Movies Like The Punishing

If you liked The Punishing, a horror movie directed by Chris Sparling, 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 Ritual (2017)
★ 6.3/10Also horror
A group of university friends reunite for a hiking trip in Sweden, but are stalked by a menacing presence when they're diverted through the woods.
2
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…
3
The Watchers (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also horror
A young artist gets stranded in an extensive, immaculate forest in western Ireland, where, after finding shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers, stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
4
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.
5
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
★ 6.2/10Also horror
Two teenage couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of serial killers end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
6
Gretel & Hansel (2020)
★ 6/10Also horror
A long time ago in a distant fairy tale countryside, a young girl leads her little brother into a dark wood in desperate search of food and work, only to stumble upon a nexus of terrifying evil.
7
Dark Harvest (2023)
★ 6.1/10Also horror
In a small Midwestern town, a deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare, Sawtooth Jack, rises from the cornfields and challenges the town’s teenage boys in a bloody battle of survival.
8
Thinner (1996)
★ 5.9/10Also horror
An obese lawyer finds himself growing "Thinner" when an old Romani man places a hex on him. Now the lawyer must call upon his friends in organized crime to help him persuade the old man to lift the curse. Time is…
9
Hokum (2026)
★ 6.8/10Also horror
When novelist Ohm Bauman retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents' ashes, he is consumed by tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance forces him to confront…
10
R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead (2025)
★ 6.7/10Also horror
When his brother disappears and everyone forgets he existed, Sam must unravel the mystery before Finn is gone forever.
11
Nightbreed (1990)
★ 6.4/10Also horror
A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.
12
Nosferatu (2024)
★ 6.7/10Also horror
A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.
13
Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)
★ 6.2/10Also horror
After a landsman in 18th century England discovers a corpse covered in fur buried in a field, the town becomes infected by "the devil's skin," leading the local children to engage in demonic rituals and criminal…
14
Obsession (2026)
★ 8.2/10Also horror
After breaking the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
15
Silver Bullet (1985)
★ 6.7/10Also horror
The small city of Tarker's Mills is startled by a series of sadistic murders. The population fears the work of a maniac, but sightings of a mysterious, hairy creature soon spread. People lock themselves up at night…
16
The Wicker Man (1973)
★ 7.3/10Also horror
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…
17
In the Lost Lands (2025)
★ 6.3/10Also horror
A queen sends the powerful and feared sorceress Gray Alys to the ghostly wilderness of the Lost Lands in search of a magical power, where she and her guide, the drifter Boyce, must outwit and outfight both man and demon.
18
Daddy's Head (2024)
★ 5.9/10Also horror
A boy and his stepmother fear for their safety after an eerie creature resembling the boy's recently deceased father visits them.
19
You Should Have Left (2020)
★ 6.1/10Also horror
In an effort to repair their relationship, a couple books a vacation in the countryside for themselves and their daughter. What starts as a perfect retreat begins to fall apart as one loses their grip on reality, and a…
20
The Domestics (2018)
★ 6.2/10Also horror
A young husband and wife must fight to return home in a post-apocalyptic mid-western landscape ravaged by gangs.