Movies like Panic Time (1980)
The best movies like Panic Time (1980) are Who's Harry Crumb? (1989), Excess Baggage (1997) and Sauerkrautkoma (2018). If Panic Time hooked you with its crime and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)7.5/10 from 680 votes
- NewestThe Thursday Murder Club (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanSauerkrautkoma (2018)Also in German
Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)
Harry Crumb is a bumbling and inept private investigator who is hired to solve the kidnapping of a young heiress which he's not expected to solve because his employer is the mastermind behind the kidnapping.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExcess Baggage (1997)
A rich brat fakes her own kidnapping, but in the process ends up locked in the trunk of a car that gets stolen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSauerkrautkoma (2018)
When a hilariously dull policeman moves in with his best buddy in Munich, he has to deal with scandals, a corpse — and potential marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFamily Plot (1976)
Spiritualist Blanche Tyler and her cab-driving boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome to Collinwood (2002)
Five hapless inner-city low-lifes attempt to burgle a pawnbroker's safe, but end up being plagued by bad luck.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCecil B. Demented (2000)
A young lunatic director and his devoted cult of cinema terrorists kidnap a Hollywood movie goddess and force her to star in their radical underground movie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thursday Murder Club (2025)
A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRehragout-Rendezvous (2023)
Bavaria's most laid-back cop returns, juggling parenting and working at the family farm with the reopening of a grisly cold case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ladykillers (2004)
An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a band in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting landlord – a sharp old woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOscar (1991)
Angelo "Snaps" Provolone made his dying father a promise on his deathbed: he would leave the world of crime and become an honest businessman. Despite having no experience in making money in a legal fashion, Snaps sets about to keep his promise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSchweinskopf al dente (2016)
As he tries to win back his ex-girlfriend, a lethargic Lower Bavarian police officer gets sidetracked by a panicky boss and an escaped psychopath.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBandits (2001)
After escaping from prison, Joe and Terry go on a crime spree, robbing banks through Oregon and California in order to finance their scheme for a new life south of the border. Unfortunately, things get more complicated when they meet Kate, who runs into them with her car. She joins the bandits on their cross-country spree, and eventually she steals something, too: their hearts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hot Rock (1972)
Dortmunder and his pals plan to steal a huge diamond from a museum. But this turns out to be only the first time they have to steal it...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cheap Detective (1978)
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnalyze This (1999)
Countless wiseguy films are spoofed in this film that centers on the neuroses and angst of a powerful Mafia racketeer who suffers from panic attacks. When Paul Vitti needs help dealing with his role in the "family," unlucky shrink Dr. Ben Sobel is given just days to resolve Vitti's emotional crisis and turn him into a happy, well-adjusted gangster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStark Raving Mad (2002)
A crook quietly plots his revenge against the boss who murdered his brother while working for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDampfnudelblues (2013)
After the forcible transfer to his Bavarian home village, an ex-criminal cop investigates the death of a school principal who he thinks had lots to hide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Rob a Bank (2007)
Caught in the middle of a bank robbery, a slacker and a bank employee become the ones who arbitrate the intense situation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Seven-Ups (1973)
A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFoul Play (1978)
A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAce Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
Summoned from an ashram in Tibet, Ace finds himself on a perilous journey into the jungles of Africa to find Shikaka, the missing sacred animal of the friendly Wachati tribe. He must accomplish this before the wedding of the Wachati's Princess to the prince of the warrior Wachootoos. If Ace fails, the result will be a vicious tribal war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Boys II (2003)
Detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey of the Miami Narcotics Task Force are tasked with stopping the flow of the drug Ecstasy into Miami. They track the drugs to the whacked-out Cuban drug lord Johnny Tapia, who is also involved in a bloody war with Russian and Haitian mobsters. If that isn't bad enough, there's tension between the two detectives when Marcus discovers that playboy Mike is secretly romancing Marcus’ sister, Syd.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers while the authorities question about the method of their escape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBaby's Day Out (1994)
Baby Bink couldn't ask for more: he has adoring (if somewhat sickly-sweet) parents, lives in a huge mansion, and he's just about to appear in the social pages of the paper. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world is as nice as Baby Bink's parents—especially the three enterprising kidnappers who pretend to be photographers from the newspaper. Successfully kidnapping Baby Bink, they have a harder time keeping hold of the rascal, who not only keeps one step ahead of them, but seems to be more than a little bit smarter than the three bumbling criminals.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrease 2 (1982)
It's 1961, two years after the original Grease gang graduated, and there's a new crop of seniors and new members of the coolest cliques on campus, the Pink Ladies and T-Birds. Michael Carrington is the new kid in school - but he's been branded a brainiac. Can he fix up an old motorcycle, don a leather jacket, avoid a rumble with the leader of the T-Birds, and win the heart of Pink Lady Stephanie?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisTrapped (2002)
Held hostage in different cities after their daughter is kidnapped by a master extortionist, a desperate couple must find a way to outsmart a seemingly foolproof plot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThis Girl for Hire (1983)
In this pilot for a proposed TV series, B.T. Brady is a flippant, but somewhat klutzy female private detective in Hollywood who sets out to solve the murder of a obnoxious mystery writer. Along the way, Brady gets help from her flamboyant mother Zandra, a washed-up actress, as well as Brady's live-in boyfriend Wolfe who runs a memorabilia shop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Sing Along (2013)
A sheltered boy with a dream of starring on Broadway survives day-to-day life by imagining the world as a musical.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
American Dreamz (2006)
The new season of "American Dreamz," the wildly popular television singing contest, has captured the country's attention, as the competition looks to be between a young Midwestern gal and a showtunes-loving young man from Orange County. Recently awakened President Staton even wants in on the craze, as he signs up for the potential explosive season finale.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Mikado (2011)
In a small Japanese town, Ko-Ko is appointed to the unenviable position of executioner. Knowing he must successfully perform before the appearance of the Mikado in a month's time, Ko-Ko finds a suitable victim in Nanki-Poo, who is distraught over his unrequited love for the maiden Yum-Yum. Nanki-Poo agrees to sacrifice his life if he is allowed to spend his remaining days with Yum-Yum, who is betrothed to Ko-Ko. Opera Australia production filmed at The Arts Centre Melbourne.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like Panic Time and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Panic Time?
The closest matches to Panic Time are Who's Harry Crumb? (1989), Excess Baggage (1997) and Sauerkrautkoma (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Panic Time?
Start with Who's Harry Crumb? (1989), the closest match to Panic Time.
What is the highest-rated movie like Panic Time?
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), rated 7.5/10 by 680 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Panic Time?
The Thursday Murder Club (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Panic Time?
Yes: Sauerkrautkoma (2018), Rehragout-Rendezvous (2023) and Schweinskopf al dente (2016).
How are movies similar to Panic Time chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Panic Time, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.