11 Best Time Loop Horror Movies, Ranked

Time loops are a popular cinematic trope, most famously played for laughs in such films as Groundhog Day. But the concept of being trapped in time, forced to repeat the same actions again and again, is horrifying. Not surprisingly, some of the best films with time loops are horror movies.

A time loop is distinct from time travel (another popular sci-fi and horror film trope) because the characters are trapped — locked in the cycle until they can find a way to break free. Sometimes the hero or heroine escapes; other times, they gain awareness of the loop only to forget as they return to the beginning of the cycle. If Hell is repetition, the characters in these horror films are truly damned. Time-loops and time travel in general continue to be some of the most effective and unique premises when it comes to horror movies, with more and more movies effectively using it for their own terrifying scares. Even recent releases such as Totally Killer continue to prove the longevity and effectiveness of time-loops and time-travel-based shenanigans in a horror movie setting.

11 ‘Haunter’ (2013)

Director: Vincenzo Natali

Abigal Breslin stars as Lisa, a 16-year-old girl forced to relive the day of her family’s murder. She is the only one aware that they’re long dead and trapped in a time loop. Lisa is eventually able to cross into other timelines, identifying her family’s murderer and saving another household from becoming his new victims.

Haunter received mixed reviews but is a clever spin on the haunted house story. Breslin shines as the initially apathetic teenager trapped in purgatory who eventually finds the spirit to investigate – and resolve – the secret behind her family’s plight. Combining the time loop formula with an overarching mystery does a great deal of making each individual loop and repeat feel exciting and worthwhile to the audience.

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10 ‘The Final Girls’ (2015)

Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson

Max (Taissa Farmiga) and her friends attend a double-bill screening of “Camp Bloodbath” 1 and 2, the franchise her actress mother was famous for. But when a fire breaks out, the group inexplicably finds themselves trapped in the film — and its 92-minute time loop. Max and her friends discover that they, like the movie characters, are very much in danger of becoming the next victims.

The Final Girls is a fun meta take on ’80s horror films, to which it also pays loving homage. The simple premise of having someone from the modern day having to deal with all of the tropes and archetypes of a cheesy 80s horror film makes for a great deal of both scares and comedy. Despite only having a limited theatrical release, it was warmly received by critics, who noted the clever concept and The Final Girls‘ heartfelt exploration of family and legacy.

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9 ‘Lost Things’ (2004)

Director: Martin Murphy

Four teenagers set off on a typical surfing weekend but are soon beset by unexplained visions and strong feelings of déjà vu. The group meets a charismatic but menacing drifter, Zippo (Steve Le Marquand), who is gradually revealed to be a demonic entity. It is revealed that one year ago, one of the teenagers, Emily (Lenka Kripac), promised all their souls to Zippo for “freedom.” In return, he slaughtered and enslaved them and has been forcing the group to relive the weekend of their murders ever since.

Lost Things may initially seem like another surf-beach slasher or “Wolf Creek-by-sea,” but it evolves into a chilling story heavy with existential dread. The sun-drenched Australian beach has rarely seemed more terrifying, as the film makes perfect use of its compact setting. The film makes the most out of its lower budget by focusing much more on the characters and story at hand, creating a terrifying and thrilling mystery that is expertly unraveled.

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8 ‘Synchronic’ (2020)

Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead

Synchronic follows the story of two New Orleans paramedics (played by Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan) whose lives are ripped apart following numerous encounters with a number of horrific deaths. As the deaths show themselves to all be linked to a designer drug that touts bizarre and otherworldly effects, the investigation into the murders, the drugs, and their effects changes the lives of the paramedics forever.

More than simply telling a surprisingly effective time loop horror story, Synchronic uses its story as a jumping-off point to preach about the terrors and real-life consequences of grief and loss. The film has a number of poignant things to say about how people will go off the deep end in the wake of terrible events in their lives, weaving together a beautiful tale with a highly effective emotional core. Even outside its messaging, the film’s strange time-travel antics also give Synchronic a number of unique connections to other time-travel horror films. – Rob Lee

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7 ‘Koko-di Koko-da’ (2019)

Director: Johannes Nyholm

Tobias (Leif Edlund) and Elin (Ylva Gallon) go camping to try and fix their marriage, which has been on the rocks since the death of their young daughter. On their first morning, the couple is attacked, mocked, and murdered by three strangely dressed figures who resemble the nursery rhyme characters from their dead daughter’s music box. Tobias and Elin then wake up again, only for the cycle to repeat itself. The pair realize they are trapped in a time loop.

Koko-di Koko-da is a Swedish/Danish production that is a dark surrealist horror fantasy exploring the monstrous shadow of grief. A trio of nursery rhyme characters are unexpected antagonists for what at first appears to be a typical camping horror movie — but Mog, Sampo, and Cherry are undeniably terrifying. Especially compared to other time-loop horror movies, the film takes a much more surrealist and nightmarish approach to the proceedings, featuring a number of amazingly terrifying imagery and setpieces.

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6 ‘In the Tall Grass’ (2019)

Director: Vincenzo Natali

Siblings Cal (Avery Whitted) and Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) are driving cross-country when they stop by a field of long grass after hearing a boy, Tobin (Will Buie Jr.), shout for help. They enter the field but quickly become separated – and realize something in the grass is altering their perceptions of time, sound, and distance. Soon Cal, Becky, Tobin and his family, and Becky’s ex-boyfriend Travis (Harrison Gilbertson) all become entangled in the tall grass, trapped in a time loop.

In the Tall Grass is adapted from a novella by Stephen King and Joe Hill and effectively stretched into a tense and nightmarish horror movie. The beautifully shot film captures the natural lushness of the grass and the sinister, claustrophobic entanglement of the characters. The film is a great time loop adjacent companion piece to all of the other amazing horror adaptations to come from King’s catalog.

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5 ‘Happy Death Day’ (2017)

Director: Christopher Landon

College student Theresa (Jessica Rothe), who goes by “Tree,” is murdered on the night of her birthday — only to wake up and find the day repeating itself. Trapped in a time loop, Tree is murdered daily as she attempts to solve the mystery of her killer’s identity and reevaluate her life choices, for the better, in the process.

Happy Death Day is a clever, funny take on teen slasher whodunits, with a genuinely good plot twist regarding the identity of the killer. The film’s self-aware tone and vision work greatly when it comes to the film’s effective comedy, making the series one of the best examples of horror comedy in the 2010s. A sequel, Happy Death Day 2U was made in 2019, and director Christopher Landon is still hoping to make a third film in the series.

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4 ‘Southbound’ (2015)

Directors: Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Chad Villella

Southbound is a horror anthology film with five intertwined stories set in a remote desert town. Strange, skeletal monsters rise from the ground to haunt a trio of musicians, a tattoo artist, a traveling family, and a father seeking vengeance. The final story ends with the triggering event preceding the first story, revealing the characters are trapped in time.

The meaning of the time loop in Southbound remains ambiguous – are the characters in Hell? Trapped in an alternate dimension run by ghouls? Or has there been some floating-skeleton apocalypse? These and other unanswered questions keep Southbound lingering in the audience’s mind long after the movie is over. Unlike most other anthology movies, Southbound‘s ability to have each of its varying stories all connected deserves high levels of respect and makes it work much more effectively on rewatches.

Rent on Amazon

3 ‘Blood Punch’ (2013)

Director: Madellaine Paxson

Three drug dealers are caught in a brutal time loop after they cook a batch of crystal meth (and commit murder) on sacred Native American land. If any of the three die during the loop, they are cloned afresh — although their dead body (or bodies, as they start to pile up) remain behind. The viewer eventually learns Milton (Milo Cawthorne), Skyler (Olivia Tennet), and Russell (Ari Boyland) have been stuck in the loop for five years.

Blood Punch received positive reviews from critics, who praised its black comedy and clever plot twists. The film currently has an 89% percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Blood Punch deals with a lot of terrifying themes as it combines the already standard terrifying nature of a horror thriller with the real-life horrors of withdrawal and the dangers of drug abuse. Its harsh and deeply uncomfortable theme works perfectly for a horror movie setting, and only further adds to the terror that the characters experience firsthand.

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2 ‘The Endless’ (2017)

Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead

Two brothers, Justin (Justin Benson) and Aaron (Aaron Moorhead) revisit Camp Arcadia – a remote commune they fled from as children. The commune warmly welcomes Justin and Aaron, but unexplained phenomena and mysterious events occur. It is revealed Camp Arcadia and its surrounding lands are controlled by some Lovecraftian deity, who traps commune members in a 10-year time loop.

The Endless is a visually stunning film, thick with unsettling ambiguity over what precisely is happening to the characters. Particularly memorable are the time loop prisoners residing at the edge of the commune – for example, the Civil War soldier stuck in a seven-second loop of his suicide. The film’s heightened focus on the near unsolvable mystery as its center, combined with a number of terrifying overarching themes makes The Endless a time travel movie that only gets better on rewatch. – Rob Lee

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1 ‘Triangle’ (2009)

Director: Christopher Smith

Single mother Jess (Melissa George) joins Greg (Michael Dorman), Sally (Rachael Carpani), Downey (Henry Nixon), and Heather (Emma Lung) on a sailing trip. Their boat capsizes in a storm, and the group takes refuge on a deserted cruise ship. Jess and her friends are chased by a mystery assailant and soon discover they are in a time loop with multiple duplicate versions of themselves.

Triangle shocks viewers with very graphic examples of the time loop – most memorably, a whole deck of dead and dying Sallys. Triangle‘s combination of a classic time loop horror premise with the terrifying and isolating setting of a cruise liner on the vast and never-ending ocean works surprisingly well. The film also taps into the fear of the ocean, mother guilt, and (literally) being one’s own worst enemy.

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NEXT:The Best Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked