Movies like China Lake (1983)
The best movies like China Lake (1983) are What's the Matter with Helen? (1971), Maniac (1963) and The Dark Mirror (1946). If China Lake hooked you with its thriller and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGhosts (1997)8.1/10 from 305 votes
- NewestThe Best for my Daughter (2024)Released 2024
What'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 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 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 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 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 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 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 thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Blue Lamp (1950)
P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
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 thisDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912)
Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisThe Lady Vanishes (2013)
Young socialite Iris Carr befriends an older woman while traveling solo by train. When Iris wakes from a nap, the woman is gone and other passengers claim she never existed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHe Ran All the Way (1951)
A crook on the run hides out in an innocent girl's apartment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisIndemnity (2022)
An ex-fireman with PTSD goes on the run when accused of a crime he doesn't even remember committing, leading him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy to the highest degree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSide Street (1950)
A struggling young father-to-be gives in to temptation and impulsively steals an envelope of money from the office of a corrupt attorney. Instead of a few hundred dollars, it contains $30,000. When he decides to return the money, things go wrong - and that is only the beginning of his troubles.
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 thisGhosts (1997)
In the town of Normal Valley, an eccentric magician named Maestro entertains the local children every day in his spooky mansion. One stormy night, the town's mayor leads a group of angry citizens to the mansion in an attempt to run Maestro out of town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Time Shifters (1999)
Tom Merrick gets caught up in a time-traveling conspiracy and must set the timeline right before it is irrevocably altered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBasilisk: The Serpent King (2006)
Two millennia ago, a Lybian king has a basilisk (snake-shaped dragon), which petrifies people, subjected to the same fate with a golden scepter during a solar eclipse. Both these and several victims are dug up by modern archaeologist Harrison 'Harry' McColl's expedition. Despite a cryptic warning from tribal locals, everything goes to his Colorado university's museum. It's all exhibited during another eclipse, which leads to the monster reviving. Harry and some of his friends must try to petrify the monster again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tell-Tale Heart (2010)
A computer-generated rendering of the classic Poe tale about a man's sanity being a point of contention as he confesses to murdering an elderly man, driven by the victim's pale blue 'vulture eye', culminating in guilt-induced auditory hallucinations of the victim's beating heart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Terror Of The Killer Carnivorous Coat (2011)
A group of friends struggle for survival as they are faced with the ancient, demonic evil of - the killer carnivorous coat.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Goose Chase (2022)
A girl playing children's games with a new group of friends soon realizes nothing is wholesome about what they are doing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Thousand Year Sleep (2007)
Samantha, Lydia, Isabella, and Lisa. These four young women are about to learn that humanity is just an irrelevant flame burning nowhere in the vastness of space. Their dreams will be shattered and one man will marvel at the evil he has committed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
I Was a Teenage Werebear (2011)
A repressed gay teen transforms into a beast after being bitten by a hunky classmate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Best for my Daughter (2024)
How far is a father willing to go
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Ouiji (2016)
Do you ever get that eerie feeling that someone is standing behind you. They say that if you can feel it, then it is definitely present. The next time you feel the creeps, please do not look back. You might see it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Return of the Näcken (2024)
The Return of the Näcken is a gothic horror tale about a lonely water demon and her quest for human souls focusing on the existential anguish of being an enchanted creature doomed to an immortal life filled with grief, isolation, and loss.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Anesthetist (2014)
A nurse who needs money is offered a simple anesthetic part-time job, who soon finds herself caught up in a dangerous insurance scam and tries to escape. However, the nurse is left to the end.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Vasvaas (2010)
On Ali’s birthday, his wife Suzy gifts him an unusual proposition: all her wealth and prosperity will belong to him if she remains his only wife, while he secretly maintains an affair with another woman, Laila. Simultaneously, an evil master, accompanied by his puppet Kudafoolhu, embarks on a mission to implant wicked suggestions in the minds of locals. Sheikhul Hayya, a saintly man, strives to thwart this malevolence. In a twisted game, Suzy meets her demise at the hands of the Master, leaving Ali in possession of her wealth. However, Laila becomes the target of horrifying incidents orchestrated by the Master. The truth unfolds: the Master seeks revenge on Ali for an incident involving a lunar night and a vengeful act. The final showdown pits Sheikh against the Master, culminating in a final battle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like China Lake?
The closest matches to China Lake are What's the Matter with Helen? (1971), Maniac (1963) and The Dark Mirror (1946). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after China Lake?
Start with What's the Matter with Helen? (1971), the closest match to China Lake.
What is the highest-rated movie like China Lake?
Ghosts (1997), rated 8.1/10 by 305 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like China Lake?
The Best for my Daughter (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like China Lake?
Yes: What's the Matter with Helen? (1971), Maniac (1963) and The Dark Mirror (1946).
How are movies similar to China Lake chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside China Lake, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.