Movies like The Shadow Zone (2016)
The best movies like The Shadow Zone (2016) are Crawlers (2020), Body Snatchers (1993) and Splinter (2008). If The Shadow Zone 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 ratedBatman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022)7.7/10 from 375 votes
- NewestScarlett's Colorful Friends (2025)Released 2025
Crawlers (2020)
On Saint Patrick's day—a night of wild parties and drunken revelry—three unlikely friends band together to save a college town from a vicious horde of body-snatching aliens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisBody Snatchers (1993)
When Environmental Protection Agency inspector Steve Malone travels to a remote military base in order to check for toxic materials, he brings his family along for the ride. After arriving at the base, his teenage daughter Marti befriends Jean Platt, daughter of the base's commander, General Platt. When people at the base begin acting strangely, Marti becomes convinced that they are slowly being replaced by plant-like aliens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSplinter (2008)
When their plans for a nature trip go awry, Polly and boyfriend Seth decide to check into a motel. On their way, they're carjacked and kidnapped by low-rent crooks Dennis and Lacey, who take the victims and their SUV to a nearby gas station. Along the way, they encounter an increasingly terrifying horde of parasites, and if any of them intend to survive, they'll have to outsmart the deadly organisms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisV/H/S/Beyond (2024)
The infinite playground of forbidden worlds and dangerous lifeforms offered by the sci-fi horror genre will lead to the biggest, maddest, bloodiest V/H/S ever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtinction (2015)
And suddenly, overnight, the world came to a halt. Two men, two survivors, one kid, and hatred that separates them. A place forgotten by everyone, including the creatures that inhabit the Earth... until now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster Hunters (2020)
When an alien prison ship crash lands and unleashes creature after creature in the California desert, they make quick work of the army that tries to stop them. Now, the only hope of stopping the aliens rests with a secret branch of the government specializing in alien weaponry. But with the team untested in actual combat, the battle for Earth will be brutal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thing (2011)
When paleontologist Kate Lloyd travels to an isolated outpost in Antarctica for the expedition of a lifetime, she joins an international team that unearths a remarkable discovery. Their elation quickly turns to fear as they realize that their experiment has freed a mysterious being from its frozen prison. Paranoia spreads like an epidemic as a creature that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish in this spine-tingling thriller.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
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 thisSlash/Back (2022)
In a remote Arctic community, a group of Inuit girls fight off an alien invasion, all while trying to make it to the coolest party in town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien: Romulus (2024)
While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOccupation: Rainfall (2020)
Two years into an intergalactic invasion of Earth, survivors in Sydney, Australia, fight back in a desperate ground war. As casualties mount by the day, the resistance and their unexpected allies, uncover a plot that could see the war come to a decisive end. With the Alien invaders hell-bent on making earth their new home, the race is on to save mankind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: A Call to Arms (1999)
Allies of the Shadows seek revenge against humanity. This movie sets up the series, "Crusade," the sequel to "Babylon 5."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 5th Wave (2016)
16-year-old Cassie Sullivan tries to survive in a world devastated by the waves of an alien invasion that has already decimated the population and knocked mankind back to the Stone Age.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisBabylon 5: The River of Souls (1998)
A group of Soul Hunters come to Babylon 5 demanding the return of something that was stolen from them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBen 10: Alien Swarm (2009)
Ben and a mysterious girl from his past must prevent an alien threat from destroying the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBen 10: Race Against Time (2008)
Ben, Gwen, and Max must stop an extraterrestrial who plans to open a gateway that leads to an alien invasion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisBatman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022)
After discovering he has powers, 11-year-old Jonathan Kent and assassin-turned-Boy-Wonder Damian Wayne must join forces to rescue their fathers (Superman & Batman) and save the planet from the malevolent alien force known as Starro.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPredator 2 (1990)
A police chief in the war-torn streets of Los Angeles discovers that an extraterrestrial creature is hunting down residents - and that he is the next target.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTransformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
As humanity picks up the pieces after the battle of Chicago, a shadowy group reveals itself in an attempt to control the direction of history…while an ancient, powerful new menace sets Earth in its crosshairs. With help from Cade Yeager, Optimus Prime and the Autobots rise to meet their most fearsome challenge yet.
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 thisThe Mist (TBA)
After a small town in Maine is consumed by a thick mysterious fog from which creatures emerge to attack the townsfolk, a group of survivors hole up in a local grocery store.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & horror
Voyage To The Planet Of Teenage Cavewomen (2012)
Two planets on a collision course with Earth are discovered to be populated by teenage cave-women and sinister creatures known as Bavans.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & horror
Critters 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 thisScarlett's Colorful Friends (2025)
A mysterious government project known as Project: Mystic has been leaked by a whistleblower. It was an experiment about the effects of magic on the human body and was conducted on children. This of course begs the question: What happened to the children?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Horror High (1973)
A nerdy high school super whiz experiments with a chemical which will transform his guinea pig "Mr. Mumps" from a gentle pet into a ravenous monster. In a fit of rage against his tormentors at the high school, Vernon Potts goes on a killing spree, eliminating all of those who ever picked on him - the Gym Coach, the School Jock, The Creepy Janitor & his hated teacher, Ms. Grindstaff.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisJourney to the Seventh Planet (1962)
A space expedition to Uranus is menaced by a giant brain that can make illusions come true.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisCurucu, Beast of the Amazon (1956)
Plantation owner Rock Dean and scientist Dr. Andrea Romar travel up the Amazon to find out why the plantation workers have left their work in panic, allegedly because of attacks from Curucu, a monster said to live up the river where no white man has ever been before...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & science fiction
Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex (2022)
When army of Gigans tries to invade and destroy the Earth, the only one who can stop them is Godzilla.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
INK (2016)
A traumatized woman seeks penance and personal transformation through tattooing after surviving a devastating pregnancy. One night, drenched in booze and ink, her deepest fears threaten to consume her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Dai-Kaiju vs. Giant Girl (2024)
A once-in-a-100,000-years global heatwave melts the Antarctic ice, awakening DAI-KAIJU from its long sleep! A great battle between DAI-KAIJU, which is over 100 meters long, and a giant girl begins in Shinjuku.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Shadow Zone?
The closest matches to The Shadow Zone are Crawlers (2020), Body Snatchers (1993) and Splinter (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Shadow Zone?
Start with Crawlers (2020), the closest match to The Shadow Zone.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Shadow Zone?
Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022), rated 7.7/10 by 375 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Shadow Zone?
Scarlett's Colorful Friends (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Shadow Zone?
Yes: Crawlers (2020), Body Snatchers (1993) and Splinter (2008).
How are movies similar to The Shadow Zone chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Shadow Zone, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.