish, tentacled monsters that liquefy and digest the bones from living creatures, the community struggles to fight back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisTarantula (1955)
A rogue scientist near a small desert town arouses the suspicion of the town's doctor when his lab assistant is found dead from a case of acromegaly, which took only four days to develop. As the doctor investigates, aided by the scientist's new female assistant, they discover that something is devouring local cattle and humans in increasingly large quantities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCreature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
When scientists exploring the Amazon River stumble on a “missing link” connecting humans and fish, they plan to capture it for later study. But the Creature has plans of his own, and has set his sights on the lead scientist's beautiful fiancée, Kay.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood of the Vampire (1958)
A man and wife are terrorized by Mad Scientist Dr. Callistratus who was executed but has returned to life with a heart transplant. Along with his crippled assistant Carl, the 'anemic' Mad Scientist, believed to be a vampire, conducts blood deficiency research on the inmates of a prison hospital for the criminally insane to sustain his return to life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Tingler (1959)
A pathologist experiments with a deaf-mute woman who is unable to scream to prove that humans die of fright due to an organism he names The Tingler that lives within each person on the spinal cord and is suppressed only when people scream when scared.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisX: The Unknown (1956)
Army radiation experiments awaken a subterranean monster from a fissure that feeds on energy and proceeds to terrorise a remote Scottish village. An American research scientist at a nearby nuclear plant joins with a British investigator to discover why the victims were radioactively burned and why, shortly thereafter, a series of radiation-related incidents are occurring in an ever-growing straight line away from the fissure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThem! (1954)
As a result of nuclear testing, gigantic, ferocious mutant ants appear in the American desert southwest, and a father-daughter team of entomologists join forces with the state police officer who first discovers their existence, an FBI agent and, eventually, the US Army to eradicate the menace, before it spreads across the continent — and the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invisible Man (1933)
After experimenting on himself and becoming invisible, scientist Jack Griffin, now aggressive due to the drug's effects, seeks a way to reverse the experiment at any cost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIt! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
The first manned expedition to Mars is invaded by an unknown life form, which stows away on the rescue ship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGigantis, the Fire Monster (1959)
A prehistoric monster called Gigantis emerges alongside another creature named Angurus.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGodzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)
During an assignment, foreign correspondent Steve Martin spends a layover in Tokyo and is caught amid the rampage of an unstoppable prehistoric monster the Japanese call 'Godzilla'. The only hope for both Japan and the world lies on a secret weapon, which may prove more destructive than the monster itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQuatermass 2 (1957)
In England, a group of space scientists led by Bernard Quatermass, who have developed plans for the first Moon colony, learn that a secret, ostensibly government-run, complex of identical design has been built in a remote part of England and is the focus of periodic falls of small, hollow "meteorites" originating in outer space. Quatermass determines to investigate and uncovers a terrifying extraterrestrial life form which has already begun action to take over the Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster Summer (2024)
When a mysterious force begins to disrupt their big summer fun, Noah and his friends team up with a retired police detective to embark on a monstrous adventure to save their island.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like this65 (2023)
65 million years ago, the only 2 survivors of a spaceship from Somaris that crash-landed on Earth, must fend off dinosaurs to reach the escape vessel in time before an imminent asteroid strike threatens to destroy the planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisFantastic Voyage (1966)
In order to save an assassinated scientist, a submarine and its crew are shrunk to microscopic size and injected into his bloodstream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPacific Rim (2013)
Using massive piloted robots to combat the alien threat, Earth's survivors take the fight to the invading alien force lurking in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless enemy, the forces of mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes who now stand as Earth's final hope against the mounting apocalypse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTitan A.E. (2000)
A young man finds out that he holds the key to restoring hope and ensuring survival for the human race, while an alien species called the Drej are bent on mankind's destruction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAttack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)
After a wave of reports of mysterious attacks involving people and pets being eaten by the traditionally docile fruit, a special government task force is set up to investigate the violent fruit and put a stop to their murderous spree.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisCritters 3 (1991)
As fanged, furious furballs viciously invade an L.A. apartment building and sink their teeth into the low-rent tenants, Josh leads the battle to beat back the conniving critters and save the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisRe-Animator (1985)
Conducting clandestine experiments within the morgue at Miskatonic University, scientist Herbert West reveals to a fellow graduate student his groundbreaking work concerning the re-animation of fresh corpses.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMimic (1997)
A disease carried by common cockroaches is killing Manhattan children. In an effort to stop the epidemic an entomologist, Susan Tyler, creates a mutant breed of insect that secretes a fluid to kill the roaches. This mutant breed was engineered to die after one generation, but three years later Susan finds out that the species has survived and evolved into a large, gruesome monster that can mimic human form.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Most Dangerous Game (1932)
When legendary hunter Bob Rainsford is shipwrecked on the perilous reefs surrounding a mysterious island, he finds himself the guest of the reclusive and eccentric Count Zaroff. While he is very gracious at first, Zaroff eventually forces Rainsford and two other shipwreck survivors, brother and sister Eve and Martin Towbridge, to participate in a sadistic game of cat and mouse in which they are the prey and he is the hunter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlanet Terror (2007)
Two doctors find their graveyard shift inundated with townspeople ravaged by sores. Among the wounded is Cherry Darling, a dancer whose leg was ripped from her body. As the invalids quickly become enraged aggressors, Cherry and her ex-boyfriend El Wray lead a team of accidental warriors into the night.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWilly's Wonderland (2021)
When his car breaks down, a quiet loner agrees to clean an abandoned family fun center in exchange for repairs. He soon finds himself waging war against possessed animatronic mascots while trapped inside Willy's Wonderland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoar (1981)
Roar follows a family who are attacked by various African animals at the secluded home of their keeper.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisEarth Girls Are Easy (1988)
In this musical comedy, Valerie is dealing with her philandering fiancé, Ted, when she finds that a trio of aliens have crashed their spaceship into her swimming pool. Once the furry beings are shaved at her girlfriend's salon, the women discover three handsome men underneath. After absorbing the native culture via television, the spacemen are ready to hit the dating scene in 1980s Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisHouse of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Two teenage couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of serial killers end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Killer Shrews?
The closest matches to The Killer Shrews are Island of Lost Souls (1932), Island of Terror (1966) and Tarantula (1955). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Killer Shrews?
Start with Island of Lost Souls (1932), the closest match to The Killer Shrews.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Killer Shrews?
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), rated 7.5/10 by 1,266 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Killer Shrews?
Monster Summer (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Killer Shrews?
Yes: Island of Lost Souls (1932), Island of Terror (1966) and Tarantula (1955).
How are movies similar to The Killer Shrews chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Killer Shrews, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.