Movies Like Real Detective Stories

If you liked Real Detective Stories (1999), a horror movie directed by Gary Whitson, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014)
★ 5.9/10Also horror
A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
2
Play Dead (2025)
★ 6.3/10Also horror
A woman wakes up injured in a basement surrounded by corpses. To survive, she pretends to be dead while a grotesque ritual unfolds in the house above.
3
The Dreadful (2026)
★ 5.9/10Also horror
In medieval England, Anne and her domineering mother-in-law Morwen struggle to survive on the outskirts of society. But when a man from Anne's past returns from war, a curse begins to take shape through a mysterious…
4
Nightmare Cinema (2018)
★ 5.8/10Also horror
A series of down-on-their-luck individuals enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist – a mysterious…
5
A Nun's Curse (2020)
★ 6.4/10Also horror
A group of travelers are forced to seek shelter inside an abandoned jail where a notorious nun named Sister Monday had once been assigned and was suspected of murdering prisoners.
6
Daddy's Little Girl (2014)
★ 6.1/10Also horror
After the police find Derek’s daughter brutally murdered on the beach, he vows to make the culprit suffer for his actions, even if that person is ‘part of the family.’ With careful research into the history of torture…
7
Bone Lake (2025)
★ 5.9/10Also horror
A couple’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate is upended when they are forced to share the mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. In this darkly hilarious and seductive horror story, a dream…
8
Never Let Go (2024)
★ 6.1/10Also horror
As an evil takes over the world beyond their front doorstep, the only protection for a mother and her twin sons is their house and their family’s protective bond.
9
Eradication (2022)
★ 6.1/10Also horror
When an unknown disease wipes out most of the world’s population, a man with unique blood is isolated for study. Fearing for his wife’s safety, he breaks his quarantine – into a world overrun by monstrous Infected and…
10
Urban Legend (1998)
★ 6.1/10Also horror
A college campus is plagued by a vicious serial killer murdering students in ways that correspond to various urban legends.
11
Succubus (2024)
★ 8.3/10Also horror
A new father going through a marital separation joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman... whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he…
12
The Howling (1981)
★ 6.6/10Also horror
After a bizarre and near fatal encounter with a serial killer, a newswoman is sent to a rehabilitation center whose inhabitants may not be what they seem.
13
The Exorcist III (1990)
★ 6.3/10Also horror
On the fifteenth anniversary of the exorcism that claimed Father Damien Karras' life, Police Lieutenant Kinderman's world is once again shattered when a boy is found decapitated and savagely crucified.
14
Frank and Penelope (2022)
★ 7.3/10Also horror
A tale of love and violence when a man on his emotional last legs finds a savior seductively dancing in a run-down strip club. And a life most certainly headed off a cliff suddenly becomes redirected - as everything is…
15
The Boy Behind the Door (2020)
★ 6.2/10Also horror
Bobby tries to save himself and his best friend when they are kidnapped on their way home from school.
16
Strange Darling (2024)
★ 6.9/10Also horror
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
17
Halloween (2018)
★ 6.6/10Also horror
Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
18
Abigail Haunting (2020)
★ 6.7/10Also horror
After escaping the clutches of an abusive relationship, Katie reluctantly returns to the foster home she grew up in. Little does she know, her foster mother Marge is harboring a sinister secret dating back a decade…
19
The Boogeyman (2023)
★ 6.4/10Also horror
Still reeling from the tragic death of their mother, a teenage girl and her younger sister find themselves plagued by a sadistic presence in their house and struggle to get their grieving father to pay attention before…
20
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
★ 7.3/10Also horror
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.