Movies like The Elf (2016)
The best movies like The Elf (2016) are Curse of Chucky (2013), Child's Play (1988) and Cult of Chucky (2017). If The Elf hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)7.4/10 from 6,065 votes
- NewestPinocchio: Unstrung (2026)Released 2026
Curse of Chucky (2013)
After her mother's mysterious death, Nica begins to suspect that the talking, red-haired doll her visiting niece has been playing with may be the key to the mounting bloodshed and chaos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChild's Play (1988)
After being shot in a toy store, a serial killer transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll. A mother then gifts it to her six-year-old son Andy, which unleashes terror upon the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCult of Chucky (2017)
Confined to an asylum for the criminally insane for the past four years, Nica is wrongly convinced that she, not Chucky, murdered her entire family... until a string of grisly deaths occur after her psychiatrist introduces a new group therapy tool -- a "Good Guy" doll.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChild's Play 3 (1991)
Eight years after seemingly destroying the killer doll, teen Andy Barclay is placed in a military school, and the spirit of Chucky returns to renew his quest and seek vengeance after being recreated from a mass of melted plastic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDolls (1987)
A precocious girl, her nasty parents, two punk-rock losers and a weak-kneed salesman inadvertently become the guests of two ghoulish senior citizens in their dark, haunted mansion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnnabelle: Creation (2017)
Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a doll maker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the doll maker's possessed creation—Annabelle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChild's Play 2 (1990)
Chucky is reconstructed by a toy factory to dispel the negative publicity surrounding the doll, and tracks young Andy Barclay to a foster home where the chase begins again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnnabelle Comes Home (2019)
Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren bring the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in their home, placing her “safely” behind sacred glass and enlisting a priest’s holy blessing. But an unholy night of horror awaits as Annabelle awakens the evil spirits in the room, who all set their sights on a new target—the Warrens' ten-year-old daughter, Judy, and her friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerrifier 3 (2024)
Five years after surviving Art the Clown's Halloween massacre, Sienna and Jonathan are still struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind. But just when they think they're safe, Art returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare. The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCobweb (2023)
Eight year old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tapping from inside his bedroom wall—one that his parents insist is all in his imagination. As Peter's fear intensifies, he believes that his parents could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trustworthiness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDiabolic (2025)
A woman's hope for a miracle cure turns into a nightmare when she confronts the vengeful spirit of a cursed witch, determined to claim her as a vessel for her evil power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies 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
SnoozefestMovies 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 horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisClown (2014)
A loving father finds a clown suit for his son's birthday party, only to realize the suit is part of an evil curse that turns its wearer into a killer.
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 thisDaddy's Head (2024)
A boy and his stepmother fear for their safety after an eerie creature resembling the boy's recently deceased father visits them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisNightmare Cinema (2018)
A series of down-on-their-luck individuals enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist – a mysterious, ghostly figure who holds the nightmarish futures of all who attend his screenings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisWarmth (2021)
Christopher, a paranormal investigator, spends the night at the home of a friend after she sees something horrifying in her fireplace.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Pinocchio: Unstrung (2026)
Influenced by a sinister Cricket and created by Geppetto, Pinocchio launches a violent crusade to carve himself into a real boy like his brother James, one piece at a time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Leech (2022)
A devout priest welcomes a struggling couple into his house at Christmas time. What begins as a simple act of kindness quickly becomes the ultimate test of faith once the sanctity of his home is jeopardized.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
P2 (2007)
A businesswoman finds herself locked with a unhinged security guard in a parking garage after getting stuck working late on Christmas Eve.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSatan (2006)
A group of young people leave a disco and bump into a shepherd who is ready to spend his night worshipping Satan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisCalvaire (2005)
A few days before Christmas, traveling entertainer Marc Stevens is stuck at nightfall in a remote wood in the swampy Hautes Fagnes region of Liège when his van breaks down. An odd chap who's looking for a lost dog then leads Marc to a shuttered inn.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisSanta's Slay (2005)
Santa Claus is actually a demon who lost a bet with an angel, so he became the giver of toys and happiness. But this year the bet is off, and Santa is about to return to his evil ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Nights Before Christmas (2020)
When a series of murders in the run up to Christmas are found to be linked, FBI Special Agent Natalie Parker is tasked with tracking a pair of psychotic serial killers that have based their personas on Santa and Mrs Claus. As Christmas approaches, they slaughter their way through their naughty list, playing a cat and mouse game with the FBI and leaving a trail of bloody bodies in their wake.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Rob1n (2025)
When a robotics expert channels the grief of losing his 11 year-old son into building 'Robin', a fully functioning robotic doll, a series of horrific events makes it clear Robin will do whatever it takes to have his creator all to himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Elf?
The closest matches to The Elf are Curse of Chucky (2013), Child's Play (1988) and Cult of Chucky (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Elf?
Start with Curse of Chucky (2013), the closest match to The Elf.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Elf?
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), rated 7.4/10 by 6,065 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Elf?
Pinocchio: Unstrung (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Elf?
Yes: Curse of Chucky (2013), Child's Play (1988) and Cult of Chucky (2017).
How are movies similar to The Elf chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Elf, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.