Movies like The House of Fear (1939)
The best movies like The House of Fear (1939) are The Locksmith (2023), Suburbicon (2017) and Limbo (2023). If The House of Fear hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)7.4/10 from 1,709 votes
- NewestBarron's Cove (2025)Released 2025
The Locksmith (2023)
A thief fresh out of prison, tries to work his way back into the life of his daughter and ex-fiancé. Determined, he is forced to use the skills he has as a gifted locksmith. Things take a tumultuous turn after an unexpected disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisSuburbicon (2017)
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLimbo (2023)
Travis, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths about the murder begin to unfold, the detective gains a new insight into the unsolved case.
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 & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Man's Folly (1986)
During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Naked City (1948)
After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShimmer Lake (2017)
Shot in reverse day-by-day through a week—a local sheriff embarks on a quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFarewell, My Lovely (1975)
Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStolen (2009)
A detective becomes obsessed with solving a child's 50-year-old murder, uncovering striking similarities between the case and his son's disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and It Feels So Deadly (2020)
Aurora's high school reunion turns deadly when a body is found in the hotel pool. Aurora and her Real Murders Club help investigate which classmate was most likely to kill.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBefore and After (1996)
Two parents deal with the effects when their son is accused of murdering his girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisInside Man (2023)
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Believer (1989)
Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun (1991)
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & 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 drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Mirror Crack'd (1980)
Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarron's Cove (2025)
When his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician -- the father of the kidnapped boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlindfire (2020)
A police officer who while responding to a violent hostage call, kills the African American suspect only to later learn of his innocence. Sensing this was a set-up, and facing repercussions, he must track down the person responsible while examining his own accountability and the ingrained racism which brought him to this point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Public Eye (1992)
A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBEYOND SIGHT (2025)
In Beyond Sight, Dália is a teenager desperate to belong, even if it means adopting the cruel prejudices of her toxic group of friends. But when an unexpected accident leaves her blind, Dália finds herself on the other side of the judgment she once inflicted. Struggling to adapt, she crosses paths with a mysterious doctor who offers her a chance to regain her sight—through an experimental substance that promises not just vision, but a transformation into her best self: Zoe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
Castle in the Desert (1942)
Charlie Chan, with son Jimmy on a week's pass from the Army, takes up a request for help at a castle-home, miles from anywhere in the American desert south-west and inhabited by an eccentric, reclusive historian and his wife, a descendant of Lucrezia Borgia. Once there, he finds the request's legitimacy denied by all who are present, but still necessary as one houseguest has already been murdered, the other guests are at each other's throat, and the Borgia-related chatelain is suspected...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & mystery
Killer (1972)
Whilst being transferred to a psychiatric hospital, a ruthless serial killer Gassot makes a break and goes on the run. He arrives in Marseilles, intending to escape abroad. Here, he falls for a young prostitute, Gerda.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Cecilia (1954)
Teenage Cecilia comes from a working class family. She lives with her mother, three brothers, and alcoholic father. Cecilia finds emotional relief and security with Tore, an older girl at her school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
A down-on-his-luck crab fisherman embarks on a journey to get a young man with Down syndrome to a professional wrestling school in rural North Carolina and away from the retirement home where he’s lived for the past two and a half years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisColossal Youth (2018)
When his dream girl returns to school a hopeless romantic teen tries to win her heart, until he hits rock bottom and realizes his true love has been there all along.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Light in the Piazza: Live from Lincoln Center (2006)
In the summer of 1953, Margaret Johnson, the wife of an American businessman, is touring Italy with her daughter, Clara. While sightseeing, Clara—a beautiful, surprisingly childish young woman—loses her hat in a sudden gust. As if guided by an unseen hand, the hat lands at the feet of Fabrizio Naccarelli, a handsome Florentine, who returns it to Clara. This brief episode, charged with coincidence and fate, sparks an immediate and intense romance between Clara and Fabrizio. Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep Clara and Fabrizio apart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Te lo leggo negli occhi (1966)
A girl from a country village goes to town and falls in love with a songwriter struggling for success. Soon however their life-paths go different ways and they split. Only for a short time naturally : a song he writes will help them to reunite.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Woman of the North (1999)
Young Dutch widow Emilie travels to a seaside resort in Italy, where she falls in love with Italian officer Aldo. Meanwhile, her deceased husband's assistant Hugo plans to propose to her as soon as the period of mourning is over.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Buy (2021)
A touching, at the same time funny and sad story of love and separation, which fit into one broadcast of the program "Shop on the couch". What is it – a vivid cross-section of modern trends or an old-as-the-world history of the relationship between a man and a woman? He is not ambitious enough, she is not romantic enough, and, of course, there is someone third between them. A story of one love, sold in the "Shop on the couch" for the price of one sweater.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The House of Fear?
The closest matches to The House of Fear are The Locksmith (2023), Suburbicon (2017) and Limbo (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The House of Fear?
Start with The Locksmith (2023), the closest match to The House of Fear.
What is the highest-rated movie like The House of Fear?
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019), rated 7.4/10 by 1,709 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The House of Fear?
Barron's Cove (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The House of Fear?
Yes: The Locksmith (2023), Suburbicon (2017) and Limbo (2023).
How are movies similar to The House of Fear chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The House of Fear, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.