Best movies like Diary of a Madman
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Simon Cordier, a French magistrate and amateur sculptor comes into contact with a malevolent entity. The invisible - yet corporeal - being, called a "horla" is capable of limited psychokinesis and complete mind control.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: classic horror, gothic, gothic horror, grindhouse, terrifying, scary, bleak, serious, suspenseful, psychotronic
Best tv shows and movies like Diary of a Madman (1963):
Similar in 89%
Hands of the Ripper (1971)
Plot Summary:
A series of murders occur that mirror those committed by the Whitechapel Ripper. Through his experiments with psychoanalysis Dr Pritchard discovers a deadly violence in one of his young female patients. As he delves into the recesses of her mind he uncovers that Anna is possessed by her dead father's spirit, willing her to commit acts of gruesome savagery over which she has no control. But the most chilling revelation of all is the identity of her father: Jack the Ripper himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: slasher, gothic, gothic horror, grindhouse, period piece, cult classic, classic horror, scary, psychological, mind bending
Similar in 77%
Haunts (1976)
Plot Summary:
A woman haunted by psychosexual nightmares begins to believe her father is responsible for a series of scissor-murders.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 685
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: slasher, psychotronic, grindhouse, pastoral, independent film, scary, psychological, atmospheric, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Death's Door (2008)
Plot Summary:
When a television psychic begins to get real results, the cast and crew of the show find themselves trapped by vengeful spirits.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 122
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: mind bending, scary, serious, suspenseful, offbeat, psychotronic
Similar in 89%
Terror of the Living Dead (1973)
Plot Summary:
Upon his uncle's death, Serge Chekov journeys to a spooky Scottish village for the reading of the will. But when he inherits the estate, Serge runs afoul of his uncle's jealous wife , his business partner , his maid and others. It's not long before zombies join the fun in this Italian supernatural thriller, also starring Paul Naschy as a nutso gravedigger.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 891
Genere: Horror
Country: Spain, Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, atmospheric, gothic, suspense, classic horror, scary, rough, serious, futuristic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
Headless Horseman (2007)
Plot Summary:
Seven college kids take a shortcut on their way to a party and unfortunately end up in Wormwood – a "lost" town in the middle of nowhere. They find something strange and sinister happening there – bones and weird decorations line Main Street. The cause: local Wormwood legend says on All Hallows Eve one hundred years ago, a crazed man tortured the youngsters in town and then cut off their heads. In retaliation, the townspeople killed him by cutting off his head. Seeking revenge every seven years, he returns and takes seven heads from children in the town. Now the seven visitors find themselves hunted one by one as the Headless Horseman claims his due.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA, Romania
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: gothic, scary, serious, suspenseful, suspense
Similar in 81%
The Gravedancers (2006)
Plot Summary:
After a night of drunken exploits, Allison, Harris, and Kira are chased and terrorized by the ghosts of a child pyromaniac, an ax murderer, and a rapist.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, suspenseful, serious, suspense, dark, creepy, spooky, independent film, psychotronic
Similar in 80%
The Norliss Tapes (1973)
Plot Summary:
A newspaper publisher listens to the personal tapes of investigative reporter David Norliss, who has disappeared during an investigation. The tapes tell the story of that investigation, involving a recent widow whose late husband has been seen working in his private studio. As Norliss and the widow investigate, they unravel a plot involving Voodoo and the walking dead.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspense, gothic horror, creepy, classic horror, spooky, scary, tense, mind bending, serious
Similar in 88%
Satan's Playground (2006)
Plot Summary:
SATAN'S PLAYGROUND is a supernatural shocker chronicling a family's spine-tingling odyssey in New Jersey's legendary Pine Barrens region. En route to a wilderness camping retreat, their car inexplicably breaks down. As darkness falls, panic sets in. Then the marooned family stumbles upon an ancient and seemingly abandoned house. And it is here that they meet the bizarre Mrs. Leeds who lives there with her equally unhinged children. Offering no assistance, she warns of a violent, unseen force lurking in the forbidding countryside. Soon, the family will encounter a supernatural evil older than the woods themselves. SATAN'S PLAYGROUND...a place where deadly myth becomes gruesome reality.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, atmospheric, suspenseful, surreal, serious, suspense, dark, independent film
Similar in 76%
The Gorgon (1964)
Plot Summary:
In the early 20th century a village experienced a series of inexplicable murders. All the victims were young men who had been to stone. The perpetrator of these deaths was a being so repulsive that she transformed the onlooker using the power of her deadly stare. Much of the time the creature took the form of a beautiful and seductive woman, but during periods of the full moon she becomes a living horror, vicious and deadly. A professor has come to investigate the deaths, bringing with him his beautiful assistant whose knowledge of the Gorgon is more intimate than anyone would ever realise.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, suspenseful, gothic, atmospheric, serious, scary, psychological, suspense, classic horror, psychotronic
Similar in 86%
The Legend of Bloody Jack (2007)
Plot Summary:
The legend of Jack The Ripper comes to real when one of his descendants revive him.
IMDB Rating: 2.6
IMDB Votes: 365
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, rough, serious
Similar in 84%
Daughters of Satan (1972)
Plot Summary:
A man buys a painting depicting witches being burned at the stake, one of whom bears an uncanny resemblance to his wife.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA, Philippines
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, scary, serious, suspense, satanic, grindhouse, independent film, talky, psychotronic
Similar in 81%
Black Sabbath (1963)
Plot Summary:
Three short tales of supernatural horror. In “The Telephone,” a woman is plagued by threatening phone calls. In "The Wurdalak,” a family is preyed upon by vampiric monsters. In “The Drop of Water,” a deceased medium wreaks havoc on the living.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Horror
Country: Italy, France, USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: gothic, scary, atmospheric, disturbing, anthology, suspenseful, grindhouse, bleak, dark, suspense
Similar in 78%
Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977)
Plot Summary:
At the edge of a grand estate, near a crumbling old mansion lies a strange stone building with just a single room. In the room there lies a bed. Born of demonic power, the bed seeks the flesh, blood and life essence of unwary travelers… Three pretty girls arrive on vacation, searching for a place to spend the night. Instead, they tumble into nightmares – and the cruel, insatiable hunger of the Bed!.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: gothic, scary, suspenseful, rough, independent film, psychotronic, cult classic, slasher, disturbing, horror comedy
Similar in 89%
Messiah of Evil (1974)
Plot Summary:
A young woman goes searching for her missing artist father. Her journey takes her to a strange Californian seaside town governed by a mysterious undead cult.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: lovecraft, scary, atmospheric, creepy, classic horror, psychological, psychological thriller, slasher, surreal, gothic horror
Similar in 89%
The Oblong Box (1969)
Plot Summary:
Aristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Occasionaly Sir Edward escapes and causes havoc around the town.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, serious, classic horror, scary, gothic, bleak, gothic horror, cult classic, slasher
Similar in 86%
The Haunted Palace (1963)
Plot Summary:
A warlock burned at the stake comes back and takes over the body of his great grandson to take his revenge on the descendents of the villages that burned him.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, gothic, lovecraft, tense, serious, classic horror, atmospheric, suspenseful, stylized, scary
Similar in 76%
Cry of the Banshee (1970)
Plot Summary:
In seventeenth century England Lord Whitman wages unending war on what he sees as the ever-present scourge of witchcraft, and many local villagers have suffered at his hands. But one victim uses her occult powers to curse his family, enlisting unknowing help from one of the household.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, classic horror, gothic, satanic, scary, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, stylized, psychotronic
Similar in 79%
Entity Project (2019)
Plot Summary:
A director and her friends renting a haunted house to capture paranormal events in order to prove it and become popular.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 293
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: scary, bleak, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, psychotronic
Similar in 89%
Abigail Haunting (2020)
Plot Summary:
After escaping the clutches of an abusive relationship, Katie reluctantly returns to the foster home she grew up in. Little does she know, her foster mother Marge is harboring a sinister secret dating back a decade. Now, Katie finds herself caught up in a horrifying family drama while confronting an angry spirit named Abigail.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 596
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: scary, bleak, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, psychotronic
Similar in 85%
Vampire Circus (1972)
Plot Summary:
After a spate of murders, the villagers of Schtettel kill the depraved perpetrator, Count Mitterhouse. Fifteen years later the Circus of Nights appeared in the plague-ridden village and its performers include Mitterhouse's mistress, children and cousins. They have come to Schtettel to fulfil the Count's last words, an evil, vicious curse of death and destruction on those who participated in his impaling. The children of Schtettel become the targets for a brutal and devastating revenge as the Vampire Circus rehearses for its most deadly performance.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, suspenseful, scary, gothic, enigmatic, suspense, terrifying, psychotronic, sexy, classic horror
Similar in 78%
The Kiss of the Vampire (1963)
Plot Summary:
Honeymooning in Bavaria, the young couple become stranded and are forced to stay the night in the area. Doctor Ravna, owner of the impressive chateau that sits imposingly above the village, invites them to dinner that evening. Their association with Ravna and his charming, beautiful family is to prove disastrous as they become unwittingly embroiled with this family of vampires who seek to initiate them into their diabolical creed.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, scary, gothic, atmospheric, suspenseful, serious, classic horror, suspense, grindhouse, crying
Similar in 89%
Scars of Dracula (1970)
Plot Summary:
The Prince of Darkness casts his undead shadow once more over the cursed village of Kleinenberg when his ashes are splashed with bat's blood and Dracula is resurrected. And two innocent victims search for a missing loved one... loved to death by Dracula's mistress. But after they discover his blood-drained corpse in Dracula's castle necropolis, the Vampire Lord's lustful vengeance begins.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: gothic, gothic horror, rough, suspenseful, scary, bleak, serious, classic horror, grindhouse, perverse
Similar in 85%
Blood Descendants (2007)
Plot Summary:
A hundred years after being brutally murdered by the justice-seeking citizens of a small town, a supernatural killer fulfills his promise to return from the grave and seek vengeance against the descendents of the people who slaughtered him.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 130
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: slasher, serious, suspenseful, scary, bleak, splatter, independent film
Similar in 88%
The Black Cat (1981)
Plot Summary:
An American photographer (Mimsy Farmer) and a Scotland Yard inspector (David Warbeck) suspect a man's (Patrick Magee) cat of murder.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror
Country: Italy
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: gothic, slasher, psychological, mind bending, serious, demonic, scary, suspense, grindhouse, cult classic
Similar in 81%
Dracula's Dog (1977)
Plot Summary:
Russian soldiers accidentally unleash Dracula's servant, as well as his dog, during excavations in Romania. Together they set out for America, to find the last descendent of the great Count.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, grindhouse, classic horror, independent film, scary, serious, suspenseful, psychotronic, weird, cult film
Similar in 87%
The Sentinel (1977)
Plot Summary:
A commitment-shy New York fashion model moves into an old brownstone apartment, meets her weird neighbours and discovers she’s sitting on the gateway to Hell.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: scary, gothic, suspense, psychological, suspenseful, creepy, satanic, slasher, surreal, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
Plot Summary:
Whilst vacationing in the Carpathian Mountain, two couples stumble across the remains of Count Dracula's castle. The Count's trusted servant kills one of the men, suspending the body over the Count's ashes so that the blood drips from the corpse and saturates the blackened remains. The ritual is completed, the Count revived and his attentions focus on the dead man's wife who is to become his partner; devoted to an existence of depravity and evil.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, gothic, scary, suspenseful, atmospheric, talky, serious, suspense, grindhouse, cult classic
Similar in 90%
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)
Plot Summary:
Story about a man haunted by the spirit of his dead wife and her effect on his second marriage.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: gothic, gothic horror, suspense, surreal, grindhouse, classic horror, scary, atmospheric, mind bending, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
The Amityville Horror (1979)
Plot Summary:
George Lutz and his wife Kathleen, move into their Long Island dream house with their children only for their lives to be turned into a hellish nightmare. The legacy of a murder committed in the house gradually affects the family and a priest is brought in to try and exorcise the demonic presence from their home.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, grindhouse, creepy, demonic, suspense, slasher, disturbing, psychotronic, cult classic
Similar in 80%
The Boogey Man (1980)
Plot Summary:
A young girl witnesses her brother murder a man through a reflection in a mirror. Twenty years later the mirror is shattered, freeing his evil spirit, which seeks revenge for his death.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspenseful, scary, disturbing, atmospheric, rough, bleak, grindhouse, cult classic, psychotronic