Movies like The Shaolin Brothers (1977)
The best movies like The Shaolin Brothers (1977) are The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974), Human Lanterns (1982) and Priest (2011). If The Shaolin Brothers hooked you with its action and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBlades of the Guardians (2026)8.2/10 from 265 votes
- NewestBlades of the Guardians (2026)Released 2026
- In ChineseHuman Lanterns (1982)Also in Chinese
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
Professor Van Helsing had been asked to help against the tyranny of skeletal creatures that are responsible for terror and death amongst the peasants in rural China. He is the only person qualified to deal with the cause of these phenomena, for the undead are controlled by the most diabolical force of all.... Count Dracula. But he is not alone- to aid him comes a mystical brotherhood of seven martial arts warriors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisHuman Lanterns (1982)
A psychotic craftsman pits two rival Kung-Fu masters against each other while designing special lanterns from a disturbing source.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPriest (2011)
In an alternate world, humanity and vampires have warred for centuries. After the last Vampire War, the veteran Warrior Priest lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church's walled cities. When the Priest's niece is kidnapped by vampires, the Priest breaks his vows to hunt them down. He is accompanied by the niece's boyfriend, who is a wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGod Is a Bullet (2023)
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbduction (2019)
A man steps out of a park fountain in Ho Chi Minh City with no recollection of who he is or where he came from. As he wanders through the city, piecing together clues to his past, he is relentlessly pursued by mysterious figures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood: The Last Vampire (2009)
On the surface, Saya is a stunning 16-year-old, but that youthful exterior hides the tormented soul of a 400-year-old "halfling". Born to a human father and a vampire mother, she has for centuries been a loner obsessed with using her samurai skills to rid the world of vampires, all the while knowing that she herself can survive only on blood like those she hunts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisLegend of the Mountain (1979)
A traveling scholar is intent on translating a Buddhist sutra that is said to have power over the creatures of the afterlife. He slowly finds himself entangled in a mysterious plot involving witchcraft, demons, and a battle to preserve his own soul from the attacks of the supernatural underworld.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
An American teenager who is obsessed with Hong Kong cinema and kung-fu classics makes an extraordinary discovery in a Chinatown pawnshop: the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King. With the lost relic in hand, the teenager unexpectedly finds himself travelling back to ancient China to join a crew of warriors from martial arts lore on a dangerous quest to free the imprisoned Monkey King.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJourney to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017)
Tang Monk brings three disciples on a journey to the West. On the outside, everything seems harmonious. However, tension is present beneath the surface, and their hearts and minds are not in agreement. After a series of demon-capturing events, the monk and his disciples gain mutual understanding of each others' hardships and unease. Finally, they resolve their inner conflict and work together to become an all-conquering, demon-exorcising team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCreation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (2023)
Based on the most well-known classical fantasy novel of China, Fengshenyanyi, the trilogy is a magnificent eastern high fantasy epic that recreates the prolonged mythical wars between humans, immortals and monsters, which happened more than three thousand years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYoung Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013)
Young Dee Renjie arrives in the empire's capital to join the Supreme Court as police judge of his region. He wants to become a prosecutor. Empress Wu, who is at the beginning of her reign, has commissioned the fierce detective Yuchi to investigate a sea monster that stalks the city at night and makes it unsafe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHand of Death (1976)
A young monk must face the Extended Iron Claw technique of a powerful warlord seeking to destroy Shaolin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (2018)
Dee, the detective serving Chinese empress Wu Zetian, is called upon to investigate a series of strange events in Loyang, including the appearance of mysterious warriors wearing Chiyou ghost masks, foxes that speak human language and the pillar sculptures in the palace coming alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReign of Assassins (2010)
Set in ancient China, Zeng Jing is a skilled assassin who finds herself in possession of a mystical Buddhist monk's remains. She begins a quest to return the remains to its rightful resting place, and thus places herself in mortal danger because a team of assassins is in a deadly pursuit to possess the remains which holds an ancient power-wielding secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDragon Fist (1979)
After the death of his master, martial arts student Tong Huo-wan travels with his adoptive family to seek redress from the man responsible but finds himself torn between righteousness and filial piety after becoming entangled in a feud between a local clan and gangsters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightbreed (1990)
A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLust for a Vampire (1971)
In 1830, the Karnstein heirs use the blood of an innocent to bring forth the evil that is the beautiful Mircalla - or as she was in 1710, Carmilla. The nearby Finishing School offers rich pickings not only in in the blood of nubile young ladies but also with the headmaster who is desperate to become Mircalla's disciple, and the equally besotted and even more foolish author Richard Lestrange.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Touch of Zen (1970)
Yang Hui-zhen, a mysterious princess on the run from corrupt government officials, is joined in her endeavors by skilled Buddhist monks and an unambitious painter named Gu Sheng-zhai.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlades of the Guardians (2026)
Dao Ma, the "second most wanted fugitive," is entrusted by his benefactor, the chief of Mo family clan, to take on a mysterious escort mission-escorting the "most wanted fugitive" to Chang'an.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDangerous (2021)
A reformed sociopath heads to a remote island after the death of his brother. Soon after his arrival, the island falls under siege from a deadly gang of mercenaries, and when he discovers their role in his brother’s demise, he sets out on a relentless quest for vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood: The Last Vampire (2000)
In Japan, the vampire-hunter Saya, who is a powerful original, is sent by her liaison with the government, David, posed as a teenage student to the Yokota High School on the eve of Halloween to hunt down vampires. Saya asks David to give a new katana to her. Soon she saves the school nurse Makiho Amano from two vampires disguised of classmates and Makiho witnesses her fight against the powerful demon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVampire Assassin (2005)
Martial artist Ron Hall stars in this dark vampire thriller reminiscent of BLADE. Ambitious cop Derek (Hall) is dogged by a phobia that is unfortunate in his line of work. Having witnessed his father's murder as a young child, he is deathly afraid of blood, but when he takes the law into his own hands to catch underworld counterfeiter Gustoff Slovak, he is forced to face his fear. The operation blows up in his face, resulting in a massacre that leaves Derek the only one of his team to survive. Derek reaches the shocking conclusion that Slovak is actually a vampire, and joins forces with the last in a long line of vampire hunters, Master Kao, who agrees to train Derek in his ancient art. However, in order to combat Slovak--whose past intersects with Derek's own in disturbing ways--Derek must become that which he hates the most: a vampire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & action
Day Watch (2006)
A man who serves in the war between the forces of Light and Dark comes into possession of a device that can restore life to Moscow, which was nearly destroyed by an apocalyptic event.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHellboy Animated: Blood and Iron (2007)
When Hellboy, Liz Sherman, and Abe Sapien are assigned to investigate the ghost-infested mansion of a publicity-hound billionaire, they uncover a plot to resurrect a beautiful yet monstrous vampire from Professor Bruttenholm’s past. But before they can stop her bloodbath, Hellboy will have to battle harpies, hellhounds, a giant werewolf, and even the ferocious goddess Hecate herself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVampire Wars (2017)
In the wake of the American Civil War, two vampires rise and fight to reclaim their land from the inhabitants of a sleepy Southern town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & horror
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
As the war between the vampires and the Lycans rages on, Selene, a former member of the Death Dealers (an elite vampire special forces unit that hunts werewolves), and Michael, the werewolf hybrid, work together in an effort to unlock the secrets of their respective bloodlines.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFunny Vampire (1986)
New Mr. Vampire 2, also known as The Funny Vampire, is a 1991 Hong Kong comedy horror film directed by Ng Kwok-Hao.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Lost Boys (1987)
When an unsuspecting town newcomer is drawn to local blood fiends, the Frog brothers and other unlikely heroes gear up to rescue him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisImmortality (1998)
A vampire in London is searching for the ideal woman to 'redeem' him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisCurse of the Golden Flower (2006)
During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Shaolin Brothers?
The closest matches to The Shaolin Brothers are The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974), Human Lanterns (1982) and Priest (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Shaolin Brothers?
Start with The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974), the closest match to The Shaolin Brothers.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Shaolin Brothers?
Blades of the Guardians (2026), rated 8.2/10 by 265 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Shaolin Brothers?
Blades of the Guardians (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Shaolin Brothers?
Yes: Human Lanterns (1982), Legend of the Mountain (1979) and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017).
How are movies similar to The Shaolin Brothers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Shaolin Brothers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.