Top 250 Movies Like Tell Me A Story

Old tales. New blood.

A list of the best movies similar to Tell Me a Story. If you liked Tell Me a Story then you may also like: The Woman in the Window, Night Gallery, The Night Listener, No Such Thing, Noise and many more great movies featured on this list.

TV show

The world's most beloved fairy tales reimagined as a dark and twisted psychological thriller.

Tell Me a Story

The Woman in the Window

An agoraphobic woman living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbors only to witness a disturbing act of violence.

Night Gallery

This anthology telefilm aired on NBC on November 8, 1969, and tells three strange tales: "The Cemetery," directed by Boris Sagal; "Eyes," directed by Steven Spielberg; and "The Escape Route," directed by Barry Shear. This film also served as a backdoor pilot for the TV series of the same name, which premiered on December 16, 1970.

The Night Listener

In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan—a young boy—via the telephone. But when questions about the boy's identity come up, the host's life is thrown into chaos.

No Such Thing

Beatrice's fiancé is killed by a monster in Iceland. The monster is immortal, but longs to die. Beatrice helps him achieve this by contacting a scientist who can destroy matter painlessly.

Noise

A man who is being driven crazy by the noise in New York City decides to take vigilante action against it.

Once Upon a Brothers Grimm

While traveling to meet with the Hessian King, the famed Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, travel through an enchanted forest where they find themselves trapped in the world of their fairy tales.

Other Voices

Phil and Anna are a young, married couple, who begin to suspect one other of an affair. When a shady private investigator gets involved in their relationship, things begin to spin out of control, in this turn-of-the-millennium thriller.

Absentia

Tricia's husband Daniel has been missing for seven years. Her younger sister Callie comes to live with her as the pressure mounts to finally declare him 'dead in absentia.' As Tricia sifts through the wreckage and tries to move on with her life, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house. As she begins to link it to other mysterious disappearances, it becomes clear that Daniel's presumed death might be anything but 'natural.' The ancient force at work in the tunnel might have set its sights on Callie and Tricia—and Daniel might be suffering a fate far worse than death in its grasp.

After Midnight

A college professor teaching a course called "The Psychology of Fear" brings his students (including a psychic) to his home, one dark and stormy night to tell scary stories. The first involves a young couple whose car breaks down by an old, abandoned house. The second has four trendy teenage girls getting lost in a bad part of town and chased by a pack of vicious dogs. Last, a woman on crutches confronting a stalker at the answering service where she works the night shift.

All Hallows' Eve

While watching two children on Halloween night, a babysitter finds an old VHS tape in the kids' trick or treat bag. The tape features three tales of terror, all linked together by a murderous clown.

Beauty and the Beast

To save her father, a girl who always puts others before herself promises to live her life in a lavish castle with a strange beast.

Black Bear

At a remote lake house in the Adirondack Mountains, a couple entertains an out-of-town guest looking for inspiration in her filmmaking. The group quickly falls into a calculated game of desire, manipulation, and jealousy, unaware of how dangerously intertwined their lives will soon become.

Body and Soul

A minister is malevolent and sinister behind his righteous facade. He consorts with, and later extorts from, the owner of a gambling house, and betrays an honest girl, eventually driving them both to ruin.

Campfire Tales

A grizzled derelict tells a quartet of horror tales to a trio of young campers.

The Card Counter

William Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk. But keeping Cirk on the straight-and-narrow proves impossible, dragging Tell back into the darkness of his past.

The Caveman's Valentine

Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?

Century Hotel

David Weaver makes his feature debut with this omnibus film in which each tale is told during different points during the 20th century, but in the same hotel room -- room 720. The film opens during the swinging '20s when a beautiful young woman, married against her will to a brutish thug of a man, endures a tension-fraught honeymoon. During the Depression segment, a mail-order bride from China meets her husband for the first time. Following the end of WWII, a soldier returns home to meet his girlfriend and his best friend. During the paranoia of the 1950s, a professor searches for his wife. During the 1980s, a lawyer has too much sex and debt, and during the dawn of the millennium, a woman comes to a newly refurbished room 720 to meet her Internet lover. Such acclaimed Canadian actors as Tom McCamus, Sandrine Holt, and Colm Feore star in this film, which was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival.

Lizzie Borden Took an Ax

Lizzie Borden Took An Ax chronicles the scandal and enduring mystery surrounding Lizzie Borden, who was tried in 1892 for axing her parents to death. As the case rages on, the courtroom proceedings fuel an enormous amount of sensationalized stories and headlines in newspapers throughout the country, forever leaving Lizzie Borden’s name in infamy.

Cinderella

Cinderella, an orphaned girl with an evil stepmother, has big dreams and with the help of her Fabulous Godmother, she perseveres to make them come true.

Fantasia 2000

Blending lively music and brilliant animation, this sequel to the original 'Fantasia' restores 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' and adds seven new shorts.

Into the Woods

In a woods filled with magic and fairy tale characters, a baker and his wife set out to end the curse put on them by their neighbor, a spiteful witch.

The Company of Wolves

An adaptation of Angela Carter's fairy tales. Young Rosaleen dreams of a village in the dark woods, where Granny tells her cautionary tales in which innocent maidens are tempted by wolves who are hairy on the inside. As Rosaleen grows into womanhood, will the wolves come for her too?

Pan's Labyrinth

Living with her tyrannical stepfather in a new home with her pregnant mother, 10-year-old Ofelia feels alone until she explores a decaying labyrinth guarded by a mysterious faun who claims to know her destiny. If she wishes to return to her real father, Ofelia must complete three terrifying tasks.

Till Death

After a romantic evening at their secluded lake house, a woman wakes up handcuffed to her dead husband. Trapped and isolated in the dead of winter, she must fight off hired killers to escape her late spouse's twisted plan.

Taxi Driver

A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feed his urge for violent action.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.

Hamlet

Modern day adaptation of Shakespeare's immortal story about Hamlet's plight to avenge his father's murder in New York City.

Dark Water

Dahlia Williams and her daughter Cecelia move into a rundown apartment on New York's Roosevelt Island. Dahlia is in the midst of divorce proceedings, and the apartment, though near an excellent school for her daughter, is all she can afford. From the time she arrives, there are mysterious occurrences—and there is a constant drip from the ceiling in her daughter's bedroom…

The Daydreamer

A young Hans Christian Andersen goes in search of knowledge in the Garden of Paradise in order to make his studies easier. Each time he falls asleep, he experiences in his dreams the different characters he would later write about in fairy tales including The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Emperor's New Clothes.

Deadtime Stories

A babysitting uncle tells his charges three horror stories: about a killer witch; Little Red Riding Hood and a werewolf; and Goldi Lox and the three bears.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

During the rise of fascism in Mussolini's Italy, a wooden boy brought magically to life struggles to live up to his father's expectations.

Snow White: A Tale of Terror

When young Lili's mother dies in childbirth, her father remarries Lady Claudia, a woman ruled by an evil mirror with the power to make her queen of all living things. After escaping an attempt on her life, Lili finds herself lost in a dark forest, where living happily ever after seems unlikely.

A Simple Wish

Murray is a male fairy godmother, and he is trying to help 8-year-old Anabel to fulfil her "simple wish" - that her father Oliver, who is a cab driver, would win the leading role in a Broadway musical. Unfortunately, Murray's magic wand is broken and the fairies convention is threatened by evil witches Claudia and Boots.

Down a Dark Hall

Kit, a troubled girl, is sent to the exclusive Blackwood boarding school, where she discovers that only four other female students have been admitted to learn the four pillars of knowledge under the ominous wing of the mysterious headmistress Madame Duret.

False Positive

After months of trying and failing to get pregnant, Lucy and Adrian finally find their dream fertility doctor in the illustrious Dr. Hindle. But after becoming pregnant with a healthy baby girl, Lucy begins to notice something sinister through Hindle's gleaming charm, and she sets out to uncover the unsettling truth about him.

From a Whisper to a Scream

The uncle of an executed murderess relates four stories of his hometown, Oldfield, to a reporter. In the first, an elderly man pursues a romance with a younger woman, even to the grave and beyond. In the second, a wounded man on the run from creditors is rescued by a backwoods hermit who holds the secret to eternal life. In the third, a glass-eating carny pays the ultimate price for looking for love on the outside. And in the fourth, a group of Civil War soldiers are held captive by a household of orphans with strange intentions for them.

Bizarre

An offbeat anthology film, mix of sex, horror and humor filmed in varied styles.

Saint Maud

Having recently found God, self-effacing young nurse Maud arrives at a plush home to care for Amanda, a hedonistic dancer left frail from a chronic illness. When a chance encounter with a former colleague throws up hints of a dark past, it becomes clear there is more to sweet Maud than meets the eye.

Gretel & Hansel

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.

The Field Guide to Evil

A feature-length anthology film. They are known as myths, lore, and folktales. Created to give logic to mankind’s darkest fears, these stories laid the foundation for what we now know as the horror genre.

The Playground

A fable of five vastly separate inner-city lives who struggle against their limitations in an interlocking tale assembled by a dark orchestrator.

The Melancholy Fantastic

Suffering from her mother's recent suicide, a delusional young girl falls for an alluring Goth, against the objections of a life-size talking muslin doll. The Melancholy Fantastic is a psychological thriller set during the holidays.

Home Movie

Reverend David Poe and his psychiatrist wife trade hectic New York life for an idyllic rural farmhouse; the perfect place for 10 year old twins Jack & Emily to run, play and imagine. Documenting this lifestyle change, David decides to film every holiday and special family event. To the Poe's horror their home movies reveal an increasing malice and evil within their children.

The House

Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Nothing is as it seems when a woman experiencing misgivings about her new boyfriend joins him on a road trip to meet his parents at their remote farm.

The Immaculate Room

Mike and Kate, a young couple, get the once-in-a lifetime chance to win a cool five million dollars. The challenge: Live for 50 days in a blank space. Sticking it out for thirty days, and the five million are theirs. How difficult can it be?

Intruders

Though no one can see him, Hollow Face lurks in the corners, desperately desiring love but only knowing how to spread fear and hate. He creeps into the life of John Farrow after Farrow’s beloved 13-year-old daughter Mia is assaulted in their home. The line between the real and the imaginary blurs as fissures start to open within the family unit. It seems that no security measure can keep Hollow Face out.

Legacy

Taking refuge in a shabby Brooklyn motel after narrowly surviving a failed mission in Eastern Europe, Black Ops soldier Malcolm Gray (Idris Elba) begins to disintegrate mentally as he broods over the legacy of his actions in this taut psychological thriller. Haunted by his demons while holed up in his room, Malcolm ponders the ascent of his brother (Eamonn Walker), an ambitious senator with designs on the presidency.

Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders

Two creepy "horror" films joined together by Merlin's Shop which is, in turn, introduced by a Grandpa telling the story.

Muppet Classic Theater

Gonzo and Rizzo host a presentation in the Muppet Theater of six fairy tales performed by the Muppets. Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Robin the Frog, Gonzo and Rizzo star in the various stories. The production also marked the first appearance of Andy and Randy Pig and the Elvises, who later appeared on Muppets Tonight. Written by Jim Lewis and Bill Prady, each story also features an original song.

Screams of a Winter Night

Ten college friends take a winter weekend camping trip to Lake Durand. The group holes up in an old cabin where the original owners were once found dead, with local Native Americans suspecting they were the victims of a spirit called Shataba. As the group nestles in for the night, they start telling each other scary stories.

Tales from the Hood

A strange funeral director tells four strange tales of horror with an African American focus to three drug dealers he traps in his place of business.

Still of the Night

When one of his patients is found murdered, psychiatrist Dr. Sam Rice is visited by the investigating officer but refuses to give up any information. He's then visited by the patient's mistress, Brooke Reynolds, whom he quickly falls for despite her being a likely murder suspect. As the police pressure on him intensifies, Rice decides to attempt solving the case on his own and soon discovers that someone is trying to kill him as well.

Terror Tract

A real estate agent terrifies a couple with the grim fates of the previous owners of a house they're looking at.

Touch

An apathetic police unit brings in a mysterious young woman to help solve a grisly homicide.

Trilogy of Terror II

Three tales of terror: in "The Graveyard Rats" lovers murder the woman's older husband and encounter horror when they attempt to rob his grave; "Bobby" is the story of a woman who summons her son back from the dead; and in "He Who Kills" an African doll goes on a murderous rampage.

Grave Danger

Home alone, Becky (Debbie Kopacz) is already on edge from a night of watching scary movies when an anonymous caller takes her terror to the brink by forcing her to trade spooky stories with him in this Jim Haggerty-helmed horror flick. Tales of murderous ventriloquist dummies, housewives ensnared by voodoo and more follow in an agonizing game of one-upmanship that could end up with Becky dead. Cathy St. George and Vic Martino co-star.

Midnight Delight

An American comedy film composed of nine vignettes where characters in a marijuana smoking lounge have conversations with people they have never met before.

Her Highness and the Bellboy

In a fictional European country, a beautiful princess meets a handsome American reporter and falls in love with him. On a trip to New York, she hopes to find him again. While staying at one of the city's finest hotels she meets a kind-hearted bellhop who mistakes her for a maid. She invites him to be her escort, not realizing that he believes he has fallen in love with her. Every nice thing the princess does encourages him to believe that she feels the same way he does.

Gnaw

In this dark, tongue in cheek, British Horror, six friends take a holiday in the heart of the English countryside which turns into a culinary nightmare when they discover that their hosts are a sadistic family of cannibals, set on turning their guests into their next meal! It's nice to have your friends for dinner

Available: A Modern Day Fairy Tale

A college student inherits a billboard sign business and inadvertently advertises her dating status while trying to sell ad space.

The Lost Shoe

One of the first movies made about the fairy tale Cinderella. The film is part of the current German expressionism. Because of that the film ends up being darker than the fairy tale itself.

World Trade Center

Two police officers struggle to survive when they become trapped beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

The Mambo Kings

The Mambo Kings tells the story of César and Nestor Castillo, brothers and aspiring musicians who flee from Cuba to America in search of the American Dream.

Scared Shrekless

Shrek challenges Donkey, Puss in Boots and his other fairy tale character friends to spend the night in Lord Farquaad's haunted castle, telling scary stories to see who can resist becoming scared and stay the longest.

Twists of Terror

Stuck in the attic, Phillip, (Joseph Ziegler) recounts several different tales to an unknown listener in order to explain the dangers of the world.

Blood Bath

The actors for a horror movie go out to dinner one evening with their director and tell horror stories to each other.

Scarewaves

In the tradition of Tales from the Crypt and Creepshow comes terror in a new frequency with SCAREWAVES. Join radio host Amos Satan as he lets his hungry listeners in on four of the most terrifying and true stories he's heard over his years in show business.

The Eschatrilogy: Book of the Dead

A dark figure appears in the night, bringing with him a virus that turns people into monsters. Hoping to gather stories to take back with him to the other side, he meets his opposite, a light figure prepared to do battle with the dark man in order to save the human race...

Escapes

An anthology of five tales of terror, each originally produced for video. The titles are "Something's Fishy," "Coffee Break," "Who's There," "Jonah's Dream," and "Think Twice."

Scary or Die

The creation of filmmaker Michael Emanuel, SCARY OR DIE tells five interwoven horror stories that take place in and around the “City of Angles”. A flesh-eating clown desperately trying to protect the person he craves the most; a dirty cop and a hit gone wrong with a vengeful Necromancer; a beautiful but mysterious woman and a lonely man looking for love in all the wrong places; a gruesome, blood-splattered uprising of illegal Mexican zombies; and a Cajun conjurer grandfather whose gift of never-ending love goes terribly awry…SCARY OR DIE is a unique experience in horror filmmaking certain to fulfill all your twisted horror film experience needs.

Mania

Horror anthology with segments entitled: "See No Evil", "The Intruder", "Have a Nice Day" and "The Good Samaritan".

Apparition of Evil

Chilling paranormal portmanteau following a researcher who stumbles across a collection of disturbing video evidence she has obtained from a mysterious source including a location recce made by two young filmmakers, Cain and Dion, who venture to the Australian outback in search of an interesting location for their next movie only to discover an ancient swamp spirit called Raluul, and a video diary of a man called Karl Hendry who starts hearing unusual noises once he finds a mysterious doll-house in the attic of his new house in the North of England.

Trapped Ashes

Trapped in a house of horror, seven people discover that the only way they'll get out alive is to tell their scariest stories.

Goodnight Mommy

When twin brothers arrive home to find their mother’s demeanor altered and face covered in surgical bandages, they begin to suspect the woman beneath the gauze might not be their mother.

BIRD IN THE SKY

BIRD IN THE SKY is a gritty, poetic tale of a young man’s spiritual struggle on the streets of New York City. Rob has been given a second chance to right the wrongs of his street-wise past; he must perform a miracle to be saved. His fate lies in his love for a young woman, Kay, who is coping with the loss of her child.

Late Fee

A young couple’s quest to rent the scariest movie on DVD on Halloween eve results in a real life horror show they may live to regret!

Dreadtime Stories

A party turns bizarre when a malevolent book makes its way into the hands of the attendees who reveal its tales of monsters, madmen and the supernatural.

Vault of Terror II: The Undead

Following the macabre footsteps of the first VAULT OF TERROR installment, this sequel anthology film tells six more evil, demonic, hellish tales of dread and horror by some of the genre's best filmmakers.

Godmothered

A young and unskilled fairy godmother that ventures out on her own to prove her worth by tracking down a young girl whose request for help was ignored. What she discovers is that the girl has now become a grown woman in need of something very different than a "prince charming."

Cinderella's Hot Night

Cinderella's Hot Night presents a lively retelling of the classic fairy tale...with a slightly more mature, erotic twist. Follow the adventures of the bewildered Cindy as she falls prey to her wicked sex-crazed benefactor all the while pining for her secret love, a noble European Prince. With the help of her smoking hot Fairy Godmother, Cindy finally realizes her dream of becoming a real-life Princess.

The Counterfeit Contessa

Gina Nardino, a young saleswoman at the food counter of a posh department store, falls hard for a society stud, and, through a series of accidents, impresses him by taking on the false identity of an Italian contessa. But the masquerade begins to get out of hand when the stud's brother sees through her disguise...and likes what he sees.

Puss in Boots

The Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis re-imagines the classic fairy tale as a jazz musical set in New Orleans.

According to Her

Love, motherhood and a musical career strike dissonant chords in this dark tale of a young Russian woman who tries to keep her balance among wealthy French expats in New York.

Green

A New Yorker moves to the country with her boyfriend, where her new friendship causes a problem as her partner also takes an interest in the woman.

Collective: Unconscious

A man and his grandmother hide out from an ominous broadcast. The Grim Reaper hosts a TV show. The formerly incarcerated recount and reinterpret their first days of freedom. A suburban mom's life is upturned by the beast growing inside of her. And a high school gym teacher runs drills from inside a volcano. What happens when five of independent film's most adventurous filmmakers join together to literally adapt each other’s dreams for the screen?

Emerald City

Irish construction workers built New York City and had a grand time doing it. Each guy on the Emerald City crew is struggling with something: drinking, gambling, loss, the burden of a family legacy, and facing a city that doesn't need them anymore.

VeggieTales: Sweetpea Beauty

Once upon a time, there lived a royally sour blueberry, a fair rhubarb maiden and a dastardly deceptive mirror! Sweetpea Beauty knows that what's on the inside is what matters most, but insecure Queen Blueberry can't see past her own reflection! So, when a decree is handed down that only the most beautiful can rule the land, the Queen gets nervous and things turn ugly! Banished to the dark forest, Sweetpea's fate seems bleak until a charming prince, a band of merry minstrels and seven snow peas come to the rescue! Will Sweetpea and her friends be able to warn the Queen in time to save her from the clutches of the tricky mirror - or will the crumbling kingdom and the Queen's own heart be lost forever? Find out in this fairy "Veggie" tale about the real meaning of true beauty.

Muerte: Tales of Horror

An anthology that tells four horror stories centered around a stolen "cursed" comic book.

Rows

Rows is a psychological thriller, a Gothic fantasy inspired by Grimm's tales. A young woman, Rose, is tasked by her developer father to deliver an eviction notice to a reclusive woman in a ramshackle farmhouse. The woman has strange powers, derived from the house itself. The enchantress puts Rose and her friend, Greta, under a spell. They become lost in a seemingly infinite cornfield and must repeat a series of surreal or terrifying events in order to solve the mystery and break the spell. Rose's father is drawn into the mystery, and Rose's relationship with him is tested. A series of shocking reversals leads to a haunting climax.

Return to Horror Hotel

Return to Horror Hotel is an anthology feature with 4 segments. One is about giant a bedbugs, one is about a magical charm that turns girls beautiful, one is about a WWII sailor who hasn't aged and one is about a terrorizing severed hand.

Sanitarium

Malcom McDowell, Lou Diamond Phillips and Robert Englund star in three separate stories set in an eerie mental asylum.

Like a Moth to a Flame

An erotically charged thriller composed of three short films. “In Our Darkest Moments” mixes wry humor and tense drama as it chronicles the sleazy exploits of a hunky, closeted married man who cruises seedy bookstores and sex dens. He begins an affair with a dangerous teenager, unaware of the disastrous effects it will have on his life. “In the Dark, Softly”, directed by Joe Rubin, is a love story (of sorts), chronicling a young man's obsession with a local serial killer. And in the final film, “In Deep”, the police are trying to catch a murderer who preys on lonely men and then offs them with his extraordinarily large appendage. Maybe this killer is more than he seems.

Callback

Larry is an ardent evangelical Christian, lives in New York, works as a mover, and dreams of breaking into the world of commercial acting. As he seeks his big break, he argues with his boss and leads a solitary life. His fate takes an unexpected turn the day he meets Alexandra.

Three Dangerous Ladies

Three unrelated horror shorts from 1975 UK horror anthology series "Classics Dark and Dangerous" edited together into one horror film anthology with three segments. Each story features a woman who willingly or unwillingly spreads evil.

Slay Ride

It's Christmas eve and the Kris Kringle Killer is on the loose and looking for his twelfth and final victim of the season. Unfortunately for her, Holly Woods is the final name on his naughty list.

Dead Talk Tales: Volume I

Step into the abyss of fear with a spine-chilling horror/thriller feature film anthology. Uncover tales of demonic entities, the paranormal, ancient creature gods, and unknown mysteries. Explore the depths of terror in this gripping experience. Brace yourself for a roller coaster of suspense, intrigue, and supernatural phenomena like never before.

Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea

A tyrannical landlady in Hemet, California lords it over her tenants, pitting them against each other in a web of paranoia spun for deadly results.

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