Best movies like The Devil's Backbone
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
After losing his father, 10-year-old Carlos arrives at the Santa Lucia School, which shelters orphans of the Republican militia and politicians, and is taken in by the steely headmistress, Carmen, and the kindly professor, Casares. Soon after his arrival, Carlos has a run-in with the violent caretaker, Jacinto. Gradually, Carlos uncovers the secrets of the school, including the youthful ghost that wanders the grounds.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 70000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Spain, Mexico
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspense, gothic, twist ending, tense, dark, suspenseful, scary, cult classic, intense
Best tv shows and movies like The Devil's Backbone (2001):
Similar in 85%
The Secret of Crickley Hall (2012)
Plot Summary:
A year after their son goes missing, a family moves to Crickley Hall. When supernatural events begin to take place, Eve feels the house is somehow connected to her lost son.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 59 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, scary, tense, emotional, slasher, spooky, serious, stylized, fairy tale
Similar in 90%
Chronos (1992)
Plot Summary:
Faced with his own mortality, an ingenious alchemist tried to perfect an invention that would provide him with the key to eternal life. It was called the Cronos device. When he died more than 400 years later, he took the secrets of this remarkable device to the grave with him. Now, an elderly antiques dealer has found the hellish machine hidden in a statue and learns about its incredible powers. The more he uses the device, the younger he becomes...but nothing comes without a price. Life after death is just the beginning as this nerve-shattering thriller unfolds and the fountain of youth turns bloody.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Country: Mexico
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: gothic, surreal, scary, suspenseful, bloody, dark, disturbing, splatter, creepy, cult classic
Similar in 88%
Thesis (1996)
Plot Summary:
While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her faculty.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, scary, suspense, intense, suspenseful, atmospheric, dark, cerebral, creepy
Similar in 86%
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 86%
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Plot Summary:
When a younger girl called Emily Rose dies, everyone puts blame on the exorcism which was performed on her by Father Moore prior to her death. The priest is arrested on suspicion of murder. The trial begins with lawyer Erin Bruner representing Moore, but it is not going to be easy, as no one wants to believe what Father Moore says is true.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 138000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: scary, demonic, satanic, suspense, dark, suspenseful, disturbing, frightening, psychological, creepy
Similar in 90%
Ghost Story (1981)
Plot Summary:
Four successful elderly gentlemen, members of the Chowder Society, share a gruesome, 50-year old secret. When one of Edward Wanderley's twin sons dies in a bizarre accident, the group begins to see a pattern of frightening events developing.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: scary, gothic, suspenseful, suspense, atmospheric, creepy, light, psychological, exciting, serious
Similar in 79%
Poltergeist (1982)
Plot Summary:
Steve Freeling lives with his wife, Diane, and their three children, Dana, Robbie, and Carol Anne, in Southern California where he sells houses for the company that built the neighborhood. It starts with just a few odd occurrences, such as broken dishes and furniture moving around by itself. However, when he realizes that something truly evil haunts his home, Steve calls in a team of parapsychologists led by Dr. Lesh to help before it's too late.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 177000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, rough, disturbing, cult classic, creepy, terrifying, splatter
Similar in 79%
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 80%
The Awakening (2011)
Plot Summary:
1921 England is overwhelmed by the loss and grief of World War I. Hoax exposer Florence Cathcart (Hall) visits a boarding school to explain sightings of a child ghost.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: scary, gothic, suspenseful, twist ending, psychological, atmospheric, gothic horror, enigmatic, suspense, dark
Similar in 82%
Lake Mungo (2008)
Plot Summary:
16 year old Alice Palmer drowns in a local dam. When her body is recovered and, her grieving family buries her. The family experiences a series of strange, inexplicable events centered in and around their home. Unsettled, the Palmers seek the help of psychic and parapsychologist, Ray Kemeny. Ray discovers that Alice led a secret, double life. At Lake Mungo, Alice's secret past emerges.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: mockumentary, scary, psychological, creepy, tense, suspenseful, psychological horror, suspense, disturbing, slasher
Similar in 81%
Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
Plot Summary:
In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 72000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, psychological, dark, spooky, disturbing, atmospheric, suspenseful, stylized, creepy
Similar in 88%
Half Light (2006)
Plot Summary:
Rachel Carson, a best-selling crime novelist, is devastated and filled with guilt over the accidental death of her son. Hoping that a change of scenery will help alleviate her suffering, she leaves her home in the city and moves into a vacant country house owned by a friend and begins a relationship with charming local Angus. But, just as her life is taking a turn for the better, Rachel realizes she's being romanced by a ghost, leading her to doubt her own sanity.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Germany, UK, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, suspenseful, atmospheric, twist ending, surprise ending, stylized, intense, enigmatic, scary
Similar in 82%
Mama (2013)
Plot Summary:
Guillermo del Toro presents Mama, a supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their parents were killed. When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 190000
Genere: Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Country: Canada, Spain, Mexico
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, gothic, splatter, frightening, dark, suspenseful, bad ending, atmospheric, intense
Similar in 86%
Sinister (2012)
Plot Summary:
Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 274000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Canada
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, suspenseful, tense, disturbing, twist ending, rough, dark, creepy, sinister
Similar in 76%
The Witch (2015)
Plot Summary:
In 1630s New England, William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness, exiled from their settlement when William defies the local church. When their newborn son vanishes and crops mysteriously fail, the family turns on one another.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 291000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: disturbing, atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, scary, gothic, psychological, suspense, satanic, enigmatic
Similar in 86%
The Woman in Black (2012)
Plot Summary:
The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps, who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true identity.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 191000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Country: UK, Canada, USA, Sweden
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: gothic, gothic horror, suspense, scary, atmospheric, terrifying, suspenseful, twist ending, dark, creepy
Similar in 90%
Let Me In (2010)
Plot Summary:
A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian. A remake of the movie “Let The Right One In” which was an adaptation of a book.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 126000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: suspense, gothic, atmospheric, melancholic, biting, dark, creepy, scary, bleak, dark fantasy
Similar in 84%
Insidious (2010)
Plot Summary:
A family discovers that dark spirits have invaded their home after their son inexplicably falls into an endless sleep. When they reach out to a professional for help, they learn things are a lot more personal than they thought.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 334000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, twist ending, atmospheric, disturbing, dark, intense, tense, clever, creepy
Similar in 79%
The Babadook (2014)
Plot Summary:
A single mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battles with her son's fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 243000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: Australia, Canada
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological, scary, tense, dark, suspense, suspenseful, psychological horror, spooky, dark fantasy, creepy
Similar in 81%
Carrie (2013)
Plot Summary:
A reimagining of the classic horror tale about Carrie White, a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother, who unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 147000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, rough, slasher, teen, scary, psychological, bloody, splatter, intense
Similar in 81%
In a Glass Cage (1986)
Plot Summary:
A Nazi doctor who had a fetish for young boys feels guilt after torturing and murdering his latest victim, and throws himself off a roof. Some years later, the doctor, confined to an iron lung, accepts as his nurse a boy who secretly witnessed that killing.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: Spain
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: controversial, art house, disturbing, suspense, extreme horror, atmospheric, serious, psychological thriller, sexy, creepy
Similar in 78%
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 80%
Let the Right One In (2008)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1982 in the suburb of Blackeberg, Stockholm, twelve-year-old Oskar is a lonely outsider, bullied at school by his classmates; at home, Oskar dreams of revenge against a trio of bullies. He befriends his twelve-year-old, next-door neighbor Eli, who only appears at night in the snow-covered playground outside their building.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 225000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Country: Sweden
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: gothic, atmospheric, captivating, dark, dark fantasy, creepy, disturbing, suspense, splatter, cult classic
Similar in 85%
The Grudge (2004)
Plot Summary:
American nurse, Karen Davis moves to Tokyo and encounters a vengeful supernatural spirit known as The Grudge that often possesses its victims. When a series of horrifying and mysterious deaths occur – with the spirit passing its curse onto each victim - Karen must find away to break the spell before she becomes the spirit's next victim.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 150000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, psychological, creepy, atmospheric, suspense, gothic, terrifying, slasher, stylized
Similar in 78%
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 77%
Case 39 (2009)
Plot Summary:
In her many years as a social worker, Emily Jenkins believes she has seen it all, until she meets 10-year-old Lilith and the girl's cruel parents. Emily's worst fears are confirmed when the parents try to harm the child, and so Emily assumes custody of Lilith while she looks for a foster family. However, Emily soon finds that dark forces surround the seemingly innocent girl, and the more she tries to protect Lilith, the more horrors she encounters.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, psychological, gloomy, atmospheric, serious, suspense, disturbing, psychological thriller, intense
Similar in 82%
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 84%
Dead Silence (2007)
Plot Summary:
Jamie returns to his hometown in search of answers to his wife's murder, which occurred after receiving a weird package containing a ventriloquist dummy named Billy, which may be linked to the legend of ventriloquist Mary Shaw. Destined to find out the truth, Jamie goes to the town of Raven's Fair, where Shaw used to perform and is buried. But Jamie is in for more than he expected.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 101000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: scary, twist ending, gothic, atmospheric, suspenseful, surprise ending, dark, slasher, suspense, frightening
Similar in 75%
The Skeleton Key (2005)
Plot Summary:
A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 121000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: twist ending, surprise ending, suspense, suspenseful, gothic, psychological, southern gothic, mind bending, mysterious, tricky
Similar in 80%
The Others (2001)
Plot Summary:
Grace is a religious woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 387000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain, USA, France, Italy
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: twist ending, surprise ending, scary, suspense, atmospheric, psychological, gothic, dark, enigmatic, psychological thriller