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Scream poster

Movies that feel likeScream (1996)

A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.

If you loved Scream, the closest films we have are Black Christmas (1974), Saw (2004) and Longlegs (2024). All three share Scream's gritty and dread feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Wailing (2016).

πŸ… 78% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Wes Cravengrittydreadunsettlingtwisty
12 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· HBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video

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If Scream hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Scream 2 (1997) Β· Scream 3 (2000) Β· Scream 4 (2011) Β· Scream (2022) Β· Scream VI (2023)

Black Christmas poster
Black Christmas
1974 Β· dir. Bob Clark
πŸ… 73%β˜… 7.1horror Β· mystery Β· crimePrime VideoPeacock

The blueprint slasher this one borrows its stalking phone calls from

The difference: A grim sorority-house setting, no self-aware genre wit

As the residents of the Pi Kappa Sigma sorority house prepare for the festive season, a stranger begins to harass them with a series of obscene phone calls.

Saw poster
Saw
2004 Β· dir. James Wan
πŸ… 50%β˜… 7.6horror Β· mystery Β· crimePeacock

A puzzle-box killer whose game the victims must solve to survive

The difference: Torture-trap horror, not a masked stalker calling on the phone

Two men wake up to find themselves shackled in a grimy, abandoned bathroom. As they struggle to comprehend their predicament, they discover a disturbing tape left behind by the sadistic mastermind known as Jigsaw. With a chilling voice and cryptic instructions, Jigsaw informs them that they must partake in a gruesome game in order to secure their freedom.

Longlegs poster
Longlegs
2024 Β· dir. Osgood Perkins
πŸ… 85%β˜… 6.5crime Β· horror Β· mysteryHulu

An investigator chasing a ritualistic serial killer's twisted game

The difference: Occult FBI procedural, not a killer taunting teens by phone

FBI Agent Lee Harker is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer. As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.

The Blair Witch Project poster
The Blair Witch Project
1999 Β· dir. Daniel Myrick
πŸ… 86%β˜… 6.5horror Β· mysteryMax

Ordinary young people pursued by a dread that never quite resolves

The difference: Found-footage woods horror, no killer or whodunit at all

In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.

The Ring poster
The Ring
2002 Β· dir. Gore Verbinski
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7.1horror Β· mysteryNetflixParamount+

An investigator racing a countdown against an unstoppable curse

The difference: A cursed videotape myth, no killer to unmask at the end

Journalist Rachel Keller investigates a strange videotape that may be behind the untimely deaths of four teenagers. There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will die seven days after watching it. Rachel tracks down the video... and watches it. Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery of the Ring in order to save herself and her son.

The Wailing poster
The Wailing
2016 Β· dir. Na Hong-jin
πŸ… 99%β˜… 7.4horror Β· mystery

A small town's sudden violence unravels into a twisty mystery

The difference: Supernatural possession horror, no masked slasher or genre jokes

A stranger arrives in a little village and soon after a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman is drawn into the incident and is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.

Silent Hill poster
Silent Hill
2006 Β· dir. Christophe Gans
πŸ… 34%β˜… 6.5horror Β· mysteryPeacock

Gritty where it counts, dread-soaked underneath

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Rose, a desperate mother, takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill in an attempt to cure her of her ailment. After a violent car crash, Sharon disappears, and Rose embarks on a horrific journey to get her back and begins to uncover the truth behind the apocalyptic disaster that burned the town 30 years earlier.

Jeepers Creepers poster
Jeepers Creepers
2001 Β· dir. Victor Salva
πŸ… 47%β˜… 6.2horror Β· mystery

Teens hunted on isolated roads by a relentless masked pursuer

The difference: A supernatural monster origin, no whodunit or meta commentary

On a desolate country highway, two homeward-bound teens are nearly run off the road by a maniac in a beat-up truck, and later spot him shoving what appears to be a body down a sewer pipe.

Paranormal Activity poster
Paranormal Activity
2009 Β· dir. Oren Peli
πŸ… 82%β˜… 6.3horror Β· mysteryParamount+Peacock

The same preoccupation in both: halloween

The difference: Takes it somewhere less gritty than Scream does

After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly the most active in the middle of the night.

It Follows poster
It Follows
2015 Β· dir. David Robert Mitchell
πŸ… 95%β˜… 6.8horror Β· mysteryParamount+Peacock

A young woman stalked by an unshakable, inevitable threat

The difference: An abstract supernatural curse, not a flesh-and-blood killer

A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter.

Final Destination 2 poster
Final Destination 2
2003 Β· dir. David R. Ellis
πŸ… 52%β˜… 6.2horror Β· mysteryMax

Ordinary teens picked off one by one by an unseen, patient threat

The difference: Death itself as the killer, no mask or motive to uncover

When Kimberly has a violent premonition of a highway pileup she blocks the freeway, keeping a few others meant to die, safe...Or are they? The survivors mysteriously start dying and it's up to Kimberly to stop it before she's next.

A Nightmare on Elm Street poster
A Nightmare on Elm Street
1984 Β· dir. Wes Craven
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.4horrorMax

Wes Craven's earlier stalker terrorizing a small town's teenagers

The difference: Dream-logic supernatural killer instead of a real, unmasked one

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...

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Scream’s defining feeling.