Movies like Trailing the Killer (1932)
The best movies like Trailing the Killer (1932) are The Mountain Men (1980), Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventure (1995) and True Grit (1969). If Trailing the Killer hooked you with its western and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTrue Grit (1969)7.3/10 from 902 votes
- NewestGunslingers (2025)Released 2025
The Mountain Men (1980)
The story concerns two grizzled mountain men -- Bill Tyler and Henry Frapp -- during the dying days of the fur-trapping era. The plot begins when Running Moon runs away from her abusive husband Heavy Eagle and comes across the two seedy fur trappers. The mountain men take her in, unaware that Heavy Eagle has dispatched an army of Indian braves to reclaim her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
SnoozefestMovies like thisTall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventure (1995)
A young boy draws on the inspiration of legendary western characters to find the strength to fight an evil land baron in the old west who wants to steal his family's farm and destroy their idyllic community. When Daniel Hackett sees his father Jonas gravely wounded by the villainous Stiles, his first urge is for his family to flee the danger, and give up their life on a farm which Daniel has come to despise anyway. Going alone to a lake to try to decide what to do, he falls asleep on a boat and wakes to find himself in the wild west, in the company of such "tall tale" legends as Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, John Henry and Calamity Jane. Together, they battle the same villains Daniel is facing in his "real" world, ending with a heroic confrontation in which the boy stands up to Stiles and his henchmen, and rallies his neighbors to fight back against land grabbers who want to destroy their town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Grit (1969)
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Call of the Wild (1972)
John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tall Men (1955)
Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Warrior's Way (2010)
A warrior-assassin is forced to hide in a small town in the American Badlands after refusing a mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955)
Legends (and myths) from the life of famed American frontiersman Davy Crockett are depicted in this feature film edited from television episodes. Crockett and his friend George Russel fight in the Creek Indian War. Then Crockett is elected to Congress and brings his rough-hewn ways to the House of Representatives. Finally, Crockett and Russell journey to Texas and the last stand at the Alamo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGunslingers (2025)
When the most wanted man in America surfaces in a small Kentucky town, his violent history -- and a blood-thirsty mob seeking vengeance and a king’s ransom -- soon follow. As brothers face off against one another and bullets tear the town to shreds, this lightning-fast gunslinger makes his enemies pay the ultimate price for their greed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbarosa (1982)
Karl Westover, an inexperienced farm boy, runs away after unintentionally killing a neighbor, whose family pursues him for vengeance. He meets Barbarosa, a gunman of near-mythical proportions, who is himself in danger from his father-in-law Don Braulio, a wealthy Mexican rancher. Don Braulio wants Barbarosa dead for marrying his daughter against the father's will. Barbarosa reluctantly takes the clumsy Karl on as a partner, as both of them look to survive the forces lining up against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisIn a Valley of Violence (2016)
The story of a drifter named Paul who arrives in a small town seeking revenge on the thugs who murdered his friend. Sisters Mary Anne and Ellen, who run the town's hotel, help Paul in his quest for vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan in the Shadow (1957)
In a modern cow town, the powerful ranch owner’s henchmen kill a ranch hand, prompting the sheriff to investigate despite facing strong opposition. He finds an unlikely ally in the rancher's overprotected daughter, but their quest for justice puts them both in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJane Got a Gun (2015)
After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn't seen in over ten years to help her defend her farm when the time comes that her husband's gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisGunfight at Rio Bravo (2023)
When mysterious Russian gunslinger Ivan Turchin rides into a small Texas town, he runs afoul of a bloodthirsty outlaw gang known as The Hellhounds. Outmanned and outgunned, the town must put their trust in Turchin to protect them from annihilation at the hands of the bandits. The gunslinger finds allies in the form of Marshal Austin Carter and Sheriff Vernon Kelly, and together the three must make a desperate stand against impossible and violent odds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outsider (2002)
Montana sheep farmer Rebecca Yoder offers sanctuary to an on-the-lam outlaw, Johnny Gault, who is suffering from a gunshot wound. Yoder is a recent widow, and her decision to help the outsider doesn't sit well with her Quaker community. As a romance brews between her and Gault, it puts in jeopardy her standing among her devout neighbors. But when an evil rancher makes a play for the community's land, Gault's sharpshooting skills might prove his worth after all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisNo Name on the Bullet (1959)
When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDecision at Sundown (1957)
A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJubal (1956)
Jubal Troop is a cowboy who is found in a weakened condition, without a horse. He is given shelter at Shep Horgan's large ranch, where he quickly makes an enemy in foreman Pinky, a cattleman who accuses Jubal of carrying the smell of sheep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoss Nigger (1975)
Two black bounty hunters ride into a small town out West in pursuit of an outlaw. They discover that the town has no sheriff, and soon take over that position, much against the will of the mostly white townsfolk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGo West (1940)
A con man heading west to search for gold teams up with a pair of scheming brothers along the way. The trio soon find themselves in the middle of a feud between two rival families and two underhanded land developers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRust (2024)
Infamous outlaw Harland Rust breaks his estranged grandson Lucas out of prison, after Lucas is convicted to hang for an accidental murder. The two must outrun legendary U.S Marshal Wood Helm and bounty hunter Fenton "Preacher" Lang who are hot on their tails. Deeply buried secrets rise from the ashes and an unexpected familial bond begins to form as the mismatched duo tries to survive the merciless American Frontier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wolf Hunters (1949)
After four fur trappers are slain and their furs stolen, Corporal Rod Webb of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police sets out for their village. En route, he and his German Shepherd, Chinook, encounter another trapper, Henri, unconscious on the trail, and the furs he was delivering to the factor, McTavish, stolen. Chinook trails the would-be-killer and bites a piece of cloth from his coat before he escapes. Webb leaves Henri with Greta while he investigates, aided by an Indian servant and the, wife of the superintendent of the trading company that employs McTavish.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & western
Clash of the Wolves (1925)
A fire in the mountains drives a wolf pack into the nearby desert where they terrorize the local residents. The leader of the wolf pack is Lobo, actually a halfbreed (Rin Tin Tin). When the pack is discovered hunting a herd of cows, a posse gives chase. Lobo leaves his pack to lead the posse away. He is injured and found by a local prospector, Dave Weston (Charles Farrell). The prospector nurses Lobo back to health and the two become close friends. Meanwhile, Weston has made a Borax find in the area. His girlfriend May Barstowe (June Marlowe), daughter of a wealthy rancher, is pleased. However, the local chemist, Borax Horton (Pat Hartigan), actually a claim jumper, plans to steal the claim.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western & adventure
Fighting Fury (1934)
A lawman, his dog and his trusty white stallion fight a gang of outlaws.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Sky Rider (1928)
The disinherited nephew of an aviation magnate plots to get a share of his uncle’s millions. He causes the near-death of his cousin when a bomb placed in his plane explodes in mid-air. He then hires thugs to abduct the uncle in order to force him to give over part of his fortune, but is foiled by the arrival of a cousin and police.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Where the North Begins (1923)
A German Shepherd puppy is "adopted" by a wolf pack in the snowy and frozen Great North and raised by them as one of their own. A few years later he comes upon a fur trapper and saves the man from certain death, and begins to feel a kinship with him that is stronger than the one he has with his adopted pack.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
The Man from Hell's River (1922)
A girl engaged to a member of the Royal Mounted Police is forced to marry a vicious blackmailer after he gains incriminating evidence on her father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
A Hero of the Big Snows (1926)
Rin-Tin-Tin is saved from the beatings of a trapper by Ed Nolan, a shiftless trapper himself, and 'Rinty" follows Nolan home to his cabin but refuses to enter. Nolan takes him to the home of Mary Mallory, the girl he has failed to win as his wife because of his ways, and in their mutual love of 'Rinty," a new understanding is born and Nolan goes to work.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
While London Sleeps (1926)
Rinty is a police-dog assigned to a young Scotland Yard police-officer who covers the Limehouse district of London.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Code of the Northwest (1926)
A Mountie and his dog must bring in his wanted brother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Adventures of Rusty (1945)
Fearing that his recently-acquired step-mother, Ann Dennis, is competing with him for his father's affections, and saddened by the death of his dog, young Danny Mitchell seeks consolation in the companionship of a ferocious, Nazi-trained police dog, Rusty, brought to the U.S. by a returning WWII-veteran. The step-mother, with tender understanding, eventually wins Danny over while Danny pacifies his new dog.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Trailing the Killer?
The closest matches to Trailing the Killer are The Mountain Men (1980), Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventure (1995) and True Grit (1969). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Trailing the Killer?
Start with The Mountain Men (1980), the closest match to Trailing the Killer.
What is the highest-rated movie like Trailing the Killer?
True Grit (1969), rated 7.3/10 by 902 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Trailing the Killer?
Gunslingers (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Trailing the Killer?
Yes: The Mountain Men (1980), Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventure (1995) and True Grit (1969).
How are movies similar to Trailing the Killer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Trailing the Killer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.