Insidious is one of the most chilling horror movies like Insidious to come out of the past few years.
The story follows a woman named Kya and her son, who both begin to experience strange things after their family home is invaded by a wicked force known as The Department.
There are many scary scenes in Insidious, but it could have ended up scarier if it had been much worse.
Here are amazing movies like Insidious that you should watch.
1. Oculus (2013)
- Director: Mike Flanagan
- Star cast: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso, Garrett Ryan, and James Lafferty
- IMDb rating: 6.5/10
Although it does not feature ghosts or supernatural forces, Oculus is one of the scariest movies like Insidious of recent years.
The story focuses on a man who undergoes experimental torture and retraining and how his altered state of mind can offer a terrifying insight into his psyche.
The use of VR and the fact that the film is shot from an off-kilter perspective add to the movie’s tension and will leave you feeling unsettled.
You can’t help but feel sorry for the main character, who finds himself in this terrible situation.
Oculus also won a few awards, including Best Thriller, so it’s not without merit.
2. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)
- Director: Troy Nixey
- Star cast: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison, Bruce Gleeson, Eddie Ritchard, Garry McDonald, and Carolyn Shakespeare-Allen
- IMDb rating: 5.5/10
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark has all the standard elements of the horror genre, including a scared kid, an anxious mom, and a skeptical dad.
It’s a remake of a classic story, yet it manages to be both surprisingly moving and chilling.
While not quite as disturbing as Insidious, the level of insanity in this movie will have you squirming in your seat.
A little girl and her father’s new girlfriend live in a small, stuffy house throughout the novel.
Chaos ensues quickly when she accidentally releases over a dozen “hungry” ghosts.
Combine an old, damaged home with many ghosts from beyond the grave, and you have the makings of a terrifying horror movie.
If the home itself doesn’t give you goosebumps, the ghost will. Watch the trailer that’s been embedded above. This is undoubtedly one of the amazing movies like Insidious.
3. Get Out (2017)
- Director: Jordan Peele
- Star cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener, Caleb Landry Jones, Marcus Henderson, and Betty Gabriel
- IMDb rating: 7.7/10
If you have seen Get Out, you will know just how eerie and unsettling it is.
It follows a young black man named Chris who visits the family of his Caucasian girlfriend, but when he arrives, he is quickly made uncomfortable.
From then on, he is haunted by strange visions and encounters, and it soon becomes clear that they result from some monstrous creature.
It has been described as “Rosemary’s Baby meets Paranormal Activity,” which is an excellent way to summarise the plot. You can’t help but feel uneasy watching this.
4. The Conjuring (2013)
- Director: James Wan
- Star cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, and Joey King
- IMDb rating: 7.5/10
Terrifying movies like Insidious and The Conjuring are not always the first thing that comes to mind when you think about scary movies.
However, there are many things that the Conjuring does better than most.
This movie follows a family who moves into a townhouse with a dark and evil history.
The Conjuring is a classic story of paranormal investigators who encounter an evil force, and it will leave you feeling very unsettled and uneasy.
5. Crimson Peak (2015)
- Director: Guillermo del Toro
- Star cast: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, Jim Beaver, Burn Gorman, and Leslie Hope
- IMDb rating: 6.5/10
Crimson Peak might have underperformed at the box office, but it was one of the unique horror movies like Insidious of recent years.
The story is set in an eerie and grim castle, and it follows a woman who is married to a man with a bloodthirsty passion for Gothic decor and creepy stories.
It can be confusing, but the action is fast-paced, and the visuals are stunning. This is a great choice if you like your horror with a strong visual element.
6. It (2017)
- Director: Andy Muschietti
- Star cast: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Chosen Jacobs, and Jack Dylan Grazer
- IMDb rating: 7.3/10
The scary quality of It is not so much in the actual plot but in the context around the story.
The movie is set in the ’70s and follows a group of young kids being preyed upon by an ancient evil.
This movie is scary because you can see the influence “It” has had on pop culture over the years.
You can also see how it has been used to shape society” s perception of children and women.
This is a great example of why certain movies like Insidious can make you feel unsafe in your home.
7. The Conjuring 2 (2016)
- Director: James Wan
- Star cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe, Frances O’Connor, Lauren Esposito, Benjamin Haigh, and Patrick McAuley
- IMDb rating: 7.3/10
If you have not seen The Conjuring 2, you have been missing out on one of the scariest movies like Insidious in recent years.
This is a sequel to one of the most frightening movies of recent years, and it picks up where the first movie left off.
The Conjuring 2 is set in the same haunted house but shows a different perspective on the events there.
This time, it is the possessed woman who is terrorizing the family.
It shows just how terrifying the demon can be, and it will leave you feeling unsettled for weeks after watching it.
8. Wolf Creek (2005)
- Director: Greg McLean
- Star cast: Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, John Jarratt, Gordon Poole, Guy O’Donnell, and Phil Stevenson
- IMDb rating: 6.2/10
Wolf Creek is a brutal Canadian horror movie released in 2005, and as the name would suggest, it revolves around an evil wolf that has been stalking the Australian outback.
The story follows a young backpacker who travels to the outback on a solo holiday, and although he initially seems like a nice person, it soon becomes clear that he has a very dark side.
This movie is a great example of how scary a movie like Insidious can be and a good example of how scary the Australian outback can be.
9. Paranormal Activity (2007)
- Director: Oren Peli
- Star cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong, Ashley Palmer, Crystal Cartwright, and Spencer Marks
- IMDb rating: 6.3/10
Paranormal Activity is a classic movie like Insidious, released back in ’07. The story follows a couple who begin to experience strange things in their home.
Although the events are unreal, they are terrifying enough to make them uncomfortable.
The entire concept behind Paranormal Activity is that it is a found footage movie, so you will see the camera footage from the camera of someone who is possessed.
This movie is not only one of the amazing movies like Insidious but also a great example of how scary the concept of a haunted house can be.
10. The Witch (2015)
- Director: Robert Eggers
- Star cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Julian Richings, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson
- IMDb rating: 6.9/10
The Witch is a great example of a movie like Insidious that is a bit of a throwback to the classics.
It tells the classic story of a family who travels to a mystical land called The New World but is quickly met with great danger.
This is a good example of how scary a story like Insidious can be when told with a classic story.
The Witch was one of the most critically-acclaimed new releases of 2016 and is an excellent example of why some movies are like Insidious.
11. The Ring (2002)
- Director: Gore Verbinski
- Star cast: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox, David Dorfman, Jane Alexander, Lindsay Frost, and Amber Tamblyn
- IMDb rating: 7.1/10
The Ring is one of the scariest movies like Insidious, but if it had been much worse, it could have been one of the worst.
This movie was a huge commercial success upon release, but it was also critically panned.
The Ring is about a cursed videotape that kills the watcher. The horror in the movie comes from the fact that no one knows who or what is behind the tape.
If someone was behind this tape, they could be anyone. The Ring is one of those movies that could have had a much scarier premise.
12. Don’t Breathe (2016)
- Director: Fede Alvarez
- Star cast: Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto, Emma Bercovici, Franciska Töröcsik, and Christian Zagia
- IMDb rating: 7.1/10
Don’t Breathe is one of the best horror movies like insidious of recent years.
It follows a group of friends who break into the home of a blind man so they can rob him. The thing is, the blind man isn’t completely blind.
He can see just enough to know that his neighbors are a bunch of low-life criminals. Don’t Breathe is one of those movies where the “wrong” people die.
The blind man’s neighbors aren’t nice people and are more than happy to hunt down and kill anyone who breaks into their home.
If Don’t Breathe had been much worse, it could have been a torture movie.
13. The Exorcist III (1990)
- Director: William Peter Blatty
- Star cast: George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Brad Dourif, Jason Miller, Nicol Williamson, Scott Wilson, and Nancy Fish
- IMDb rating: 6.5/10
The Exorcist III is a terrible movie, but it is also one of the best movies like Insidious that could have been worse.
This is great for the movie but is also the start of a long line of bad ideas.
The Exorcist III is about a father trying to find his daughter, who a cult has kidnaped. The cult is trying to summon a demon.
However, The Exorcist III is like Insidious, except it is about a cult. This could have been one of many cheesy horror movies, but it ended up being scary.
14. Nightbreed (1990)
- Director: Clive Barker
- Star cast: Craig Sheffer, David Cronenberg, Anne Bobby, Charles Haid, Hugh Quarshie, Hugh Ross, and Doug Bradley
- IMDb rating: 6.5/10
Nightbreed is another movie like Insidious that could have been much scarier.
The movie follows a man named Scott who is searching for the identity of a serial killer.
Scott is trying to track down this killer because he believes that the killer may be his son.
The killer’s nickname is “The Nightbreed.” At first, Scott believes that the Nightbreed is just a nickname.
However, as Scott begins to search, he uncovers a secret society of monsters. Nightbreed could have been a lot scarier, but it instead plays it a bit too straight.
15. Grave Encounters (2011)
- Director: Colin MinihanStuart OrtizThe Vicious Brothers
- Star cast: Benjamin Wilkinson, Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryzko, Merwin Mondesir, Juan Riedinger, Shawn Macdonald, and Arthur Corber
- IMDb rating: 6.1/10
Shawn Angelski’s Grave Encounters follows a group of unfortunate ghost hunters who spend the night at a mental institution attempting to film a ghost.
The truth is that they end up with more than they anticipated.
Once inside, there’s no escape from the hospital’s maze-like corridors and floors unless you’re ready to risk your life by leaping from one of the building’s many high windows.
The storyline quickens as the night continues, becoming a roller coaster with clever jump scares sprinkled throughout.
Although much of Grave Encounters is lifted straight from modern movies, the charming premise and strong actors’ performances help prevent everything from falling apart.
16. Trick ‘r Treat (2022)
- Director: Wesley Mellott
- Star cast: Rob Coccagna, Gavin Crist, Logan Crist, Rebecca Crist, Steven Crist, Andrew Glessner, and Shelby Hightower
- IMDb rating: 7.1/10
Trick ‘r Treat is an enjoyable horror movie, but it is also one of those movies like Insidious that you should watch.
The movie is about a group of friends trapped in a store on Halloween night.
They are trapped because a man with a grudge against trick-or-treaters has kidnapped a girl who is the girlfriend of one of their friends.
17. Hell Night (1981)
- Director: Tom DeSimone
- Star cast: Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Peter Barton, Kevin Brophy, Jenny Neumann, Suki Goodwin, and Jimmy Sturtevant
- IMDb rating: 5.6/10
Hell Night follows a group of friends forced to spend a Halloween night in an abandoned psychiatric hospital.
The friends are trying to figure out why they are being forced to spend an evening in a hospital that nobody has bothered to renovate since it was closed in the ’70s.
During their stay, the friends begin to experience strange things, such as mysterious noises, feelings of dread, and even the appearance of the ghost of a girl who died in the hospital.
18. The Awakening (2011)
- Director: Nick Murphy
- Star cast: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Lucy Cohu, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Shaun Dooley, and Joseph Mawle
- IMDb rating: 6.4/10
In the midst of nowhere, a ghost hunter begins to see unexplainable occurrences at a supposedly haunted boarding school.
At first, she thinks someone is simply a prankster, but when she considers the possibility that the little room may be haunted, things turn dark.
The Awakening takes numerous cues from the 2001 cult masterpiece, The Others.
It captures not just the gloomy mood but also the story structure of the original. The storytelling and acting are the movie’s saving graces.
The romance interwoven throughout the story’s gloomy and dismal tone works surprisingly well.
Someone who isn’t paying close enough attention to the movie might find it frustrating.
All the questions it first poses are answered, and all the spaces are filled in by the clues it drops.
Among the abundance of mindless horror movies like Insidious, The Awakening stands out as an intelligent, well-crafted alternative.
