Movies like Messed Up (2018)
The best movies like Messed Up (2018) are The 'Burbs (1989), Maniac (1963) and Z (2019). If Messed Up hooked you with its horror and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPeeping Tom (1960)7.4/10 from 951 votes
- NewestThe Old Man and the Parrot (2026)Released 2026
The 'Burbs (1989)
When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManiac (1963)
When a stranger enters a quiet, country town and is seduced by a sensuous married woman he unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a storm of sexual guilt and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZ (2019)
A family find themselves terrorized by their eight-year-old son's imaginary friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDave Made a Maze (2017)
Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave’s girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. Once inside, they find themselves trapped in an ever-changing supernatural world, threatened by booby traps and pursued by a bloodthirsty Minotaur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)
Lost Caverns Resort Hotel bellhop Freddie Phillips gives an empty threat to one attorney Amos Strickland, and is shortly fired. When Freddie visits his guest's suite to apologize, he finds Strickland dead of a gunshot wound. As the investigators file in, Freddie becomes the scapegoat of the guests in the hotel, who all had a bone to pick with Strickland. It's now up to Freddie and Detective Casey Edwards to find out who the real killer is, all the while avoiding the many vigorous and violent villains staying at the resort.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLaRoy, Texas (2024)
Broke and depressed, Ray is mistaken for a dangerous hitman and given an envelope of cash. Along with his P.I. friend Skip, he must escape the actual hitman to make it out of LaRoy alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHold That Ghost (1941)
Two bumbling service station attendants are left as the sole beneficiaries in a gangster's will. Their trip to claim their fortune is sidetracked when they are stranded in a haunted house along with several other strangers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invitation (2016)
Will and his new girlfriend Kira are invited to a dinner with old friends at the house of Will’s ex Eden and her new partner David. Although the evening appears to be relaxed, Will soon gets a creeping suspicion that their charming host David is up to something.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCul-de-sac (1966)
On the run and in search of help, two wounded gangsters find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Stalker (1972)
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeeping Tom (1960)
Loner Mark Lewis works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen, the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dark Mirror (1946)
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeathtrap (1982)
A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster House (2006)
Monsters under the bed are scary enough, but what happens when an entire house is out to get you? Three teens aim to find out when they go up against a decrepit neighboring home and unlock its frightening secrets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shed (2019)
The story of Stan, an orphaned teenager stuck living with his abusive grandfather and tasked with routinely protecting his best friend from high school bullies. When Stan discovers a murderous creature has taken refuge inside the tool shed in his backyard, he tries to secretly battle the demon alone until his bullied friend discovers the creature and has a far more sinister plan in mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat's the Matter with Helen? (1971)
Two middle-aged women move to Hollywood after their sons are convicted of a notorious murder and open a dance school for children eager to tap their way to stardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
Seymour works in a skid row florist shop and is in love with his beautiful co-worker, Audrey. He creates a new plant that not only talks but cannot survive without human flesh and blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cat and the Canary (1927)
A group of potential heirs gather in a forbidding old house to learn which of them will inherit a fortune. Later, they learn that a flesh-rending maniac is loose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMermaid Down (2019)
A mermaid is ripped from the ocean by a fishing crew only to be tortured and to have her tail cut off. A seemingly helpful stranger intervenes, but then locks her away in an institution for mentally disturbed young women, where no one believes she is a mermaid. With no way out, she is forced to count on her survival instincts, and fight for her life at all costs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReggie (2019)
When mild-mannered slasher Reggie is recognized while on the job, his entire way of life is changed forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & comedy
R.P.P. (2017)
On a stormy night Caleb decides to box away his past but little does he know what power lies inside the box that risk him and his friends lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & horror
My Sleep Paralysis Demon and Me (2025)
Stu Craven sits down for an interview with a paranormal investigator team, who aim to understand and help him solve his ghostly problem...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & horror
No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)
Christopher Gill is a psychotic killer who uses various disguises to trick and strangle his victims. Moe Brummel is a single and harassed New York City police detective who starts to get phone calls from the strangler and builds a strange alliance as a result. Kate Palmer is a swinging, hip tour guide who witnesses the strangler leaving her dead neighbor's apartment and sets her sights on the detective. Moe's live-in mother wishes her son would be a successful Jewish doctor like his big brother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Old Man and the Parrot (2026)
With a taxidermy parrot and pistol in hand, Praxi, breaks into the home of a mute spiritual guru who trapped his lover’s soul inside the parrot years ago. Praxi must convince the guru’s estranged daughter to guide her father in freeing his lover’s soul in this darkly comedic tale of love and the afterlife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Mars Attacks! (1996)
A fleet of Martian spacecraft surrounds the world's major cities and all of humanity waits to see if the extraterrestrial visitors have, as they claim, "come in peace." U.S. President James Dale receives assurance from science professor Donald Kessler that the Martians' mission is a friendly one. But when a peaceful exchange ends in the total annihilation of the U.S. Congress, military men call for a full-scale nuclear retaliation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Collector (2002)
The detective Maud Graham hides her sensibility behind the image of a strong and independant woman. She frequently offers her hospitality to a 16-year-old prostitute, Grégoire, a young man who became her friend. But when the teenager decides to invite a 12-year-old boy who is running away from home, Maud is near illegality. In addition, the detective has to deal with a serial killer who had already killed and mutilated many women. When she understands that the killer is very intelligent and organized, she elaborates a strategy to arrest him. There starts a dangerous game where the two teenagers that Graham is protecting will be implied. The killer is getting closer, revealing more and more of his madness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Strangler (1964)
An overweight lab technician with low self esteem, brought on by his dominant mother, becomes a serial killer of female nurses.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Night of the Generals (1967)
A German intelligence officer investigates a prostitute's killing in Warsaw during World War II. He lands on three major Nazi generals as suspects, two of whom are also involved in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out! (1989)
Ricky Caldwell, the notorious 'Killer Santa Claus', awakens from a six-year coma after being kept alive on life-support by a slightly crazed doctor experimenting with ESP and other special abilities. Ricky targets a young, clairvoyant blind woman, named Laura, whom is traveling with her brother Chris, and his girlfriend Jerri to their grandmother's house for Christmas Eve, and Ricky decides to go after her, leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Messed Up?
The closest matches to Messed Up are The 'Burbs (1989), Maniac (1963) and Z (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Messed Up?
Start with The 'Burbs (1989), the closest match to Messed Up.
What is the highest-rated movie like Messed Up?
Peeping Tom (1960), rated 7.4/10 by 951 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Messed Up?
The Old Man and the Parrot (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Messed Up?
Yes: The 'Burbs (1989), Maniac (1963) and Z (2019).
How are movies similar to Messed Up chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Messed Up, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.