
Movies that feel likeThe Exorcist (1973)
If you loved The Exorcist, the closest films we have are Poltergeist (1982), The Evil Dead (1983) and The Wicker Man (1973). All three share The Exorcist's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Onibaba (1964).
Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.
If The Exorcist hit the spot, these will too

A family home invaded, and parents fighting to reclaim a daughter
The difference: Spielbergian thrill-ride energy — spectacle over sacrilege

An unleashed demonic force possessing the innocent one by one
The difference: Low-budget splatter delirium — shock and gore over solemn dread

Faith itself under siege in a slow, sickening investigation
The difference: Sunlit folk horror — no demon, just belief turned against a man

A demon mask, human sin and terror rising out of desperation
The difference: A stark Japanese fable — its horror is human, not satanic

The same 1970s documentary-raw terror with no safety net
The difference: Human monsters, not demons — squalid heat, zero theology


The same preoccupation in both: halloween

An innocent walking into an institution rotten with evil
The difference: Lurid color and dream logic — style delivers the fear, not faith

Priests confronting demonic evil through Catholic ritual and doubt
The difference: Jump-scare gothic franchise fare — dread without the gravity

Dread-soaked where it counts, unsettling underneath

Dread-soaked horror, and it commits to that

Horror with a pulse of unease, in both cases
In the mood for more dread?
all dread movies →The best-reviewed films that share The Exorcist’s defining feeling.









