Movies like Encounter with the Unknown (1972)
The best movies like Encounter with the Unknown (1972) are Extraordinary Tales (2015), The Cellar (2022) and undertone (2026). If Encounter with the Unknown 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 ratedDracula (1931)7.2/10 from 1,441 votes
- NewestThe End of Oak Street (2026)Released 2026
Extraordinary Tales (2015)
Five tales by Edgar Allan Poe come to life thanks to a pictorical style animation, five tales that exude madness, pestilence, murder and torture.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cellar (2022)
When Keira Woods' daughter mysteriously vanishes in the cellar of their new house in the country, she soon discovers there is an ancient and powerful entity controlling their home that she will have to face or risk losing her family's souls forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisundertone (2026)
The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 Car (1977)
The Utah community of Santa Ynez is being terrorized by a mysterious black coupe that appears out of nowhere and begins running people down. After the car kills off the town sheriff, Captain Wade Parent is determined to stop the murderous driver.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Walker (1964)
A woman is haunted by recurring nightmares, which seem to be instigated by her late husband who supposedly was killed in a fire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomething Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
In a small American town, a diabolical circus arrives, granting wishes for the townsfolk, but twisted as only the esteemed Mr. Dark can make them. Can two young boys overcome the worst the devil himself can deal out?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe City of the Dead (1960)
In Whitewood, Massachusetts, a presumed witch places a curse on the town before she is burned at the stake. 300 years later, a college student arrives and checks into the mysterious Raven's Inn to research the town's history with witchcraft.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwice-Told Tales (1963)
3 horror stories based on the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the 1st story titled "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", Heidegger attempts to restore the youth of three elderly friends. In "Rappaccini's Daughter", a demented father is inoculating his daughter with poison so she may never leave her garden of poisonous plants. In the final story "The House of the Seven Gables", The Pyncheon family suffers from a hundred year old curse and while in the midst of arguing over inheritance, a stranger arrives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilver Bullet (1985)
The small city of Tarker's Mills is startled by a series of sadistic murders. The population fears the work of a maniac, but sightings of a mysterious, hairy creature soon spread. People lock themselves up at night, but there's one boy who's still outside…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVan Helsing (2004)
Famed monster slayer Gabriel Van Helsing is dispatched to Transylvania to assist the last of the Valerious bloodline in defeating Count Dracula. Anna Valerious reveals that Dracula has formed an unholy alliance with Dr. Frankenstein's monster and is hell-bent on exacting a centuries-old curse on her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
An anthology film presenting remakes of three episodes from the "Twilight Zone" TV series—"Kick the Can", "It's a Good Life" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"—and one original story, "Time Out."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Haunting (1963)
Dr. John Markway recruits three strangers for a sleep-disorder study at the eerie and isolated Hill House. It soon becomes clear his real interest lies in the mansion itself and its sinister history, as they are forced to confront the nature of its horror…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Blob (1958)
A drive-in favorite, this sci-fi classic follows teenagers Steve and his best girl, Jane, as they try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches. The first to discover the substance and live to tell about it, Steve and Jane witness the blob destroying an elderly man, then it growing to a terrifying size. But no one else has seen the goo, and policeman Dave refuses to believe the kids without proof.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe End of Oak Street (2026)
After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDracula (1931)
A British estate agent travels to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula, who is interested in leasing a London castle. After Dracula enslaves and drives the agent to insanity, the pair return to London together, where Dracula, a secret bloodsucker, begins preying on socialites.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It (2007)
Cassie, a 13 year old Gothic girl, is trying to fit in at her new school. To entertain herself, she plays a series of pranks on the popular kids and her younger brother, Max. When she goes to a Halloween store looking for new tricks, she finds a little book called "The Evil Thing"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Asphyx (1972)
Hugo is a brilliant turn-of-the-century scientist, loved and respected by his family and friends, admired by his colleagues. But he is a man quickly becoming obsessed with a curious and frightening question...What is the mysterious apparition found in the photographs of his dying subjects?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHusbandhood (2016)
In January of 2014, five filmmakers suddenly disappear while shooting in the nearby Drigh Lake Larakana woods. One week later, their camera was found.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero (2011)
An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
The Ghost Station (2023)
Reporter Na-yeong and her partner investigate a series of mysterious deaths and a perplexing case where her source was allegedly already dead at the time of their interview. Together they end up confronting a terrifying truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Peeper, the Model and the Hypnotist (1972)
An anthology of tales from Hong Kong.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Secrets of a Soul (2012)
Secrets of a Soul: Margarethe, Creator of bizarre sculptures! Night club dancer? Mad woman? Victim of an occult conspiracy?! Dark menaces steal her soul and organs. Though dead they keep her alive...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Ghost Story - Horrible Tea (2001)
Hong Kong ghost / horror anthology movie. One of the stories is recycled from the previous year's Internet Ghost Stories.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Postscript (2016)
Anthology film set in a nightmarishly beautiful and apocalyptic future where global survivors try to stay alive against terrifying confrontations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Babylon (1986)
Dark animation examining the thin line between human definitions of war and peace. Part of Sweet Disaster; a 1986 series of short films made for Channel 4. It consists of “animated visions of the apocalypse”.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Sex of the Devil (1971)
After a relaxing anniversary cruise, Andrea and his wife Barbara are dropped off in Istanbul, Turkey. There, they meet Andrea’s reserved assistant Silvia and his Turkish colleague Omar, who hasn’t been back to his home country in fifteen years. Andrea’s secretary has arranged a luxurious seafront villa for them to stay in while they’re in the country. Upon arriving at the villa, Omar experiences an unsettling feeling of déjà vu, as though he has been in the house before, while the married couple can’t stop bickering. However, the vacation soon turns into a nightmare when mysterious and deadly events begin to unfold.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Roar (1981)
Roar follows a family who are attacked by various African animals at the secluded home of their keeper.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Encounter with the Unknown?
The closest matches to Encounter with the Unknown are Extraordinary Tales (2015), The Cellar (2022) and undertone (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Encounter with the Unknown?
Start with Extraordinary Tales (2015), the closest match to Encounter with the Unknown.
What is the highest-rated movie like Encounter with the Unknown?
Dracula (1931), rated 7.2/10 by 1,441 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Encounter with the Unknown?
The End of Oak Street (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Encounter with the Unknown?
Yes: Extraordinary Tales (2015), The Cellar (2022) and undertone (2026).
How are movies similar to Encounter with the Unknown chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Encounter with the Unknown, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.