Movies like Dark Tales of Japan (2004)
The best movies like Dark Tales of Japan (2004) are Dead of Night (1977), Basilisk: The Serpent King (2006) and The Night Stalker (1972). If Dark Tales of Japan hooked you with its horror and tv movie, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDead of Night (1945)7.2/10 from 317 votes
- NewestNever After Dark (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseDevilman - Volume 1: The Birth (1987)Also in Japanese
Dead of Night (1977)
This anthology tells three stories: a man buys a car that takes him back and forth through time; a tale of vampires; and a distraught mother asks for her drowned son to come back to life and gets more than she bargained for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBasilisk: The Serpent King (2006)
Two millennia ago, a Lybian king has a basilisk (snake-shaped dragon), which petrifies people, subjected to the same fate with a golden scepter during a solar eclipse. Both these and several victims are dug up by modern archaeologist Harrison 'Harry' McColl's expedition. Despite a cryptic warning from tribal locals, everything goes to his Colorado university's museum. It's all exhibited during another eclipse, which leads to the monster reviving. Harry and some of his friends must try to petrify the monster again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Stalker (1972)
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtraordinary 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevilman - Volume 1: The Birth (1987)
Akira Fudo is just a normal kid in Tokyo, until an old friend of his, Ryo, shows up and turns his world upside down. An upcoming war of demons on humanity is waiting in the wings, however, the only way for a human to fight a demon is with their power. To save the world, Akira and Ryo risk a dangerous ceremony in an attempt to create humanity's only hope: the powerful Devilman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDevilman - Volume 2: Demon Bird (1990)
Akira Fudo, adjusting to his new powers as Devilman, is in for a heap of trouble as his newest enemies sent from the demon world are Jinmen, the sadistic tortoise with his victims' faces on his shell --including Akira's mother-- and Sirene, the demon bird, who has more than a few tricks up her feathery sleeves to keep him and humanity at the brink of extinction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House (2016)
Just one enchanted jewel stands between earth and an army of evil spirits led by the devious ghoul, Phears. With the help of his new girlfriend and ghost pals, Max Doyle races to find the crystal and save the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightbooks (2021)
Alex, a boy obsessed with scary stories, is trapped by a witch in her modern, magical New York City apartment. His original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping him safe as he desperately tries to find a way out of this twisted place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead of Night (1945)
An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJu-On: White Ghost (2009)
An apparitions of a young schoolgirl in a yellow rain hat, a family massacre, and a law student's suicide after he fails his bar exam are linked by the ominous recordings discovered on an audio cassette.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBio Hunter (1995)
A strange virus known as the Demon Virus, attacks the human genetic code, transforming people into monsters with demonic powers. One particular monster is terrorizing the streets of Tokyo. ripping open young women to devour their livers. A famed psychic holds the secret to the identity and purpose of this monster. Now it is up to two molecular biologists. self-proclaimed Bio Hunters Komada and Koshigaya, to reach the psychic and his beautiful daughter before its too late! The Demon Virus is out to conquer the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies 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 Devil Rides Out (1968)
The powers of good are pitted against the forces of evil as the Duc de Richelieu wrestles with the charming but deadly Satanist, Mocata, for the soul of his friend. Mocata has the knowledge and the power to summon the forces of darkness and, as the Duc de Richelieu and his friends remain within the protected pentacle, they are subjected to ever-increasing horror until thundering hooves herald the arrival of the Angel of Death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAttack on Titan II: End of the World (2015)
Eren Yeager leaves to restore a break in the wall destroyed by a Titan. He comes under attack by the Titans and is cornered. Shikishima comes to his aid. The titans never stops attacking. Eren is now injured and tries to protect Armin, but is swallowed by a titan. A Titan with black hair appears and begins to expel the other titans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJu-on: The Curse (2000)
When elementary school teacher Kobayashi investigates the absence of one of his young pupils from the classroom, he finds himself at the doorstep of an anonymous suburban house that harbours a horrible secret, and into which all who enter are doomed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeadsight (2018)
A man with partial blindness and a young pregnant police officer must work together to escape a deadly virus that has spread across Grey County.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNinjago: Masters of Spinjitzu - Day of the Departed (2016)
When Cole returns to Yang's haunted temple to seek revenge on a former Airjitzu Master, he accidentally uses a powerful Dark Magic blade that unleashes the spectral forms of Ninjago's greatest villains and traps himself in the temple. The Ninja must return the ghosts to the Departed Realm before it's too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
A concise adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" about Mr. Toad's motor mania, followed by a short retelling of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" concerning schoolmaster Ichabod Crane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFunny Games (2008)
When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoom (2005)
A team of space marines known as the Rapid Response Tactical Squad, led by Sarge, is sent to a science facility on Mars after somebody reports a security breach. There, they learn that the alert came after a test subject, a mass murderer purposefully injected with alien DNA, broke free and began killing people. Dr. Grimm, who is related to team member Reaper, informs them all that the chromosome can mutate humans into monsters -- and is highly infectious.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies 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: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNever After Dark (2026)
A traveling psychic who helps lost souls cross over encounters a powerful entity at a remote house. While investigating its origins, she uncovers dark secrets and faces a deadly threat from an unexpected source.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJeepers Creepers (2001)
On a desolate country highway, two homeward-bound teens are nearly run off the road by a maniac in a beat-up truck, and later spot him shoving what appears to be a body down a sewer pipe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRavenswood (2017)
When 4 American tourists - Sofia, Carl, Belle and Michael - go on a ghost tour, they get much more than they bargained for, when the ghosts of an evil Doctor and his last patient victim trap them in the old abandoned psychiatric ward.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Hellraiser (1987)
A hedonistic man finds a mysterious puzzle box that summons a group of gruesome beings known as the Cenobites. These otherworldly entities open the doors to a dominion where pain and pleasure are indivisible.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTimber Falls (2007)
A weekend of camping in the mountains becomes an excursion into hell for a young couple, who become pawns in a grotesque plot hatched by deranged locals.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisLord of Illusions (1995)
During a routine case in L.A., NY private investigator Harry D'Amour stumbles over members of a fanatic cult who are preparing for the resurrection of their leader Nix, a powerful magician who was killed 13 years earlier.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisNightwalkers (TBA)
Nightwalkers tells the story of a couple lost in South Texas who discover something that should have been left alone. Met coldly by the unwelcoming locals, they soon find themselves facing danger in an abandoned town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Dark Tales of Japan?
The closest matches to Dark Tales of Japan are Dead of Night (1977), Basilisk: The Serpent King (2006) and The Night Stalker (1972). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Dark Tales of Japan?
Start with Dead of Night (1977), the closest match to Dark Tales of Japan.
What is the highest-rated movie like Dark Tales of Japan?
Dead of Night (1945), rated 7.2/10 by 317 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Dark Tales of Japan?
Never After Dark (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Dark Tales of Japan?
Yes: Devilman - Volume 1: The Birth (1987), Devilman - Volume 2: Demon Bird (1990) and Ju-On: White Ghost (2009).
How are movies similar to Dark Tales of Japan chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Dark Tales of Japan, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.