Movies like Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940)
The best movies like Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940) are The Glass Key (1942), Maniac (1963) and Time Without Pity (1957). If Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum 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
- Highest ratedThe Woman in the Window (1944)7.4/10 from 409 votes
- NewestLaRoy, Texas (2024)Released 2024
The Glass Key (1942)
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManiac (1963)
When a stranger enters a quiet, country town and is seduced by a sensuous married woman he unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a storm of sexual guilt and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Without Pity (1957)
Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
During WWII several murders occur at a convalescent home where Dr. Watson has volunteered his services. He summons Holmes for help and the master detective proceeds to solve the crime from a long list of suspects including the owners of the home, the staff and the patients recovering there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhantom Lady (1944)
A devoted secretary embarks on a dangerous mission to try to find the elusive woman who may prove her boss didn't murder his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Angel (1946)
A falsely convicted man's wife, Catherine, and an alcoholic composer and pianist, Martin, team up in an attempt to clear her husband of the murder of a blonde singer, who is Martin's wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mirror Crack'd (1980)
Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of Horrors (1946)
An unsuccessful sculptor saves a madman named "The Creeper" from drowning. Seeing an opportunity for revenge, he tricks the psycho into murdering his critics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt's a Wonderful World (1939)
Detective Guy Johnson's client, Willie Heywood, is framed for murder. While Guy hides him so he can catch the real killer, both of them are nabbed by the police, tried, convicted and sentenced to jail: Guy for a year with Willie to be executed. On the way to jail, Guy comes across a clue and escapes from the police.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Passage (1947)
A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSong of the Thin Man (1947)
While attending a glamorous jazz cruise on New York’s East River, Nick and Nora Charles witness the fatal shooting of a wealthy patron. When suspicion falls on a young bandleader and his musicians, the couple steps in to clear their friends and uncover the real killer. Their investigation leads through a lively world of jazz clubs, radio personalities, high society, and backstage rivalries, where almost everyone has a secret and the next clue may be hidden in the music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLaRoy, Texas (2024)
Broke and depressed, Ray is mistaken for a dangerous hitman and given an envelope of cash. Along with his P.I. friend Skip, he must escape the actual hitman to make it out of LaRoy alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Thin Man (1939)
Nick and Nora Charles are back - and this time, they have a baby, a wealthy new client, and another murder to solve! Retired detective Nick is enjoying family life with Nora and their young son, Nick Jr., when eccentric industrialist Colonel MacFay asks for protection after receiving threatening messages. When MacFay is found dead at his isolated estate, Nick and Nora spring into action, questioning a houseful of suspicious guests and uncovering greed, blackmail, family secrets, and a dangerous inheritance plot. With their trademark wit and sophistication, the glamorous couple balances parenthood, parties, and peril as they race to expose the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShadow of the Thin Man (1941)
While attending a major horse race with their young son, Nick Jr., Nick and Nora Charles witnesse a shocking murder from the crowded grandstand. What first appears to be an isolated killing soon leads to a maze of corruption, blackmail, gambling scandals, and criminal intrigue. As Nick investigates, he encounters suspicious bookmakers, dishonest officials, rival gangsters, and a mysterious killer determined to stay ahead of the law. Nora, as always, is never far from the action, bringing her quick wit and fearless curiosity to the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lady Vanishes (2013)
Young socialite Iris Carr befriends an older woman while traveling solo by train. When Iris wakes from a nap, the woman is gone and other passengers claim she never existed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Penalty (1920)
Blizzard, deranged from a childhood operation in which both his legs were needlessly amputated after an accident, becomes a vicious criminal, and eventually mob leader of the San Francisco underworld.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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 thisThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
After spending decades living in the shadow of his more famous and successful sibling, Consulting Detective Sigerson Holmes is called upon to help solve a crucial case that leads him on a hilarious trail of false identities, stolen documents, secret codes... and exposed backsides.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharlie Chan's Secret (1936)
Allen Colby, heir to a huge fortune, is presumed drowned after an ocean liner sinks off the coast of Honolulu. Mysteriously, Colby reappears at his mansion only to be murdered soon after. When his body is discovered during a seance, everyone in attendance becomes a suspect, and it's up to Chan to find the murderer before he or she strikes again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & mystery
The Defiant Ones (1958)
Two convicts—one white, one black—escape while chained to each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMidnight Manhunt (1945)
Two reporters search for a missing body in a wax museum.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & mystery
Murder by Death (1976)
Lionel Twain invites the world's five greatest detectives to a 'dinner and murder'. Included are a blind butler, a deaf-mute maid, screams, spinning rooms, secret passages, false identities and more plot turns and twists than are decently allowed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCharlie Chan in Reno (1939)
Mary Whitman has gone to Reno to obtain a divorce. While there she is arrested on suspicion of murdering a fellow guest at her hotel (which specializes in divorcers). There are many others at the hotel who wanted the victim out of the way. Charlie comes from his home in Honolulu to solve the murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
The Escapist (2008)
Frank Perry is an institutionalized convict twelve years into a life sentence without parole. When his estranged daughter falls ill, he is determined to make peace with her before it's too late. He develops an ingenious escape plan, and recruits a dysfunctional band of escapists - misfits with a mutual dislike for one other but united by their desire to escape their hell hole of an existence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEarworm (2024)
A Man with No Face wakes up in a desolate forest with only a guitar on his back, and a haunting tune in his head. Unaware of who he is, it is his connection with 2 teenage hikers that will bring out the truths about his identity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Waxhouse Rock (2017)
A film crew enters a wax museum at night to secretly film a porn parody of House of Wax. By disturbing the displays at night Wax Elvis and Bettie Page come to live to terrorise Manchester and murder innocent citizens.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Van Diemen's Land (2009)
The true story of Australia’s most notorious convict, Alexander Pearce and his infamous journey into the beautiful yet brutal Tasmanian wilderness. A point of no return for convicts banished from their homeland, Van Diemen’s Land was a feared and dreaded penal settlement at the end of the earth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHappy, Texas (1999)
Two escaped convicts roll into the village of Happy, Texas, where they're mistaken for a gay couple who work as beauty pageant consultants. They go along with it to duck the police, but the local sheriff has a secret of his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum?
The closest matches to Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum are The Glass Key (1942), Maniac (1963) and Time Without Pity (1957). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum?
Start with The Glass Key (1942), the closest match to Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum.
What is the highest-rated movie like Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum?
The Woman in the Window (1944), rated 7.4/10 by 409 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum?
LaRoy, Texas (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum?
Yes: The Glass Key (1942), Maniac (1963) and Time Without Pity (1957).
How are movies similar to Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.