Movies like Stare (2020)
The best movies like Stare (2020) are Candyman (1992), They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and The Return (2006). If Stare hooked you with its horror and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCure (1997)7.6/10 from 940 votes
- NewestCreature of the Pines (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseNightmare Detective (2007)Also in Japanese
Candyman (1992)
The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)
A police detective's investigation of a prostitute's murder points to his best friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Return (2006)
Joanna Mills has a successful career but feels her personal life is spinning out of control. She has few friends, an estranged father, and a crazy ex-boyfriend who is stalking her. Joanna begins having terrifying visions of a woman's murder, and it seems that she is the killer's next target. Determined to solve the mystery and escape her apparent fate, Joanna follows her visions to the victim's hometown and finds that some secrets just do not stay buried.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightmare Detective (2007)
When a number of suicide victims slash themselves in their sleep, detective Keiko Kirishima is called to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Entity (1982)
A single mom is raped by an invisible force. Her psychiatrist believes the experience stems from childhood trauma, while she knows something supernatural is at play.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother (2012)
After a chain of deaths at a junior high school, new transfer student Koichi Sakakibara turns to a mysterious girl who holds the key to the dark mystery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisSuicide Forest Village (2021)
One day a mysterious box arrived and a curse began to spread all over. The source of the box is 'Jukai Village'. The village is hidden in Jukai Forest, a suicide spot that once you enter it, you can never come out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Sweet Home: Rebirth (2025)
When a city is overrun with a demonically-possessed crowd, a cop must find the source of evil to save his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisJu-on: The Curse (2000)
When elementary school teacher Kobayashi investigates the absence of one of his young pupils from the classroom, he finds himself at the doorstep of an anonymous suburban house that harbours a horrible secret, and into which all who enter are doomed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHowling Village (2020)
After her brother goes missing, a young psychologist visits an infamous haunted and cursed location known as ‘Howling Village’ to investigate his disappearance and uncover her family’s dark history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisKuroneko (1968)
In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnmyoji (2001)
During a dark time in the Heian period, when evil forces threaten the kingdom, the emperor relies on the onmyōji to keep the supernatural forces in line. But as political events become highly charged, friction within the order leads to betrayal. Now, Seimei, a talented member of the clan, must face down his master, Dōson, in the hopes of restoring peace to the kingdom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCure (1997)
A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRing 2 (1999)
While investigating the horrifying death of her boyfriend, Mai Takano learns about a videotape haunted by the spirit of a disturbing girl named Sadako, which kills anyone who watches it exactly one week later. When her boyfriend’s son, Yoichi, starts to develop the same psychic abilities as Sadako, Takano must find a way to keep the boy and herself from becoming the next victims.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies 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 & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFallen (1998)
Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this825 Forest Road (2025)
After a family tragedy, Chuck Wilson hopes to start a new life in Ashland Falls with his wife Maria and little sister Elizabeth, but he quickly discovers that the town has a dark history of being haunted by a ghostly woman who drives residents to suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisParanormal Activity: Tokyo Night (2010)
Koichi takes care of his sister, who has recently returned from a trip abroad in the United States as she is not well. While caring for her, he records evidence of ghosts in their home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Deliverance (2024)
Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParanormal Activity (2009)
After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly the most active in the middle of the night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Water (2002)
A woman in the midst of an unpleasant divorce moves to an eerie apartment building with her young daughter. The ceiling of their apartment has a dark and active leak.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCreature of the Pines (2026)
Creature of the Pines is a found footage horror movie set in the legendary New Jersey Pine Barrens, one of the most mysterious and unsettling stretches of wilderness in America. Locals have whispered about strange sightings and disappearances for generations, but few people are willing to talk about what they’ve seen, and even fewer dare to go looking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
The making of a horror movie takes on a terrifying reality for students at the most prestigious film school in the country. At Alpine University, someone is determined to win the best film award at any cost - even if it means eliminating the competition. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisHagazussa (2018)
In the 15th century, a young goatherd living alone in a mountain hut feels a dark presence in the woods.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMessiah of Evil (1975)
A young woman searching for her missing artist father finds herself in the strange seaside town of Point Dune, which seems to be under the influence of a mysterious undead cult.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarni: The Story of Wewe Gombel (2024)
After moving her family to a remote village, a busy single mother loses her son, who seems to have been abducted by a vengeful spirit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Cursed Words (2019)
Set in a small British pub, all hell breaks loose when a man reads three words from a mysterious, bloodstained letter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)
While the gang travel to Scotland to visit Daphne's cousin and witness the annual Highland Games, they find themselves terrorized by the legendary Loch Ness Monster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hazzard Files Part One (2024)
Three professional paranormal investigators stumble upon a lost cemetery in the woods of the PNW and what they discover after spending some time investigating will shock you to the core. A fake phony doctor by the name of Linda Hazzard murdered victims of her starvation cure by starving them to death. Their souls have come alive in this documentary film to bridge the living with the dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Curse of Buckout Road (2017)
A college class project on creation and destruction of modern myth, turns terrifying when a trio of young people come to realize the urban legends surrounding the famed Buckout Road may, in fact, be REAL.
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 Stare?
The closest matches to Stare are Candyman (1992), They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and The Return (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Stare?
Start with Candyman (1992), the closest match to Stare.
What is the highest-rated movie like Stare?
Cure (1997), rated 7.6/10 by 940 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Stare?
Creature of the Pines (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Stare?
Yes: Nightmare Detective (2007), Another (2012) and Suicide Forest Village (2021).
How are movies similar to Stare chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Stare, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.