Best movies like Afraid of the Dark
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A little boy, obsessed with blindness and violence, slowly gets trapped in his own delusions.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, France
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: independent film, cult classic, scary, psychological, tense, mind bending, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Best tv shows and movies like Afraid of the Dark (1991):
Similar in 88%
Fever (1999)
Plot Summary:
A struggling artist is implicated in a string of macabre murders.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 769
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: independent film, scary, psychological, tense, atmospheric, mind bending, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy
Similar in 84%
Scream for Help (1984)
Plot Summary:
A teenaged girl discovers that her stepfather is trying to murder her and her mother, but when she tells people, no one will believe her.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, slasher, psychological, mind bending, realistic, retro, independent film, scary
Similar in 81%
The Calling (2000)
Plot Summary:
On her wedding night, a young woman conceives a child during an hallucinatory encounter. Several years later, as her friends and family begin to behave strangely, she pieces together clues that lead to one conclusion...her son is the Antichrist.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: rough, suspenseful, scary, serious, satanic, surprise ending, suspense, independent film
Similar in 85%
Paper Mask (1990)
Plot Summary:
A lowly hospital orderly impersonates a recently deceased doctor and goes to work in the busy ER of a small hospital where he meets and befriends a nurse who slowly figures out his secret and helps him maintain his charade.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 728
Genere: Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, suspense, independent film
Similar in 85%
The House That Dripped Blood (1971)
Plot Summary:
A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: anthology, suspense, scary, suspenseful, detective, slasher, mind twisting, gothic, gothic horror, grindhouse
Similar in 80%
Dorothy Mills (2008)
Plot Summary:
When a gloomy, God-fearing island community is rocked by the murder of a young child, a psychologist is called in to examine Dorothy Mills, the teenager accused of the crime. Despite the villagers' resistance, the therapist soon suspects that Dorothy suffers from multiple personality disorder.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Ireland, France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, suspenseful, serious, psychological thriller, suspense, disturbing, terrifying, mind bending, spooky
Similar in 78%
The Art of Dying (2000)
Plot Summary:
In Spain a young artist has gone missing, and a hardened detective takes on the case. Six friends become the focus of the investigation, being pressured for their knowledge of the artist's whereabouts. They all deny involvement, and soon they have reason to fear for their lives as it appears a serial killer is hunting them all down. The one friend closest to the artist watches helplessly as his once quiet life is shattered by incrimination, suspicion and ultimately -- horrific violence.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 986
Genere: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, suspenseful, suspense, slasher, hispanic, tense, bleak, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 80%
Blood of the Undead (1976)
Plot Summary:
A recently-married woman who has been labeled as mentally unstable, begins to suspect that someone close to her is the culprit in a sudden string of murders.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: slasher, psychological, scary, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, grindhouse, creepy, cult classic, mind bending
Similar in 87%
Murk (2005)
Plot Summary:
The psychological thriller "Murk" tells the story of Jacob, who is investigating into the circumstances surrounding his sister's death on her wedding night.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Denmark, UK
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, tense, serious, suspenseful, perverse, mind blowing, realistic, masterpiece
Similar in 80%
Children's Play (2001)
Plot Summary:
Marianne and Jacques are a young middle-class couple who live in a chic Parisian apartment with their two young children. One day, Marianne receives an unexpected visit from two strangers, Mr and Mrs Worms, who claim to have lived in the apartment when they were children and who ask if they can just take a look around their former home. Marianne agrees, but no sooner have the mysterious Worms left than things take an inexplicable turn for the worse.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 924
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, suspenseful, scary, realistic, psychotronic, weird
Similar in 77%
Something Wicked (2014)
Plot Summary:
A young couple embark upon their honeymoon against the chilling landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. But when tragedy strikes, gruesome secrets from their past collide with sinister forces of the present.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, scary, serious, captivating, independent film, realistic, surprise ending
Similar in 89%
Adopting Terror (2012)
Plot Summary:
Tim and Cheryl Broadbent are excited to finally adopt Mona, a beautiful baby girl. But when the baby's biological father starts stalking them, their world turns upside down: through intimidation, manipulation, and violence, he is determined to take his daughter back. Written by Anonymous (IMDB.com).
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 956
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, rough, realistic, independent film
Similar in 85%
Alone (2002)
Plot Summary:
Experience the fear as you're sucked into the disturbed mind of Alex. Tormented by harrowing voices of the past Alex searches for the one girl who can silence the horror of a tortured soul. As the quest becomes darker and more sinister Alex's fear filled stalking leaves behind a trail of dead bodies. Inspector Hannah is the detective who makes a desperate attempt to piece together the mystery as he is drawn into this terrifying journey.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 665
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, suspenseful, suspense, independent film, scary, tense, mind bending, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
The Sight (2000)
Plot Summary:
The American successful architect Michael Lewis travels to London with his partner and friend, the builder Jake, to refurbish an old hotel. Michael is having successive nightmares, and once in London, he realizes that twenty-one spirits are trying to contact him to solve murders of a serial killer. Michael, with the support of Jake, Detective Pryce and the ghosts, try to avoid the ninth crime and find the serial-killer.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, atmospheric, suspenseful, scary, serious, spiritual, esoteric
Similar in 83%
The Broken (2008)
Plot Summary:
The life of a successful radiologist spirals out of control when she sees the spitting image of herself driving down a London street. While attempting to uncover who the imposter could be, she stumbles into a terrifying mystery that her family and closest friends are somehow involved in, leaving her with no one to trust.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: UK, France
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, mind bending, surreal, scary, psychological thriller, suspenseful, tense, atmospheric, serious, heartbreaking
Similar in 85%
The Other (1972)
Plot Summary:
Chilling and eerie, this supernatural tale of good versus evil coils around twin brothers living with their grandmother in a sleepy rural area during the summer of 1935. After his grandmother encourages Niles to develop what seem to be psychic gifts, Niles starts to suspect that his twin may be involved in recent fatal accidents.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: suspense, disturbing, atmospheric, creepy, scary, psychological, tense, suspenseful, terrifying, pastoral
Similar in 81%
Daddy's Girl (1996)
Plot Summary:
A girl's bright smile masks a psychopathic soul that will eliminate anyone who comes between her and her doting father.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 773
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: scary, realistic, suspenseful, rough, serious, suspense, terrifying, independent film, mind bending, slasher
Similar in 86%
Rosewood Lane (2011)
Plot Summary:
Radio talk show therapist Sonny Blake (Rose McGowan) moves back to her childhood home on seemingly idyllic Rosewood Lane after her alcoholic father dies. But upon arrival in the old neighborhood, Sonny discovers her neighbors are terrified of the local paperboy (Daniel Ross Owens). She thinks this is ridiculous, until she encounters the boy himself. It turns out that he is a cunning and dangerous sociopath, one who may have gruesomely killed her father - and others.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, atmospheric, serious, suspense, psychological, tense, disturbing, slasher, realistic
Similar in 88%
The Nameless (1999)
Plot Summary:
The mutilated body of a six year old girl is found in a water hole. The girl is identified as the missing daughter of Claudia. However, only two peices of evidence could be used to identify her; a bracelet with her name on it near the crime scene, and the fact that her right leg was three inches longer than her left. All other methods of identification were removed from her body. Five years later Claudia, now addicted to tranquilizers, receives a phone call from someone claiming to be her daughter, asking for her mother to come find her before 'they' kill her. Other mysterious clues show up, further indicating that Claudia's daughter is indeed still alive, and very much in danger. Claudia, a run-down ex-cop, and a parapsychology reporter put together the clues to discover Angela's whereabouts.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: scary, disturbing, suspenseful, atmospheric, mind bending, suspense, detective, hispanic, creepy, lovecraft
Similar in 88%
Natural Enemy (1996)
Plot Summary:
William McNamara plays a young man who was given away by his mother at birth, seeking revenge on her for abandoning him.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 669
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, suspenseful, serious, realistic, disturbing, weird
Similar in 79%
Knife Edge (2009)
Plot Summary:
A successful Wall Street trader returns to England with her new husband and five-year-old son, but their new start together turns into a nightmare when they move into a country house which contains a terrible secret.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, suspenseful, suspense, psychological thriller, slasher, spooky, scary, realistic
Similar in 82%
Retribution (2006)
Plot Summary:
A detective investigates a series of murders. A possible serial killer might be on a rampage, since they all are in the same vicinity and by the same method, but as the evidence points toward the detective as the prime suspect, a ghost in red follows him, and he begins to question his identity. His realization of what seems to have really happened results in something much more sinister and larger in scope, and it leaves his psyche scarred.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, atmospheric, suspenseful, suspense, slasher, disturbing, detective, crime drama, cult classic
Similar in 80%
Relative Fear (1994)
Plot Summary:
Linda and Peter Pratman's son Adam is autistic, but they still love him and hope that he'll at least start talking some day. However he's teased and abused by the kids of the neighborhood and his grandpa . When several people around Adam die an unexpected death, his parents start to suspect Adam - is he just simulating to be so ignorant about his environment?.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 369
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, scary, serious, suspense, detective, mystical, terrifying, independent film, mind bending
Similar in 88%
The Guardian (1990)
Plot Summary:
The idyllic lives of Phil and Kate seem complete when they select the winsome young Camilla as a live-in nanny for their newborn child. But the lovely young Camilla s not what she appears to be.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, sexy, erotic, creepy, atmospheric, slasher, dark, demonic, psychological
Similar in 90%
Joshua (2007)
Plot Summary:
The arrival of a newborn girl causes the gradual disintegration of the Cairn family; particularly for 9-year-old Joshua, an eccentric boy whose proper upbringing and refined tastes both take a sinister turn.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, psychological horror, suspense, sad
Similar in 84%
Chasing Sleep (2000)
Plot Summary:
A college professor wakes up to find his wife has not returned home, then struggles to understand her disappearance.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA, France
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, psychological, tense, scary, mind bending, mind twisting, surreal, dark comedy, mindfuck, mind blowing
Similar in 78%
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
Plot Summary:
In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 103000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, dark, atmospheric, psychedelic, mind bending, avant garde, cerebral, scary, art house
Similar in 86%
Blink (1993)
Plot Summary:
Emma is an attractive girl in her 20s who has been blind for 20 years. A new type of eye operation partially restores her sight, but she is having problems: sometimes she doesn't "remember" what she's seen until later. One night she is awakened by a commotion upstairs. Peering out of her door, she sees a shadowy figure descending the stairs. Convinced that her neighbour has been murdered she approaches the police, only to find that she is unsure if it was just her new eyes playing tricks on her.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, psychological, exciting, suspense, neo noir, enigmatic, erotic, psychological thriller, gloomy
Similar in 84%
The Hole (2001)
Plot Summary:
Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, France, Canada
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, scary, twist ending, tense, psychological thriller, suspenseful, dark, serious, disturbing, teen
Similar in 90%
House of 9 (2005)
Plot Summary:
Nine strangers wake up in a house with no recollection how they got there and no way out. The voice on the PA introduces them to a grisly game they must play. The prize is $5 million and their life.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Romania, Germany, France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, psychological, tense, surprise ending, twist ending, suspense, realistic, psychological thriller, mind bending