Movies like The Phantom Lute (1975)
The best movies like The Phantom Lute (1975) are Legend of the Mountain (1979), Nightbreed (1990) and Witch Hunt (2021). If The Phantom Lute hooked you with its fantasy and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCreation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (2023)7.1/10 from 514 votes
- NewestDust Bunny (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseLegend of the Mountain (1979)Also in Chinese
Legend of the Mountain (1979)
A traveling scholar is intent on translating a Buddhist sutra that is said to have power over the creatures of the afterlife. He slowly finds himself entangled in a mysterious plot involving witchcraft, demons, and a battle to preserve his own soul from the attacks of the supernatural underworld.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWitch Hunt (2021)
In a modern America where witches are real and witchcraft is illegal, a sheltered teenager must face her own demons and prejudices as she helps two young witches avoid law enforcement and cross the southern border to asylum in Mexico.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & fantasy
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 fantasy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Knight's War (2025)
A fearless knight braves a deadly realm to save the Chosen One’s soul. Facing witches, demons, and brutal foes, he discovers her return could ignite chaos and doom humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unhealer (2021)
A botched faith healing bestows supernatural Shaman powers on a bullied teenager. When his lifelong tormentors pull a prank that kills someone he loves, he uses his powers for revenge and goes on a bloody rampage to settle the score.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisCinderella's Curse (2024)
Desperate Cinderella summons her fairy godmother from an ancient flesh-bound book, seeking revenge on her evil stepmother and stepsisters who abuse and torment her daily.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House (2016)
Just one enchanted jewel stands between earth and an army of evil spirits led by the devious ghoul, Phears. With the help of his new girlfriend and ghost pals, Max Doyle races to find the crystal and save the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCreation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (2023)
Based on the most well-known classical fantasy novel of China, Fengshenyanyi, the trilogy is a magnificent eastern high fantasy epic that recreates the prolonged mythical wars between humans, immortals and monsters, which happened more than three thousand years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tag-Along (2015)
Wei is nowhere to be found one day before his grandma returns from her own strange missing incident. Wei's girlfriend desperately searches for his whereabouts and discovers that a little girl in red followed them before their disappearance. Based on true events and long-circulating urban legend in Taiwan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dogs (2025)
After fleeing his psychotic father, a young teen and his mom seek refuge in a remote farmhouse, only to face a pack of ferocious dogs and the sinister spirits that haunt the property.
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 thisHuman Lanterns (1982)
A psychotic craftsman pits two rival Kung-Fu masters against each other while designing special lanterns from a disturbing source.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (2018)
Dee, the detective serving Chinese empress Wu Zetian, is called upon to investigate a series of strange events in Loyang, including the appearance of mysterious warriors wearing Chiyou ghost masks, foxes that speak human language and the pillar sculptures in the palace coming alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sorcerer and the White Snake (2011)
The Sorcerer and the White Snake is an ancient Chinese fable about a woman demon who falls in love with a mortal is brought to life through the latest advances in CGI and action techniques.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
Professor Van Helsing had been asked to help against the tyranny of skeletal creatures that are responsible for terror and death amongst the peasants in rural China. He is the only person qualified to deal with the cause of these phenomena, for the undead are controlled by the most diabolical force of all.... Count Dracula. But he is not alone- to aid him comes a mystical brotherhood of seven martial arts warriors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Bridge Curse (2020)
Four years after five students mysteriously committed suicide after taking part in a courage test on the ghost bridge in Donghu university, a reporter and a cinematographer are back to that place and try to get everything clear.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHansel and Gretel (1988)
Hansel and Gretel tells the tale of two young children driven from home by their scolding mother. Losing their way in the dark forest they stumble upon the cottage of a kindly old woman. But is this kindly old woman everything she seems...?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisBooks of Blood (2020)
A journey into uncharted and forbidden territory through three tales tangled in space and time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDemi-Haunted (2002)
Wan Fei (Joey Yung) is a promising Chinese Opera singer who is secretly in love with Ho Fung (Nicholas Tse). She plans to sing for him from the stage, but, in a tragic accident, dies mid-song. Years later, Wan Fei's ghost returns, and finds that part of her spirit has been reincarnated in the form of Chor-bat (Eason Chan). Wan Fei still longs to sing her song for her lover, and, after much humorous confusion, her dream is fulfilled.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & horror
Efreet (2022)
Sophia, who recently turned 10, is haunted by mysterious nightmares. In her nightmares, a girl named Selinka keeps appearing, showing her things about her mother Tina's past that she shouldn't know anything about. Tina thinks that her ex-husband Markus is secretly seeing Sophia, although he is not allowed to have any contact with her. But when one evening Sophia mentions the name "Efreet", Dana (a close friend of the little family) knows that they are dealing with evil forces.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Parallel (2014)
Pregnant Emmy is drugged by her boyfriend and taken to an illegal abortion clinic, but the ordeal makes her sterile. One day she decides to adopt an orphan girl who always keeps a doll which turns out to be possessed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Shadow of Death (1976)
Unsold British horror television pilot for a proposed series entitled "The Fearmakers" is a ghost story set in Warwick Castle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Ghosts of Mars (2001)
In 2176, a Martian police unit is sent to pick up a highly dangerous criminal at a remote mining post. Upon arrival, the cops find the post deserted and something far more dangerous than any criminal — the original inhabitants of Mars, hellbent on getting their planet back.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDemoniac Flash (2005)
Two young men who always dream of joining the show biz meet a frivolous young actress in an old house during shooting of a movie. The three also befriended a couple living next door whose son died of traffic accident years ago. They also come to know a freakish cartoonist in the neighborhood. But the two young men have never expected that people around them are suffering from nightmares, and their own nightmares are about to begin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SEDALIA (2021)
Newly retired costume designer, Helen Rowan moves into a small farmhouse in the Massachusetts countryside; all is quiet until a string of paranormal events prompts Helen to research the home's history. Connecting the dots between her research and two vivid nightmares, Helen discovers the fifty-three-year-old remains of a previous tenant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Blackwell Ghost 4 (2020)
Turner returns to the light foot house to continue his investigation. This time he researched into the first victim Susan. He finds out from the detective there was a note left when light foot committed suicide. It ended up being a map to the first victim (Susan) body. The map is encrypted and turner has to find a way to decode it. While crazy things happen at the light foot house.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Birds (2005)
Towards the end of the Civil War, a group of Confederate soldiers hole up on an abandoned plantation after robbing a bank, and find themselves at the mercy of supernatural forces.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisWe Are the Monsters (2021)
24-year-old Kjell feels trapped in his little village. One day he meets a mysterious young man named Flurin and is immediately fascinated by him. Soon they start spending time together and show one other what it is they each long for.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Like The Phantom Lute and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Phantom Lute?
The closest matches to The Phantom Lute are Legend of the Mountain (1979), Nightbreed (1990) and Witch Hunt (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Phantom Lute?
Start with Legend of the Mountain (1979), the closest match to The Phantom Lute.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Phantom Lute?
Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (2023), rated 7.1/10 by 514 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Phantom Lute?
Dust Bunny (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Phantom Lute?
Yes: Legend of the Mountain (1979), Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (2023) and The Tag-Along (2015).
How are movies similar to The Phantom Lute chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Phantom Lute, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.