"A House on the Bayou" and the "The Shining" both simmer with sinister supernatural energy. However, in Kubrick's film, the family wrestles with the malevolent energy of the hotel, while in "AHOTB," the family has two neighbors with supernatural powers to contend with, yet both films center on a family struggling to stay together despite their troubled past.
While "Cape Fear" is a hyper-reality-based brand of terror, "A House on the Bayou" gains its tension from ominous supernatural undertones and the isolation of the location, but the films still share themes. Both feature a family of three under siege by an assailant fueled by the righteous vengeance of perceived wrongs.
"Eve's Bayou" shares a lot of common ground with "A House on the Bayou" not only due to their shared location, but also because both films deal with families torn apart by infidelity, secret deals, and supernatural forces. Both films feature a father who loves his children, but repeatedly cheats on their mother, ultimately leading to his untimely death.
Unlike the previous entries, the similarities between "A House on the Bayou" and "Frailty" are tenuous but apparent, namely that Isaac's belief in "AHOTB" is that he is on a holy mission to cleanse the world of the wicked, just as Mr. Meiks (Bill Paxton) does in “Frailty.” Although their processes differ, both believe they are righteous instruments of a higher power.
This film connects to "A House on the Bayou" because it is about a tense dinner party in an isolated location where something nefarious is afoot. Both films grow in tension with a subtle simmering unease that explodes in a violent and bloody climax, revealing a far more complex conspiracy.