Movies like Hands of a Stranger (1962)
The best movies like Hands of a Stranger (1962) are The Shed (2019), Z (2019) and The Cabinet of Caligari (1962). If Hands of a Stranger hooked you with its horror and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Fugitive (1993)7.5/10 from 5,069 votes
- NewestMonkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026)Released 2026
The Shed (2019)
The story of Stan, an orphaned teenager stuck living with his abusive grandfather and tasked with routinely protecting his best friend from high school bullies. When Stan discovers a murderous creature has taken refuge inside the tool shed in his backyard, he tries to secretly battle the demon alone until his bullied friend discovers the creature and has a far more sinister plan in mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZ (2019)
A family find themselves terrorized by their eight-year-old son's imaginary friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cabinet of Caligari (1962)
A delirious young woman feels trapped in a remote mansion at the mercy of a madman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Mirror (1946)
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Medusa Touch (1978)
A French detective in London reconstructs the life of a man lying in hospital with severe injuries with the help of journals and a psychiatrist. He realises that the man had powerful telekinetic abilities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManiac (1963)
When a stranger enters a quiet, country town and is seduced by a sensuous married woman he unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a storm of sexual guilt and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat's the Matter with Helen? (1971)
Two middle-aged women move to Hollywood after their sons are convicted of a notorious murder and open a dance school for children eager to tap their way to stardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of Horrors (1946)
An unsuccessful sculptor saves a madman named "The Creeper" from drowning. Seeing an opportunity for revenge, he tricks the psycho into murdering his critics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnseen (2023)
Sam receives a call from Emily, a near blind woman who is running from her murderous ex in the woods. Can she survive using Sam as her eyes via video call?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisX: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)
A doctor uses special eye drops to give himself x-ray vision, but the new power has disastrous consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Widow (1987)
Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass Key (1942)
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPickup on South Street (1953)
In New York City, an insolent pickpocket, Skip McCoy, inadvertently sets off a chain of events when he targets ex-prostitute Candy and steals her wallet. Unaware that she has been making deliveries of highly classified information to the communists, Candy, who has been trailed by FBI agents for months in hopes of nabbing the spy ringleader, is sent by her ex-boyfriend, Joey, to find Skip and retrieve the valuable microfilm he now holds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man Who Cheated Himself (1950)
A veteran homicide detective who has witnessed his socialite girlfriend kill her husband sees his inexperienced brother assigned to the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConflict (1945)
Unhappily married Richard Mason concocts a meticulous scheme to kill his shrewish wife so that he'll be free to marry her sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightfall (1956)
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeadsight (2018)
A man with partial blindness and a young pregnant police officer must work together to escape a deadly virus that has spread across Grey County.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026)
After a mysterious bout of amnesia, a beloved children’s television host struggles to piece together his fractured memories, only to find his once-cheerful puppet co-stars behaving with sinister intent. As reality unravels, the line between performance and nightmare begins to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe MacKintosh Man (1973)
A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor; only, someone finds him out and exposes him to the gang...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMad Love (1935)
An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace her wounded pianist husband's hands with those of a knife-throwing murderer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fugitive (1993)
Wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to death, Richard Kimble escapes from the law in an attempt to find the real killer and clear his name.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHangmen Also Die! (1943)
During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, surgeon Dr. Franticek Svoboda, a Czech patriot, assassinates the brutal "Hangman of Europe", Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich, and is wounded in the process. In his attempt to escape, he is helped by history professor Stephen Novotny and his daughter Mascha.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this"MANOS" The Hands of Fate (1966)
A family gets lost on the road and stumbles upon a hidden, underground, devil-worshiping cult led by the fearsome Master and his servant Torgo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlack Jack: The Movie (1996)
Black Jack is a master surgeon who possesses impeccable skills, enabling him to perform operations that are impossible for even the finest surgeons. He now is faced with his most difficult task to date and must challenge the limits of medical science...before it's too late!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBloody Knuckles (2014)
This deliriously offensive, gory horror-comedy features an underground comic book artist whose obscene caricature upsets a crime lord, who responds by cutting off the young man’s hand. The young man wallows in post-severed hand depression. Will criminality reign supreme? Will he live alone as a bitter one-handed man? Not if the slightly rotted hand, now alive and determined to exact revenge, teems up with his former body and a masked S&M gay superhero to rid the city of evil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Green for Danger (1946)
In the midst of Nazi air raids, a postman dies on the operating table at a rural hospital. But was the death accidental?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beast with Five Fingers (1947)
Locals in an Italian village believe evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist where murder has taken place. The alleged killer: the pianist's severed hand.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Mistake (2023)
In the midst of a new scheme to publicly report surgeons’ performance, a gifted surgeon’s life is thrown into disarray as her colleagues begin to close ranks, and even her partner, a nurse at the hospital, turns her back on her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManos Returns (2018)
Four friends are lost on a road trip, finding the house of a hidden cult that worships a being named Manos. They are led by the Master and his loyal servant, Torgo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hands of a Stranger?
The closest matches to Hands of a Stranger are The Shed (2019), Z (2019) and The Cabinet of Caligari (1962). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hands of a Stranger?
Start with The Shed (2019), the closest match to Hands of a Stranger.
What is the highest-rated movie like Hands of a Stranger?
The Fugitive (1993), rated 7.5/10 by 5,069 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hands of a Stranger?
Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Hands of a Stranger?
Yes: The Shed (2019), Z (2019) and The Cabinet of Caligari (1962).
How are movies similar to Hands of a Stranger chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hands of a Stranger, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.