Horror Movies With Similar Premises

Similarities:Both are grindhouse films inspired by Ed Gein's life. They both show gruesome images and a man wearing a woman's severed face. A major similarity is a 'dinner scene' where a young woman is tied at a table with a group of people she does not want to eat with.

Differences:Leatherface focuses on family; he includes his kin in the killings. Ezra Cobb starts his rampage after losing his mother.DerangedDeranged takes Gein's life story very literally. It actually shows moments from his life, unlike Texas Chain Saw MassacreTexas Chain Saw Massacre uses its inspiration a lot and changes history often.

Similarities:2005 was a good year for horror movies about people stuck in caves. Released close together, The CaveandThe DescentBoth show spelunkers trying to escape a cave full of giant monsters. The American version of The DescentThe Descent ends with a twist different from The Cave, but both share an eerie feeling.

Differences: The Cavetakes an action focus as it develops, while The Descentbecomes so tight it causes mass anxiety. We never learn what the creatures are in The Descent, but inThe Cave, it is revealed that the creatures are humans mutated by a parasitic virus.

Similarities:Each deep-sea horror film features hostile 'alien' life forms and asks, 'What is under the ocean, man?' In both, the crews finish long missions and prepare to return home. Both casts have a character about to break under pressure, and each crew faces an underwater mutant creature.DeepStar SixandLeviathanBoth feature strong groups and that whole "Alien but underwater" concept.

Differences:The devil is in the details for these two underwater monster films. Besides obvious differences like cast and director, the monsters are totally different.DeepStar SixDeepStar Six has a more thoughtful mood. The monster is just something awakened from the deep that wants to bite the cast.Leviathanis a much gooier film. Crew members mutate before hunting others; it takes itself less seriously than DeepStar Six. Each film works well on its own.

Similarities:Both films parody late-'90s teen horror movies like ScreamandI Know What You Did Last SummerScary Movie uses very direct jokes. It features a Ghostface-like character and sticks to Wes Craven's slasher plot. This includes the opening scenes where a Drew Barrymore-style character gets quickly cut from the film. A large cast of twenty-somethings plays teens. Fear spreads through a small town as the villain continues his attacks. Both films end at a party where gags and body parts fly.

How They Are Different:The Wayans brothers had the budget to make this film.Scary MovieScary Movie looks like a real horror film from that time. The music hits the mark, and the cast is good.ShriekShriek works with less money, so everything looks cheaper. This compares to the visual style ofFriday the 13th Part IVtoThe Mutilator.

Besides looks and feel, Scary MovieScary Movie uses parodies to target everything, making fun of things fromThe Usual SuspectstoThe MatrixandThe Sixth Sense. Each parody moment tries to match the tone it mocks. Jokes in Shriek use the Zucker brothers' style, with many background actions and characters speaking without making sense. One style does not beat the other; it depends on what you want in a horror spoof.ShriekThe Zucker brothers' model involves many things happening in the background and characters speaking nonsense.

How They Are Similar:Each film predates the 2010s true-crime trend by a few years. Each film draws inspiration from the1965 murder of Sylvia Likens.Both movies feature heavy influence from the French New Extremism movement and American underground films from the early 2000s. People get tied up in a basement; they face a blowtorch; and words get carved or branded into their bellies.

How They Are Different: An American CrimeAn American Crime has a better cast. Catherine Keener, Ellen Page, and Bradley Whitford appear (Keener was nominated for a Golden Globe for her appearance), whileThe Girl Next DoorThe Girl Next Door's group of actors is less known.The GirlThe Girl has a flashback structure, while An American Crime does not.An American CrimeAn American Crime ends with a strange twist involving ghosts. They are very similar, yet totally different.

How They Are Similar:Both 2005 thrillers are set on airplanes. They feature women who know dark secrets about terrorism that others don't know or believe. Each story turns into a cat-and-mouse game with young, attractive male villains before shifting tone in the third act. Red Eye and Flightplan are different, butRed EyeandFlightplanBoth have a scene where a character disappears. No one remembers seeing the missing person except the main character—a variation on a key plot point from Alfred Hitchcock's classicThe Lady Vanishes.

How They Are Different: The films share a similar first half structure. They develop differently as each approaches the climax.Red EyeRed Eye drops the plane idea to become a slasher after ditching the terrorist theme. Flightplanis different.Red Eye takes on the shape of a taut political thriller.

Similarities:These 2014 zombie rom-coms both show how relationships break when a partner comes back from the dead wanting brains. In both movies, the girlfriend dies suddenly, then digs herself out of the grave and returns to "normal" life.

Both films feature the reanimated ex-girlfriend causing relationship problems by trying to eat friends and loved ones. Each movie finishes with the living ex-boyfriend killing his zombie ex-girlfriend to start a new relationship with a living woman who oddly resembles their ex.

Differences:They share an eerie similarity and follow the same story mostly, but Burying the Exhas a lighter tone because Joe Dante directed it (Gremlins, The Burbs). It is also a story with a smaller scope.Life After Bethtakes place early in a full undead outbreak, while the undead girlfriend of Burying the Exis a single event, brought back by magic.

Similarities:What happened when people broke into each other's dreams to kill in 1984? That year saw these two strange movies about how messed up life gets when someone messes with your dreams. Each shows people exploring their dreams to do something in real life. In both films, anyone who dies in their dream also dies in real life.

Differences:The similarities between these films stop at their dream idea.Dreamscapethe dreamer needs to be psychic to change anything, while A Nightmare on Elm Streetdeals with a dream demon that haunts the normal children of Springwood, OH, while they sleep.

Similarities:Besides featuring werewolves, both movies show main characters learning about being a lycanthrope after a wolf-person assaults them. After learning that werewolves exist, both main characters meet their end in a public confrontation.

Differences:Outside their main ideas and similar plot points, these films differ greatly. David from An American Werewolf in LondonKaren gets bitten by a secret werewolf on the English moors, while Karen fromThe Howlingattends a resort full of lustful werewolves. The werewolves of The Howlingare trying to take over the world, while those in American Werewolfprefer to lose their curse quickly.

Similarities:The year 1995 brought two gritty psychological thrillers. A protagonist reluctantly investigates a serial killer who taunts authorities with his smug attitude and unique methods. Each film adds a twist just when the audience thinks there is nothing left to twist. In both, a pair of investigators works the case. Both films end with a surprise "gotcha" moment and a head shot to end the villain.

How They Are Different:Aside from structure and premise, the films differ greatly.Se7enThe villain models his work after the seven cardinal sins. Copycat, however, has the antagonist (Harry Connick Jr.) copying many famous slayers.CopycatThe antagonist, Harry Connick Jr., copies many famous slayers. Investigators in CopycatThe investigators are women. Sigourney Weaver plays an agoraphobic expert on serial slayers. She works with a detective played by Holly Hunter.Se7enIn Se7en, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman riff on the traditional older/younger cop pairing.

Both movies feature little monsters causing chaos in a small town. Both creature groups possess some kind of magic. They are all small, and they want to antagonize humans.Gremlins

How They Are Different:Gremlins come from Mogwai; they are mammals that multiply when wet, turning into monsters if fed after midnight. Ghoulies are demonic beings summoned through satanic ritual.

The films' tones shift widely.GremlinsGremlins is a dark family movie. It feels wholesome despite ending with monsters set on fire.GhouliesGhoulies is a nasty B-movie. It offers quick fun; nothing wrong with that.

How They Are Similar:Both mid-'80s zombie movies share much lore about the undead. Both sequels follow Night of the Living Dead.Night of the Living DeadEach film treats a zombie outbreak as a lost cause. Each shows the government ignoring what it cannot control. The military in Day of the Dead has become a militia.Day of the DeadDay of the Dead

The main similarity is how both films examine zombie psychology. In Day of the Dead, a scientist learns to talk to a zombie named Bub. Some zombies show feelings and memories.Day of the DeadIn Day of the Dead, a scientist learns to communicate with a zombie named Bub. Some zombies show feelings and memories.The Return of the Living DeadIn The Return of the Living Dead, zombies feel rotting inside. Eating brains stops their pain.

How They Are Different:Though these movies share traits, their methods are very different.Day of the DeadDay of the Dead is a slow, pensive film. It focuses on who people become after the world ends.The Return of the Living DeadThe only question in The Return of the Living Dead's mind is, "Do you want to party?" It focuses on loud zombie action, not deep questions.

How They Are Similar:In 1960, Michael Powell and Alfred Hitchcock, arguably the two greatest English filmmakers, made films about lone-wolf slayers and the women they trap in sinister webs. Both movies show villains acting like protagonists. Their social awkwardness, isolation, and trouble relating to women drive their bad actions. Voyeurism shows up in both: Mark Lewis (Karlheinz Bohm), the attacker in "Peeping Tom"."Peeping Tom" records his victims as they die. In "Peeping Tom", the film records his victims as they expire.In "Psycho", Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is a peeping tom. He uses a peephole to watch hotel guest Marion (Janet Leigh) undress.Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) in "Psycho" is literally a peeping tom. He uses a peephole to spy on hotel guest Marion (Janet Leigh) as she undresses.

Both films use quasi-Freudian ideas. They suggest poor parenting shaped the villains' natures.In "Peeping Tom", both films use quasi-Freudian concepts and suggest poor parenting shaped the villains' natures.We learn Mark's father subjected him to psychological tests as a child. In "Psycho", Bates has been twisted by his controlling mother.In "Psycho", Bates has been twisted by the influence of his domineering mother."Bates's" character changes because of his domineering mother.

How They Are Different:In "Peeping Tom", it lacks a structural twist as bold as the shower scene in "Psycho".In "Peeping Tom", it lacks a structural twist as bold as the shower scene in "Psycho".In "Psycho", the film has a shower scene with a structural twist.In "Psycho", the presumed heroine is brutally removed from her own movie. Marion's counterpart in "Peeping Tom" is Helen (Anna Massey).Peeping TomHelen (Anna Massey), who befriends Mark in "Peeping Tom", is imperilled only in the film's final moments.The setting of "Peeping Tom" offers a tone different from the isolated motel and spooky Gothic house where Norman Bates lives.London's busy setting gives "Peeping Tom" a different tone than the isolated motel and spooky Gothic house Norman Bates occupies.

The films received different reactions. "Psycho" was a massive hit, capping the best decade in Hitchcock's career. "Peeping Tom" faced criticism from British critics and failed, ending Powell's career in England.In "Psycho", it was a massive hit that capped the most impressive decade in Hitchcock's career.In "Psycho", it was a massive hit that capped the most impressive decade in Hitchcock's career.In "Peeping Tom", it was derided by British critics and flopped, ending Powell's career in England.In "Peeping Tom", it was derided by British critics and flopped, ending Powell's career in England. Its reputation has since been improved; the critic who attacked it, the "Sunday Times"'s Dilys Powell, apologized decades later.The "Sunday Times"'s Dilys Powell apologized decades later.The "Sunday Times"'s Dilys Powell apologized decades later.The "Sunday Times"'s Dilys Powell apologized decades later.Both films are now seen as masterpieces worthy of their creators.

How They Are Similar:Two groups of friends, no longer friends, drink, use substances, and try to handle the apocalypse. Each film features well-known actors and directors who work together, like Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg or Seth Rogen and James Franco. Both movies have a giant object in the sky pulling the main character to heaven, and both include unusual fighting for comedy.

How They Are Different:The main difference is the apocalypse in "This Is the End".The apocalypse in "This Is the End" is religious, with the Book of Revelation coming true. In "The World's End", the cast deals with an alien invasion.The apocalypse in "This Is the End" is religious, with the Book of Revelation coming true.In "The World's End", the cast deals with an alien invasion.Rogen and Franco in "This Is the End" play exaggerated versions of themselves. Pegg and Frost play specific characters.Rogen and Franco in "This Is the End" play exaggerated versions of themselves.Pegg and Frost play specific characters.