Movies like Sinister (2012)
The best movies like Sinister (2012) are Doctor X (1932), The Awakening (2011) and Lady in White (1988). If Sinister 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 ratedLee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)7.8/10 from 2,858 votes
- NewestLee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)Released 2026
Doctor X (1932)
A wisecracking reporter investigates the cannibalistic 'Moon Killer' murders tied to a medical academy, culminating in a chilling reenactment experiment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Awakening (2011)
In post–War England, a writer and sometime-ghost hunter investigates a reported haunting at a boys boarding school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady in White (1988)
Locked in a school closet during Halloween 1962, young Frank witnesses the ghost of a young girl and the man who murdered her years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLake Mungo (2009)
After 16-year-old Alice Palmer drowns at a local dam, her family experiences a series of strange, inexplicable events centered in and around their home. Unsettled, the Palmers seek the help of a psychic and parapsychologist, who discovers that Alice led a secret, double life. At Lake Mungo, Alice's secret past emerges.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ring (2002)
Journalist Rachel Keller investigates a strange videotape that may be behind the untimely deaths of four teenagers. There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will die seven days after watching it. Rachel tracks down the video... and watches it. Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery of the Ring in order to save herself and her son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Prodigy (2019)
A mother concerned about her young son's disturbing behavior thinks something supernatural may be affecting him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dry (2021)
Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown to attend a tragic funeral. But his return opens a decades-old wound - the unsolved death of a teenage girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlow Out (1981)
While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terry stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening off a bridge and into a river. Jack jumps into the water and fishes out Sally from the car, but the other passenger is already dead — a governor intending to run for president. As Jack does some investigating of his tapes, and starts a perilous romance with Sally, he enters a tangled web of conspiracy that might leave him dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWeapons (2025)
When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCreep (2014)
Looking for work, Aaron comes across a cryptic online ad: "$1,000 for the day. Filming service. Discretion is appreciated." Low on cash and full of naiveté, he decides to go for it. He drives to a cabin in a remote mountain town where he meets Josef, his cinematic subject for the day. Josef is sincere and the project seems heartfelt, so Aaron begins to film. But as the day goes on, it becomes clear that Josef is not who he says, and his intentions are not at all pure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this825 Forest Road (2025)
After a family tragedy, Chuck Wilson hopes to start a new life in Ashland Falls with his wife Maria and little sister Elizabeth, but he quickly discovers that the town has a dark history of being haunted by a ghostly woman who drives residents to suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisMalignant (2021)
Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities with a mysterious tie to her past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)
The young daughter of a journalist disappears into the desert without a trace—eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she is returned to them, as what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor (2023)
A group of cold case investigators stay at the Carmichael Manor, site of the grisly and unsolved murders of the Carmichael family back in the eighties. After four nights, the group was never heard from again. What is discovered on their footage is even more disturbing than anything found on the Hell House tapes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Five friends set out for a weekend at a remote cabin in the woods, expecting nothing more than fun and relaxation. As night falls, they discover that something far more unsettling is at work and that nothing about their getaway is what it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVacancy (2007)
A young married couple becomes stranded at an isolated motel and find hidden video cameras in their room. They realize that unless they escape, they'll be the next victims of a snuff film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner's clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bay (2012)
Chaos breaks out in a small Maryland town after an ecological disaster occurs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisParanormal Activity (2009)
After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly the most active in the middle of the night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night House (2021)
Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together — but then nightmares come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into her husband's belongings, yearning for answers. What she finds are secrets both strange and disturbing — a mystery she's determined to unravel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Water (2002)
A woman in the midst of an unpleasant divorce moves to an eerie apartment building with her young daughter. The ceiling of their apartment has a dark and active leak.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)
Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter, and caring for his ailing father, officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there's no such thing as werewolves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLeft Bank (2008)
When Marie moves into her boyfriend's apartment, she uncovers a disturbing mystery about the fate of the previous tenant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Corruption of Chris Miller (1973)
Chris Miller, living with her stepmother in a large secluded mansion, finds her isolation interrupted by the arrival of an unknown scythe-wielding killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Pathology (2008)
Medical student Ted Grey graduates at the top of his class and quickly joins an elite pathology program, whose top students invite him into their circle. There he uncovers a gruesome secret: They play a game in which one tries to commit the perfect, undetectable murder, then the others compete to determine the victim's cause of death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisEdge of Darkness (2010)
As a seasoned homicide detective, Thomas Craven has seen the bleakest side of humanity. But nothing prepares him for the toughest investigation of his life: the search for his only daughter Emma's killer. Now, he is on a personal mission to uncover the disturbing secrets surrounding her murder, including corporate corruption, government collusion and Emma's own mysterious life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUrban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
The making of a horror movie takes on a terrifying reality for students at the most prestigious film school in the country. At Alpine University, someone is determined to win the best film award at any cost - even if it means eliminating the competition. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisFollowers (2017)
A couple who document their whole life on social media decide to go on a camping trip and share their every move with their followers. What they don't know is that someone is going to prove how easy it is to stalk someone in the digital age. Arriving at the camp site, their followers are close by and are ready to go to extreme and deadly lengths to prove their point.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Berserkers (2014)
The film follows Zeke (Robert McMurray), Callie (Alicia Marie Marcucci), Les (Seth Gontkovic) and Hunter (Jake Mulliken) on the eve of Hunter's 29th birthday as they share in a few drinks on a seemingly dull day in their hometown of Somerset. The day takes a turn for the worse as everyone they have ever known are suddenly transformed into aggressively murderous flesh eating freaks. The four comrades are forced to hack and slash their way through the reanimated corpses of their closest friends and loved ones, only to find themselves on the precipice of a post apocalyptic wasteland littered with monsters and the looming threat of their fellow survivors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Instinct (1999)
In a prison for the criminally insane, deranged anthropologist Ethan Powell is set to be examined by a bright young psychiatrist, Theo Caulder. Driven by ambition and a hunger for the truth, Caulder will eventually risk everything—even put his very life on the line—in a harrowing attempt to understand the bizarre actions of this madman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sinister?
The closest matches to Sinister are Doctor X (1932), The Awakening (2011) and Lady in White (1988). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sinister?
Start with Doctor X (1932), the closest match to Sinister.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sinister?
Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026), rated 7.8/10 by 2,858 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sinister?
Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Sinister?
Yes: Doctor X (1932), The Awakening (2011) and Lady in White (1988).
How are movies similar to Sinister chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sinister, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.