feelsalike.comSign in
Better Watch Out poster

Movies that feel likeBetter Watch Out (2017)

On a quiet suburban street tucked within a 'safe neighborhood', a babysitter must defend a twelve-year-old boy from strangers breaking into the house, only to discover that this is far from a normal home invasion.

If you loved Better Watch Out, the closest films we have are Housebound (2014), Send Help (2026) and Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight (2020). All three share Better Watch Out'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 Anna and the Apocalypse (2018).

🍅 89% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Chris Peckoverdreadunsettlingtensewittyplayful
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

See it on the Mood Map

When is Better Watch Out streaming? →

If Better Watch Out hit the spot, these will too

Housebound poster
Housebound
2014 · dir. Gerard Johnstone
🍅 95%★ 6.7horror · comedy · thrillerPrime Video

The same mix in both: dread, then unease

When Kylie Bucknell is sentenced to home detention, she's forced to come to terms with her unsociable behaviour, her blabbering mother and a hostile spirit who seems less than happy about the new living arrangement.

Send Help poster
Send Help
2026 · dir. Sam Raimi
🍅 92%★ 6.7horror · thriller · comedyHulu

Both land tension and wit at once

Two colleagues become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it's a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight poster
Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight
2020 · dir. Bartosz M. Kowalski
🍅 67%★ 4.9comedy · horrorNetflix

Playful horror, and it commits to that

The difference: Easier on the tension than Better Watch Out

Addicted to technology, a group of teens attends a rehabilitation camp in the forest, but a sinister force there intends to take them offline forever.

Anna and the Apocalypse poster
Anna and the Apocalypse
2018 · dir. John McPhail
🍅 77%★ 6.1horror · comedy · fantasyRent or buy

Common ground in both: holiday and christmas horror

The difference: Takes it somewhere less tense than Better Watch Out does

A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven—at Christmas—forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash, and sing their way to survival. In a desperate race to reach their loved ones, they soon learn that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.

Creep poster
Creep
2014 · dir. Patrick Brice
🍅 91%★ 6.3horror · thrillerNetflixPrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: murder

Looking for work, Aaron comes across a cryptic online ad: "$1,000 for the day. Filming service. Discretion is appreciated." Low on cash and full of naiveté, he decides to go for it. He drives to a cabin in a remote mountain town where he meets Josef, his cinematic subject for the day. Josef is sincere and the project seems heartfelt, so Aaron begins to film. But as the day goes on, it becomes clear that Josef is not who he says, and his intentions are not at all pure.

The Lost Boys poster
The Lost Boys
1987 · dir. Joel Schumacher
🍅 75%★ 7.2horror · comedy · thriller

One thread runs through both: murder

The difference: Made in the 1980s, in a different era of the craft

When an unsuspecting town newcomer is drawn to local blood fiends, the Frog brothers and other unlikely heroes gear up to rescue him.

The Golden Glove poster
The Golden Glove
2019 · dir. Fatih Akin
🍅 54%★ 6.7crime · thriller · horror

Thriller built on dread, twice over

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

A serial killer strikes fear in the hearts of residents of Hamburg during the early 1970s.

The Babysitter poster
The Babysitter
2017 · dir. McG
★ 6.4comedy · horrorNetflix

Comedy with a pulse of unease, in both cases

When Cole stays up past his bedtime, he discovers that his hot babysitter is part of a Satanic cult that will stop at nothing to keep him quiet.

The Bar poster
The Bar
2017 · dir. Álex de la Iglesia
🍅 100%★ 6.3horror · thriller · comedy

Tense horror in both cases

In downtown Madrid, a series of mysterious gunshots trap a motley assortment of people in a decrepit bar.

Piranha 3D poster
Piranha 3D
2010 · dir. Alexandre Aja
🍅 76%★ 5.5comedy · horrorParamount+

Both lean on wit more than on comedy

Each year the population of sleepy Lake Victoria, Arizona explodes from 5,000 to 50,000 residents for the annual Spring Break celebration. But then, an earthquake opens an underwater chasm, releasing an enormous swarm of ancient Piranha that have been dormant for thousands of years, now with a taste for human flesh. This year, there's something more to worry about than the usual hangovers and complaints from locals, a new type of terror is about to be cut loose on Lake Victoria.

Silent Night, Deadly Night poster
Silent Night, Deadly Night
1984 · dir. Charles E. Sellier Jr.
🍅 55%★ 5.8thriller · horrorPrime Video

The same preoccupation in both: christmas

After a man dressed as Santa Claus brutally murders Billy Chapman's parents, little Billy then endures the cruelty of a sadistic nun at his orphanage. Years later, when adult Billy has to fill in for an absent in-store Santa, his childhood trauma brings him to the breaking point.

Krampus poster
Krampus
2015 · dir. Michael Dougherty
🍅 67%★ 6.2horror · comedy · fantasyPrime VideoPeacock

Both keep coming back to the same thing: snow

The difference: Sits closer to fantasy than Better Watch Out does

When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers.

In the mood for more dread?

all dread movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Better Watch Out’s defining feeling.