Movies like Nightmare (1942)
The best movies like Nightmare (1942) are Marlowe (1969), Righteous Kill (2008) and In the Electric Mist (2009). If Nightmare 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 Night of the Hunter (1955)7.8/10 from 1,939 votes
- NewestThe Ritual Killer (2023)Released 2023
Marlowe (1969)
Mysterious Orfamay Quest hires Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. Though the job seems simple enough, it leads Marlowe into the underbelly of the city, turning up leads who are murdered with ice picks, exotic dancers, blackmailed television stars, and self-preserving gangsters. Soon, Marlowe's life is on the line right along with his case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRighteous Kill (2008)
Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisIn the Electric Mist (2009)
Lt. Dave Robicheaux, a detective in New Iberia, Louisiana, is trying to link the murder of a local hooker to New Orleans mobster Julie 'Baby Feet' Balboni, who is co-producer of a Civil War film. When the star of the film, Elrod Sykes, reports finding another corpse in the Atchafalaya Swamp near the movie set, Robicheaux starts another investigation, believing the corpse to be the remains of a black man whose murder he witnessed 35 years earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
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 thisBugsy (1991)
New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all strong-willed Virginia Hill detain him while his family wait back home. Then a trip to a run-down gambling joint at a spot in the desert known as Las Vegas gives him his big idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: The Disappearing Game (2018)
Crime-solving librarian Aurora Teagarden leaps headfirst into Lawrenceton’s latest murder investigation when her nephew Phillip and his college roommate go missing after the roommate’s girlfriend is found dead. Enlisting the help of her Real Murders pals, and the handsome college professor Nick Miller who just moved in across the street from her, Roe uncovers a kidnapping plot gone awry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
A mystery writer is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose dead body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, in order to learn more about the man. Along the way he is joined by the mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)
Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGourmet Detective: A Healthy Place to Die (2015)
When Henry is invited as a guest speaker at a luxury resort spa, he quickly finds himself at the center of another murder. With Maggie at his side, our favorite duo must not only find the killer but be careful they don't become his latest victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark City (1950)
War hero Danny Haley fleeces out-of-town dupes in a rigged poker game. He and his pals see Arthur Winant as an easy mark, but they've reckoned without Winant's homicidal brother, who wants revenge after Arthur commits suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSexy Beast (2001)
Ex-safecracker Gal Dove has served his time behind bars and is blissfully retired to a Spanish villa paradise with a wife he adores. The idyll is shattered by the arrival of his nemesis Don Logan, intent on persuading Gal to return to London for one last big job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Good Woman Is Hard to Find (2019)
The recently widowed mother of two, Sarah, is desperate to know who murdered her husband in front of her young son, rendering him mute. Coerced into helping a low-life drug dealer stash narcotics stolen from the local Mr. Big, she's forced into taking drastic action to protect her children, evolving from downtrodden submissive to take-charge vigilante.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse by the River (1950)
Wealthy writer Stephen Byrne tries to seduce the family maid, but when she resists, he kills her. Long jealous of his brother John, Stephen does his best to pin the blame for the murder on his sibling. Also affected by Stephen's arrogant dementia is his long-suffering wife Marjorie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
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 mystery & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAnother Day in Paradise (1998)
In the hope of a big score, two junkie couples team up to commit various drug robberies which go disastrously wrong, leading to dissent, violence, and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShaft's Big Score! (1972)
John Shaft is back as the lady-loved black detective cop on the search for the murderer of a client.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of Games (1987)
A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Deadly Summer (1983)
Shortly after Elle Wieck moves to a small French village, she begins dating Pin-Pon, a quiet young mechanic who has grown obsessed with the beautiful newcomer. But Elle has her own reason for the relationship...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrick (2006)
A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCassandra's Dream (2007)
The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night of the Hunter (1955)
In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBaise-moi (2000)
Nadine and Manu are two mad women, as tidy as can be, almost perfectionists. They have several things in common: extreme sex, drugs, beer and the trigger. They find the solution to their problems with guns and beware to those who dare to get in their way!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWander (2020)
After getting hired to probe a suspicious death in the small town of Wander, a mentally unstable private investigator becomes convinced the case is linked to the same 'conspiracy cover up' that caused the death of his daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Element of Crime (1984)
Fisher, an ex-detective, decides to take one final case when a mysterious serial killer claims the lives of several young girls. Fisher, unable to find the culprit, turns to Osbourne, a writer who was once respected for his contributions to the field of criminology. Fisher begins to use Osbourne's technique, which involves empathizing with serial killers; however, as the detective becomes increasingly engrossed in this method, things take a disturbing turn.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEagle Rock (2019)
In the early 1970s, a young woman in prison for murder reflects on what led her to the crime, the cult she was a part of, and her relationship with its leader.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Manhattan Night of Murder (1965)
Second Jerry Cotton movie. A ring of gangsters has been terrorizing New York City. Special agent Jerry Cotton is summoned by the FBI to help crack down on the Criminals and put them out of business. He doesnt pull any punches either.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Jerry Cotton: Tip Not Included (1966)
An elaborate bank robbery takes place and the gangsters succeed although the FBI had been warned. Jerry Cotton, who is considered accountable for this major failure, loses his badge over this. Being the man he is, Cotton doesn't let the evil-doers forget that he has unfinished business with them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Like Nightmare and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Nightmare?
The closest matches to Nightmare are Marlowe (1969), Righteous Kill (2008) and In the Electric Mist (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Nightmare?
Start with Marlowe (1969), the closest match to Nightmare.
What is the highest-rated movie like Nightmare?
The Night of the Hunter (1955), rated 7.8/10 by 1,939 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Nightmare?
The Ritual Killer (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Nightmare?
Yes: Marlowe (1969), Righteous Kill (2008) and In the Electric Mist (2009).
How are movies similar to Nightmare chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Nightmare, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.