Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for horror movies like Hokum:
Keeper
Keeper finds Oz Perkins splitting the difference between the chilly occult dread of Longlegs and the goofy pulp of his Stephen King riff The Monkey. The result is a winking slow burn that slips, scene by scene, into gawky madness. It is more confident than The Monkey, less severe than Longlegs, and most alive when it trusts atmosphere over exposition.
Oddity
Oddity is a rather succinct and well-paced Shudder movie, making it a surprisingly refreshing picture given the current state of independent horror and Shudder‘s most recent original movies to debut on the platform. Perhaps they saved the best for a loaded October because Oddity kicks it off in strong fashion, using jarring framing and bloodstained gore to effective results.
Bring Her Back
Bring Her Back may satisfy diehard fans of A24-style horror or those looking for a few jarring images, but for most viewers, it will likely feel like an echo of better films. This is the kind of horror that thinks it’s elevated but forgets to be compelling. For the Philippous, it’s a clear step back—stylistic confidence without a story worth telling.
In Fabric
In Fabric shows exactly the kind of filmmaker that Peter Strickland can be. He’s not ashamed to wear his influences on his sleeves, but that’s not always a terrible thing. He molds his own style to the style of Giallo movies effortlessly, as if he’s always had this vision in his head. A delightful A24 surprise.
The Woman in the Yard
In a time when many horror films try to be either thinkpieces or thrill rides and fail to be either, The Woman in the Yard hits a rare sweet spot. It’s a horror film that’s genuinely tense, emotionally grounded, and smartly contained. It may not be a game-changer, but it’s a solid, satisfying entry in the modern horror canon—and a reminder that even filmmakers with inconsistent track records like Jaume Collet-Serra can deliver when the right material lands in the right hands.
The Monkey
The Monkey is a middling but watchable entry in the 2025 horror slate. It doesn’t reach the high bar set by of Oz Perkin’s best films, nor does it fully honor the emotional undercurrents of King’s original story, but it’s never boring. If nothing else, it reaffirms Oz Perkins as a horror director worth watching—even when the material doesn’t quite land.
Heretic
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have steadily built themselves a career since their breakthrough writing credit for A Quiet Place nearly a decade ago. The duo has parlayed their success into multiple directorial efforts, including the pulse-pounding Haunt and the sci-fi thriller 65. Now, they return to their horror roots with Heretic, a chilling and twist-laden movie about two young religious missionaries who knock on the wrong door on a cold, snowy night.
Cuckoo
Sometimes, a good ole freak-out film that doesn’t make much sense is exactly what you need. Fortunately, Tilman Singer is responsible for two of them now. 2020’s Luz was an underappreciated shock to the horror system that signaled Singer as an auteur to look out for moving forward, and 2024’s Cuckoo only further cements him as one of the genre’s bravest image makers, even as he’s working out the kinks in his storytelling repertoire.
Hell Hole
There might be a fun creature feature somewhere in Hell Hole, but the newest Shudder release doesn’t strike a good balance in tone and narrative. I don’t want to keep trashing on a streaming service that offers many independent filmmakers an outlet to produce their projects, but Shudder is starting to deviate away from a must-have service for fans of the genre.
Men
Now nearly two years removed from its initial release date, Alex Garland’s Men for A24 feels underrated. A body horror home invasion movie featuring one of Hollywood’s best actresses in Jessie Buckley, the film is a shift in tone and themes from Garland’s previous works, transitioning from stories involving anxiety we have about the advancement of technology, to the societal and gender issues that plague our society.
READ MORE: Hokum (2026), 10 Horror Movies Like Whistle, 10 Horror Movies Like Oddity
