Best movies like Carnival of Souls
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Alex Grant is a troubled young woman, 20 years ago, she witnessed her mother get murdered by a carnival clown. She has nightmares of the clown - Louis Seagram. First a kind man then turned bad and also tried to rape Alex's mother. Alex fears for her life, worrying that Louis might come after her and her younger sister. One day Louis returns after being released from prison for murdering Alex's mother and tries to kill Alex. Alex dries the car that she and Louis are in into the river, then she begins to have hallucinations, she begins to lose her mind.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: slasher, surprise ending, scary, psychological, tense, suspenseful, serious, suspense, dark, independent film
Best tv shows and movies like Carnival of Souls (1998):
Similar in 78%
Frayed (2007)
Plot Summary:
Pat Baker is a small town sheriff. His son, Kurt, is a deranged young man with a dark secret. Sheriff Baker's worst nightmare comes true when Kurt escapes from a psychiatric hospital where he was locked away for the brutal murder of his mother thirteen years earlier. Gary, a hospital security guard, sets out into the woods to stop him, but soon finds himself relentlessly hunted by the deranged psychopath intent on killing him and anyone who crosses his path. Sheriff Baker launches an intense search to find his son, only to discover that his daughter, Sara, and her friends are camping in the same woods where Kurt has escaped. Kurt's psychosis escalates, as does his vengeful killing spree, culminating in a terrifying, climactic confrontation with Kurt, the sheriff and his family.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspense, scary, serious, suspenseful, mind twisting, clever, bloody, mindfuck, mind blowing
Similar in 78%
Campfire Tales (1997)
Plot Summary:
Anthology of famous, scary urban legends done with a modern twist.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: scary, anthology, suspenseful, disturbing, slasher, surprise ending, mind twisting, twist ending, erotic, mind bending
Similar in 85%
The Wind of Fear (2007)
Plot Summary:
Claudia is a troubled teen confined in a very particular support center ruled with roughness by renowned psychiatrist Bernarda Alquicira. Coexisting with girls who have experienced similar trances, Claudia confronts horrible visions of Andrea, a beautiful intern who committed suicide a year ago. Another strange patient -Josefina- and doctor Lucia Franyutti -the right arm of Bernarda- seem to know the key to the bizarre return of Andrea, but even they are disturbed by the supernatural events that take place when the wind starts to blow.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 711
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: Mexico
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, scary, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
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 89%
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 76%
Hunting Humans (2002)
Plot Summary:
Meet Aric Blue. He's young. He's handsome. He's successful. He's also a serial killer. He picks his victims at random, stalking them and taking advantage of the patterns in their life to kill them. He's the ultimate serial killer. But when he finds his next victim already dead, a note on the body reading: "I'VE GOT YOUR PATTERN", Aric realizes he's being stalked by a serial killer every bit his equal. When two serial killers wage war, the rules are simple: Don't Get In The Way.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 480
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, slasher, suspenseful, scary, mind bending, realistic, detective, independent film
Similar in 75%
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 78%
Bloody Murder (2000)
Plot Summary:
Julie McConnell is one of a dozen camp counselors working to re-open a summer camp when a series of murders and disappearances begin commited by a hockey masked killer who may be the urban legend killer Trevor Moorehouse. When Julie looks into the murders by herself, she finds that she may be the killer's next target when she gets too close to some dark secrets of the camp which may lead to the killer's identity.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: slasher, rough, serious, suspenseful, suspense, queer horror, independent film, splatter, teen horror, surprise ending
Similar in 81%
The Wizard of Gore (2007)
Plot Summary:
In the darkly phantasmagorical world of the carnival magician and sideshow hypnotist, the gruesome "illusions" of Montag the Magnificent are unique in that they seem to become retroactive reality long after the the tricks are done. Is it coincidence, or circumstantial evidence of the world's most diabolically ingenious murders? When an underground journalist begins to investigate the strange deaths, the truth proves to be far more bizarre and disturbing than anything he or his readers might have imagined.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, serious, suspenseful, surreal, slasher, suspense, disturbing, controversial, scary
Similar in 86%
Under the Bed (2012)
Plot Summary:
Two brothers team up to battle a creature under the bed, in what is being described as a "suburban nightmare" tale.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, scary, serious, mystical, disturbing, psychological, captivating, suspense, independent film
Similar in 80%
Visitors (2003)
Plot Summary:
The story of Georgia Perry, the first woman to sail around the world solo.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, suspenseful, serious, scary, tense
Similar in 90%
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Plot Summary:
The film that brings back horror icon Freddy Krueger as a darker and more sinister character than ever before. While Freddy is on the prowl a group of teenagers being stalked soon learn they all have a common factor making them targets for this twisted killer.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 106000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, suspenseful, suspense, surreal, intense, rough, teen, psychotronic, atmospheric
Similar in 84%
Scream 3 (2000)
Plot Summary:
A murdering spree begins to happen again, this time its targeted toward the original Woodsboro survivors and those associated with the movie inside a movie, 'Stab 3'. Sydney must face the demons of her past to stop the killer.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 161000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, suspense, suspenseful, twist ending, splatter, intense, exciting, realistic, psychological
Similar in 76%
Boogeyman (2005)
Plot Summary:
Every culture has one – the horrible monster fueling young children's nightmares. But for Tim, the Boogeyman still lives in his memories as a creature that devoured his father 16 years earlier. Is the Boogeyman real? Or did Tim make him up to explain why his father abandoned his family?.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, New Zealand, Germany
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, creepy, atmospheric, christmas horror, slasher, demonic, teen horror
Similar in 83%
Plasterhead (2006)
Plot Summary:
Every town has a local legend. Not all of them are deadly. Headed to Miami to celebrate winter break, a group of four college students from New Jersey take a detour into the bowels of rural West Virginia. There, the unwitting friends uncover a grotesque legend that stains the fabric of Rolling Glen, a sleepy backwoods town. As the four friends quickly find out, some believe Williams still roams the woods on the outskirts of town, surviving on the slaughter of wildlife. Others claim to have seen Williams in person, a looming figure with a ghostly white visage, purportedly a makeshift cast to mask the scars and wounds left from the merciless assault. They have a name for Williams now: Plasterhead. Soon, the four friends find themselves holed up in an abandoned farmhouse, mired in a macabre web of terror. Sheriff Taggart will do anything to keep the truth buried: the truth that Plasterhead is frighteningly real. As these teens will soon learn, true evil has no face.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 572
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: slasher, serious, scary, suspenseful, exciting, tense, suspense, independent film
Similar in 75%
The Messengers (2007)
Plot Summary:
When the Solomons trade in the craziness of big-city life for the quiet of a North Dakota farm, little do they expect the nightmare that follows. Soon after arriving, teenage Jess (Kristen Stewart) and her younger brother see terrifying apparitions and endure attacks from a supernatural source. Jess must warn her disbelieving family before it is too late to save them.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, suspenseful, suspense, disturbing, atmospheric, tense, serious, spooky, twisted
Similar in 82%
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 88%
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 79%
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Plot Summary:
Mary Henry ends up the sole survivor of a fatal car accident through mysterious circumstances. Trying to put the incident behind her, she moves to Utah and takes a job as a church organist. But her fresh start is interrupted by visions of a fiendish man. As the visions begin to occur more frequently, Mary finds herself drawn to the deserted carnival on the outskirts of town. The strangely alluring carnival may hold the secret to her tragic past.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: scary, atmospheric, cult classic, gothic, surreal, independent film, black and white, dark, twist ending, psychological
Similar in 82%
The Bleeding House (2011)
Plot Summary:
The Smiths -- a family with a secret past -- are visited by a sweet-talking southern gentleman who is looking for small town humanity. But they'll soon find out that kindness towards strangers is not always rewarded, and the secretive stranger will find redemption does not always come easy.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, rough, scary, serious, psychological, depressing, mysterious, surreal, mumblecore, southern gothic
Similar in 90%
Static (2012)
Plot Summary:
A couple facing marital problems after losing their child finds their life together further complicated by a mysterious visitor.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, scary, psychological, tense, suspense, captivating, dark, slasher, surprise ending
Similar in 86%
A Near Death Experience (2008)
Plot Summary:
Ellie suffers a strong shock to discover that, after suffering a near-death experience, can hear voices from beyond. He soon realizes that it is a gift with which you can help others.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 394
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, suspense, scary, rough, mind bending, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Plot Summary:
As they celebrate their high school graduation, four friends are involved in a hit-and-run accident when their car hits and apparently kills a pedestrian on an isolated roadway. They dispose of the body and vow to keep the incident a secret, a year later somebody starts sending them letters bearing the warning "I Know What You Did Last Summer.".
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 156000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, suspense, suspenseful, creepy, bloody, teen, intense, tense, splatter
Similar in 85%
The Grudge 3 (2009)
Plot Summary:
Jake, the sole survivor of The Grudge 2 massacre, is tortured by chilling visions of Kayako and Toshio that have led to his hospitalization. Jake's caretaker, Dr. Sullivan is determined to investigate his horrifying tales. She explores his Chicago home, finding another family on the brink of succumbing to the curse. It becomes clear that Jake's terrifying stories are true, and a mysterious Japanese woman may be the only hope of banishing the spirits forever...unless her plan destroys them all.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: scary, slasher, suspense, suspenseful, intense, surreal, stylized, psychological, serious, creepy
Similar in 83%
The Watch (2008)
Plot Summary:
Cassie, a psych student, was kidnapped and traumatized as a child by a disturbed person. To exorcise her demons and to finish her thesis, she decides on an experiment in isolation, working at a secluded watch tower as a fire lookout. But once she's alone, strange things start happening. Or is she just paranoid? Cassie is terrified that her past may be coming back to haunt her.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 923
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: scary, tense, suspenseful, psychological thriller, realistic, psychological, serious
Similar in 76%
Dark Water (2005)
Plot Summary:
Dahlia Williams and her daughter Cecelia move into a rundown apartment on New York's Roosevelt Island. She is currently in midst of divorce proceedings and the apartment, though near an excellent school for her daughter, is all she can afford. From the time she arrives, there are mysterious occurrences and there is a constant drip from the ceiling in her daughter's bedroom.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 65000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, scary, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, dark, creepy, psychological thriller, stylized, tense
Similar in 80%
They (2002)
Plot Summary:
After witnessing a horrific and traumatic event, Julia Lund, a graduate student in psychology, gradually comes to the realization that everything which scared her as a child could be real. And what's worse, it might be coming back to get her.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: scary, atmospheric, suspenseful, psychological, twist ending, suspense, psychological thriller, brutal, psychological horror, classic horror
Similar in 78%
Saw III (2006)
Plot Summary:
Jigsaw has disappeared. Along with his new apprentice Amanda, the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detective scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon and Jeff Reinhart are unaware that they are about to become the latest pawns on his vicious chessboard.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 209000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, disturbing, slasher, suspense, twist ending, bloody, clever, splatter, brutal
Similar in 81%
What Lies Beneath (2000)
Plot Summary:
When Claire Spencer starts hearing ghostly voices and seeing spooky images, she wonders if an otherworldly spirit is trying to contact her. All the while, her husband tries to reassure her by telling her it's all in her head. But as Claire investigates, she discovers that the man she loves might know more than he's letting on.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 134000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, surprise ending, psychological, scary, psychological thriller, twist ending, atmospheric, creepy, sexy
Similar in 83%
Soul Survivors (2001)
Plot Summary:
A female collage co-ed freshman who was involved in a fatal car crash discovers she may not have survived the tragedy after all when she becomes caught between the world of the living and the dead A sort of limbo state of being between both the real and the spirit worlds in which the ghosts of the afterlife want to collect her, or even worse, use her body in its transition state to enter our world.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychological, scary, surprise ending, slasher, tense, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, atmospheric, suspense