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Movies that feel like Possession (1981)

If you loved Possession, the closest films we have are Suspiria (1977), Poltergeist (1982) and The Fog (1980). All three share Possession's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Philo, YouTube TV and Fandor Amazon Channel and others, checked against today's data.

A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspects that a man is involved. But gradually, he finds out more and more strange behaviors and bizarre incidents that indicate something more than a possessed love affair.

🍅 87% Rotten Tomatoes7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Andrzej Żuławskidreadunsettlingobsessive

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If Possession hit the spot, these will too

Suspiria poster
Suspiria
1977 · dir. Dario Argento
🍅 94%7.3horror

Both built around germany

The difference: Missing the obsession of Possession

An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.

Feels alike?
Poltergeist poster
Poltergeist
1982 · dir. Tobe Hooper
🍅 89%7.3horror

Dread-soaked where it counts, unsettling underneath

The Freelings' suburban home becomes the center of paranormal activity that opens a portal to the 'other side'. With help, they must cross over to get their daughter back.

Feels alike?
The Fog poster
The Fog
1980 · dir. John Carpenter
🍅 76%6.8horror

Horror built on dread, twice over

Strange things begin to occur as a tiny California coastal town prepares to commemorate its centenary. Inanimate objects spring eerily to life; Rev. Malone stumbles upon a dark secret about the town's founding; radio announcer Stevie witnesses a mystical fire; and hitchhiker Elizabeth discovers the mutilated corpse of a fisherman. Then a mysterious iridescent fog descends upon the village, and more people start to die.

Feels alike?
The Wicker Man poster
The Wicker Man
1973 · dir. Robin Hardy
🍅 92%7.5horror

The same preoccupation in both: investigation

Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. The investigation is further complicated as Howie’s religious views clash with those of the island’s residents.

Feels alike?
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre poster
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
1974 · dir. Tobe Hooper
🍅 85%7.4horror

Unsettling horror, and it commits to that

Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way, they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.

Feels alike?
The Exorcist poster
The Exorcist
1973 · dir. William Friedkin
🍅 78%8.1horror

Both keep circling back to possession

When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.

Feels alike?
Child's Play poster
Child's Play
1988 · dir. Tom Holland
🍅 65%6.7horror

Horror with a pulse of dread, in both cases

After being shot in a toy store, a serial killer transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll. A mother then gifts it to her six-year-old son Andy, which unleashes terror upon the city.

Feels alike?
The Haunting poster
The Haunting
1963 · dir. Robert Wise
🍅 87%7.4horror

Both sit in the same unsettling register

Dr. John Markway recruits three strangers for a sleep-disorder study at the eerie and isolated Hill House. It soon becomes clear his real interest lies in the mansion itself and its sinister history, as they are forced to confront the nature of its horror…

Feels alike?
Final Destination poster
Final Destination
2000 · dir. James Wong
🍅 51%6.7horror

Horror approached the same way

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

After a teenager has a terrifying vision of him and his friends dying in a plane crash, he prevents the accident only to have Death hunt them down, one by one.

Feels alike?
Onibaba poster
Onibaba
1964 · dir. Kaneto Shindō
🍅 90%7.8horror

Both are horror through and through

While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.

Feels alike?
Saw II poster
Saw II
2005 · dir. Darren Lynn Bousman
🍅 39%6.6horror

The same horror instincts

The difference: A 2000s film, from a different era of filmmaking

The chilling and relentless Jigsaw killer returns to terrorize the city once again. When a gruesome murder victim emerges with unmistakable traces of Jigsaw's sinister methods, Detective Eric Matthews is thrust into a high-stakes investigation. To his surprise, apprehending Jigsaw seems almost too easy, but what he doesn't realize is that being caught is merely another piece of Jigsaw's intricate puzzle.

Feels alike?
Triangle poster
Triangle
2009 · dir. Christopher Smith
🍅 78%6.9horror

Cut from the same horror cloth

When Jess sets sail on a yacht with a group of friends, she cannot shake the feeling that there is something wrong.

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In the mood for more dread?

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