Movies Like The Satan Bug (1965)

The Satan Bug is a 1965 mystery, science fiction, thriller film from John Sturges with a MovieMagicScore of 6.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Crazies and 7Aum Arivu.

Mystery Science Fiction Thriller

The Crazies

1973

The military attempts to contain a manmade virus causing death and permanent insanity in those infected, as it overtakes a small Pennsylvania town.

6.1

MagicScore

7Aum Arivu

2011

A genetic engineering student tries to bring back the skills of a legend of the past and use his skills to save India from a deadly virus attack by China.

6.5

MagicScore

Endangered Species

1982

A retired New York cop on vacation in America's West is drawn into a sheriff's investigation of a mysterious series of cattle killings.

4.8

MagicScore

Primal Rage

1988

A scientist at a Florida university inadvertently creates a "rage virus" while performing experiments intended to restore dead brain tissue in baboons. When a journalist for the college paper breaks into the campus lab, he's bitten by one of the infected baboons; the virus soon spreads to a trio of rapists and a valley girl, all of whom go on killing sprees.

5.2

MagicScore

The Andromeda Strain

1971

When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scramble to a secure laboratory and try to first isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.

7.0

MagicScore

War for the Planet of the Apes

2017

Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.

7.2

MagicScore

Iron Eagle on the Attack

1995

While Chappy Sinclair is saddled with a bunch of misfits and delinquents for his flight school, he turns to his protégé Doug Masters to assist him in rounding them into shape for an important competition. During their training, they stumble upon a group of subversive air force officers who are dealing in toxic waste as a sideline.

3.8

MagicScore

Warning Sign

1985

An accident occurs in an ultra-secret government biological weapons laboratory spreading a sinister bacteria.

6.0

MagicScore

Twelve Monkeys

1995

In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly and the son of a famous virus expert who may hold the key to the Army of the 12 Monkeys; thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.

7.6

MagicScore

#10

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

2015

Thomas and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.

6.7

MagicScore

#11

The Amateur

2025

After his life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a brilliant but introverted CIA decoder takes matters into his own hands when his supervisors refuse to take action.

6.9

MagicScore

#12

The Cassandra Crossing

1976

Passengers on a European train have been exposed to a deadly disease, and nobody will let them off the train.

6.2

MagicScore

#13

The Terror Within

1989

Experiments in biological warfare have destroyed all but a few remnants of the human race. Alone in a lab, eight students work feverishly to create a vaccine before they are forced outside in search for food. It is then that the surviving scientists discover creatures mutated by the plague. Now they prepare to do battle against their worst fear: The Terror Within.

4.4

MagicScore

#14

The Man Who Knew Too Little

1997

An American gets a ticket for an audience participation game in London, then gets involved in a case of mistaken identity. As an international plot unravels around him, he thinks it's all part of the act.

6.4

MagicScore

#15

The Saint

1997

Simon Templar (The Saint), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman who holds its secret.

6.1

MagicScore

#16

Cell

2016

When a strange signal pulsates through all cell phone networks worldwide, it starts a murderous epidemic of epic proportions when users become bloodthirsty creatures, and a group of people in New England are among the survivors to deal with the ensuing chaos after.

4.7

MagicScore

#17

Annihilation

2018

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.

6.4

MagicScore

#18

The Crazies

2010

Four friends find themselves trapped in their small hometown after they discover their friends and neighbors going quickly and horrifically insane.

6.3

MagicScore

#19

Cool Hand Luke

1967

When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

7.7

MagicScore

#20

Nancy Drew

2007

Intrepid teenage private eye Nancy Drew heads to Tinseltown with her father to investigate the unsolved murder of a movie star in this old-fashioned whodunit based on Carolyn Keene's popular series of books for young adults. But can the small-town girl cut through the Hollywood hype to solve the case?

6.1

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Satan Bug?

The top films similar to The Satan Bug by MovieMagicScore are The Crazies (6.1), 7Aum Arivu (6.5), Endangered Species (4.8). Each shares mystery/science fiction/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Satan Bug worth watching?

The Satan Bug holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.1/10 from 55 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Satan Bug?

The Satan Bug (1965) is a mystery, science fiction, thriller film directed by John Sturges, starring George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Satan Bug?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more mystery recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like The Crazies Movies like 7Aum Arivu Movies like Endangered Species Movies like Primal Rage Movies like The Andromeda Strain Movies like War for the Planet of the Apes

About movies like The Satan Bug

This ranked list pairs The Satan Bug (1965), a mystery and science fiction and thriller film from John Sturges, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of George Maharis take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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