6 Best Museum After Dark Movies

By Vlad Zakh · June 8, 2026

Exhibits coming to life after closing time make for both family adventure and horror. Night at the Museum and Battle of the Smithsonian have a night guard saving animated friends, while House of Wax appears in 1953 and 2005 versions, with Mystery of the Wax Museum from 1933, each with something creepy among the wax figures. Waxwork traps teenagers inside a horrifying wax museum.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

TMDB ★ 5.9

A former night guard returns to save his animated museum friends from an ancient villain.

Directed by Shawn Levy · 1h 45m · Rated PG

Where to watch

Stream: Disney Plus, Hulu, FXNow · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Night at the Museum (2006)

IMDb ★ 6.5 RT 43% Metacritic 48

A night guard discovers every exhibit in the museum comes alive after dark.

Directed by Shawn Levy · 1h 48m · Rated PG

2 wins & 8 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Disney Plus, Hulu, FXNow · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

House of Wax (2005)

TMDB ★ 5.5

A group of friends stranded near an abandoned wax museum discover its horrifying secret.

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra · 1h 53m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Philo, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Waxwork (1988)

TMDB ★ 6.2

A group of teenagers touring a mysterious wax museum find themselves trapped inside its horrifying exhibits.

Directed by Anthony Hickox · 1h 37m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

House of Wax (1953)

TMDB ★ 6.9

A vengeful, scarred sculptor populates his new wax museum with the bodies of his murder victims.

Directed by André de Toth · 1h 28m

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

TMDB ★ 6.9

A disfigured sculptor rebuilds his ruined wax museum using a horrifying and deadly new method.

Directed by Michael Curtiz · 1h 18m

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

6 Best Museum After Dark Movies

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Night at the Museum (2006)

House of Wax (2005)

Waxwork (1988)

House of Wax (1953)

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

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