Movies like The Brain Eaters (1958)
The best movies like The Brain Eaters (1958) are Tarantula (1955), Invaders from Mars (1953) and Island of Terror (1966). If The Brain Eaters hooked you with its science fiction and horror, 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
- NewestSignal One (2026)Released 2026
Tarantula (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 thisInvaders from Mars (1953)
A boy tries to stop aliens that have taken over his town and are brainwashing its inhabitants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
SnoozefestMovies 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 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 thisIsland 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 thisThe Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
A dangerous combination of radiation and insecticide causes the unfortunate Scott Carey to shrink, slowly but surely, until he is only a few inches tall. His home becomes a wilderness where he must survive everything from spiders living in the cellar to his beloved cat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIt Came from Outer Space (1953)
Author and amateur astronomer John Putnam and schoolteacher Ellen Fields witness an enormous meteorite come down near a small town in Arizona. Putnam becomes a local object of scorn when, after examining the object up close, he announces that it is a spacecraft, and that it is inhabited...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
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 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 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 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 thisThe Man from Planet X (1951)
While watching for a planet that may collide with earth, scientists stationed in Scotland are approached by a visitor from outer space.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThis Island Earth (1955)
Aliens have landed and are hiding on Earth, but need Earth’s scientists to help them fight an inter-planetary war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien Abduction (2014)
A vacationing family encounters an alien threat in this pulse-pounding thriller based on the real-life Brown Mountain Lights phenomenon in North Carolina.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Earth Dies Screaming (1964)
A crack test pilot lands to find the planet has been devastated by unknown forces. There are a few survivors, so he organizes them in a plan to ward off control by a group of killer robots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
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 thisQuatermass and the Pit (1967)
A mysterious artifact unearthed below a London Underground station proves to have powerful psychic effects on the people around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSignal One (2026)
A computer scientist is invited by a tech billionaire to join his private facility on a Caribbean island to investigate extraterrestrial matter on Earth. When they make contact beyond our world, chaos erupts as we’re left to wonder: do they come in peace?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Satan Bug (1965)
A US government germ warfare lab has had an accident. The first theory is that one of the germs has been released and killed several scientists. The big fear is that a more virulent strain, named The Satan Bug because all life can be killed off by it should it escape, may have been stolen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Arrival (1996)
Zane Ziminski is an astrophysicist who receives a message that seems to have extraterrestrial origins. Eerily soon after his discovery, Zane is fired. He then embarks on a search to determine the origins of the transmission that leads him into a Hitchcockian labyrinth of paranoia and intrigue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrankenstein (1973)
A scientist obsessed with creating life steals body parts to put together his "creation." Released as a feature on video, this was originally shown in two installments on TV as part of the Wide World of Entertainment series.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
Once hounded from his castle by outraged villagers for creating a monstrous living being, Baron Frankenstein returns to Karlstaad. High in the mountains they stumble on the body of the creature, perfectly preserved in the ice. He is brought back to life with the help of the hypnotist Zoltan who now controls the creature. Can Frankenstein break Zoltan's hypnotic spell that incites the monster to commit these horrific murders or will Zoltan induce the creature to destroy its creator?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerror of Frankenstein (1977)
Victor Frankenstein's search for the secret of life leads to the creation of a monster that consumes his life and family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)
Professor Frankenstein creates a teenager from an accident victim, who gets angry when he learns he is going to be taken apart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
The Projected Man (1966)
Matter-transmitter sabotage leaves a British scientist (Bryant Halliday) disfigured and full of amps.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Critters (1986)
Carnivorous aliens arrive unannounced at a Kansas family farm; two intergalactic bounty hunters soon follow, determined to blow them off the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDr. Cyclops (1940)
Four explorers are summoned to Peru by the brilliant physicist Dr Thorkel. They discover a rich source of radium and a half-mad Thorkel who shrinks them down to one-fifth their normal size when they threaten to stop his unorthodox experimentation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Baron Victor Frankenstein has discovered life's secret and unleashed a blood-curdling chain of events resulting from his creation: a cursed creature with a horrid face — and a tendency to kill.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrankenstein: The True Story (1974)
Victor Frankenstein witnesses his creation turn uncontrollable after he's duped by his associate, Dr. Polidori.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Lady Frankenstein (1971)
When Dr. Frankenstein is killed by a monster he created, his daughter and his lab assistant continue his experiments.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Brain Eaters?
The closest matches to The Brain Eaters are Tarantula (1955), Invaders from Mars (1953) and Island of Terror (1966). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Brain Eaters?
Start with Tarantula (1955), the closest match to The Brain Eaters.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Brain Eaters?
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), rated 7.5/10 by 1,266 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Brain Eaters?
Signal One (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Brain Eaters?
Yes: Tarantula (1955), Invaders from Mars (1953) and Island of Terror (1966).
How are movies similar to The Brain Eaters chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Brain Eaters, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.