Movies like The Exotic House of Wax (1997)
The best movies like The Exotic House of Wax (1997) are Heavy Metal (1981), Strawberry Mansion (2021) and Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022). If The Exotic House of Wax hooked you with its fantasy and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (2020)8.1/10 from 1,545 votes
- NewestThe Primevals (2023)Released 2023
Heavy Metal (1981)
The embodiment of ultimate evil, a glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with bizarre stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrawberry Mansion (2021)
In the not-too-distant future, an all-seeing surveillance state conducts “dream audits” to collect taxes on the unconscious lives of the populace. Mild-mannered government agent James Preble travels to a remote farmhouse to audit the dreams of Arabella “Bella” Isadora, an eccentric, aging artist. Entering Bella’s vast VHS archive, which contains a lifetime of dreams, Preble stumbles upon a secret that offers him a chance at love—and hope for escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)
The vicious, power-mad Kano is determined to take over Earthrealm, one soul at a time. Assisted by a trio of cold Black Dragon mercenaries, he embarks on a brutal assault from town to defenseless town. The choice is simple: kneel or be annihilated. Kenshi, a rebel warrior, calls on Kuai Liang, the only one powerful enough to challenge the malevolent Kano. But Kuai Liang has given up the ways of the warrior, and Kenshi is too undisciplined to defeat Kano himself. If Kuai Liang cannot break through the glacier of doubt that holds him back, Earthrealm will fall.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021)
Escaping from poverty to become a witcher, Vesemir slays monsters for coin and glory, but when a new menace rises, he must face the demons of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Primevals (2023)
Deep in the Himalayas, a group of sherpas kills a gigantic humanoid creature. Convinced that it is the legendary Yeti, Dr. Claire Collier organizes an expedition with her former student Matt Connor and hunter Rondo Montana, among others, to search for more specimens. But what awaits them is something that none of them could have imagined. A colorful fusion of real image and stop-motion that is reminiscent of fantastic films from the 1980s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hot Spot (1990)
Upon arriving to a small town, a drifter quickly gets into trouble with the local authorities — and the local women — after he robs a bank.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021)
When Shao Kahn's Outworld barbarians terrorize Earthrealm, Lord Raiden is determined to put an end to the carnage once and for all. This leaves one option: a final Mortal Kombat tournament for the future of Earthrealm – win it or lose everything. Raiden's elite fighters Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and a few new faces kick the action into overdrive as they go head-to-head with Outworld's most bloodthirsty warriors. But deep in the Netherrealm, an unspeakable scheme by the malevolent Shinnok unfolds, threatening to obliterate existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (2020)
After the vicious slaughter of his family by stone-cold mercenary Sub-Zero, Hanzo Hasashi is exiled to the torturous Netherrealm. There, in exchange for his servitude to the sinister Quan Chi, he’s given a chance to avenge his family – and is resurrected as Scorpion, a lost soul bent on revenge. Back on Earthrealm, Lord Raiden gathers a team of elite warriors – Shaolin monk Liu Kang, Special Forces officer Sonya Blade, and action star Johnny Cage – an unlikely band of heroes with one chance to save humanity. To do this, they must defeat Shang Tsung's horde of Outworld gladiators and reign over the Mortal Kombat tournament.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisShadow Master (2022)
After being slain by a group of criminals, a man is reborn with animal-like superpowers and makes it his mission to right the wrongs of his city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Romance (1993)
Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHenry & June (1990)
While traveling in Paris, author Henry Miller and his wife, June, meet Anais Nin, and sexual sparks fly as Nin starts an affair with the openly bisexual June. When June is forced to return to the U.S., she gives Nin her blessing to sleep with her husband. Then, when June returns to France, an unexpected, and sometimes contentious, threesome forms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Crow (1994)
Exactly one year after young rock guitarist Eric Draven and his fiancée are brutally killed by a ruthless gang of criminals, Draven, watched over by a hypnotic crow, returns from the grave to exact revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIf I Can't Have Love, I Want Power (2021)
Featuring music from her fourth studio album produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, this evocative film experience stars Halsey as the young and pregnant Queen Lila, who wrestles with the manipulative chokehold of love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisButch Jamie (2008)
The film follows the story of Jamie, a struggling butch lesbian actress who gets cast as a man in a film. The main plot is a romantic comedy between Jamie's male alter-ego, "Male Jamie," and Jill, a heterosexual woman on set. The film's subplots include Jamie's bisexual roommate Lola and her cat actor Howard, Lola's abrasive butch German girlfriend Andi, and Jamie's gay Asian friend David.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Fire (1997)
In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this9 Songs (2004)
Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisWater Lilies (2007)
Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team? Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCashback (2007)
After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNest of Vipers (1978)
A background of rising fascism in Venice in 1930s. A music-student, Matthias, mixes with the town's bourgeoisie and falls in love with a mature teacher, Carla, the mother of his friend Renato, and then with his young colleague, Elena.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Moscow, Belgium (2008)
‘Moscou’ is a densely populated working class neighbourhood on the outskirts of Ghent, Belgium. Matty, mother of three, bumps her car into a truck on the parking lot of a supermarket. Johnny climbs down from the cabin. He is infuriated by the dent in his front bumper and yells at Matty. Although impressed by the accident, Matty fights back with sharp words. Their discussion turns into a row, and the police have to intervene. Matty goes home, the trunk of her car dancing up and down. Back in her apartment, Matty takes a hot bath to recover from the afternoon’s emotionswhen the phone rings. It’s Johnny, apologizing for his behaviour on the parking lot. Matty tells him to stay out of her life. A dramatic comedy begins about a woman whose soul is full of dents and bruises.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPerverted Adolescence (1974)
Professor Mirella Buzzati, recovering from a failed relationship that ended with a divorce from her husband, travels to Perugia where she has obtained a mathematics teaching position at a high school. Her hatred of men, evident during the train ride and in her interactions with male colleagues who quickly flock to her, quickly yields to the attractiveness of Alain, a student nicknamed "the dark and handsome" by the high school girls. He already has a relationship with Giorgina, a fellow student of the same age and a fanatical militant of "Lotta Continua." In an effort to win over her idol, Mirella becomes unscrupulous in her teaching, preaches political and sexual revolution; she earns the headmaster's rebukes, and heaps scathing criticism on her rival Giorgina. After a stint in Paris with a lesbian colleague, the professor resumes her attack and obtains Alain's physical performance, but not her love: the boy understands her well and deeply despises her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Romance of the West Chamber (1997)
Cheung, a 23-year-old unmarried travelling scholar, stops by the monastery, where he sees a beautiful woman. Against the rules, Monk Faben allows Cheung to stay and woo the girl, Ann-Ann. She is shy, and also the Prime Minister's daughter, so the wooing is arranged by Ann-Ann's maid Hung.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Treibgut der Großstadt (1967)
A young woman works in a Berlin hotel while her husband, a commercial art student, drives a cab. They are 3600 DM in debt. In order to pay the rates, the woman agrees to work as an entertainer in a bar against her husband's wishes...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Show Me Love (1998)
Two teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLooking for Cheyenne (2005)
Cheyenne, a journalist, decides to leave Paris after being laid off and to settle down in the middle of nowhere, far from the society she hates. The trouble is that she leaves Sonia, her true love, behind. The latter, a teacher who loves her job, refuses to give up everything - including her comfort - to follow her. Sonia makes all the efforts in the world to forget Cheyenne, whether in the arms of Pierre, a charming anarchist, or in those of Béatrice, a gay woman who soon proves perverse and dangerous, only to realize that her heart belongs to Cheyenne and nobody else.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Girl's Blood (2014)
Four girls take part in illegal underground fighting event "Girl's Blood" held at an abandoned school building in Roppongi every night. The girls have their own stories and quirks from their private lives. Satsuki (Yuria Haga) suffers from a gender identity disorder, Chinatsu (Asami Tada) ran away from an abusive husband, Miko (Ayame Misaki) is a S&M queen and Mayu (Rina Koike) has a Lolita face.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Another Gay Movie (2006)
Andy is your typical All-American eighteen-year-old gay virgin. Like everyone else, he's dying to have sex. Totally out of the closet and mad-crazy horny, this naïve high school senior is caught in that awkward vortex between child and adult. Much to the dismay of his mom (who wonders why all her carrots and cucumbers keep disappearing), Andy spends much of his private time practicing for the big moment when he'll finally take the plunge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisYoung People Fucking (2007)
On a Tuesday night, five couples have separate sexual adventures. Matt and Kris, friends for years, want to have an only-once, no-strings good time. Abby and Andrew, married, celebrate his birthday, but it's marred by angst and miscommunication. Mia and Eric are exes, making sure they are over each other. Jaime and Ken work together and this is a first date. Inez and Gord invite his roommate, Dave, to join them. By the time each couple has gone through a prelude, foreplay, sex, an interlude, orgasm, and afterglow, they've answered basic questions: can sex be anonymous, are we bored, is our marriage really finished, does anyone tell the truth, and how do we make someone happy?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisTropical Ecstasy (1970)
A woman who makes her living as a prostitute must decide her fate between two totally different men.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
D.E.B.S. (2005)
The star of a team of teenage crime fighters falls for the alluring villainess she must bring to justice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Exotic House of Wax?
The closest matches to The Exotic House of Wax are Heavy Metal (1981), Strawberry Mansion (2021) and Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Exotic House of Wax?
Start with Heavy Metal (1981), the closest match to The Exotic House of Wax.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Exotic House of Wax?
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (2020), rated 8.1/10 by 1,545 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Exotic House of Wax?
The Primevals (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Exotic House of Wax?
Yes: Heavy Metal (1981), Strawberry Mansion (2021) and Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022).
How are movies similar to The Exotic House of Wax chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Exotic House of Wax, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.