Movies like The Poltergeist Diaries (2021)
The best movies like The Poltergeist Diaries (2021) are Butterfly Kisses (2018), The Stone Tape (1972) and Quicksand (2023). If The Poltergeist Diaries hooked you with its horror and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Clovehitch Killer (2018)6.4/10 from 857 votes
- NewestQuicksand (2023)Released 2023
Butterfly Kisses (2018)
A filmmaker discovers a box of video tapes depicting two students' disturbing film project featuring a local horror legend, The Peeping Tom. As he sets out to prove this story is real and release it as a work of his own, he loses himself and the film crew following him into his project.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Stone Tape (1972)
A research team from an electronics company move into an old Victorian house to start work on finding a new recording medium. When team member Jill Greeley witnesses a ghost, team director Peter Brock decides not only to analyse the apparition, which he believes is a psychic impression trapped in a stone wall (dubbed a "stone tape"), but to exorcise it too - with terrifying results...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQuicksand (2023)
A married couple on the brink of divorce becomes trapped in quicksand while hiking through a Colombian rainforest. It’s a struggle for survival as they battle the elements of the jungle and must work together in order to escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Echo (2008)
An ex-prisoner moves to an old apartment, where one gets to see in the middle of a domestic problem between a police officer, his wife and his daughter. When he tries to intervene, he will be caught in a mysterious curse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPast Malice: An Emma Fielding Mystery (2018)
Archaeologist Emma Fielding is hired to consult on the acquisition of a castle-like estate that local legend states is cursed. But she finds herself in the middle of a murder case after discovering the body of the archaeologist she was hired to shadow in a secret chamber in the bowels of the huge building. Assisted by her friend, FBI special agent Jim Conner, Fielding must sift through clues and a long list of suspects, each of whom has their own reason for wanting the man dead, to determine who is the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Caveman's Valentine (2001)
Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisNight Watch (1973)
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Woman in Black (1989)
A lawyer travels to a small seaside town to settle the estate of a recently deceased woman, but soon becomes ensnared in something much more sinister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Inhabitant (2022)
Like any other teenage girl, Tara is just surviving high school — yet her father and mother seem strangely distant. Amidst a nearby spree of gruesome ax murders, Tara has sightings of terrifying entities, forcing her to question her own sanity and shocking ancestry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisCurse of the Blair Witch (1999)
A mockumentary exploring the legend of the Blair Witch and the case of the three missing student filmmakers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGarage Sale Mystery: A Case Of Murder (2017)
Jenn buys an old reel-to-reel recorder at a garage sale only to find that it includes the sound of a man pleading for his life. When the former owner of the recorder, a retired therapist, is found murdered in a patient’s apartment, Jenn’s investigation leads to other patients whose love lives are more entangled than she was first led to believe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBody Cam (2020)
As a police officer investigates the gruesome murder of her colleague, she discovers that a mysterious supernatural force is behind it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Bone to Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2015)
A librarian with a sharp mind for murder, Aurora Teagarden is known around her small town as a master sleuth. When her friend Jane unexpectedly dies and leaves Aurora everything in her will, she also leaves a troubling murder mystery haunting her neighborhood. It is up to Aurora to piece together the clues—including a skull, its missing skeleton and a suspicious group of neighbors—and solve the murder before she becomes the unlikely killer’s next victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Thing Mary Saw (2021)
Winter, 1843. A young woman is under investigation following the mysterious death of her family's matriarch. Her recollection of the events sheds new light on the ageless forces behind the tragedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTriage (2009)
The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022)
A murder investigation is reignited in a house that is considered haunted by the Lawrenceton locals and where years ago Aurora and Sally, as teenagers, discovered a body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Night Strangler (1973)
After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he’s on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer murders a certain number of people, drains them of their blood, and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFramed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery (2017)
In the small resort town of Lighthouse Cove, everyone knows that the best man for the job is a woman. And that woman is Shannon Hughes, owner of a construction company and an expert in Victorian home restoration and renovation. Through her renovations she will find clues to uncover the house’s secret past and in turn become an unlikely sleuth to help crack these unsolved mysteries
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Haunted (1991)
When the Smurl family moves into a duplex, they find out it's haunted. When the Catholic Church is no help, they reach out to famous demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Clovehitch Killer (2018)
A picture-perfect family is torn apart after Tyler finds a cache of disturbing images in his father's possession. He begins to suspect that the man he trusts most in the world may be responsible for the murder of 13 women ten years prior.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Midnight Swim (2015)
Spirit Lake is unusually deep. No diver has ever managed to find the bottom. When Dr. Amelia Brooks disappears during a deep-water dive, her three daughters travel home. They find themselves unable to let go and become drawn into the mysteries of the lake.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Monster Project (2017)
A group of aspiring filmmakers interview three individuals who claim to be monsters. However, unique incidents start to occur when they start filming.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisShe Walks the Woods (2019)
Over 1600 people have vanished in our National Forests. Now, a team of adventurers is about to find out why.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Banned from Broadcast 2: The Cursed Large Family (2003)
After the father of a large family is injured and takes a leave of absence, mysterious things start happening in the household.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Banned from Broadcast 4: Troublesome Neighbor Terror (2005)
A couple are harassed endlessly by their neighbors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Banned from Broadcast 6: Death Limit (2008)
A journalist interviews afflicted by domestic violence. The wife reaches her breaking point and contacts a revenge website.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Not Found 1 (2011)
1st entry in the Japanese horror found footage series "Not Found".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Not Found 10 (2013)
10th entry in the Japanese horror found footage series "Not Found".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Not Found 4 (2012)
4th entry in the Japanese horror found footage franchise, "Not Found".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Not Found 5 (2012)
5th entry in the Japanese horror found footage series "Not Found".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Poltergeist Diaries?
The closest matches to The Poltergeist Diaries are Butterfly Kisses (2018), The Stone Tape (1972) and Quicksand (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Poltergeist Diaries?
Start with Butterfly Kisses (2018), the closest match to The Poltergeist Diaries.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Poltergeist Diaries?
The Clovehitch Killer (2018), rated 6.4/10 by 857 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Poltergeist Diaries?
Quicksand (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Poltergeist Diaries?
Yes: Butterfly Kisses (2018), The Stone Tape (1972) and Quicksand (2023).
How are movies similar to The Poltergeist Diaries chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Poltergeist Diaries, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.