Movies like A Stranger Waits (1987)
The best movies like A Stranger Waits (1987) are The Night Stalker (1972), Seeds of Yesterday (2015) and Hailey Dean Mysteries: Murder, With Love (2016). If A Stranger Waits hooked you with its tv movie and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedShooter (2007)7.1/10 from 5,741 votes
- NewestThe Baby Swindler (2023)Released 2023
The Night Stalker (1972)
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeeds of Yesterday (2015)
The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHailey Dean Mysteries: Murder, With Love (2016)
Former prosecutor-turned-therapist Hailey Dean is a powerhouse, Mensa bright, and acutely observant. During a tragic week, one of her patients loses her parents to separate fatal accidents along with millions of dollars that has seemingly vanished into thin air. When the police begin to question Hailey's patient, shes knows she is innocent. But who is the culprit?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Christmas Kiss (2011)
Wendy Walton is the best designer in Boston... but no one knows it yet. Hoping to kick-start her career, Wendy has left work with the local theatre to take a job as an assistant to Priscilla Hall, the most prestigious designer in the city. Ms. Hall works Wendy around the clock, which is how Wendy finds herself trapped in an elevator late one night with an incredibly handsome stranger. Wendy and the mystery man share an impulsive, romantic, life changing kiss before the doors open and Wendy runs out, leaving him behind. The next day at work, Wendy answers the door to find the handsome gentleman standing in front of her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFramed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery (2017)
In the small resort town of Lighthouse Cove, everyone knows that the best man for the job is a woman. And that woman is Shannon Hughes, owner of a construction company and an expert in Victorian home restoration and renovation. Through her renovations she will find clues to uncover the house’s secret past and in turn become an unlikely sleuth to help crack these unsolved mysteries
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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 thisGarage Sale Mystery: The Novel Murders (2016)
When Jennifer makes a home delivery for a customer, she finds the recipient has been murdered. She soon realizes that the victim's cold-blooded demise is a re-enactment of a murder in a classic mystery novel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022)
A murder investigation is reignited in a house that is considered haunted by the Lawrenceton locals and where years ago Aurora and Sally, as teenagers, discovered a body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhosts of Christmas Always (2022)
Katherine is a Ghost of Christmas Present and she must help one soul, Peter, rediscover his Christmas spirit. But this year has something unusual in store.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChristmas at Castle Hart (2021)
Brooke Bennett goes to Ireland for Christmas to search for her Irish roots. While there, she meets Aiden Hart, Earl of Glaslough. Mistaken for an elite event planner, she’s hired to host his castle’s epic Christmas party.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChateau Christmas (2020)
Margot, a world-renowned pianist, returns to Chateau Newhaus to spend the holidays with her family and is reunited with an ex who helps her rediscover her passion for music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this'Tis the Season to be Merry (2021)
Looking for a fresh angle to her book on relationships, Merry heads to snow-covered Vermont. She finds a new perspective and Christmas cheer with charismatic aid worker Chris.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRome in Love (2019)
An unknown actress lands the role of a lifetime in Rome. Paired with an American journalist writing a profile, she will discover surprises about love and life in the eternal city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Royal Runaway Romance (2022)
Princess Amelia of Bundbury travels across America to explore a budding romance with an artist, only to fall in love with her bodyguard, Grady.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Night Strangler (1973)
After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he’s on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer murders a certain number of people, drains them of their blood, and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas at the Drive-In (2022)
Sadie Walker is starting over in her hometown of Chesterfield, New York, following a series of major life disruptions that include leaving her law practice after losing her biggest case and no longer being engaged.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisLove, Classified (2022)
Romance novelist Emilia is a whirlwind who blows back into the lives of her adult children, Taylor and Zach, under the pretense of a book signing arranged by her hometown's local book shop. As Emilia tries to reconnect, Taylor and Zach explore new and past relationships through an app that boasts old-fashioned human connection by way of the classified ad. Zach is given a chance to heal old wounds while Taylor matches with a woman that changes the way she's always thought about love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Baby Swindler (2023)
Before the death of her husband, Susie froze an embryo. Surrogate Lorna agrees to carry the child to help Susie. Danger begins to follow Susie and when Lorna disappears, she'll do all she can to save the life of her unborn child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Das Geheimnis des gelben Geparden (1990)
Since the death of her husband, a yellow cheetah has been the companion of the attractive Miriam. When the animal falls ill, the woman seeks the help of veterinarian François. The married vet falls for Miriam's mysterious charm and cannot resist her mysterious attraction. Little by little, strange things begin to happen...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Gift (2000)
Annie Wilson, young widow and mother of three, makes her living foretelling others' futures—though her own has become cloudier than even she can see. Threatened by a client's violent husband and plagued by visions of a missing local woman, Annie finds herself pulled into a thicket of lies and deception in which her extraordinary gift may ultimately get her killed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Mother's Future Husband (2014)
Headly, a 15-year-old teenager, thinks her mother, Rene, has mourned her father's death long enough, so she decides to find her a new husband by the end of the summer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Shooter (2007)
A top Marine sniper, Bob Lee Swagger, leaves the military after a mission goes horribly awry and disappears, living in seclusion. He is coaxed back into service after a high-profile government official convinces him to help thwart a plot to kill the President of the United States. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, Swagger becomes the target of a nationwide manhunt. He goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why, eventually seeking revenge against some of the most powerful and corrupt leaders in the free world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCome Along with Me (1982)
Newly-widowed Mabel Lederer, who has psychic and mediumistic abilities, sells her house and belongings, changes her name, and moves to a new town. There she rents a room in a boarding house and holds a seance with the other tenants, with comical results.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Harvest Love (2017)
A young widow and her nine year-old son spend a week at her family’s pear farm in Washington state, where they both fall in love with small town farm life, and she falls for the guy who has been managing the farm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Great Spy Chase (1964)
A cold-war spy parody. After the death of an armaments manufacturer, an international group of spies is drawn into a high-stakes battle of wits to obtain the valuable military patents which have been inherited by the lovely widow.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDunroamin (2016)
Joanna is selling her country home, Steven is a prospective buyer. What should be a simple viewing becomes something else entirely...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Homage (1995)
The young caretaker at the estate of a reclusive woman develops a dangerous obsession with her daughter, a sexy television star. Unexpected twists and turns.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Stranger Waits?
The closest matches to A Stranger Waits are The Night Stalker (1972), Seeds of Yesterday (2015) and Hailey Dean Mysteries: Murder, With Love (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Stranger Waits?
Start with The Night Stalker (1972), the closest match to A Stranger Waits.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Stranger Waits?
Shooter (2007), rated 7.1/10 by 5,741 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Stranger Waits?
The Baby Swindler (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like A Stranger Waits?
Yes: The Night Stalker (1972), Seeds of Yesterday (2015) and Hailey Dean Mysteries: Murder, With Love (2016).
How are movies similar to A Stranger Waits chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Stranger Waits, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.