50 Movies Like Halloween (1978) You Need to Watch Next
Updated August 2026
View Halloween details →John Carpenter's 1978 landmark unleashes masked killer Michael Myers on a suburban babysitter one Halloween night, inventing much of the slasher playbook with creeping dread and an iconic synth score. Lean, relentless and terrifyingly simple, it made the everyday feel lethal. If its stalking suspense gripped you, seek out slashers and atmospheric horror where an unstoppable evil hunts the ordinary in the dark.
If you loved Halloween (1978) by John Carpenter, here are 50 movies that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are Ring, Heretic, Hidden. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
The Best Movies Similar to Halloween
Selected for their real similarity in content, these are the movies that share the most with Halloween in terms of theme, narrative tone, and cinematic style. Every recommendation goes beyond genre — we evaluate the type of conflict, pacing, dramatic context, and the experience they create for viewers.
Ring
1998 · Hideo Nakata
A mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths, and when an inquisitive journalist finds the tape and views it herself, she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her own life in danger.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Heretic
2024 · Scott Beck
Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed, becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Hidden
2015 · Ross Duffer
A family takes refuge in a fallout shelter to avoid a dangerous outbreak.
In common: Horror · Thriller
I Saw the Devil
2010 · Kim Jee-woon
Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. Soo-hyeon, a top-secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to t
In common: Horror · Thriller
Speak No Evil
2024 · James Watkins
When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled
In common: Horror · Thriller
Strange Darling
2024 · JT Mollner
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Thir13en Ghosts
2001 · Steve Beck
Arthur and his two children inherit his uncle's estate: a glass house that serves as a prison to twelve ghosts. When the family, accompanied by a nanny and an attorney, enter the house they find thems
In common: Horror · Thriller
Drag Me to Hell
2009 · Sam Raimi
After denying a woman the extension she needs to keep her home, loan officer Christine Brown sees her once-promising life take a startling turn for the worse. Christine is convinced she's been cursed
In common: Horror · Thriller
The Omen
1976 · Richard Donner
Immediately after their miscarriage, the US diplomat Robert Thorn adopts the newborn Damien without the knowledge of his wife. Yet what he doesn’t know is that their new son is the son of the devil.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Dangerous Animals
2025 · Sean Byrne
A savvy and free-spirited surfer is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer. Held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks be
In common: Horror · Thriller
30 Days of Night
2007 · David Slade
This is the story of an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodt
In common: Horror · Thriller
Fresh
2022 · Mimi Cave
Frustrated by scrolling dating apps only to end up on lame, tedious dates, Noa takes a chance by giving her number to the awkwardly charming Steve after a produce-section meet-cute at the grocery stor
In common: Horror · Thriller
Crawl
2019 · Alexandre Aja
When a huge hurricane hits her hometown in Florida, Haley ignores evacuation orders to look for her father. After finding him badly wounded, both are trapped by the flood. With virtually no time to es
In common: Horror · Thriller
Don't Breathe 2
2021 · Rodo Sayagues
The Blind Man has been hiding out for several years in an isolated cabin and has taken in and raised a young girl orphaned from a devastating house fire. Their quiet life together is shattered when a
In common: Horror · Thriller
The Grudge 2
2006 · Takashi Shimizu
A young woman encounters a malevolent supernatural force while searching for her missing sister in Tokyo, a mean high school prank goes horribly wrong, and strange things begin happening in a Chicago
In common: Horror · Thriller
Jaws 2
1978 · Jeannot Szwarc
Police chief Brody must protect the citizens of Amity after a second monstrous shark begins terrorizing the waters.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Saw VI
2009 · Kevin Greutert
Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion,
In common: Horror · Thriller
Truth or Dare
2018 · Jeff Wadlow
A harmless game of "Truth or Dare" among friends turns deadly when someone—or something—begins to punish those who tell a lie—or refuse the dare.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Countdown
2019 · Justin Dec
A young nurse downloads an app that tells her she only has three days to live. With time ticking away and a mysterious figure haunting her, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Till Death
2021 · SK Dale
After a romantic evening at their secluded lake house, a woman wakes up handcuffed to her dead husband. Trapped and isolated in the dead of winter, she must fight off hired killers to escape her late
In common: Horror · Thriller
Prey for the Devil
2022 · Daniel Stamm
In response to a global rise in demonic possessions, the Catholic Church reopens exorcism schools to train priests in the Rite of Exorcism. On this spiritual battlefield, an unlikely warrior rises: a
In common: Horror · Thriller
Thrash
2026 · Tommy Wirkola
When a Category 5 hurricane decimates a coastal town, the storm surge brings devastation, chaos, and something far more frightening onto shore: hungry sharks.
In common: Horror · Thriller
The Sadness
2021 · Rob Jabbaz
A young couple is pushed to the limits of sanity as they attempt to be reunited amid the chaos of a pandemic outbreak. The streets erupt into violence and depravity, as those infected are driven to en
In common: Horror · Thriller
Abigail
2024 · Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
A group of criminals kidnap a teenage ballet dancer, the daughter of a notorious gang leader, in order to obtain a ransom of $50 million, but over time, they discover that she is not just an ordinary
In common: Horror · Thriller
Eden Lake
2008 · James Watkins
When a young couple goes to a remote wooded lake for a romantic getaway, their quiet weekend is shattered by an aggressive group of local kids. Rowdiness quickly turns to rage as the teens terrorize t
In common: Horror · Thriller
The Conjuring
2013 · James Wan
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the
In common: Horror · Thriller
Possession
1981 · Andrzej Żuławski
A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspects that a man is involved. But gradually, he fin
In common: Horror
I Spit on Your Grave III: Vengeance Is Mine
2015 · Richard Schenkman
Jennifer Hills is still tormented by the brutal sexual assault she endured years ago. She’s changed identities and cities, reluctantly joining a support group where she begins to piece together a new
In common: Horror
I Know What You Did Last Summer
1997 · Jim Gillespie
After an accident on a winding road, four teens make the fatal mistake of dumping their victim's body into the sea. Exactly one year later, the deadly secret resurfaces as they're stalked by a hook-ha
In common: Horror · Thriller
Orphan
2009 · Jaume Collet-Serra
After losing their baby, a married couple adopt 9-year old Esther, who may not be as innocent as she seems.
In common: Horror · Thriller
It Chapter Two
2019 · Andy Muschietti
27 years after overcoming the malevolent supernatural entity Pennywise, the former members of the Losers' Club, who have grown up and moved away from Derry, are brought back together by a devastating
In common: Horror · Thriller
Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid
2004 · Dwight H. Little
A scientific expedition sets out for Borneo to seek a flower called the Blood Orchid, which could grant extended life. Meanwhile, they run afoul of snakes and each other.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Anaconda
1997 · Luis Llosa
A 'National Geographic' film crew is taken hostage by an insane hunter, who takes them along on his quest to capture the world's largest — and deadliest — snake.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Bird Box
2018 · Susanne Bier
Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a survivor and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Martyrs
2008 · Pascal Laugier
A young woman’s quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tortured her as a child leads her and her best friend, also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell o
In common: Horror · Thriller
Rosemary's Baby
1968 · Roman Polanski
A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Secret Obsession
2019 · Peter Sullivan
Newlywed Jennifer is brutally attacked at a dark rest stop. While healing from her injuries, she can’t recall anything from her past, including the ordeal. Her husband, Russell , is just thankful she’
In common: Horror · Thriller
The Shallows
2016 · Jaume Collet-Serra
While surfing on a secluded beach, Nancy finds herself in the feeding grounds of a great white shark. Though stranded only 200 yards from shore, survival proves to be the ultimate test of wills, requi
In common: Horror · Thriller
Jaws
1975 · Steven Spielberg
When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, and a grizzled shark hunter embark on a desperate
In common: Horror · Thriller
It
2017 · Andy Muschietti
In a small town in Maine, seven children known as The Losers Club come face to face with life problems, bullies and a monster that takes the shape of a clown called Pennywise.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Knock Knock
2015 · Eli Roth
When a devoted husband and father is left home alone for the weekend, two stranded young women unexpectedly knock on his door for help. What starts out as a kind gesture results in a dangerous seducti
In common: Horror · Thriller
28 Weeks Later
2007 · Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Twenty-eight weeks after the spread of a deadly rage virus, the inhabitants of the British Isles have lost their battle against the onslaught, as the virus has killed everyone there. Six months later,
In common: Horror · Thriller
I Spit on Your Grave 2
2013 · Steven R. Monroe
Broke, and in desperate need to update her portfolio, New York City model Katie calls a number from a tear-off flyer offering free photos. But this innocent attempt quickly turns into an unthinkable k
In common: Horror · Thriller
Exhuma
2024 · Jang Jae-hyun
After tracing the origin of a disturbing supernatural affliction to a wealthy family's ancestral gravesite, a team of paranormal experts relocates the remains—and soon discovers what happens to those
In common: Horror · Thriller
Don't Breathe
2016 · Fede Álvarez
A group of teens break into a blind man's home thinking they'll get away with the perfect crime. They're wrong.
In common: Horror · Thriller
Night of the Living Dead
1968 · George A. Romero
A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.
In common: Horror · Thriller
When Evil Lurks
2023 · Demián Rugna
When brothers Pedro and Jimi discover that a demonic infection has been festering in a nearby farmhouse, they attempt to evict the victim from their land. Failing to adhere to the proper rites of exor
In common: Horror · Thriller
Sleepwalkers
1992 · Mick Garris
Charles Brady and his mother, Mary, are the last of a dying breed whose needs are not of this world. They are Sleepwalkers - able to stay alive only by feeding on the life-force of the innocent, but
In common: Horror · Thriller
Godzilla
1954 · Ishirō Honda
Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form o
In common: Horror · Thriller
As the Gods Will
2014 · Takashi Miike
High school student Shun Takahata is bored. Bored with the day-to-day monotony of school and life, he prays for change, for something exciting. Suddenly, he and his classmates are forced to play deadl
In common: Horror · Thriller
Popular series
Breaking Bad
2008 · Michelle MacLaren
Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
2023 · Kazutaka Yamanaka
After the party of heroes defeated the Demon King, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. Generations pass, and the elven mage Frieren comes face to face with humanity’s m
Avatar: The Last Airbender
2005 · Michael Dante DiMartino
In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.
