30 Scary Movies Like Midsommar You Need To Watch

Director Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" is considered by many to be among the best horror movies ever made. If you consider yourself a horror aficionado, you simply must see this film. The story begins with a young couple, Rosemary and Guy (played by Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes), moving into an apartment building rumored to have a connection to witchcraft. Their neighbors Minnie and Roman Castevet (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer) are as bizarre as the building's reputation. While Rosemary avoids their elderly neighbors, Guy becomes friends with them. When Rosemary becomes pregnant, her paranoia and suspicion grow.

Rosemary becomes convinced the Castavets are part of a Satanic cult who wish to use her baby for their rituals. Like "Midsommar," Polanski's classic is a slow burn, with strange and unsettling occurrences escalating into a nightmarish fever pitch of horror at the end of the film. As film critic Roger Ebert said of this genre masterpiece, "It is a creepy film and a crawly film, and a film filled with things that go bump in the night. It is very good."

Director Robin Hardy's 1973 horror film "The Wicker Man" is an excellent example of both folk horror and experimental filmmaking in the era of free love, complete with an electric guitar-heavy original score. This visually bizarre film begins when a devout Christian policeman, Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to the Scottish community of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a girl named Rowan Morrison. When he arrives on the remote island, he is disturbed to find the inhabitants practice pagan rituals, wearing animal head masks and copulating in groups outdoors.

His frustration with the strange community grows when he feels the entire town is impeding his investigation. Sargent Howie's disapproval of their bizarre spiritual beliefs is a key component to the story, much like in "Midsommar." "The Wicker Man" was remade in 2006, but honestly, the original is far better. It is eerie, whimsical, and creepy in equal measures. Christopher Lee is excellent as the eccentric Lord Summerisle, who presides over the annual fertility rituals Sargent Howie has stumbled upon during his nightmarish visit to this isolated little cult.

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film "The Shining" is modern Gothic horror, not folk horror, but much like "Midsommar," Kubrick's film feeds off the fear of isolation and a destabilizing uncertainty about what is real. This film is based on Stephen King's best-selling novel of the same name, and has literally terrorized generations, securing its place in horror history. Starring Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, Shelley Duvall as his wife Wendy, and Danny Lloyd as their son Danny, the film is set in the isolated and snowbound Overlook Hotel, where the family will act as winter caretakers while Jack writes a novel.

True to Gothic horror conventions, the hotel has a menacing presence that slowly poisons Jack's mind, driving him mad, while his psychic son Danny is traumatized by disturbing visions and creepy little girls walking the halls. "The Shining" terrifies the audience by playing with our senses. The sound of Danny's three-wheeler's tires rolling over the carpets and hardwood floors lulls you into a trance, before elevator doors open and flood the hallway with blood. This film evokes a tremendous amount of anxiety through the real fear of being trapped with a madman stalking you through haunted halls with nowhere to hide.

The 1987 film "The Believers," starring Martin Sheen, Robert Loggia and Jimmy Smits, is a frightening exploration of a brujeria cult performing child sacrifices in New York City. Cal Jamison (Sheen), a psychiatrist working for the NYPD, is brought in to interview detective Tom Lopez (Smits) who is having a mental breakdown after finding a child murdered in a ritualistic ceremony in an abandoned movie theater. During the investigation, Cal discovers the cult has set their sights on his son, Chris, played by Harley Cross.

This film is at once a procedural crime drama and a horror film about a cult practicing a malevolent version of Latin-American witchcraft. The two stories are also tied together by the main characters, both having recently experienced a traumatic death in their families. Although "The Believers" is a departure from the folk horror genre, the themes of ritualistic sacrifice and the clashing of spiritual beliefs from two cultures connect with "Midsommar" on a thematic level. 

M. Night Shyamalan's 2004 movie "The Village" is set in an isolated hamlet surrounded by woods that the residents are forbidden to enter. The community has established a tenuous peace with the creatures who live in the forest. If the villagers stay out of the woods, the entities will stay out of the village. This film is a period thriller, exploring a restrictive, fear-based culture with little room for discovery or individuality. Shyamalan's films are often received with mixed reviews, and this one was no different.

To its credit, the film has an excellent cast, including Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Adrien Brody. The cinematography is stunning, the score is haunting (receiving an Oscar nomination), and the film elicits more than a few jolting scares. It seems that "The Village" lost many viewers' admiration with the twist ending, which reveals that the collective traumas the founders have experienced drove them to create their version of utopia in the middle of the woods. Like "Midsommar," Shyamalan's film explores themes of isolation, community control, and the aftermath of personal trauma.

"The Skeleton Key" is an excellent example of a Southern Gothic horror film about a young New Orleans hospice nurse named Caroline Ellis (Kate Hudson) who is drawn into a supernatural mystery when she goes to Terrebonne Parish. She is there to care for an elderly man, Ben Devereaux (John Hurt), living in a decrepit plantation house with his wife, Violet (Gena Rowlands). Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, is a back swamp area where some locals practice Hoodoo, a type of folk magic brought to America by the transatlantic slave trade.

Caroline doesn't believe in Hoodoo, thinking it superstitious nonsense, but her friend Jill (Joy Bryant) is spooked, telling Caroline to get out of there before she starts believing. This film is filled with suspense as strange things happen to Caroline at the plantation house, making her question her beliefs. Like "Midsommar," this film is centered on a young woman in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by spiritual practices she doesn't understand. This film is spooky and haunting, holding the tension until the last moment.

When Will (Logan Marshall-Green) accepts an invitation to a dinner party from his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) in Karyn Kusama's eerie 2015 film "The Invitation," we immediately expect an uncomfortable and awkward night. The tension of the night is increased because Eden's new partner, David, the man she left Will for, is also in attendance. It becomes clear shortly after he arrives that visiting the home he used to live in with his ex-wife and his deceased son is too much for Will. He is on edge, clashing with David (Michiel Huisman), while this dinner party is intended as a reunion of friends who haven't seen each other since Will and Eden's son died two years ago.

During the party, we learn Eden and David, as well as their two random guests, Pruitt and Sadie, met in Mexico visiting a commune. Everyone jokes about it being a cult, but as the night progresses, the tension between the guests and the hosts becomes unbearable. Will believes something bad is going on, but everyone dismisses his feelings, thinking him paranoid, until the tension builds to a violent climax. The true horror of the night, however, is revealed in the final moments of the film — a plot twist too good to spoil.

"A Dark Song" is an exploration of a mother's grief and the healing power of ritual. Writer/director Liam Gavin's 2016 film is about a young mother trying to go on with life after experiencing the trauma of her child being tragically murdered. When Sophia Howard (Catherine Walker) rents an isolated house in Wales, she convinces occultist Joseph Solomon (Steve Oram) to help her perform an esoteric months-long ritual to summon her guardian angel, so she can speak to her son again.

Many of the rituals are dark and emotionally trying, but there are also moments of beauty. It is unclear if the rituals are working, leading to an altercation between Solomon and Sophia in which he accuses her of being dishonest about her intentions. She confesses that her desire is to ask the angel for vengeance on the people who killed her child. Solomon performs a baptismal rite, essentially drowning Sophia before bringing her back, and they continue forward even after he is injured during a subsequent argument.

Like many horror films where the characters have succumbed to madness from isolation, it's unclear what is real and what isn't, but like "Midsommar," it ends with the audience feeling our heroine has turned a corner, finally moving forward on her journey toward healing.

Netflix original "The Ritual" is a folk horror film steeped in the Norse mythology of Sweden, complete with a mysterious reindeer-like monster and a creepy group of people isolated in the woods that give off major witchy "I cook children in an oven" vibes. When a quartet of male friends from the UK go on a hiking trip in Sweden as a memorial for their friend, who died six months earlier in a liquor store robbery gone wrong, things don't go as planned. Dom (played by Sam Troughton) twists his ankle on the second day, leading the group to abandon the safe hiking trail for a shortcut through the woods.

The woods are silent, dark and deep, leading the men into a "dark night of the soul" ordeal that tests their fractured friendships, breaking both bodies and minds. In particular, central character Luke (Rafe Spall) must confront the guilt he carries for not attempting to save his friend Robert during the robbery. Much like Dani in "Midsommar," the trauma Luke experiences during his hiking-trip-turned-nightmare is a catharsis of sorts, leaving him shaken but strong.

"Get Out" was writer Jordan Peele's directorial debut, and he won an Oscar for writing the film's original screenplay. "Get Out" was both a box office success and a critically acclaimed genre outing. Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) travels with his girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) to visit her parents. Chris is anxious about how her parents will respond to her bringing a Black boyfriend home despite her insistence it won't be an issue for her progressive parents.

After allowing Missy (Catherine Keener), Rose's hypnotherapist mother, to hypnotize him to cure his smoking addiction, Chris' discomfort with the family quickly grows into full-blown paranoia when he becomes convinced something sinister is at work in this tight-knit, affluent community in upstate New York. Chris' paranoia is soon revealed to be justified, as we learn what Rose's parents are up to and that their sights are set on Chris next. "Get Out" is a must-see horror film that taps into the same dread of isolated communities as "Midsommar" while also tackling explosive cultural questions. 

Netflix's "Apostle" is a period horror film set in 1905 in the UK. When Thomas Richardson (Dan Stevens) returns home from China where he was believed to be dead, he learns that a cult has kidnapped his sister Jennifer (Elen Rhys) and is holding her for ransom. Determined to get his sister back, Thomas travels to the remote Welsh island where the cult has taken Jennifer. On the island, Thomas infiltrates the community posing as a new convert, quickly meeting Malcolm (Michael Sheen), who founded the cult with Frank and Quinn. After a newcomer attempts to assassinate Malcolm, injuring Thomas instead, Malcolm becomes certain there is another intruder on the island.

As the tension mounts, it becomes clear the leadership of the cult is crumbling, with Quinn usurping control after killing his daughter and Frank's son. Thomas tries to find his sister while evading capture, thanks to help from Malcolm's daughter. Thomas becomes privy to some of the cult's darker rituals, like force-feeding blood sacrifices to the deity of the island. This scary Netflix film shares themes of isolation and ritualistic pagan sacrifices with "Midsommar" and it has a great twist at the end that can't be missed!

As reported by Variety, director Steven Soderbergh's film "Unsane" was shot on an iPhone in secret, before premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2018. The film centers on Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy), a young woman who moves because she is being stalked. Sawyer makes an appointment with a counselor because she is still struggling emotionally, thinking she sees her stalker everywhere despite knowing logically he isn't there. During her counseling appointment she inadvertently commits herself for observation for 24 hours, which expands to seven days after she has a violent outburst. Sawyer begins seeing the man who stalked her working as an orderly in the facility, but her complaints are disregarded as paranoid delusions by the staff. 

With any film about involuntary commitment, we are led to wonder if Sawyer has lost her grip on reality, or if she is in fact living this nightmare. What is interesting about this film is how Sawyer's doubt slowly creeps in. Before entering the institution she's confident in her sanity, only wanting support and help recovering from trauma, but by the end of the film her confidence is shaken and in the last moments it is clear she is unsure if she can trust herself anymore. Another interesting element in this film is the side plot of insurance fraud being carried out by the staff at the facility, adding a mystery-crime aspect to the story. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

In "Ready or Not" Grace (Samara Weaving) is thrilled to be having her wedding at her fiancé Alex's beautiful family estate. After a lavish celebration, Alex (Mark O'Brian) tells Grace there is a family tradition of playing a game at midnight that officially makes her part of the family. Grace draws the "hide-and-seek" card, and begins looking for a place to hide. But unbeknownst to Grace, the family arm themselves before beginning their search. Alex reveals that his family must kill her before sunrise or the family curse will strike them dead. 

"Ready or Not" is a bit of a departure from "Midsommar" in that it is a horror comedy, but the two films share the theme of going somewhere beautiful expecting a celebration, only to become embroiled in a deadly ritualistic sacrifice. Grace being a product of the foster system also adds an interesting element to the film. The lengths she goes to be part of a family certainly makes us contemplate the games some people are willing to play and the sacrifices we are ready to make for love, especially when we grew up without a family. Both Grace and Dani from "Midsommar" are two young women who are essentially alone in the world. Both women cling to a man they believe might save them, but they both come out of their ordeals stronger and more dependent upon themselves.

In "Daniel Isn't Real," a young boy named Luke walks into a coffee shop that has just been the scene of a mass shooting, where he sees another boy across the room and they become friends. No one else can apparently see Daniel, but after he convinces Luke to do something that almost kills his mother Claire (Mary Stuart Masterson), Daniel is banished by symbolically locking him in a doll house at Claire's request. Years later, when Luke (Miles Robbins) is in college, he opens the doll house and Daniel (Patrick Schwarzenegger) appears. Like before Daniel helps Luke, but soon Daniel becomes aggressive, pushing Luke to do things he doesn't want to do.

This film is an exploration of the darker aspects of human nature, and the things that drive us to do unspeakable things. Like many horror films it plays with our perceptions, making us question if Daniel is a real entity or a part of Luke that he is unwilling to recognize or accept. As Luke begins to fear he is schizophrenic like his mother, the intensity of this psychologically disturbing film increases, leading Luke to discover Daniel's true origins. Like "Midsommar," this isn't a gory slasher movie, but it's scary because it preys on our innate fear of insanity. This film was fascinating and the performances are excellent, earning an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

After Richard Hall (Richard Armitage) tells his estranged wife, Laura (Alicia Silverstone), that he plans to marry another woman, she kills herself. Months later, Richard takes his children, Mia (Lia McHugh) and Aiden (Jaeden Martel), to the family's isolated cabin for Christmas, hoping they will get to know his fiancé Grace (Riley Keough). Richard leaves Grace and the children alone while he heads back to the city for work, but the siblings dismiss Grace's attempts to become friends while discovering that she is the only survivor of a doomsday cult that committed mass suicide years earlier. A series of strange events — including the disappearance of all her belongings and her dog — push Grace off balance, leading her to question her sanity and veer toward a breakdown.

Themes of isolation, trauma and ritual sacrifice thematically link this to "Midsommar." But in "The Lodge" Grace is broken down and pushed over the edge, not finding catharsis and healing as Dani does in "Midsommar." Grace is a victim of gaslighting that serves to weaponize her traumatic past and use it against her. While Dani is drawn into participating in pagan rituals she is troubled by, she is ultimately freed from her misery, rather than broken by her ordeal. Where "The Lodge" is about victimization, "Midsommar" is oddly ... empowering.