The Babadook tells the terrifying story of a young boy who becomes convinced that an evil spirit lives in his home, despite his mother’s reassurance that he’s safe. But when his behavior becomes erratic and uncontrollable, his mother realizes something isn’t quite right. The Babadook is an unnerving horror film that delves deep into the human psyche and proves that, sometimes, we can be the scariest monsters of all. The Babadook’s frightening ending has become notorious for its ambiguity and excellent use of horror imagery.
What works so effectively about The Babadook is that, while it’s clearly rooted in the horror genre, there aren’t any clear monsters or ghosts like you’d expect in a basic haunted house story. Instead, the narrative is a largely metaphorical one about trauma, fear, and loss, focusing on the people affected by these themes. It’s one of the scariest horror movies about grief that’s ever been made, and its analogical storytelling isn’t easy to find elsewhere. Fortunately, there are some horror movies that will appeal to fans of The Babadook.
10 Nocebo (2022)
Directed By Lorcan Finnegan
Nocebo follows the life of a troubled fashion designer who comes down with a mysterious illness that doctors and medical specialists are unable to identify. Instead, it comes down to the woman’s Filipino nanny to use her folk healing and get to the bottom of her infliction. Much like The Babadook, this film doesn’t center around any particular monster or spirit, but rather the victim of something mysterious and unidentifiable that haunts their daily life.
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There’s a clear blend of psychological terror and physical horror that comes to a head in Nocebo, as the woman’s illness serves as a dark metaphor that’s explored through the very real pain and suffering of the film’s characters. The story is gripping and chilling from start to finish, sucking the audience into its mystery and luring them into a false sense of security just when things begin to heat up.
9 Skinamarink (2022)
Directed By Kyle Edward Ball
Skinamarink 0
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*Availability in US Director Kyle Edward Ball Release Date January 13, 2023 Writers Kyle Edward Ball Cast Lucas Paul , Dali Rose Tetreault , Ross Paul , Jamie Hill Runtime 100 minutes Main Genre Horror Expand
Skinamarink undoubtedly ranks among the most controversial films of the past decade, taking an extremely unorthodox approach to storytelling that intentionally tests the audience’s patience, then pays it off with rich, atmospheric filmmaking. The story follows two young boys who wake up in the middle of the night to find their parents missing. Their house’s windows and doors are gone, and the only light in the building is coming from their flickering television screens.
The film came under major criticism for its snail-like pace, with almost nothing happening in the film besides the children gradually moving around the house – but that’s exactly the point of the film.
Skinamarink uses well-timed jumpscares and methodical tension-building to get underneath the audience’s skin and create a terrifying atmosphere that doesn’t let up for a single second. The film received criticism for its snail-like pace, with almost nothing happening in the film besides the children gradually moving around the house — but that’s exactly the point of the film. The unusual framing and odd directorial choices all contribute to the strength of Skinamarink, which is just as creepy and frightening as The Babadook.
8 The Dark And The Wicked (2020)
Directed By Bryan Bertino
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The Dark and the Wicked is a 2020 horror film directed by Bryan Bertino. The story follows two siblings who return to their family farm to care for their dying father, only to find themselves grappling with a malevolent force that threatens their sanity and lives. As the sinister presence grows stronger, they must confront deeply buried secrets and the pervasive sense of dread engulfing them.
Director Bryan Bertino Release Date November 6, 2020 Writers Bryan Bertino Cast Marin Ireland , Michael Abbott Jr. , Xander Berkeley , Lynn Andrews , Julie Oliver-Touchstone , Tom Nowicki , Ella Ballentine , Michael Zagst Character(s) Louise , Michael , Priest , Nurse , Mother , Charlie , Young Girl , Father Runtime 95 Minutes Main Genre Horror Expand
The Dark and the Wicked has a very similar premise to The Babadook, but the two films’ methods of exploring their central concepts couldn’t be more different. In this movie, two siblings are cursed with vivid nightmares that make them convinced an evil force is taking over their isolated farmhouse. The Dark and the Wicked explores many of the same themes as The Babadook, namely the overwhelming power of trauma and grief, but from a more overtly supernatural and horror-driven perspective.
The Dark and the Wicked’s demonic creature is much more real and obvious than The Babadook’s ambiguous villain, but both approaches have their benefits. While The Babadook’s cryptic events allow for multiple interpretations and help slowly build fear, this film is much more of a horror-fueled nightmare that’s scary from the very beginning. There’s lots of dark, gritty imagery packed into every scene, and Bertino’s direction really makes the most of this scary concept.
7 Run Rabbit Run (2023)
Directed By Daina Reid
Run Rabbit Run 
2.0 1
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Originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Run Rabbit Run is a psychological horror-thriller film that stars Sarah Snook as “Sarah,” a fertility doctor who begins to notice troubling behavior from her daughter. Sarah, who believes that life and death are finite, soon sees that her daughter can recall a specific deceased person’s memories, challenging her beliefs and forcing her to reckon with her past.
Director Daina Reid Release Date June 28, 2023 Studio(s) Carver Films , VicScreen , XYZ Films Distributor(s) Netflix Writers Hannah Kent Cast Sarah Snook , Greta Scacchi , Damon Herriman , Julia Davis , Trevor Jamieson , Georgina Naidu Runtime 100 minutes Expand
Run Rabbit Run is an Australian horror film that came to Netflix across the world, frightening audiences with its chilling story of past lives and broken memories. The story follows a fertility doctor who notices strange behavior in her young child, who claims to have memories of a previous existence that brings all kinds of evil into the family’s daily life. What starts as a simple psychological thriller quickly morphs into a grotesque horror as the child’s memories get more and more vivid, giving Run Rabbit Run an exponential pace to keep the audience locked in.
Run Rabbit Run didn’t perform great critically, but there are still aspects of the story that deserve to be commended. Reid’s manipulation of tone and atmosphere is excellent, and she understands exactly which parts of this story make it so frightening, doubling down on them as the film picks up speed. Some of the horror set pieces are a little bit weak, but the overall message of family and generational trauma is tightly woven into this exciting narrative.
6 Men (2022)
Directed By Alex Garland
Alex Garland is best known for his sci-fi projects like Ex Machina and Annihilation, but with Men, the director leaned heavily into the horror genre and provided one of the most unsettling, disturbing stories of that year. The film follows a young woman who travels to the English countryside in the wake of a major tragedy, but the town’s men soon make her uncomfortable and turn her idyllic holiday into a waking nightmare.
What’s so effective about Men is Garland’s ability to get inside this young woman’s mind, making the audience understand exactly what she’s feeling at all times. Some of the commentary on female abuse and toxic masculinity is a little on-the-nose, which put some audiences off the project, but the surrealist imagery and creative set pieces are enough to cement Men as a chilling piece of horror.
5 It Follows (2014)
Directed By David Robert Mitchell
It Follows 3.5 3
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It Follows is a horror-thriller film released in 2014 and follows a college student named Jay who is terrorized by a specter of a woman that follows her everywhere she goes. When Jay has sex with her new boyfriend, he ties her up and reveals that this mysterious woman will now haunt her until she passes it on to another or is killed by her. Now haunted by a woman that only she and those once afflicted by her can see, Jay will attempt to survive and find away to break the curse.
Director David Robert Mitchell Release Date March 27, 2015 Studio(s) The Weinstein Company Distributor(s) The Weinstein Company Writers David Robert Mitchell Cast Olivia Luccardi , Jake Weary , Keir Gilchrist , Daniel Zovatto , Maika Monroe , Lili Sepe Runtime 100minutes Budget $1.3 million Expand
In It Follows, a high school student finds herself the victim of a malicious curse after an unexpected sexual encounter the night before. With the evil spirit constantly watching her, the young woman devises a plan to make it detach itself. Much like The Babadook, this film thrives in the ambiguity of the story, and the power of what’s not there. For the most part, the audience knows just as little about this creature as the characters, which makes for a confusing watch at first, but it’s extremely effective in making everything even scarier.
It Follows
has a terrifying ending that finally steers the film towards a more metaphorical style of storytelling, much like
The Babadook
.
It Follows has a terrifying ending that finally steers the film towards a more metaphorical style of storytelling, much like The Babadook. There are countless theories surrounding what this film is actually about, with ideas such as trauma, genetic illness, and even sexually transmitted diseases circulating on the internet – but the truth remains that It Follows is just as mysterious and unknowable as the curse that it depicts.
4 The Visit (2015)
Directed By M. Night Shyamalan
The Visit 2.5 1
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From director M. Night Shyamalan, The Visit follows two siblings who are sent to stay with their estranged grandparents while their mother is out of town on vacation. Realizing that all isn’t what it seems during their stay, the siblings set out to find out what is really going on at their grandparents’ home. Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould star as Becca and Tyler, with Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn making up the rest of the main cast.
Director M. Night Shyamalan Release Date September 11, 2015 Studio(s) Universal Pictures Distributor(s) Universal Pictures Writers M. Night Syamalan Cast Olivia De Jonge , Peter McRobbie , Kathryn Hahn , Benjamin Kanes , Deanna Dunagan , Ed Oxenbould Runtime 94 Minutes Budget $5 million Expand
The Visit is a very different kind of movie from The Babadook, both stylistically and in terms of its content, but there are some glaring similarities that exist nevertheless. The film follows two young children who are sent to meet their grandparents for the first time, staying in their remote home in the middle of nowhere. But the children soon yearn for their mother when their new hosts don’t meet their expectations.
The Visit doesn’t have the metaphorical storytelling and intentional ambiguity that’s on display in The Babadook, but it’s just as bold and brash with its story. Like many of M. Night Shyamalan’s best films, it takes plenty of huge risks and twists that ultimately pay off its silliness by taking the audience on a non-stop thrill ride that’s slowly crafted throughout the first two acts.
3 The Omen (1976)
Directed By Richard Donner
The Omen (1976) 4.0 0
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The Omen is a 1976 horror film directed by Richard Donner, starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as parents who discover their adopted child may be the Antichrist. The film explores themes of prophecy, paranoia, and religious fear, as a series of ominous events lead the family to confront a terrifying fate. Widely regarded as a classic, The Omen is notable for its chilling atmosphere and intense performances.
Director Richard Donner Release Date June 25, 1976 Studio(s) Twentieth Century Fox Distributor(s) Twentieth Century Fox Writers David Seltzer Cast gregory peck , Lee Remick , Harvey Stephens , David Warner , Billie Whitelaw Runtime 111 Minutes Main Genre Horror Expand
Although The Omen predates The Babadook by almost 40 years, it’s easy to see how the latter was clearly inspired by it. Both films center around young children who are seemingly afflicted by supernatural curses, but the truth of their situation is much darker and more unpredictable that it initially seems. In The Omen, however, this child is the human embodiment of the antichrist, brought into the family after the parents secretly switch their child at birth.
There’s a reason that The Omen has entered the history books as one of the scariest horror movies ever made; it’s filled with demonic imagery and chilling set pieces that effectively get under the audience’s skin and make for an incredibly uncomfortable viewing experience. Much like The Babadook, it’s unclear exactly what direction this story is going to take until things finally pick up towards the end, when everything is let loose and the real horror begins.
2 Smile (2022)
Directed By Parker Finn
Smile 3.0 1
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A psychological horror film written and directed by newcomer Parker Finn, Smile is the story of a woman who, after witnessing a traumatic incident involving a patient, terrifying incidents keep occurring in her life. Sosie Bacon stars as Dr. Rose Cotter, the woman afflicted by these new realistic nightmares. The horrifying occurrences happen so frequently that Rose realizes she’ll have to confront past trauma to escape this new reality and survive the supernatural forces trying to kill her.
Director Parker Finn Release Date September 30, 2022 Studio(s) Paramount Pictures Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures Writers Parker Finn Cast Sosie Bacon , Jessie T. Usher , Kyle Gallner , Robin Weigert , Caitlin Stasey , Kal Penn , Rob Morgan Runtime 115 minutes Budget $17 million Expand
In many ways, Smile feels like a direct response to The Babadook. Not only is the story very similar, but it adheres to many of the same themes; when a young woman is cursed by visions of a monster that nobody else can see, she starts an investigation into how to free herself of this apparent curse. Like The Babadook, it’s a story about how trauma manifests in dangerous ways, with both film’s monsters serving as representations of this process.
Smile
is much more of an all-out horror than
The Babadook
, which often leans more towards terror instead
Smile is much more of an all-out horror than The Babadook, which often leans more towards terror instead. This film features plenty of bloody kills, shocking jumpscares, and disturbing imagery that makes it more overtly frightening, where The Babadook aims instead to make the audience uncomfortable and form a lasting impact.
1 Hereditary (2018)
Directed By Ari Aster
Hereditary 3.5 5
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The feature film debut of writer-director Ari Aster, Hereditary tells the story of the unwittingly cursed Graham family. Annie Graham (Toni Collette) lives with her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) and their children Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro). After the death of Annie’s mother, the family is beset by disaster and stalked by a supernatural entity that dredges up a past that Annie had spent her life trying to overlook.
Director Ari Aster Release Date June 8, 2018 Studio(s) A24 Distributor(s) A24 Writers Ari Aster Cast Toni Collette , Milly Shapiro , Zachary Arthur , Gabriel Byrne , Mallory Bechtel , Alex Wolff , Ann Dowd Runtime 2h 7m Budget 10 million Expand
Hereditary is one of the best ghost stories ever put to screen. It’s a chilling adventure through supernatural folklore, family drama, and childhood trauma that doesn’t let up for a single second, flooding the audience with terrifying scares and unsettling sequences that are remembered long after the credits roll. The story is a very simple ‘haunted house’ archetype, but thanks to Aster’s direction and the ferocious performances, it’s elevated way beyond its tropes.
Much like The Babadook, Aster’s film centers on the family dynamics at the heart of the ghost story. It’s a narrative of love and grief, and while Hereditary isn’t quite as metaphorical as The Babadook, both films do a great job of exploring how the family unit can be broken apart by traumatic experiences.
The Babadook 4.0 4
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Jennifer Kent’s directorial debut follows Amelia, a widowed Australian mother still grieving the violent death of her husband. When Amelia’s son Samuel begins insisting that a monster has taken up residence in their home, she must attempt to keep Sam safe despite the looming seemingly supernatural presence that threatens to take both of their lives. Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman star as Amelia and Samuel.
Director Jennifer Kent Release Date November 28, 2014 Writers Jennifer Kent Cast Noah Wiseman , Essie Davis Runtime 94 minutes