Movies like Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil (1952)
The best movies like Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil (1952) are Kill! (1968), Kamui (2009) and Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012). If Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSamurai Rebellion (1967)8.2/10 from 283 votes
- NewestKaiju No. 8: Mission Recon (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseKill! (1968)Also in Japanese
Kill! (1968)
A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKamui (2009)
A rebellious ninja in 17th century Japan takes refuge with a fisherman and his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012)
In 1868, after the Bakumatsu war ends, the ex-assassin Kenshin Himura traverses Japan with an inverted sword, to defend the needy without killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMumon: The Land of Stealth (2017)
Raised suckling poison arrows among the sparring Iga ninja factions, Mumon is a carefree 16th-century mercenary. When the ninja council makes a power play to defeat the young Nobukatsu Oda struggling to step into his father’s warlord shoes as they expand rule across the country, Mumon jumps into the fray to satisfy his new bride Okuni’s demand that he make good on his promises of wealth. Yet Mumon soon finds what is worth fighting for beyond money or nation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSamurai Rebellion (1967)
The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped by the lord. Her husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to rescue her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends (2014)
Shishio sets sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the government. In order to stop him, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSamurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955)
After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto. Otsu waits for him, yet he has come not for her but to challenge the leader of the region's finest school of fencing. To prove his valor and skill, he walks deliberately into ambushes set up by the school's followers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGojoe: Spirit War Chronicle (2001)
Benkei, a master fighter and killer, vows never to take another life after his conversion to Buddhism. His faith in pacifism, however, is shaken and ultimately broken by the attacks from a trio of fighters known only as the demons. Taking up his sword once more, he sets out to end their murderous terror.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAssassination (1964)
In 1863, when American warships approach Japan, an enigmatic ronin becomes an important figure in a complex game of power between the Shogunate and the empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally (1989)
Older, wiser but still a wandering loner, the blind, peace-loving masseur Ichi seeks a peaceful life in a rural village. When he's caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival Yakuza clans, his reputation as a deadly defender of the innocent is put to the ultimate test in a series of sword-slashing showdowns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoraemon the Movie: Nobita's Art World Tales (2025)
Nobita and Doraemon enter the world in a European Renaissance painting, but run into trouble as they hop from piece to piece in search of a malevolent time traveler who wishes to recreate the extinct pigment of "Artoria Blue".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDouble Suicide (1969)
Successful and married with children, paper-mill owner Jihei knows better than to contradict the strict social and moral codes of 18th-century Japan. But when he meets the lovely courtesan Koharu, he becomes a man obsessed. Koharu returns his love, even foregoing other customers while Jihei schemes to somehow buy her freedom. His efforts yield ruinous consequences for his business and his family life, and Koharu is meanwhile purchased by another client.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this47 Ronin (2013)
Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUgetsu (1953)
In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Tsuzumi Mansion Arc (2022)
Tanjiro ventures to the south-southeast where he encounters a cowardly young man named Zenitsu Agatsuma, a fellow survivor from Final Selection. His sparrow asks Tanjiro to help keep him in line. A recap of Kimetsu no Yaiba episodes 11–14, with new footage and special end credits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKaiju No. 8: Mission Recon (2025)
In a Kaiju-filled Japan, Kafka Hibino works in monster disposal. After reuniting with his childhood friend Mina Ashiro, a rising star in the anti-Kaiju Defense Force, he decides to pursue his abandoned dream of joining the Force, when he suddenly transforms into the powerful "Kaiju No. 8." An action-packed recap of the first season of Kaiju No. 8 and a new original episode, Hoshina's Day Off.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: Super-Dimension! The Storm Called My Bride (2010)
Shin-chan is approached by his time-traveling future bride-to-be Tamiko, who asks him to help save his adult self from the ruler of Neo Tokio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)
Before he was a protector, Kenshin was a fearsome assassin known as Battosai. But when he meets gentle Tomoe Yukishiro, a beautiful young woman who carries a huge burden in her heart, his life will change forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove and Honor (2006)
A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Twilight Samurai (2002)
Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil?
The closest matches to Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil are Kill! (1968), Kamui (2009) and Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil?
Start with Kill! (1968), the closest match to Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil?
Samurai Rebellion (1967), rated 8.2/10 by 283 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil?
Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil?
Yes: Kill! (1968), Kamui (2009) and Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012).
How are movies similar to Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shimizu Harbor Is More Frightening Than the Devil, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.