Movies like The Alphabet of Fear (1961)
The best movies like The Alphabet of Fear (1961) are Kandahar (2023), Decision Before Dawn (1951) and Journey into Fear (1943). If The Alphabet of Fear hooked you with its thriller and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRelay (2025)7.0/10 from 567 votes
- NewestSniper: No Nation (2026)Released 2026
Kandahar (2023)
After his mission is exposed, an undercover CIA operative stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan must fight his way out, alongside his Afghan translator, to an extraction point in Kandahar, all whilst avoiding elite enemy forces and foreign spies tasked with hunting them down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDecision Before Dawn (1951)
WWII is entering its last phase: Germany is in ruins, but does not yield. The US army lacks crucial knowledge about the German units operating on the opposite side of the Rhine, and decides to send two German prisoners to gather information. The scheme is risky: the Gestapo retains a terribly efficient network to identify and capture spies and deserters. Moreover, it is not clear that "Tiger", who does not mind any dirty work as long as the price is right, and war-weary "Happy", who might be easily betrayed by his feelings, are dependable agents. After Tiger and another American agent are successfully infiltrated, Happy is parachuted in Bavaria. His duty: find out the whereabouts of a powerful German armored unit moving towards the western front.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJourney into Fear (1943)
An American ballistics expert in Turkey finds himself targeted by Nazi agents. Safe passage home by ship is arranged for him, but he soon discovers that his pursuers are also on board.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCloak and Dagger (1946)
Italian partisans help a professor sent by the OSS to find an atomic scientist held by Nazis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like this13 Rue Madeleine (1947)
Bob Sharkey, an instructor of would-be spies for the Allied Office of Strategic Services, becomes suspicious of one of the latest batch of students, Bill O'Connell, who is too good at espionage. His boss, Charles Gibson confirms that O'Connell is really a top German agent, but tells Sharkey to pass him, as they intend to feed the mole false information about the impending D-Day invasion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShining Through (1992)
Spirited New Yorker Linda Voss goes to work for international lawyer and secret Office of Strategic Services operative Ed Leland just before World War II. As they fall in love, the United States enters the fight against Hitler, and Linda volunteers to work for Ed spying undercover behind Nazi lines. Assigned to uncover information about a German bomb, Linda also has personal motives to fulfill: discovering the fate of her Jewish family members in Berlin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
Blacklisted in modern day WW2, a Swedish oil trader opts to assist British Allies, by means of infiltrating and surveying Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBackstabbing for Beginners (2018)
An idealistic young employee at the U.N. investigates the grisly murder of his predecessor – and uncovers a vast global conspiracy that may involve his own boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRelay (2025)
A broker of lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals who threaten them breaks his own rules when a new client seeks his protection to stay alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChief of Station (2024)
After learning that the death of his wife was not an accident, a former CIA Station Chief is forced back into the espionage underworld, teaming up with an adversary to unravel a conspiracy that challenges everything he thought he knew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kremlin Letter (1970)
After an unauthorized letter suggesting U.S. support for a Russian attack on China is sent to Moscow, a former naval officer and his team go undercover to retrieve it. Their plans are disrupted when a cunning politician raids their hideout.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Operative (2019)
A young Western woman is recruited by the Mossad to go undercover in Tehran where she becomes entangled in a complex triangle with her handler and her subject.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisSniper: Rogue Mission (2022)
When a crooked federal agent is involved in a human sex trafficking ring, Sniper and CIA Rookie Brandon Beckett goes rogue, teaming up with his former allies Homeland Security Agent Zero and assassin Lady Death to uncover the corrupt agent and take down the criminal organization.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Scorpion (1988)
A Soviet commando is sent to eliminate a rebel leader in Africa. Soon he finds himself doubting his mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSniper: No Nation (2026)
Brandon Beckett and Agent Zero lead a rescue mission in Costa Verde when their friends are taken hostage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe East (2013)
An operative for an elite private intelligence firm finds her priorities irrevocably changed after she is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret of Santa Vittoria (1970)
During World War II, Italian villagers hide their wine from the German army.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHell Hath No Fury (2021)
Branded a traitor by her countrymen, French national Marie DuJardin is rescued by American soldiers on one condition: to survive, she must lead them to a cache of gold - before the Nazis return to claim it for themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House on 92nd Street (1945)
The US Government tries to track down embedded Nazi agents in the States.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Catcher Was a Spy (2018)
Former major league baseball player Moe Berg lives a double life working for the Office of Strategic Services in World War II Europe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShanghai (2010)
An American man returns to a corrupt, Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor and discovers his friend has been killed. While he unravels the mysteries of the death, he falls in love and discovers a much larger secret that his own government is hiding.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thief (1952)
A chance accident causes a nuclear physicist, who's selling top secret material to the Russians, to fall under FBI scrutiny and go on the run.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Off Limits (1988)
McGriff and Albaby are probably doing the worst law enforcement job in the world - they are plain clothes U.S. military policemen on duty in war-time Saigon. However, their job becomes even harder when they start investigating the serial killings of local prostitutes. Their prime suspect is high ranking U.S. Army officer which brings their lives in danger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHumint (2026)
A South Korean agent hunts a drug ring in Russia and goes head-to-head with a North Korean operative — pulling both into peril and tangled secrets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn Chase of the Windy Devil Gang (1993)
A young policeman is determined to trace down the elusive Windy Devil Gang that has been wrecking terror and fear across the city. As the chase seems to know no bounds, the possibilities of discovery dissolve into infinity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Tortured (2008)
A mobster orders an undercover FBI agent to torture an accountant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Ipcress File (1965)
Sly and dry intelligence agent Harry Palmer is tasked with investigating British Intelligence security, and is soon enmeshed in a world of double-dealing, kidnap and murder when he finds a traitor operating at the heart of the secret service.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoiling Point (1993)
Red is an aging scam-artist who's just been released from prison together with Ronnie, a young and not-so-bright hoodlum who is easily manipulated. Their new business is to organize fake-money sales and then kill the buyer to take his money; but when Ronnie kills an undercover secret service agent, his partner Jimmy Mercer vows revenge and is given one week to catch the killers before being transferred.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisTelefon (1977)
Nicolai Dalchimski, a mad KGB agent steals a notebook full of names of "sleeping" undercover KGB agents sent to the U.S. in the 1950's. These agents got their assignments under hypnosis, so they can't remember their missions until they're told a line of a Robert Frost poem. Dalchimski flees to the U.S. and starts phoning these agents who perform sabotage acts against military targets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Alphabet of Fear?
The closest matches to The Alphabet of Fear are Kandahar (2023), Decision Before Dawn (1951) and Journey into Fear (1943). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Alphabet of Fear?
Start with Kandahar (2023), the closest match to The Alphabet of Fear.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Alphabet of Fear?
Relay (2025), rated 7.0/10 by 567 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Alphabet of Fear?
Sniper: No Nation (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Alphabet of Fear chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Alphabet of Fear, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.