Movies like The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology (2019)
The best movies like The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology (2019) are Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019), Nightmares in Red, White and Blue (2009) and Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist (2019). If The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology hooked you with its documentary and animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTower (2016)7.6/10 from 213 votes
- NewestPiece by Piece (2024)Released 2024
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019)
Delving into a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and finally embraced them, this is the untold history of black Americans in Hollywood through their connection to the horror genre.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightmares in Red, White and Blue (2009)
An exploration of the appeal of horror films, with interviews of many legendary directors in the genre.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLeap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist (2019)
A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on The Exorcist, the last film of Alexandre O. Philippe explores the uncharted depths of William Friedkin’s mind’s eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity (2021)
A deep dive into the making of the Paranormal Activity films with first time ever interviews with cast and crew, never-before-seen footage from the movies, and a preview of the seventh installment in the franchise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller Legends (2014)
Delving into our collective nightmares, this horror-documentary investigates the origins of our most terrifying urban legends and the true stories that may have inspired them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGoing to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)
This historical and critical look at slasher films, which includes dozens of clips, begins with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night. The films' directors, writers, producers, and special effects creators comment on the films' making and success. During the Reagan years, the films get gorier, budgets get smaller, and their appeal wanes. Then, Nightmare on Elm Street revives the genre. Jump to the late 90s, when Scream brings humor and TV stars into the mix.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho Are You, Charlie Brown? (2021)
Lupita Nyong'o narrates a documentary about Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Famous fans—including Drew Barrymore, Kevin Smith, and Al Roker—share its influence on them, and a new animated story finds Charlie Brown on a quest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoc of the Dead (2014)
The definitive zombie culture documentary, brought to the screen by the makers of THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTower (2016)
Combining archival footage with rotoscopic animation, Tower reveals the action-packed untold stories of the witnesses, heroes and survivors of America's first mass school shooting, when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPennywise: The Story of ‘It’ (2021)
Thirty-plus years after its release, the popular two-part miniseries "It" and its infamous villain Pennywise live on in the minds of horror fans around the world. This documentary captures not only the buzz the "It" saga generated in 1990 but also the lasting impact it has had on an entire generation and the horror genre at large. Several years in the making, the film features exclusive interviews with many of the cult classic's key players, from cast members Richard Thomas, Seth Green, and Tim Curry, who portrayed the notorious monster clown Pennywise, to director Tommy Lee Wallace and special effects makeup artist Bart Mixon. The documentary also boasts a wealth of archival material and never-before-seen footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn Search of Darkness: Part II (2020)
The ultimate ‘80s Horror retrospective just got BIGGER. In Search of Darkness: Part II is a four-hour-plus sequel to the Rondo Hatton-nominated In Search of Darkness, adding 15 new interviewees and 40+ returning favorites for the biggest and most comprehensive ‘80s Horror documentary cast ever assembled.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLovecraft: Fear of the Unknown (2008)
A chronicle of the life, work and mind that created the Cthulhu mythos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLiving with Chucky (2022)
A filmmaker who grew up alongside Chucky the killer doll seeks out the other families surrounding the Child's Play films as they recount their experiences working on the ongoing franchise and what it means to be a part of the, "Chucky" family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIs the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013)
A series of interviews featuring linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky done in hand-drawn animation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerror in the Aisles (1984)
A non-stop roller coaster ride through the scariest moments of the greatest terror films of all time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPiece by Piece (2024)
A unique cinematic experience that invites audiences on a vibrant journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Told through the lens of LEGO® animation, turn up the volume on your imagination and witness the evolution of one of music's most innovative minds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCamp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis (2021)
Camp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis, is a documentary short featuring animation that focuses on the story of a top secret POW camp that was classified for over 5 decades. In the midst of WWII, a group of young Jewish refugees are assigned to guard a top secret POW camp near Washington D.C. The Jewish soldiers soon discover that their prisoners are no other than Hitler's top scientists - What starts out as an intelligence mission to gather information from the Nazis, soon gets a shocking twist when the Jewish soldiers are tasked with a very different mission altogether. A mission that would question their moral values - exposing a dark secret from America's past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Day of Life (2018)
In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMidnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2006)
From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street (2019)
Mark Patton sets the records straight about the controversial 1985 sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street, which ended his acting career, just as it was about to begin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpace in the Brain (1969)
Image analysis in slow motion. Distortion and reversed reality perspective.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Who Will Watch the Watchman? Dalibor, or the Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin (2003)
In the fourth and final instalment of Karel Vachek’s not-so-little Little Capitalist Tetralogy, preparations for an opera performance in the Czech capital’s art-nouveau National Theatre become the occasion for a reflection on rebels, dissidents, and others subversives who stand in battle, heroically and sometimes tragically, against majority opinion, established rules, or powerful institutions. "As the camera wanders over, around and through Prague’s lavish National Theatre, director J.A. Pitínský coaches singers through a rehearsal of Bedřich Smetana’s tragic opera Dalibor. Intercut with the tale of the 15th-century knight who, imprisoned, refused to name names, Vachek interviews, on the plush red seats of the empty theatre, a whole series of latter-day rebels.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
L'homme qui tousse (1969)
Sitting on the floor in a narrow room, a man coughing and spitting blood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Fantastic Vision (1957)
Footage filmed in Spain, subjected a new visual effects process. Deslaw devoted himself to the discovery of a new machine that enabled film to be developed while using a new method called solarisation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Thot-Fal'N (1978)
This film describes a psychological state "kin to moonstruck, its images emblems (not quite symbols) of suspension-of-self within consciousness and then that feeling of falling away from conscious thought. The film can only be said to describe or be emblematic of this state because I cannot imagine symbolizing or otherwise representing an equivalent of thoughtlessness itself. Thus the actors in the film, Jane Brakhage, Tom and Gloria Bartek, Williams Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Olovsky and Phillip Whalen are figments of this 'Thought-Fallen Process', as are their images in the film to find themselves being photographed."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Adios amigo mío, sin gestos, sin palabras (2015)
The title comes from Sergei Yesenin's last poem before comiting suicide. Using Virginia Woolf's last letters as a base, this film is meditation on the power of the word and its undertsanding and the the last moments before saying "goodbye".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
A Messenger from the Shadows (Notes on Film 06 A/Monologue 01) (2013)
Thanks to his myriad film roles, Lon Chaney is known as “the man of a thousand faces,” and you could say that the early horror era never beheld a figure more intriguing. Yet because of his numerous transformations, his face never became as iconic as that of, say, Boris Karloff. Accompanied by a soundtrack from Bernhard Lang, this “re-imagination of shots” taken from Chaney´s forty-six surviving films offers a beguiling excursion into the history of film. The director reveals surprising associations, while highlighting the enduring magic of works which are now more or less forgotten.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Rastros que Deixamos (2021)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Watching the Pain of Others (2019)
In this deeply personal video diary, a young researcher tries to make sense of her fascination for the film "The Pain of Others" by Penny Lane. A deep dive into the discomforting world of YouTube and online conspiracies, that challenges traditional notions of what documentary cinema is, or should be.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
The End of Time (2017)
An experimental film about that one hypnotic moment on a regular, unassuming Tuesday when one realizes that time has stopped and the universe has been sucked into a single smile.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology?
The closest matches to The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology are Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019), Nightmares in Red, White and Blue (2009) and Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology?
Start with Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019), the closest match to The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology?
Tower (2016), rated 7.6/10 by 213 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology?
Piece by Piece (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Philosophy of Horror (Part I): Etymology, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.