Best movies like Bates Motel
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Alex West is a man who roomed with Norman Bates at the state lunatic asylum for nearly 20 years. After Bates' death, Alex finds that he is in Norman's will as the inheritor of the Bates Motel, which has been vacant since Norman's arrest. Alex travels to Bates' California hometown and with a little help from a teenage runaway, Willie, Alex struggles to re-open the motel for business, only to have strange things happen. Is someone trying to drive him away, or is the motel really haunted by the ghost of Norman's mother?.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: anthology, slasher, tv series pilot
Best tv shows and movies like Bates Motel (1987):
Similar in 78%
Two on a Guillotine (1965)
Plot Summary:
The daughter of a dead magician who accidentally killed his wife, her mother, while performing a guillotine trick must spend the night in his house in order to collect her inheritance. Is the house haunted or is it all magic?.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Mystery, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: suspense, slasher, psychotronic, psychological horror, psychological
Similar in 81%
Screams of a Winter Night (1979)
Plot Summary:
Ten college students go camping, when they get there, they tell scary stories to each other.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 800
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: anthology, psychotronic, dark fairy tale, independent film
Similar in 76%
Psycho Street (2011)
Plot Summary:
A psycho housewife (Tiffany Shepis) spins three tales of horror in this anthology.
IMDB Rating: 2.4
IMDB Votes: 90
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: anthology, dark fairy tale
Similar in 76%
The Haunting of Marsten Manor (2007)
Plot Summary:
Jill (Brianne Davis), a girl angry about being blind and struggling with her faith, unexpectedly inherits an old mansion from her estranged aunt (Janice Knickrehm, "Halloween 6"). She and her friends go there to check it out. On the way they have a strange encounter with the creepy Hank (Ezra Buzzington, "The Hills Have Eyes"). At the house, unnerving things start happening and Jill starts "seeing" things. Her friends become concerned about her sanity, leaving Jill feeling even more isolated and under the spell of the force in the house. But when Jill disappears, it's too late for her friends to stop what is already in motion. The ghost that brought Jill to the house and a soldier from the past (C. Thomas Howell) are going to reveal their secret, forcing Jill to face her greatest fears, changing her forever.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 293
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
Children of the Mist (1993)
Plot Summary:
A father experiences strange apparitions after his daughter is killed in a car accident.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 414
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: dark
Similar in 90%
The Haunting of Seacliff Inn (1994)
Plot Summary:
Susan and Mark move to a seaside town to buy an old house and open an inn. They came to look at one house, but Susan is inexplicably drawn to another. The house is high on a cliff overlooking a lonely beach. Something eerie is going on. A scary black dog appears. One strange guest stays at the inn. Susan finds letters in the attic written long ago by a wife who was terrified of something.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 749
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, sensitive
Similar in 83%
The Curse of Blanchard Hill (2006)
Plot Summary:
Victor McShane disappeared on Blanchard Hill in the spring of 1985. No one knows what happened to him... Twenty years later, a group of campers take a hike on Blanchard, unaware that a killer is on the loose, killing people without mercy. Two detectives are called up to Blanchard Hill to solve the mystery and locate the campers before they suffer a fate worse than death.
IMDB Rating: 2.4
IMDB Votes: 157
Genere: Comedy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspense, independent film, detective, slasher horror, horror spoof
Similar in 83%
The Single Girls (1973)
Plot Summary:
A group of men and women travel to a Carribean resort to discover themselves sexually but unfortunately one of them has also discovered that they like to murder people too.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 258
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: slasher, sexy, grindhouse, horror comedy, independent film, cult film
Similar in 87%
Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the wake of two back-to-back mass murders on Chico's frat row, loner Brent Chirino must infiltrate the ranks of a popular fraternity to investigate his twin brother's murder at the hands of the serial killer known as "Motherface.".
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: slasher, parody, spooky, splatter, horror comedy, weird
Similar in 82%
Boo! A Madea Halloween (2016)
Plot Summary:
Madea winds up in the middle of mayhem when she spends a hilarious, haunted Halloween fending off killers, paranormal poltergeists, ghosts, ghouls, and zombies while keeping a watchful eye on a group of misbehaving teens.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: Hong Kong, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: semi serious, scary, feel good, humorous, suspense, slasher, horror comedy, exciting
Similar in 76%
My Pure Joy (2011)
Plot Summary:
On the outside Adam appears to be a normal teenager, but underneath...his mind has been so rotted by trauma from his past and the gory films he watches, that he has blurred the lines between reality and pretend! This prompts Adam to start killing people in similar ways to films he watches, making sure to put his own little spin on it.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 733
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: slasher, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, controversial, horror comedy
Similar in 88%
Mr. Jingles (2006)
Plot Summary:
An innocent man is imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. He suffered for years in prison and finally escaped to take his revenge on the guilty, and their families. That terrifying night four families had fallen victim to this new embodiment of evil. Angie Randal is the exception to the rule. She's the only one to survive the clown named Mr. JIngles. Sadly, Angie did not escape unharmed. Having been the only witness to these unimaginable crimes, Angie was soon a ward of the state psychiatric hospital. Our story begins on the day Angie Randal moves back home, the 7th anniversary of that horrible night. She is ready to move on with her life, living with her Aunt Helen and her cousins Heidi and Dylan. But there's a certain someone who has been waiting a long time to give her his own special homecoming and finish what he started!.
IMDB Rating: 2.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: slasher, serious, rough, funny, suspense, independent film, psychotronic, scary, tense, weird
Similar in 90%
Screamplay (1984)
Plot Summary:
A detective investigating a series of murders discovers that they are similar to the murders that occur in the new script of a Hollywood screenwriter.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 354
Genere: Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: slasher, dark comedy, psychological, surreal, black and white, scary, offbeat, humorous, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Pandemonium (1982)
Plot Summary:
Tom Smothers stars as the brave mountie, who along with his trusty horse and bitter deputy Paul Reubens must track down a killer who is stalking coeds at a nearby cheerleader camp.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: slasher, parody, scary, humorous, witty, not serious, horror comedy, cult classic, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 85%
The Ninth Configuration (1980)
Plot Summary:
Col. Vincent Kane is a military psychiatrist who takes charge of an army mental hospital situated in a secluded castle. Among Kane's many eccentric patients is Capt. Billy Cutshaw, a troubled astronaut in the midst of an existential crisis. Although Kane's own grasp on sanity is questionable, he manages to engage Cutshaw in a series of thoughtful conversations about science and faith that deeply affect the lives of both men.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, dark comedy, philosophical, cult classic, mindfuck, atmospheric, existential, mind blowing, scary
Similar in 89%
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
Plot Summary:
Newly released from a mental ward, Jessica hopes to return to life the way it was before her nervous breakdown. But when Jessica moves to a country house with her husband and a close friend, she finds a mysterious girl living in there who may or may not be a vampire. Jessica's terror and paranoia resurface as evil forces surround her, making her wonder: Are the visions real or is she slipping back into madness?.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, scary, slasher, creepy, cult classic, psychological, psychological thriller, suspense, surreal, gothic horror
Similar in 88%
Girl on the Third Floor (2019)
Plot Summary:
Don Koch tries to renovate a rundown mansion with a sordid history for his growing family, only to learn that the house has other plans.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspense, scary, bleak, suspenseful, psychological, humorous, dark, disturbing, splatter, twisted
Similar in 83%
Lake Alice (2017)
Plot Summary:
The Thomas family goes out to their forest cabin to celebrate Christmas together with their daughter and her boyfriend. But their first festive period together may be their last….
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: christmas horror, scary, slasher, bleak, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, psychotronic, slasher horror
Similar in 89%
Scream (1981)
Plot Summary:
A group of friends on a rafting trip down a river stop in at an old ghost town to spend the night. Soon their rafts disappear, and then they begin to be eliminated one by one by a mysterious killer.
IMDB Rating: 2.9
IMDB Votes: 889
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: slasher, cult classic, independent film, scary, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, psychotronic, slasher horror
Similar in 83%
Don't Go to Sleep (1982)
Plot Summary:
A young girl begins seeing the ghost of her sister who died in an accident a year earlier.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: scary, slasher, psychological, suspenseful, mind bending, atmospheric, bloody, suspense, spooky, serious
Similar in 86%
Fear Street: Part Two - 1978 (2021)
Plot Summary:
In 1978, two rival groups at Camp Nightwing must band together to solve a terrifying mystery when horrors from their towns' history come alive.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 74000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, suspense, bleak, suspenseful, tense, disturbing, psychotronic, bloody, dark
Similar in 77%
The Haunting of Julia (1977)
Plot Summary:
After the death of her daughter, Julia Lofting, a wealthy housewife, moves to London to re-start her life. All seems well until she is haunted by the sadness of losing her own child and the ghosts of other children.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: slasher, gothic, suspense, sad, gothic horror, psychotronic, cult classic, classic horror, spooky, scary
Similar in 76%
Dr. Giggles (1992)
Plot Summary:
In 1957, Evan Rendell flees after his father is lynched for killing multiple patients in his effort to find a replacement heart for his ailing wife. After 35 years, Evan escapes from a mental institution and returns to town for revenge, killing off residents one by one. When Jennifer and her friends break into the Rendell house out of morbid curiosity, Evan notices Jennifer has a heart condition similar to his mother and decides to make her his final victim.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, rough, suspenseful, medical horror, bloody, grindhouse, cult classic, black comedy, horror comedy
Similar in 86%
Abandoned (2022)
Plot Summary:
After a young couple moves into a remote farmhouse with their infant son, the woman's struggles with postpartum psychosis begin to intensify... as the house reveals secrets of its own.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, psychological horror
Similar in 82%
The Exorcist III (1990)
Plot Summary:
Set fifteen years after the original film, The Exorcist III centers around the philosophical Lieutenant William F. Kinderman who is investigating a baffling series of murders around Georgetown that all contain the hallmarks of The Gemini, a deceased serial killer. It eventually leads him to a catatonic patient in a psychiatric hospital who has recently started to speak, claiming he is the The Gemini and detailing the murders, but bears a striking resemblance to Father Damien Karras.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: demonic, scary, suspenseful, suspense, disturbing, splatter, detective, cult classic, frightening, religious horror
Similar in 87%
Nightmare Cinema (2018)
Plot Summary:
A series of down-on-their-luck individuals enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist – a mysterious, ghostly figure who holds the nightmarish futures of all who attend his screenings.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: anthology, suspense, slasher, psychological, psychological horror, scary, tense, suspenseful, atmospheric, dark fairy tale
Similar in 86%
The Innkeepers (2011)
Plot Summary:
During the final days at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, two employees determined to reveal the hotel's haunted past begin to experience disturbing events as old guests check in for a stay.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: scary, disturbing, suspenseful, atmospheric, dark, suspense, psychological, tense, spooky, stylized
Similar in 87%
Toolbox Murders (2004)
Plot Summary:
A historic Hollywood hotel houses a supernatural evil. It's been subdued for decades - but when renovations start, a series of murders take place. It's up to our heroine to solve the mystery.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, suspense, disturbing, rough, psychological, serious, suspenseful, bloody, cult classic
Similar in 78%
Session 9 (2001)
Plot Summary:
Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, scary, atmospheric, twist ending, bleak, suspenseful, dark, suspense, psychological thriller, tense
Similar in 81%
Bates Motel (2013)
Plot Summary:
A "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film Psycho, depicting the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film, albeit in a different fictional town and in a modern setting. The series begins after the death of Norma's husband, when she purchases a motel located in a coastal Oregon town so she and Norman can start a new life.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 115000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspenseful, tense, psychological, serious, slasher, psychological thriller, spooky, realistic, thrilling