Movies Like Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Looking for movies like Ghostbusters: Afterlife? Here are 10 films with the same nostalgia-fueled supernatural fun. We picked each title based on shared tone, themes, and emotional feel.

1. 

   1. Ghostbusters

   1984Comedy

   Three scientists, played by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis, lose their university jobs and launch a ghost-removal business in New York, later joined by Ernie Hudson's Winston. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is built as a love letter to this film, from the proton packs and Ecto-1 to the villain it brings back. Watching it first makes Afterlife's callbacks land; just expect adult wisecracking comedy rather than a kids' adventure.

   Where to watch Ghostbusters
2. 

   2. The Goonies

   1985Adventure

   A group of kids facing the loss of their homes to developers follow an old treasure map into caves full of traps, with a criminal family hot on their heels. Ghostbusters: Afterlife borrows this kind of small-town, kids-against-the-world adventure, right down to its band of misfit friends. The Goonies has no supernatural elements, and the humor is noisier and more chaotic, but the sense of discovery is very close.

   Where to watch The Goonies
3. 

   3. Super 8

   2011Sci-Fi

   In a small Ohio town in 1979, a group of kids shooting a zombie movie on a Super 8 camera witness a train crash that releases something dangerous. Like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, it is a modern film made in deliberate tribute to the Amblin-style adventures of the early 1980s, centered on kids uncovering a secret the adults will not face. It is darker and more frightening, with a story about grief at its core.

   Where to watch Super 8
4. 

   4. Stranger Things

   2016Sci-Fi

   Set in 1980s Indiana, this series follows a group of kids searching for their missing friend, a hunt that leads them to a secret lab, a girl with powers, and a monstrous parallel dimension. Its kid heroes, small-town setting, and affection for 1980s genre movies make it a natural fit next to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which even shares cast member Finn Wolfhard. As a long-form show, it digs deeper into its mythology and gets considerably scarier.

   Where to watch Stranger Things
5. 

   5. Ghostbusters II

   1989Comedy

   Years after saving New York, the Ghostbusters are out of business until a river of slime and a centuries-old tyrant trapped in a painting threaten the city, along with Dana's baby. It is part of the history that Ghostbusters: Afterlife builds on, with the original team, more gadgets, and a Statue of Liberty finale. The tone is goofier and more family-friendly than the first film, which makes it a fair bridge to Afterlife.

   Where to watch Ghostbusters II
6. 

   6. Men in Black

   1997Comedy

   A New York cop played by Will Smith is recruited by a secret agency that monitors aliens living on Earth, partnering with a deadpan veteran agent played by Tommy Lee Jones. The mix of oddball creatures, gadgets, and a blue-collar job keeping the weird under control recalls the formula that Ghostbusters: Afterlife revives. It trades ghosts for aliens and family drama for buddy-cop banter, making it a brisk, comedic side step.

   Where to watch Men in Black
7. 

   7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

   1982Sci-Fi

   Elliott, a lonely boy in suburban California, hides a stranded alien in his house and, with his siblings and friends, tries to help it get home. Ghostbusters: Afterlife takes clear cues from Steven Spielberg's approach here: kids on bikes, a family missing a parent, and adults who are more threat than help. E.T. is a gentler, more tear-jerking story with no action comedy, but it explains a lot about the feel Afterlife was chasing.

   Where to watch E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
8. 

   8. Shazam!

   2019Comedy

   Billy Batson, a teenage foster kid in Philadelphia, is granted the power to turn into an adult superhero by saying a single word. What links it to Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the focus on a kid outsider finding a new kind of family while facing a world-ending threat, played with plenty of humor. It is a superhero origin story with a bigger action scale, but its playful, warmhearted tone sits comfortably beside Afterlife.

   Where to watch Shazam!
9. 

   9. Goosebumps

   2015Comedy

   When a teen moves to a small Delaware town, he discovers that his reclusive neighbor is R.L. Stine, played by Jack Black, and that the monsters from his books can escape their manuscripts. The new-kid-in-town setup and the escalating creature chaos match Ghostbusters: Afterlife well. It is sillier and aimed at a slightly younger audience, but it handles its spooky set pieces with real energy.

   Where to watch Goosebumps
10. 

    10. The Monster Squad

    1987Comedy

    A club of monster-obsessed kids learns that Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, and other classic creatures have come to their town in search of an ancient amulet. Ghostbusters: Afterlife fans will find a direct ancestor here: kids with no grown-up backup taking on supernatural villains with their own knowledge and nerve. It is rougher around the edges and more irreverent, a cult favorite that rewards anyone curious about late-1980s monster movies.

    Where to watch The Monster Squad