Best movies like Strange Circus
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The erotic novelist Taeko is writing a morbid story of a family destroyed by incest, murder and abuse. Her assistant, Yuji, sets on a mission to uncover the reality of this story, but the reality might be too much to bear.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, surreal, suspense, scary, mind bending, surprise ending, suspenseful, enigmatic, psychological thriller
Best tv shows and movies like Strange Circus (2005):
Similar in 76%
Gemini (1999)
Plot Summary:
A successful doctor, Yukio's picture perfect life is gradually wrecked, and taken over by his avenging twin brother, who bumps off his family members one by one and reclaims his lover who is now Yukio's wife.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychedelic, disturbing, controversial, mind blowing, scary, psychological, tense, atmospheric, mind bending, serious
Similar in 85%
School of the Holy Beast (1974)
Plot Summary:
After the mysterious death of her mother, Maya takes religious vows to find out what terrible things happened to her mother inside the Sacred Heart Convent. As soon as the door closes to the nunnery, the nuns start torturing her. She also has to deal with a lecherous archbishops and a lesbian mother superior.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: erotic, grindhouse, disturbing, controversial, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, sexual
Similar in 82%
Noriko's Dinner Table (2005)
Plot Summary:
A teenager named Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Toyokawa, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's "family circle", which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: Japan
Duration: 159 min
Plot tags: disturbing, serious, realistic, scary, psychological, slasher, psychological thriller, psychedelic, suspense, dark
Similar in 79%
Evil Dead Trap 2 (1992)
Plot Summary:
A female projectionist is haunted by the image of a small boy. Perhaps driven by insanity from a former abortion she goes on a killing spree, gutting women and removing their stomaches. Her relationship with her attractive and successful friend drives the plot deeper into insanity.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 799
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: slasher, bloody, controversial, frightening, scary, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surreal, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Spider Forest (2004)
Plot Summary:
A recently widowed TV producer is drawn to an isolated cabin in a mysterious woods. KANG Min regains his consciousness 14 days after brain surgery following a mysterious accident he had in the forest. Shockingly enough, the first thing he says is that two people died in Spider Forest. Detective CHOI, KANG Min's friend, finds a couple brutally murdered at a cottage in the forest, just like KANG Min described. As the couple found dead at the cottage are identified as CHOI Jong-phil, his senior from work, and HWANG Soo-young, his girlfriend, KANG Min becomes both a witness and key suspect in the investigation.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, suspenseful, mind twisting, mind bending, disturbing, mindfuck, mind blowing, erotic, psychological thriller
Similar in 89%
Dark Water (2002)
Plot Summary:
A woman in the midst of an unpleasant divorce moves to an eerie apartment building with her young daughter. The ceiling of their apartment has a dark and active leak.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, atmospheric, splatter, suspenseful, disturbing, suspense, intense, creepy, slasher
Similar in 82%
Bedevilled (2010)
Plot Summary:
A woman subject to mental, physical, and sexual abuse on a remote island seeks a way out.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: disturbing, tense, bleak, serious, slasher, bloody, psychological thriller, dark, splatter, scary
Similar in 75%
Cold Fish (2010)
Plot Summary:
Shamoto runs a small tropical fish shop. When his daughter Mitsuko is caught shoplifting at a grocery store a man named Murata steps in to settle things between the girl and the store manager. Murata also runs a tropical fish shop and he and Shamoto soon become friendly. However Murata hides many dark secrets behind his friendly face.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: disturbing, realistic, rough, serious, twisted, erotic, psychological, slasher, scary, dark
Similar in 80%
Brimstone (2016)
Plot Summary:
In the menacing inferno of the old American West, Liz is a genuine survivor who is hunted by a vengeful preacher for a crime she didn’t commit.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Western
Country: Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, UK, USA
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: suspense, brutal, epic, costume drama, disturbing, dark, psychological, southern gothic, period piece, cult classic
Similar in 85%
A Serbian Film (2010)
Plot Summary:
Milos, a retired porn star, leads a normal family life trying to make ends meet. Presented with the opportunity of a lifetime to financially support his family for the rest of their lives, Milos must participate in one last mysterious film. From then on, Milos is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 70000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Serbia
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: disturbing, brutal, controversial, scary, rough, psychological, surreal, bloody, extreme horror, splatter
Similar in 88%
Irreversible (2002)
Plot Summary:
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in the underpass. Her boyfriend and ex-lover take matters into their own hands by hiring two criminals to help them find the rapist so that they can exact revenge. A simultaneously beautiful and terrible examination of the destructive nature of cause and effect, and how time destroys everything.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 145000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: art house, bleak, disturbing, psychological thriller, surreal, non-linear, stylized, sexy, offbeat, harsh
Similar in 76%
Don't Look Now (1973)
Plot Summary:
After Laura and John Baxter lose their only child in a horrible drowning, they are greeted by strange sightings of her throughout their everyday lives. When two old ladies approach them in Italy with news that their daughter may still be alive, it seems too good to be true. Perhaps it is.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Italy
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: suspense, twist ending, disturbing, atmospheric, sexy, suspenseful, psychological, surreal, erotic, gothic
Similar in 84%
Suicide Club (2001)
Plot Summary:
When 54 high school girls throw themselves in front of a subway train it appears to be only the beginning of a string of suicides around the country. Does the new all-girl group Desert have anything to do with it? Detective Kuroda tries to find the answer, which isn't as simple as he had hoped.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, disturbing, atmospheric, creepy, bloody, suspenseful, controversial, splatter, cult classic
Similar in 83%
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 87%
Amer (2009)
Plot Summary:
Searing memories and carnal desires rule the mind of Ana, a young woman in thrall to her own fantasies whose visions and obsessions draw her toward deeper eroticism -- and deeper danger, in this modern take on a Giallo.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: surreal, slasher, experimental, psychological, postmodern, disturbing, retro, mind bending, psychological thriller, sexy
Similar in 78%
The Uninvited Guest (2004)
Plot Summary:
What if ... you let a stranger into your house to use your phone, but while you've been patiently waiting in the kitchen, he just disappears ... or does he? Félix, an architect who has just split up with his girl-friend and inhabits a huge mansion in Barcelona, finds out how many hiding places there really are in his house. But are there enough to hide another person, a strange parasite of living space? Or is Félix really going insane?.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological thriller, surreal, realistic, tense, suspenseful, psychological, serious, mind twisting, suspense
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Similar in 90%
The Invitation (2015)
Plot Summary:
Will and his new girlfriend Kira are invited to a dinner with old friends at the house of Will’s ex Eden and her new partner David. Although the evening appears to be relaxed, Will soon gets a creeping suspicion that their charming host David is up to something.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 117000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, scary, dark, suspense, twist ending, atmospheric, psychological horror, disturbing, mindfuck, psychological
Similar in 77%
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 90%
Marebito (2004)
Plot Summary:
A fear-obsessed freelance cameraman investigates an urban legend involving mysterious spirits that haunt the subways of Tokyo.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: disturbing, atmospheric, slasher, psychological, scary, suspenseful, lovecraft, mockumentary, suspense, clever
Similar in 83%
Gozu (2003)
Plot Summary:
Minami mistakenly kills a gangster associate of his named Brother. Almost as soon as the murder takes place, the body of the deceased man is gone, prompting Minami to conduct a search. While looking, he finds a mysterious isolated hotel where he decides to take a rest. Not only are the front desk clerks a bit strange, but even the ambiance feels unusual. Minami soon realizes he may have gotten more than he bargained for.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: surreal, disturbing, atmospheric, enigmatic, psychedelic, dark comedy, mindfuck, serious, suspenseful, mind bending
Similar in 85%
Audition (1999)
Plot Summary:
Seven years after the death of his wife, company executive Aoyama is invited to sit in on auditions for an actress. Leafing through the resumés in advance, his eye is caught by Yamazaki Asami, a striking young woman with ballet training.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 88000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: Japan, South Korea
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, scary, disturbing, tense, dark, bloody, surreal, controversial, suspenseful, suspense
Similar in 77%
Midsommar (2019)
Plot Summary:
A young couple travels to Sweden to visit their friend’s rural hometown and attend its mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly descends into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 382000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Sweden
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychedelic, brutal, enigmatic, psychological, suspense, rough, mind bending, suspenseful, cult horror
Similar in 76%
The Ordeal (2004)
Plot Summary:
A few days before Christmas, traveling entertainer Marc Stevens is stuck at nightfall in a remote wood in the swampy Hautes Fagnes region of Liège, his van conked out. An odd chap who's looking for a lost dog leads Marc to a shuttered inn.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Belgium, France, Luxembourg
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: disturbing, surreal, psychological, christmas horror, atmospheric, rough, serious, slasher, suspenseful, psychological thriller
Similar in 75%
Confessions (2010)
Plot Summary:
A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: unusual plot structure, thought provoking, twisted, disturbing, visually appealing, psychological thriller, mind twisting, intense, mind bending, psychological
Similar in 86%
Dogtooth (2009)
Plot Summary:
Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family abode is instantly assigned a new meaning. Hence 'the sea' refers to a large armchair and 'zombies' are little yellow flowers. Having invented a brother whom they claim to have ostracized for his disobedience, the uber-controlling parents terrorize their offspring into submission.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 105000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Greece
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: disturbing, art house, psychological, black comedy, atmospheric, surreal, thought provoking, controversial, sexy, bleak
Similar in 84%
Spider (2002)
Plot Summary:
A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, disturbing, bleak, twist ending, suspenseful, offbeat, non-linear, mindfuck, mind bending
Similar in 79%
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Plot Summary:
A recently released patient from a mental institution returns home with her sister, only to face disturbing events between her stepmother and the ghosts haunting their house- all of which are connected to a dark past in the family's history.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 67000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, scary, atmospheric, twist ending, mind bending, suspenseful, suspense, dark, surprise ending
Similar in 85%
The Orphanage (2007)
Plot Summary:
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 162000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain, France, Belgium
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: scary, twist ending, psychological, surprise ending, gothic horror, atmospheric, disturbing, serious, suspense, dark
Similar in 75%
Enemy (2013)
Plot Summary:
A mild-mannered college professor discovers a look-alike actor and delves into the other man's private affairs.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 209000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, Spain, France
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, non-linear, twist ending, mind bending, atmospheric, mindfuck, suspense, disturbing, tense
Similar in 80%
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Steven Murphy is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon who presides over a spotless household with his wife and two children. Lurking at the margins of his idyllic suburban existence is Martin, a fatherless teen who insinuates himself into the doctor's life in gradually unsettling ways. Soon, the full scope of Martin's intent becomes menacingly clear when he confronts Steven with a long-forgotten transgression that will shatter his domestic bliss forever.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 173000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, tense, psychological thriller, disturbing, art house, scary, surreal, philosophical, mind bending