10 Horror Movies To Watch After Undertone

Right now, the top trending movie on HBO Max is the 2025 horror film, Undertone. It makes sense because it’s the kind of project that catches the eye of anyone with a subscription to the streaming service. You don’t even need to know the full details of the plot to want to throw it on, as the simple premise is intriguing and horror movies do tend to grab people pretty easily. Undertone is also a different kind of horror project as it focuses on doing a lot with a little.

Undertone centers on a woman named Evy who is part of a paranormal podcasting duo where she’s the skeptic and her partner is the believer. As they investigate a series of audio files regarding a couple and a case of possession, Evy notices strange things happening around her as she’s mostly alone except for her dying mother upstairs. The film does an expert job of using things like sound design and negative space to make the viewer unsettled, rather than something like designing a creepy monster.

While Undertone does use a relatively unique concept, there are other horror movies with similar vibes that are worth checking out for more of what made Undertone a hit on HBO Max.

Session 9 (2001)

The oldest movie on this list is Session 9, which, like Undertone, was made on a relatively small budget. It takes place at the abandoned Danvers State Psychiatric Hospital and focuses on an asbestos abatement crew tasked with cleaning it, only for unexplained events to start occurring around them.

Along with what the crew experiences, a series of audio tape sessions with a former patient are played for the viewers, which is how this works alongside Undertone. Both films do a great job of using sound and voices on tape to make the viewer uncomfortable.

Sinister (2012)

Sinister is a horror movie that you should watch even if you didn’t see Undertone because it’s simply one of the best entries in the genre. From Scott Derrickson, the film sees Ethan Hawke portray a true crime writer who moves his family to a new home due to his struggles and debt.

When he arrives there, he discovers a bunch of snuff videos shot at the home in the past and featuring a demonic entity known as the Bughuul. The videos he finds have a similar vibe to the audio files in Undertone and Sinister was voted as the scariest film ever made at one point.

The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015)

Osgood Perkins has become one of the most intriguing names in horror filmmaking today thanks to the likes of Longlegs and The Monkey. However, his first feature film, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, remains one of his greatest works and, like Undertone, comes from A24.

The movie centers on girls who are stranded at their isolated prep school and are threatened by a sinister presence, while a troubled young woman goes on a journey in the winter. Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Boynton, and Emma Roberts make up a strong cast that helps the film stand out.

It Follows (2015)

One thing that Undertone does very well is feature shots where the protagonist is on one side of the screen while the other side is complete darkness. Things like that make you pay close attention to every minor movement on any spot of the screen, which It Follows also utilizes.

The movie tells the story of a woman (Maika Monroe) who gets followed by a terrifying entity after a sexual encounter brings a curse upon her. No matter what’s happening on screen, you’re always looking in the background for a threat and danger seems to be around every corner.

The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (2016)

That same vibe of there always being something lurking off in the distance or in the background is prominent in The Autopsy of Jane Doe. The film takes place at a morgue and sees a father and son coroner duo experience supernatural events when they examine a dead body.

Like Undertone, this is a movie that makes the most out of keeping things small. There are constant sounds and unsettling things happening off in the distance at other sections of the morgue. It’s short and to the point, while featuring quality performances from Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch.

Hereditary (2018)

When it comes to A24 horror movies, the conversation tends to start with Hereditary. The film does an incredible job of paying meticulous attention to detail and using things like set design, camera movement, and more to play on the anxieties of the audience, which Undertone also does.

Hereditary has gone down as one of the best horror movies of all time. Ari Aster’s debut is truly haunting as it tells the story of a family dealing with grief after several tragedies, with things turning more sinister as more secrets are revealed. Toni Collette’s performance is also outstanding.

The Night House (2020)

One of the themes of Undertone involves grief, as the protagonist Evy is struggling to come to terms with her mother’s impending death and things she hasn’t had the chance to say to her. The Night House is another horror film that deals with grief, while also adding in the supernatural.

The Night House follows a widow who learns a dark secret about the home that her architect husband built before he died. The movie uses everything from creaks to unexpected silences to build tension, unease, and paranoia in expert fashion.

Skinamarink (2022)

There aren’t many movies out there like Skinamarink. The unique project focuses on a pair of young siblings who wake up in the middle of the night to find that their father is gone and things like doors and windows have randomly disappeared from their home.

The movie makes you feel like you’re in the room with the kids, as the audio is mostly muffled sounds and everything is dark, often only lit by the TV in the house with the characters. With minimal dialogue, every little sound that you do hear means something and every shadow is frightening.

Presence (2024)

Steven Soderbergh is one of the best directors in Hollywood, yet horror isn’t really a genre he has dipped his toes into. He did that in 2024 with Presence, a film that follows a family who moves into a new home, only to learn that a mysterious presence haunts the location.

That’s a tried-and-true formula for a horror flick, yet it’s a trope because it works. Soderbergh is a skilled filmmaker, knowing just how to build the horror and make you scared. It’s a slow-burning story, yet when the film reaches its climax, it all feels earned.

I Saw The TV Glow (2024)

A lot of the movies included here would fall under the Lo-Fi category, which means low fidelity. That’s an artistic style that tends to make the most out of a limited budget, which Undertone does well and the same could be said for I Saw the TV Glow.

Another acclaimed release from A24, the film centers on two high school students who form a bond surrounding their favorite TV show. Their realities start to crack as they get more involved in the supernatural world that the show displays. The story of I Saw the TV Glow is an allegory for being transgender, making the film a hit with the LGBTQ+ audience.