Best movies like The Shining
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 11000000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, scary, atmospheric, psychological thriller, intense, disturbing, psychedelic, psychological horror, demonic
Best tv shows and movies like The Shining (1980):
Similar in 80%
Kwaidan (1964)
Plot Summary:
Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Japan
Duration: 183 min
Plot tags: anthology, atmospheric, disturbing, suspense, scary, bleak, surreal, tense, art house, meditative
Similar in 76%
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 84%
Repulsion (1965)
Plot Summary:
In Roman Polanski's first English-language film, beautiful young manicurist Carole suffers from androphobia (the pathological fear of interaction with men). When her sister and roommate, Helen, leaves their London flat to go on an Italian holiday with her married boyfriend, Carole withdraws into her apartment. She begins to experience frightful hallucinations, her fear gradually mutating into madness.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: surreal, disturbing, black and white, cerebral, atmospheric, psychological, scary, suspense, art house, psychological thriller
Similar in 86%
The Shining (1997)
Plot Summary:
John Torrance is a writer & recovering alcoholic, who ends up taking a job as a winter caretaker for a remote Colorado hotel which he seeks as an opportunity to finish a piece of work. With his wife and son with him, the caretaker settles in, only to see visions of the hotel's long deceased employees and guests. With evil intentions, they manipulate him into his dark side which takes a toll on he and his family.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 273 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, mysterious, splatter, anthology, mystic, creepy, cult classic, tense, atmospheric
Similar in 80%
Beau Is Afraid (2023)
Plot Summary:
An anxious man learns of the death of his mother under mysterious circumstances and upon traveling home makes an alarming discovery about his past. During his journey, he runs into various crazy supernatural threats.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Horror
Country: USA, UK, Finland, Canada
Duration: 179 min
Plot tags: independent film, atmospheric, dark comedy, psychological horror, absurd, dark fantasy, black comedy, postmodern, surreal, interesting
Similar in 90%
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Plot Summary:
A depiction of a serial killer's 12 years' worth of murders and how it shaped his prime intelligence.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 88000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror
Country: Denmark, France, Sweden, Germany
Duration: 152 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, bleak, slasher, controversial, surreal, philosophical
Similar in 83%
The Lighthouse (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 245000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: suspense, minimal cast, psychological, mysterious, lovecraft, gothic horror, disturbing, psychological thriller, black and white, gothic
Similar in 88%
Doctor Sleep (2019)
Plot Summary:
A traumatized, alcoholic Dan Torrance meets Abra, a kid who also has the ability to "shine." He tries to protect her from the True Knot, a cult whose goal is to feed off people like them in order to remain immortal.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 214000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 152 min
Plot tags: disturbing, dark fantasy, enigmatic, suspense, twist ending, gothic, surprise ending, psychological, scary, psychological thriller
Similar in 83%
The Exorcist (1973)
Plot Summary:
12-year-old Regan MacNeil begins to adapt an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate bid to save her daughter, and ultimately turns to her last hope: Father Damien Karras, a troubled priest who is struggling with his own faith.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 446000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, suspenseful, satanic, psychological, demonic, frightening, atmospheric, disturbing, creepy
Similar in 77%
Gerald's Game (2017)
Plot Summary:
When her husband's sex game goes wrong, Jessie (who is handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house) faces warped visions, dark secrets and a dire choice.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 124000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, psychological thriller, psychological horror, disturbing, scary, slasher, exciting, rough, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
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 83%
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 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 78%
Misery (1990)
Plot Summary:
Novelist Paul Sheldon crashes his car on a snowy Colorado road. He is found by Annie Wilkes, the "number one fan" of Paul's heroine Misery Chastaine. Annie is also somewhat unstable, and Paul finds himself crippled, drugged and at her mercy.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 230000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, suspenseful, scary, suspense, psychological thriller, atmospheric, tense, tension, slasher
Similar in 89%
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 86%
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
Plot Summary:
With the disappearance of hack horror writer Sutter Cane, all Hell is breaking loose...literally! Author Cane, it seems, has a knack for description that really brings his evil creepy-crawlies to life. Insurance investigator John Trent is sent to investigate Cane's mysterious vanishing act and ends up in the sleepy little East Coast town of Hobb's End.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, atmospheric, gothic, neo noir, suspense, lovecraft, scary, suspenseful, dark
Similar in 75%
Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Plot Summary:
An artist in crisis is haunted by nightmares from the past in Ingmar Bergman's only horror film, which takes place on a windy island. During "the hour of the wolf" - between midnight and dawn - he tells his wife about his most painful memories.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: Sweden
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: surreal, atmospheric, gothic, bleak, disturbing, art house, black and white, creepy, tense, dark
Similar in 83%
1408 (2007)
Plot Summary:
A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 289000
Genere: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, psychological, suspenseful, twist ending, surprise ending, dark, confusing, creepy, atmospheric
Similar in 85%
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 76%
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 82%
Eraserhead (1977)
Plot Summary:
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 125000
Genere: Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: surreal, avant garde, art house, psychological, disturbing, psychedelic, experimental, atmospheric, black and white, dark
Similar in 88%
The Collector (2009)
Plot Summary:
Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 71000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, brutal, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, rough, sadistic, splatter, bloody
Similar in 75%
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 83%
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 82%
American Psycho (2000)
Plot Summary:
A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 690000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, psychological thriller, surreal, brutal, stylized, disturbing, twist ending, neo noir, dark, mind twisting
Similar in 90%
Secret Window (2004)
Plot Summary:
Mort Rainey, a writer just emerging from a painful divorce with his ex-wife, is stalked at his remote lake house by a psychotic stranger and would-be scribe who claims Rainey swiped his best story idea. But as Rainey endeavors to prove his innocence, he begins to question his own sanity.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 207000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, twist ending, surprise ending, suspense, tense, dark, atmospheric, bad ending, psychological thriller, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Plot Summary:
A traumatized Vietnam war veteran finds out that his post-war life isn't what he believes it to be when he's attacked by horned creatures in the subway and his dead son comes to visit him.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 116000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: surreal, twist ending, psychological, disturbing, scary, bleak, surprise ending, atmospheric, psychedelic, psychological thriller
Similar in 84%
The Machinist (2004)
Plot Summary:
The Machinist is the story of Trevor Reznik, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances; yet for Trevor the risks are compounded by fatigue. Trevor has lost the ability to sleep. This is no ordinary insomnia.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 410000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, France, UK, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, twist ending, surprise ending, depressing, mind bending, surreal, bleak, neo noir, enigmatic, atmospheric
Similar in 81%
The Conjuring (2013)
Plot Summary:
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 545000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: scary, dark, atmospheric, suspenseful, frightening, psychological, terrifying, creepy, demonic, splatter
Similar in 86%
Fight Club (1999)
Plot Summary:
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 23000000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, psychological, twist ending, cerebral, thought provoking, philosophical, surreal, stylized, mind bending, atmospheric