Movies like Shadows (1986)
The best movies like Shadows (1986) are Play Dead (2022), Bloodline Killer (2024) and The Shed (2019). If Shadows hooked you with its horror and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Shadows
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSuccubus (2024)8.3/10 from 278 votes
- NewestVicious (2025)Released 2025
Play Dead (2022)
Criminology student Chloe fakes her own death to break into a morgue, in order to retrieve a piece of evidence that ties her younger brother to a crime gone wrong. Once inside, she discovers that a sadistic coroner is using the corpses for his sick and twisted business, and when he realises that Chloe still has a pulse, a terrifying game of cat and mouse ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBloodline Killer (2024)
Moira Cole endeavors to rebuild her shattered life after her family's murder at the hands of her deranged and obsessed cousin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisDaddy's Little Girl (2014)
After the police find Derek’s daughter brutally murdered on the beach, he vows to make the culprit suffer for his actions, even if that person is ‘part of the family.’ With careful research into the history of torture, Derek prepares himself and his basement for a week of brutal tactics that will make his daughter’s killer feel the pain that he has inflicted upon so many others. In a time when stranger danger is ever present, a single father learns that it’s the ones you trust most who have to be watched the closest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuccubus (2024)
A new father going through a marital separation joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman... whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWhisper (2007)
Sinister things begin happening to kidnappers who are holding a young boy for ransom in a remote cabin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou'll Never Find Me (2024)
Patrick, a strange and lonely resident, lives in a mobile home at the back of an isolated caravan park. After a violent thunderstorm erupts, a mysterious young woman appears at his door, seeking shelter from the weather. The longer the night wears on and the more the young woman discovers about Patrick, the more difficult she finds it to leave. Soon she begins to question Patrick’s intentions, while Patrick begins to question his own grip on reality...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShades 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 thisThe Last Breath (2024)
A group of old college friends reunite on a Caribbean scuba diving trip exploring the wreckage of a WWII battleship and find themselves trapped inside the underwater labyrinth of rusted metal surrounded by great white sharks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEradication (2022)
When an unknown disease wipes out most of the world’s population, a man with unique blood is isolated for study. Fearing for his wife’s safety, he breaks his quarantine – into a world overrun by monstrous Infected and a shadowy agency hunting them down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVicious (2025)
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
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 thisThe Other (2025)
Unable to conceive, a couple seeks to build a family with a young orphan, survivor of tragic childhood. But their act of love turns to horror when they realize the violence in their foster's past has returned to destroy the new family.
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 thisDead of Winter (1987)
A fledgling actress is lured to a remote mansion for a screen-test, soon discovering she is actually a prisoner in the middle of a blackmail plot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInsidious: Chapter 3 (2015)
A prequel set before the haunting of the Lambert family that reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Deliverance (2024)
Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisSlapface (2022)
A boy deals with the loss of his mother by creating a relationship with a dangerous monster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisInsidious: The Red Door (2023)
To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh Lambert and a college-aged Dalton Lambert must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family's dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvery Shadow Seems Alive (2019)
Every Shadow Seems Alive
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Fall Down Dead (2007)
A metropolitan city is in the grip of fear when rolling blackouts bring out a serial killer dubbed The Picasso Killer. One night, in the middle of a blackout, seven strangers become trapped in an office building as the killer hunts for Christie Wallace, the woman that can identify him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Spiral (2007)
A reclusive telemarketer has only one semblance of a friend: His telecommuter boss. But the telemarketer's social circle seems to improve greatly when a whimsical co-worker enters his life. Only, as he begins to sketch his new friend's portrait, disturbing "voices" from the phone man's past threaten to lead him into a network of destruction.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFilthy McNasty (2002)
Two bookish women, whom crave adventure and bad taste, suddenly turn into sexy ladies after being zapped with a spell by a sex-starved ghost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Where the Day Takes You (1992)
King is a young man, but he's already a veteran of life on the streets of Los Angeles. The de facto leader of a group of teenage runaways, King acts as a mentor to troubled kids such as gay hustler Little J and junkie Greg. When Heather, a beautiful girl from Chicago, starts hanging out with King and his crew, it changes the dynamic of the gang. However, it seems as though nothing will alter their dangerous lifestyle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlone With Her (2006)
The harrowing story of a disturbed young man's attempts to win the affections of an unsuspecting young woman. When Doug first sees Amy, he instantly falls for her and begins to watch her every move, going so far as to set up spy cameras in her apartment. However, as his fascination grows into obsession he's no longer satisfied with just watching.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisLook (2007)
Interconnected stories are told entirely through images captured on security cameras in storage rooms, police cars, parking lots, shopping malls and other locations. Store manager Tony has affairs with the women who work under him, high schooler Sherri schemes to seduce teacher Berry, a pedophile stalks his next victim at a mall food court and two thieves go on a killing spree that links to other tales witnessed by the unseen electronic eyes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisRx (2005)
What is meant to be a weekend party across the border soon becomes a heartbreaking journey that tests the boundaries of companionship, romantic love and personal ethics.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Collective (2008)
Jessica (Wynn Everett) travels to New York City to help her sister but she is nowhere to be found. As she delves into a world of darkness and lies surrounding a spiritually depraved community calling itself 'The Collective' with her friend Tyler (Kelly Overton) she has to decide if she will risk her life to save her sister.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Finding Interest (1994)
Barney Barnaby was alone, stuck in a life that seem to be heading straight to nowhere. He could only find excitement in the larger-than-life world of action films. Looking for real life adventure, Barney hires a hitman to have himself killed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Like Shadows and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shadows?
The closest matches to Shadows are Play Dead (2022), Bloodline Killer (2024) and The Shed (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shadows?
Start with Play Dead (2022), the closest match to Shadows.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shadows?
Succubus (2024), rated 8.3/10 by 278 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shadows?
Vicious (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Shadows?
Yes: Play Dead (2022), Bloodline Killer (2024) and The Shed (2019).
How are movies similar to Shadows chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shadows, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.