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Movies like Nightmare (1956)

The best movies like Nightmare (1956) are Woman on the Run (1950), The Seven-Ups (1973) and Insomnia (2002). If Nightmare hooked you with its crime and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Woman on the Run (1950)

    Frank Johnson, a sole witness to a gangland murder, goes into hiding and is trailed by Police Inspector Ferris, on the theory that Frank is trying to escape from possible retaliation. Frank's wife, Eleanor, suspects he is actually running away from their unsuccessful marriage. Aided by a newspaperman, Danny Leggett, Eleanor sets out to locate her husband. The killer is also looking for him, and keeps close tabs on Eleanor.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  2. The 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 thriller & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  3. Insomnia (2002)

    Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  4. The Blue Gardenia (1953)

    Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while attempting to resist his advances.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  5. The Woman in the Window (1944)

    A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  6. Killer's Kiss (1955)

    Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. The Caveman's Valentine (2001)

    Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller

  8. Fear in the Night (1972)

    It took Peggy Heller a long time to recover from the trauma of a brutal physical assault, suffered in her youth. When she married Robert, he provided her with the love and reassurance she craved for and the two settled down in a pretty house in the grounds of the public school where Robert was a master. But the headmaster of the school is not what he seems and Peggy is convinced he means to harm her - is her fear a figment of her tortured imagination or are there forces at work that intend to manipulate her anxieties with fatal consequences?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller

  9. Murder in Three Acts (1986)

    In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. Point Blank (1967)

    After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the rather inconsequential sum of money that was stolen from him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  11. Footsteps in the Fog (1955)

    A Victorian-era murder mystery about a parlour maid who discovers that her employer may have killed his first wife.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  12. Night Watch (1973)

    A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Overdrive (2017)

    Master car thieves square off against French gangsters in the South of France with money, women and lives all on the line.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Dark City (1950)

    War hero Danny Haley fleeces out-of-town dupes in a rigged poker game. He and his pals see Arthur Winant as an easy mark, but they've reckoned without Winant's homicidal brother, who wants revenge after Arthur commits suicide.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. Thirteen at Dinner (1985)

    Actress Jane Wilkinson wants a divorce, but her husband, Lord Edgware, refuses. She convinces Hercule Poirot to use his famed tact and logic to make her case. Lord Edgware turns up murdered, a well-placed knife wound at the base of his neck. It will take the precise Poirot to sort out the lies from the alibis - and find the criminal before another victim dies.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery

  16. Obsession (1976)

    A wealthy New Orleans businessman becomes obsessed with a young woman who resembles his late wife.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. Vertigo (1958)

    A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  18. Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and It Feels So Deadly (2020)

    Aurora's high school reunion turns deadly when a body is found in the hotel pool. Aurora and her Real Murders Club help investigate which classmate was most likely to kill.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  19. The Limits of Control (2009)

    A mysterious stranger works outside the law and keeps his objectives hidden, trusting no one. While his demeanor is paradoxically focused and dreamlike all at once, he embarks on a journey that not only takes him across Spain, but also through his own consciousness.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)

    Cleve Marshall, an assistant district attorney, falls for Thelma Jordon, a mysterious woman with a troubled past. When Thelma becomes a suspect in her aunt's murder, Cleve tries to clear her name.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  21. Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

    Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  22. The Interpreter (2005)

    After Silvia Broome, an interpreter at United Nations headquarters, overhears plans of an assassination, an American Secret Service agent is sent to investigate.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  23. The Good German (2006)

    An American journalist arrives in Berlin just after the end of World War Two. He becomes involved in a murder mystery surrounding a dead GI who washes up at a lakeside mansion during the Potsdam negotiations between the Allied powers. Soon his investigation connects with his search for his married pre-war German lover.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & crime

  24. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)

    Some of Sin City's most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  25. Memento (2000)

    Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  26. The Killing (1956)

    Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  27. The 39 Steps (1935)

    Richard Hanney has a rude awakening when a glamorous female spy falls into his bed - with a knife in her back. Having a bit of trouble explaining it all to Scotland Yard, he heads for the hills of Scotland to try to clear his name by locating the spy ring known as The 39 Steps.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  28. Cochin Express (1967)

    Rajan, a police officer, is in charge of the investigation regarding a murder that took place on a train. He tries by hook or by crook to find the culprit as he has only one witness.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller

  29. The Girl From Hong Kong (1973)

    Frank Boyd comes to Hong Kong to visit a friend, but unfortunately he was murdered a few days ago. The father of his fiancee puts $ 10,000 reward for the capture of the murderer and Frank wants to earn this money.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller

  30. Rebecca (1940)

    Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this

Like Nightmare and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Nightmare?

The closest matches to Nightmare are Woman on the Run (1950), The Seven-Ups (1973) and Insomnia (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Nightmare?

Start with Woman on the Run (1950), the closest match to Nightmare.

What is the highest-rated movie like Nightmare?

Memento (2000), rated 8.2/10 by 17,016 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Nightmare?

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and It Feels So Deadly (2020) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like Nightmare?

Yes: Woman on the Run (1950), The Seven-Ups (1973) and Insomnia (2002).

How are movies similar to Nightmare chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Nightmare, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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