10 Great Horror Movies With Alternate Dimensions To Watch If You Love Backrooms

Published Jul 17, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT Anthony is a news reporter and a guide writer who has covered the entertainment industry for five years. He has covered a wide range of genres, including aviation incidents and international crime, and has a keen eye for details that may slip under the radar. When he's not writing, Anthony can be found at Brands Hatch race track or at home watching indie horror movies nobody has heard of. The idea of alternate dimensions and realities has been thoroughly explored in movies. It's an alluring concept because it invites audiences to explore the unknown in a place where they have no idea what to expect. Alternate dimensions work so well in movies because there are so many ways to tell a story about them. That dimension could be a whimsical paradise. On the other hand, it could also be a fiery hellscape. It's a place that could be hidden in someone's mind or a strange dimension a regular person might accidentally stumble upon in the real world. Backrooms is a phenomenally successful horror movie and leans into the latter. Part of the title's charm is that the rules of reality no longer apply, and something weird, wonderful, or utterly terrifying could be lurking around every corner. Naturally, the 2026 movie isn't the only one to explore alternate realities or strange dimensions, and dozens of fantastic projects offer their own spin on the idea. Many of these titles are in the horror genre, preying on viewers' fears of the unknown. The best titles in the genre drop breadcrumbs for the audience to follow, making them eager to learn more even if the environment is scary. Backrooms offers a fairly unique take on the idea with its liminal spaces and iconic yellow corridors. Few other titles portray alternate realities the same way, though fans of the movies will likely appreciate these horror movies and what they do with a theme that remains ripe for expansion. 10 Event Horizon (1997) Event Horizon is quite different from Backrooms, though it deserves a mention for its framing of a dark alternate dimension that's oddly alluring. The movie stars Laurence Fishburne as Miller, the captain of the Lewis and Clark spacecraft. Miller begrudgingly accepts a mission in deep space close to Neptune, taking Dr Weir (Sam Neill) along for the ride. Weir tells the crew they are looking for the Event Horizon spacecraft, which mysteriously vanished after using black hole technology. Event Horizon is fascinating because it implies that the ship has visited another realm and brought something horrifying back with it. We catch glimpses of this hellish place, but much of it is brief and implied in a superb sci-fi horror that still holds up today. 9 Insidious (2010) Insidious is a high-budget horror movie and the first in a franchise that's still going strong. The movie explores the idea of astral projection and makes the list for its portrayal of a mysterious realm beyond the living, called The Further. The movie focuses on a family with a young son who has a unique gift. Dalton (Ty Simpkins) can astral project and can leave his body when he sleeps. However, dark spirits have capitalized on his ability, leaving him in a coma in the living world, baffling doctors. Elise (Lin Shaye), a psychic, explains what she believes is happening and devises a plan to enter The Further and bring him back. Insidious is an intense supernatural horror film with plenty of scares, creative imagery, and expansive lore across multiple movies. 8 Grave Encounters (2011) Grave Encounters is an impressively scary found footage horror movie about a group of paranormal investigators led by Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson). They opt to stay in an abandoned mental asylum until dawn, but events take a dark turn when the morning never comes. Lance and his team notice that it remains dark outside, no matter how long they stay. They also quickly realize they are trapped in the asylum, as if the signs make no sense and the building itself is morphing to keep them trapped inside. Many moments in the asylum feel like one step forward, two steps back, as the group realizes nobody is coming to save them. Grave Encounters is full of scary moments, especially when the team meets hostile entities in the building. The found-footage POV is incredibly effective, as it's easy to put yourself in the group's shoes when every attempt to escape fails. 7 As Above, So Below (2014) As Above, So Below is a found-footage horror movie about a group of young filmmakers who set out to explore the catacombs beneath Paris. Scarlett (Perdita Weeks) hopes to locate an ancient relic beneath the city, but her team finds something far darker and more mysterious. They follow a guide, Papillon (François Civil), who advises against entering a chamber in the catacombs, warning that no one ever returns. The team enters anyway and quickly encounters unexplained phenomena tied to their past and deepest fears. The team never crosses an obvious barrier in As Above, So Below, though they do ignore a warning scrawled on the wall. Events spiral out of control shortly after they cross that threshold as the story delves into psychological horror territory. 6 Coherence (2013) Coherence explores similar ideas to Backrooms, though the framing and story are quite different. A group of friends is enjoying a dinner party together when a strange comet passes by overhead. Events take a strange turn when a power outage occurs. Oddly, this outage extends to their phones, and they eventually venture outside to investigate. They don't encounter monsters, but something is clearly wrong, forcing them to question what's real and whether they can believe their own eyes. Coherence is fairly different from Backrooms in that the group finds their reality changing rather than passing through a gateway. Still, it's an exceptional movie, and fans of Backrooms will likely appreciate its smart take on alternate dimensions. 5 Annihilation (2018) Annihilation is an intense psychological horror movie starring Natalie Portman as Lena. She's a military-trained biologist and part of a team preparing to explore a bizarre alternate reality on Earth called the Shimmer. The Shimmer looks like a sparkling barrier that the team can walk through. It's a whimsical place at first, though Lena identifies that many things inside the Shimmer defy the laws of reality. For instance, they encounter animals that are impossible crossbreeds. The team's adventure in the Shimmer turns deadly when they opt to stay the night. Annihilation is quite different from Backrooms in its setting, though it boasts a strong cast, high-budget scares and a wondrous, impossible alternate reality. 4 Cube (1997) The original Cube is a psychological horror classic with a locale similar to the Backrooms in many ways. It boasts a seemingly impossible environment with never-ending rooms attached by narrow corridors, with no clear way out. The movie follows a group of survivors who wake up inside the Cube with no idea how they got there. Rooms inside the Cube look identical, and the place feels like an elaborate escape room imagined long before they became popular. The Cube is a strange place, but it's also dangerous. Several rooms contain deadly traps, heightening the group's paranoia as they try to escape. That group is made up of regular people, so it's easy to put yourself in their shoes and into a dire situation where nothing is what it seems. 3 Hostile Dimensions (2023) Hostile Dimensions is a fun found-footage movie in which two amateur filmmakers discover a door to another dimension. The movie portrays this literally, as a wooden doorway to strange new worlds. Believing that a graffiti artist went missing through the door, the filmmakers take the entire thing home to their apartment. They experiment with the gateway and encounter some bizarre phenomena, including a talking dog. Events take a much more sinister turn when they realize the person opening the door may influence what's on the other side, and not every dimension is safe. The found-footage POV is a great fit for Hostile Dimensions as we discover these bizarre worlds alongside the filmmakers. The movie is low-budget, so there are some obvious limitations, but it still offers a fresh take on alternate worlds. 2 Vivarium (2019) Vivarium is a psychological horror movie with a remarkable but chilling premise. Gemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) are a couple looking to buy a new home. They meet an estate agent in a new neighborhood called Yonder, full of houses that look identical. The home looks promising, but the estate agent suddenly vanishes. Tom and Gemma attempt to drive away, only to find themselves trapped in a never-ending labyrinth of identical buildings and roads that lead nowhere. They begrudgingly stay, but try everything in their power to escape as they realize they could be stuck there for a while. Vivarium has a captivating mystery plot I won't spoil here, but fans of Backrooms will appreciate the movie's take on an alternate reality. Audiences quickly realize something is very wrong in Yonder, with someone or something pulling the strings. 1 Exit 8 (2025) The similarities between Backrooms and Exit 8 are immediately apparent, making it an easy recommendation if you're drawn to the idea of liminal spaces. Exit 8 is a Japanese psychological horror movie starring Kazunari Ninomiya as an unnamed protagonist. He finds himself trapped in a seemingly endless, labyrinthine tube station, with no way out. The station doesn't have the trademark yellow walls of Backrooms, though the walls are all tiled white with much the same effect. Every hallway looks the same, and our protagonist is hopelessly lost. To make matters worse, he's not alone, and it's immediately obvious there's something wrong with everyone he meets. Exit 8 is a stellar horror movie for Backrooms fans, even if you don't enjoy reading subtitles. The title captures the same creepy, ominous feeling, and the station offers a jilted yet familiar take on alternate dimensions with theming you would usually take for granted.