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Movies that feel like Kwaidan (1965)

If you loved Kwaidan, the closest films we have are Interview with the Vampire (1994), mother! (2017) and Lamb (2021). All three share Kwaidan's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 7 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on YouTube TV, fuboTV and MGM+ Amazon Channel and others, checked against today's data.

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.

πŸ… 91% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Masaki Kobayashidreadunsettlingdreamlikecontemplative

When is Kwaidan streaming? β†’

If Kwaidan hit the spot, these will too

Interview with the Vampire poster
Interview with the Vampire
1994 Β· dir. Neil Jordan
πŸ… 66%β˜… 7.5horror Β· drama Β· fantasy

The same mix in both: dread, then unease

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

A vampire relates his epic life story of love, betrayal, loneliness, and dark hunger to an over-curious reporter.

Feels alike?
mother! poster
mother!
2017 Β· dir. Darren Aronofsky
πŸ… 68%β˜… 6.6horror Β· drama

Dreamlike where it counts, contemplative underneath

The difference: 52 years apart, and the 2010s show

A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.

Feels alike?
Lamb poster
Lamb
2021 Β· dir. Valdimar JΓ³hannsson
πŸ… 86%β˜… 6.3drama Β· fantasy Β· horror

Horror with a pulse of dread, in both cases

An Icelandic couple live with their herd of sheep on a beautiful but remote farm. When they discover a mysterious newborn on their land, they decide to keep it and raise it as their own. This unexpected development and the prospects of a new family brings them much joy before ultimately destroying them.

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Let the Right One In poster
Let the Right One In
2008 Β· dir. Tomas Alfredson
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.8horror Β· drama

Both trade on unease more than on being drama

The difference: None of the dream logic that defines Kwaidan

When Oskar, a sensitive, bullied 12-year-old boy, meets his new neighbor, the mysterious and moody Eli, they strike up a friendship. Initially reserved with each other, Oskar and Eli slowly form a close bond, but it soon becomes apparent that she is no ordinary young girl.

Feels alike?
Repulsion poster
Repulsion
1965 Β· dir. Roman Polanski
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.6drama Β· thriller Β· horror

Fantasy built on dream logic, twice over

The difference: Leans thriller where Kwaidan does not

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.

Feels alike?
Nosferatu poster
Nosferatu
2024 Β· dir. Robert Eggers
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.1horror Β· fantasy

Dread-soaked horror, and it commits to that

A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street poster
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.3drama Β· horror

Contemplative drama in both cases

The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, a.k.a Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the hit Broadway musical.

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The Devil's Backbone poster
The Devil's Backbone
2001 Β· dir. Guillermo del Toro
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.4fantasy Β· drama Β· horror

The same preoccupation in both: ghost

Spain, 1939. In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, the young Carlos arrives at the Santa LucΓ­a orphanage, where he will make friends and enemies as he follows the quiet footsteps of a mysterious presence eager for revenge.

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Don't Look Now poster
Don't Look Now
1973 Β· dir. Nicolas Roeg
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.1thriller Β· drama Β· horror

Unsettling fantasy in both cases

While grieving a terrible loss, a married couple meet two mysterious sisters, one of whom gives them a message sent from the afterlife.

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The Witches poster
The Witches
1990 Β· dir. Nicolas Roeg
πŸ… 94%β˜… 6.8fantasy Β· family Β· horror

Horror built on dream logic, twice over

While staying at a hotel in England with his grandmother, Helga, a young boy named Luke inadvertently spies on a convention of witches. The Grand High Witch reveals a plan to turn all children into mice via a magical formula. When they discover the eavesdropper, the witches test the formula on him. Now, with the help of Helga and hotel manager Mr Stringer, Luke the mouse must fight back against the witches.

Feels alike?
A Nightmare on Elm Street poster
A Nightmare on Elm Street
1984 Β· dir. Wes Craven
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.4horror

Horror approached the same way

Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...

Feels alike?
The Last Wave poster
The Last Wave
1977 Β· dir. Peter Weir
πŸ… 78%β˜… 6.9drama Β· mystery Β· horror

Both trade on stillness more than on being drama

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal people in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing truths about himself and premonitions.

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In the mood for more dread?

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The best-reviewed films that share Kwaidan's defining feeling.