Movies like Strange Encounters (1989)
The best movies like Strange Encounters (1989) are Shades of Desire (2023), Bloodline (2019) and V/H/S/94 (2021). If Strange Encounters hooked you with its horror and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSin City (2005)7.5/10 from 9,219 votes
- NewestArbor Day: The Root of Evil (2026)Released 2026
Shades of Desire (2023)
After her twin sister Aubrey goes missing, Jennifer uncovers the scandalous, secret double-life that Aubrey leads - and that has put both of them in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBloodline (2019)
Evan values family above all else, and anyone who gets between him, his wife, and newborn son learns that the hard way. But when it comes to violent tendencies, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisV/H/S/94 (2021)
After the discovery of a mysterious VHS tape, a brutish police SWAT team launches a high-intensity raid on a remote warehouse, only to discover a sinister cult compound whose collection of pre-recorded material uncovers a nightmarish conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouthbound (2015)
On a desolate stretch of desert highway, weary travelers — two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation — are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisFrank and Penelope (2022)
A tale of love and violence when a man on his emotional last legs finds a savior seductively dancing in a run-down strip club. And a life most certainly headed off a cliff suddenly becomes redirected - as everything is now worth dying for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlood Punch (2014)
Milton, a college dropout, was only supposed to cook meth for one day. Broken out of rehab by a brash young woman and her trigger-happy ("ex") boyfriend and driven to a remote cabin the woods, Milton finds himself drawn into a dangerous love triangle gone haywire. The couple's deadpan half-truths spin around Milton like a song on repeat. They seem to read him like an open book, until a mysterious message opens his eyes to his cursed existence. With unlimited ammunition, any hunting tool they could desire, and an ever-growing body count, for what did Milton really sign up?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCheat (2023)
On the surface it's believed to be another urban legend - a supernatural being from the afterlife is violently killing anyone who cheats on their significant other in the small college town of Silvercreek, Pennsylvania. But the town's unusually high suicide rate is finally convincing both locals and college students that everything is not as it seems. When Maeve - a female college student - sleeps with Charlie, the married man of the host family she is staying with, both sense the deadly curse is closing in on them. Unable to get anyone to believe them, Maeve and Charlie seek out a local history student to help find answers and figure out a way to defend themselves. It all comes undone, however, as several people are horrifically killed by the savage being - one-by-one at a rapid pace. Eventually, Maeve, Charlie and the few survivors band together in an attempt to defeat the monster once and for all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrick (2019)
A detective tries to track down a masked killer who reappears every Halloween to wreak bloody havoc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHellraiser (1987)
A hedonistic man finds a mysterious puzzle box that summons a group of gruesome beings known as the Cenobites. These otherworldly entities open the doors to a dominion where pain and pleasure are indivisible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisV/H/S/2 (2013)
Inside a darkened house looms a column of TVs littered with VHS tapes, a pagan shrine to forgotten analog gods. The screens crackle and pop endlessly with monochrome vistas of static white noise permeating the brain and fogging concentration. But you must fight the urge to relax: this is no mere movie night. Those obsolete spools contain more than just magnetic tape. They are imprinted with the very soul of evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Now confined to a mental hospital, young Kirsty insists her supposedly dead father is actually stuck in Hell following his wife’s betrayal. Few believe the young woman’s lurid stories aside from the thrill-seeking Dr. Channard. Kirsty is undeterred and, with the help of a fellow patient, heads to Hell for a rescue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJigsaw (2017)
Law enforcement finds itself chasing the ghost of a man dead for over a decade, embroiled in a diabolical new game that's only just begun.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight of the Hunted (2023)
When an unsuspecting woman stops at a remote gas station in the dead of night, she's made the plaything of a sociopath sniper with a secret vendetta. To survive, she must not only dodge his bullets and fight for her life, but also figure out who wants her dead and why.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFunny Games (2008)
When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHellraiser (2022)
A young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBooks of Blood (2020)
A journey into uncharted and forbidden territory through three tales tangled in space and time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHider in the House (1989)
A deranged man hides in the attic of a new house and becomes obsessed with the unsuspecting family that moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Infernal Machine (2022)
Reclusive and controversial author Bruce Cogburn is drawn out of hiding by an obsessive fan, forcing the novelist to confront a past that he thought he could escape, and to account for events set in motion by his bestseller decades earlier. Cogburn's search for who is behind the manipulation and mental torment he encounters leads to an emotional roller-coaster ride full of fear and danger, where things are not always as clear as they seem to be, and where past deeds can have dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSin City (2005)
Welcome to Sin City. This town beckons to the tough, the corrupt, the brokenhearted. Some call it dark… Hard-boiled. Then there are those who call it home — Crooked cops, sexy dames, desperate vigilantes. Some are seeking revenge, others lust after redemption, and then there are those hoping for a little of both. A universe of unlikely and reluctant heroes still trying to do the right thing in a city that refuses to care.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 4bidden Fables (2014)
From the imagination of fantasy artist Dorian Cleavenger, comes four short stories of the bizarre and macabre.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
4bia (2008)
Four directors create short films based on unique fears involving a lonely woman, a princess's corpse, a haunted camping trip and a cursed manuscript.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSolit4ire (2014)
The Card Game comes alive, who is in control? Four Strangers unknowingly step into the realm of the supernatural. Will they survive? What secret do they share?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Things 4 (2017)
Monsters are real, they came from outer space and they are here to destroy the world - unless we can stop them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Tales That Witness Madness (1973)
Enigmatic asylum owner Dr Tremayne houses four very special cases. Visited by his colleague Nicholas, Tremayne explains his amazing and controversial theories as to why each patient went mad, be they a ritualistic 'luau', a time-travelling bicycle, a toy tiger, and a tree stump.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisArbor Day: The Root of Evil (2026)
Every Arbor Day, a New Jersey campground closes while locals whisper about disappearances and eerie sightings. A curious visitor hears five chilling tales revealing the deadly force stalking the woods.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
DeGenerazione (1994)
Horror/sci-fi anthology with a punk streak, co-directed by and starring — among other newcomers — Asia Argento.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Necronomicon (1993)
H.P. Lovecraft anthology is divided into four segments: "The Library" which is the wraparound segment involving Lovecraft's research into the Book of The Dead and his unwitting release of a monster and his writing of the following horror segments "The Drowned", "The Cold", and "Whispers".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlaze of Gory (2017)
British horror anthology with 9 different tales.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Tales from the Occult (2022)
Three short films about the hidden horrors that lurk behind the urban landscape of Hong Kong.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Strange Encounters?
The closest matches to Strange Encounters are Shades of Desire (2023), Bloodline (2019) and V/H/S/94 (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Strange Encounters?
Start with Shades of Desire (2023), the closest match to Strange Encounters.
What is the highest-rated movie like Strange Encounters?
Sin City (2005), rated 7.5/10 by 9,219 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Strange Encounters?
Arbor Day: The Root of Evil (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Strange Encounters?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to Strange Encounters chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Strange Encounters, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.