Movies like Cold Light of Day (1989)
The best movies like Cold Light of Day (1989) are The House That Jack Built (2018), Horsemen (2009) and Fallen (1998). If Cold Light of Day hooked you with its horror and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Theory of Everything (2014)7.8/10 from 11,369 votes
- NewestCult Killer (2024)Released 2024
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering piece of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer for twelve years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHorsemen (2009)
A recently widowed detective still grieving over his wife's death discovers a shocking connection between himself and the suspects in a serial killing spree linked to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFallen (1998)
Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am All Girls (2021)
A special crimes investigator forms an unlikely bond with a serial killer to bring down a global child sex trafficking syndicate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)
A police detective's investigation of a prostitute's murder points to his best friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisCult Killer (2024)
A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGod Told Me To (1976)
A New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random citizens who claim that 'God told them to'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisRed Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009)
Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Jobson is forced to remember the very similar disappearance of Clare Kemplay, who was found dead in 1974, and the subsequent imprisonment of local boy Michael Myshkin. Washed-up local solicitor John Piggott becomes convinced of Myshkin's innocence and begins to fight on his behalf, unwittingly providing a catalyst for Jobson to start to right some wrongs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvilenko (2004)
For years, Andrei Evilenko eluded the obsessive Detective Lesiev and the psychiatric profiler Aron Richter. Spurred on by his rabid fury at the gradual crumbling of his precious Soviet Union, Evilenko is a man who will live, die and kill as a communist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisGrip of the Strangler (1958)
A researcher investigating a notorious serial killer who was hanged 20 years earlier seemingly becomes possessed by the long dead strangler.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLike Minds (2006)
A forensic psychologist must determine if a minor should be charged with murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl Who Got Away (2021)
A female serial killer who killed four young girls is sent away to prison, but a fifth victim escaped with her life. Twenty years later, the killer escapes and begins hunting for the one who got away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMindcage (2022)
Detectives Jake Doyle and Mary Kelly seek the help of an incarcerated serial killer named The Artist when a copycat killer strikes. While Mary searches for clues in The Artist's brilliant but twisted psyche, she and Jake are lured into a diabolical game of cat and mouse, racing against time to stay one step ahead of The Artist and his copycat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlitz (2011)
A tough cop is dispatched to take down a serial killer who has been targeting police officers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ritual Killer (2023)
Unable to process the death of his daughter, Detective Boyd embarks on a hunt for a serial killer who murders according to a brutal tribal ritual: Muti. The only person who can help Boyd is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist who hides an unspeakable secret. The line between sanity and madness thins as Boyd goes deeper into the killer’s world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWalker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire (2005)
Walker investigates a murder connected with a missing government weapon. In addition, he tries to track down a teen on the run from a crime syndicate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this10 Rillington Place (1971)
The story of British serial killer John Christie, who committed most or all of his crimes in the titular terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving Timothy Evans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMurder in Three Acts (1986)
In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kiss-Off (1968)
A low rent detective, his stripper girlfriend, a runaway wife (who's joined a whorehouse) and a rapist / obscene phone caller / serial killer all factor into this piece of Los Angeles sleaze.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
The Life of Rayful Edmond (2005)
The true king of cocaine. At his peak he sold 2,000 kilos a week, reaped gross profits of $70 million a month, and ran an operation with over 150 soldiers to support him. In his life champagne flowed like water, trips to Vegas, New York, and Los Angeles were the norm, and $150,000 shopping sprees were nothing. At the height of Washington, D.C.'s brutal crack epidemic in 1987, there was a 22 year old man responsible for distributing 90% of Columbian Cocaine onto the city's streets. This man is Rayful Edmond III. In the media's eyes he was guilty until proven innocent, but in the streets eyes he was a hero who made it to the top. This is his story-a story of; Power, Money, Murder, Betrayal and the rise and fall of the Edmond's Empire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Monster (2003)
In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately leads Aileen to becoming America's first female serial killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVillain (2017)
ADGP Mathew Manjooran, returns to work after a seven-month sabbatical, only to take voluntary retirement. His last day has him investigating a case involving triple murder, including a police officer. Soon a pattern emerges and each clue also links Mathew. How is the veteran police officer tied to the murders and who is the real villain?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Nightmares (2004)
A nameless Serial Killer, invites you into his world of madness. To discover in his own words what started him on the ever darkening road of evil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Walk the Line (2005)
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSaw II (2005)
The chilling and relentless Jigsaw killer returns to terrorize the city once again. When a gruesome murder victim emerges with unmistakable traces of Jigsaw's sinister methods, Detective Eric Matthews is thrust into a high-stakes investigation. To his surprise, apprehending Jigsaw seems almost too easy, but what he doesn't realize is that being caught is merely another piece of Jigsaw's intricate puzzle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesert Dancer (2014)
Inspirational true story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, who risked his life for his dream to become a dancer despite a nationwide dancing ban.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Theory of Everything (2014)
Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Cold Light of Day?
The closest matches to Cold Light of Day are The House That Jack Built (2018), Horsemen (2009) and Fallen (1998). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cold Light of Day?
Start with The House That Jack Built (2018), the closest match to Cold Light of Day.
What is the highest-rated movie like Cold Light of Day?
The Theory of Everything (2014), rated 7.8/10 by 11,369 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cold Light of Day?
Cult Killer (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Cold Light of Day?
Yes: The House That Jack Built (2018), Horsemen (2009) and Fallen (1998).
How are movies similar to Cold Light of Day chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cold Light of Day, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.