Best movies like Altered States
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A research scientist (William Hurt) explores the boundaries and frontiers of consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from native American shamans, he explores these altered states of consciousness and finds that memory, time, and perhaps reality itself are states of mind.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychedelic, psychological, surreal, disturbing, atmospheric, mind bending, scary, suspense, philosophical, suspenseful
Best tv shows and movies like Altered States (1980):
Similar in 88%
God Told Me To (1976)
Plot Summary:
A New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random New Yorkers who claim that "God told them to.".
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, enigmatic, rough, grindhouse, suspense, slasher, surreal, disturbing, detective
Similar in 81%
Friend of the World (2020)
Plot Summary:
After a catastrophic war, an eccentric general guides a filmmaker through a ravaged bunker.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 76
Genere: Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychedelic, avant garde, independent film, dark comedy, black and white, postmodern, scary, rough, neo noir
Similar in 90%
Monkey Shines (1988)
Plot Summary:
A quadriplegic man is given a trained monkey help him with every day activities, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master and those who get too close to him.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, suspenseful, psychological, disturbing, serious, creepy, natural horror, retro, controversial
Similar in 76%
Flatliners (1990)
Plot Summary:
Five medical students want to find out if there is life after death. They plan to stop one of their hearts for a few seconds, thus simulating death, and then bring the person back to life. A science fiction thriller from the early 1990's with a star studded cast.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, suspenseful, disturbing, psychological thriller, dark, cult classic, medical horror, creepy, visually stunning
Similar in 78%
The Dead Zone (1983)
Plot Summary:
Johnny Smith is a schoolteacher with his whole life ahead of him but, after leaving his fiancee's home one night, is involved in a car crash which leaves him in a coma for 5 years. When he wakes, he discovers he has an ability to see into the past, present and future life of anyone with whom he comes into physical contact.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 76000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, neo noir, suspense, dark, suspenseful, psychological thriller, tense, atmospheric, scary, cerebral
Similar in 82%
Brain Dead (1990)
Plot Summary:
A psychological thriller from the writer of the original "Twilight Zone!" In a showdown of man vs. machine, Martin plunges into a chaotic nightmare trying to save his mind from the megalomaniacal corporation!.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: surreal, black comedy, psychological, atmospheric, serious, suspenseful, medical horror, psychotronic, dark comedy, scary
Similar in 83%
Bug (2006)
Plot Summary:
A lonely waitress with a tragic past, Agnes rooms in a run-down motel, living in fear of her abusive, recently paroled ex-husband. But when Agnes begins a tentative romance with Peter, an eccentric, nervous drifter, she starts to feel hopeful again - until the first bugs arrive.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, mind bending, suspenseful, suspense, scary, creepy, psychological thriller, cerebral, cult classic
Similar in 88%
One Point O (2004)
Plot Summary:
Paranoid computer programmer Simon wakes up to find a package in his room one day. Despite attempts at securing his apartment, the packages keep arriving. While cameras watch Simon's every move, he struggles to find the answers to the mysterious forces taking over his life.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Romania, Iceland
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, enigmatic, cerebral, confusing, mindfuck, tricky, mind bending, suspenseful, cyber
Similar in 78%
Videodrome (1983)
Plot Summary:
A sleazy cable-TV programmer begins to see his life and the future of media spin out of control in a very unusual fashion when he acquires a new kind of programming for his station.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 101000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychedelic, psychological, disturbing, mind bending, cerebral, dark, mindfuck, cyber, art house
Similar in 78%
Brainstorm (1983)
Plot Summary:
Two brilliant research scientists have invented a device capable of recording and playing back sensory experiences only to have devastating results when one of them records their own death.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, meditative, futuristic, psychological, philosophical, intense, cyber, tense, serious, cerebral
Similar in 78%
Annihilation (2018)
Plot Summary:
A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 353000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychedelic, psychological, disturbing, lovecraft, psychological thriller, thought provoking, surreal, mindfuck, scary
Similar in 82%
The Cell (2000)
Plot Summary:
A psychotherapist journeys inside a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 108000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, scary, psychedelic, mind bending, psychological thriller, suspense, atmospheric, cerebral, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Santa Sangre (1989)
Plot Summary:
A young man is confined in a mental hospital. Through a flashback we see that he was traumatized as a child, when he and his family were circus performers: he saw his father cut off the arms of his mother, a religious fanatic and leader of the heretical church of Santa Sangre ("Holy Blood"), and then commit suicide. Back in the present, he escapes and rejoins his surviving and armless mother.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Mexico, Italy
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: surreal, disturbing, psychedelic, dark, atmospheric, psychological, art house, mindfuck, creepy, cult classic
Similar in 85%
Titane (2021)
Plot Summary:
Following a series of unexplained crimes, a former firefighter is reunited with his son who has been missing for 10 years.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: disturbing, tense, surreal, cerebral, scary, dark, art house, captivating, suspenseful, erotic
Similar in 81%
Eraserhead (1977)
Plot Summary:
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 125000
Genere: Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: surreal, avant garde, art house, psychological, disturbing, psychedelic, experimental, atmospheric, black and white, dark
Similar in 85%
Antichrist (2009)
Plot Summary:
A grieving couple retreats to their cabin 'Eden' in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 134000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Denmark, Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Poland
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, scary, atmospheric, psychological thriller, bleak, art house, minimal cast, sexy, dark
Similar in 76%
Dead Ringers (1988)
Plot Summary:
Elliot, a successful gynecologist, works at the same practice as his identical twin, Beverly. Elliot is attracted to many of his patients and has affairs with them. When he inevitably loses interest, he will give the woman over to Beverly, the meeker of the two, without the woman knowing the difference. Beverly falls hard for one of the patients, Claire, but when she inadvertently deceives him, he slips into a state of madness.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, atmospheric, disturbing, dark, psychological thriller, suspenseful, surreal, sexy, art house
Similar in 78%
The Void (2016)
Plot Summary:
In the middle of a routine patrol, officer Daniel Carter happens upon a blood-soaked figure limping down a deserted stretch of road. He rushes the young man to a nearby rural hospital staffed by a skeleton crew, only to discover that patients and personnel are transforming into something inhuman. As the horror intensifies, Carter leads the other survivors on a hellish voyage into the subterranean depths of the hospital in a desperate bid to end the nightmare before it's too late.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: dark, lovecraft, creepy, suspense, surreal, stylized, satanic, scary, psychological, atmospheric
Similar in 89%
Tetsuo, the Iron Man (1989)
Plot Summary:
Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a 1989 Japanese cyberpunk film by cult-film director Shinya Tsukamoto produced by Japan Home Video. This, his third film, is an extremely graphic but also strikingly-filmed fantasy shot in the same low-budget, underground-production style as his first two films. Revolving around the transformation of people into grotesque hybrids of flesh and metal, Tetsuo is above all an overwhelming audiovisual experience, set to a brain-pounding score by Chu Ishikawa and complemented by suitably exaggerated sound effects.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 67 min
Plot tags: psychedelic, psychotronic, surreal, disturbing, black and white, experimental, splatter, independent film, art house, atmospheric
Similar in 83%
The Fly (1986)
Plot Summary:
When Seth Brundle makes a huge scientific and technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 198000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, suspense, atmospheric, disturbing, suspenseful, cerebral, rough, psychological thriller, bloody
Similar in 79%
The Brood (1979)
Plot Summary:
A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, while a series of brutal attacks committed by a brood of mutant children coincides with the husband's investigation.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi
Country: Canada
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: scary, disturbing, psychological, suspenseful, slasher, creepy, surreal, suspense, cult classic, grindhouse
Similar in 78%
Under the Skin (2013)
Plot Summary:
A seductive alien prowls the streets of Glasgow in search of prey: unsuspecting men who fall under her spell.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 154000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, Switzerland, USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: surreal, disturbing, bleak, atmospheric, dark, art film, mind bending, art house, psychological, psychological thriller
Similar in 79%
From Beyond (1986)
Plot Summary:
A group of scientists have developed the Resonator, a machine which allows whoever is within range to see beyond normal perceptible reality. But when the experiment succeeds, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Italy
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, sexy, lovecraft, demonic, grindhouse, surreal, intense, slasher, bloody
Similar in 82%
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
Plot Summary:
Deep within the mysterious Arboria Institute, a disturbed and beautiful girl is held captive by a doctor in search of inner peace. Her mind controlled by a sinister technology. Silently, she waits for her next session with deranged therapist Dr. Barry Nyle. If she hopes to escape, she must journey through the darkest reaches of The Institute, but Nyle wonʼt easily part with his most gifted and dangerous creation.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: Canada
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, atmospheric, stylized, suspense, futuristic, psychedelic, mind bending, art house, mindfuck
Similar in 90%
Dark City (1998)
Plot Summary:
A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of humans.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 210000
Genere: Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, mind bending, atmospheric, suspense, gothic, tech noir, dark fantasy, futuristic, philosophical
Similar in 77%
Donnie Darko (2001)
Plot Summary:
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 837000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, atmospheric, mind bending, philosophical, cult classic, clever, psychological thriller, cerebral, independent film
Similar in 75%
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Plot Summary:
In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly, and patient Jeffrey Goines, the son of a famous virus expert, who may hold the key to the mysterious rogue group, the Army of the 12 Monkeys, thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 639000
Genere: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, twist ending, atmospheric, cerebral, non-linear, mind bending, apocalyptic, confusing, twisted
Similar in 78%
The Mist (2007)
Plot Summary:
After a violent storm, a dense cloud of mist envelops a small Maine town, trapping artist David Drayton and his five-year-old son in a local grocery store with other people. They soon discover that the mist conceals deadly horrors that threaten their lives, and worse, their sanity.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 333000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: twist ending, atmospheric, psychological, bad ending, scary, suspenseful, suspense, bleak, surprise ending, depressing
Similar in 76%
28 Days Later (2002)
Plot Summary:
Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs -- and it's absolutely impossible to contain.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 436000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, atmospheric, rough, tense, dark, suspense, psychological, disturbing, creepy
Similar in 82%
eXistenZ (1999)
Plot Summary:
A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 106000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, UK, France, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, mind bending, psychedelic, twist ending, cerebral, disturbing, tense, philosophical, atmospheric