Movies like A Killer Upstairs (2005)
The best movies like A Killer Upstairs (2005) are Dead Man's Folly (1986), Desert Dawn (2025) and Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009). If A Killer Upstairs hooked you with its mystery and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDial M for Murder (1954)8.0/10 from 2,996 votes
- NewestDesert Dawn (2025)Released 2025
Dead Man's Folly (1986)
During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesert Dawn (2025)
A newly appointed small-town sheriff and his begrudging deputy get tangled up in a web of lies and corruption involving shady businessmen and the cartel while investigating the murder of a mysterious woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009)
Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Jobson is forced to remember the very similar disappearance of Clare Kemplay, who was found dead in 1974, and the subsequent imprisonment of local boy Michael Myshkin. Washed-up local solicitor John Piggott becomes convinced of Myshkin's innocence and begins to fight on his behalf, unwittingly providing a catalyst for Jobson to start to right some wrongs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
Jesse finds himself struggling to get his job back as the Paradise police chief, and he is forced to rely on his cop intuition to sort through a maze of misleading clues and hidden meanings as he attempts to solve a shocking and horrifying mob-related double homicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hound of the Baskervilles (2002)
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are called in to unravel a mysterious curse that has plagued the Baskerville family for generations. When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead, his heir, Sir Henry, begs Holmes to save him from the terrifying supernatural hound that has brought fear and death to his household.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWicked Minds (2003)
Holden returns home from college and is surprised to find his overpowering competitive father married to a much younger woman Lana. Holden quickly falls for the beauty and charisma of his step mother. A passionate affair begins between son and stepmother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHailey Dean Mysteries: A Prescription for Murder (2019)
Psychologist and former prosecutor Hailey Dean aids her friend Detective Garland Fincher in investigating a rapidly growing string of murders at Atlanta Memorial Hospital when Fincher’s girlfriend Dr. Meghan Phillips is named a suspect in the first killing. As the list of suspects grows with each new victim’s death, Hailey’s keen investigative skills, her uncanny ability to read people, and her passion for justice lead her through a labyrinth of clues that eventually point to the killer. But when she gets too close to the truth, Hailey becomes the killer’s next target for murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)
Police Chief Jesse Stone now presides over the quiet, seaside village of Paradise, Massachusetts. When the facts don't add up in a brutal Boston-area murder case, Jesse opens an investigation filled with surprises, unlikely suspects and grave danger. Though it's widely believed the murder was committed by an incarcerated serial killer, Jesse suspects another killer is at large and is hell-bent on bringing him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: 4.50 from Paddington (1987)
Travelling on the 4.50 from Paddington, Mrs McGillicuddy witnesses a murder on a passing train - but where is the body?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Ritual Killer (2023)
Unable to process the death of his daughter, Detective Boyd embarks on a hunt for a serial killer who murders according to a brutal tribal ritual: Muti. The only person who can help Boyd is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist who hides an unspeakable secret. The line between sanity and madness thins as Boyd goes deeper into the killer’s world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Mean Season (1985)
A routine investigation of a shocking murder takes a bizarre twist when the killer contacts the reporter and appoints him his personal spokesman. As the killer's calls and clues increase, the reporter is lured into a deadly trap.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this5lbs of Pressure (2024)
Fresh out of prison after serving time for murder, Adam returns to his old stomping grounds to seek out a son who doesn't know him. Eli, the brother of the man he killed is looking for revenge. Mike, is trying to escape a life of crime living under the thumb of his gangster Uncle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bad Seed (2018)
A widower suspects that his seemingly perfect adolescent daughter is a heartless killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLocked In (2021)
A single mother must protect her daughter and herself during a heist gone wrong at a high-tech storage facility.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShimmer Lake (2017)
Shot in reverse day-by-day through a week—a local sheriff embarks on a quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGarage Sale Mysteries: The Mask Murder (2018)
When Jennifer buys a storage locker at auction, she discovers a dead body inside - along with a mask matching the deceased woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Rainbow (1989)
Martha Travis is a medium who makes contact with spirits "on the other side" and connects them with their loved ones still alive, in public performances. Trouble begins when she gives a message to Mary Kuron from her husband, Tom. But Tom isn't dead... yet. And Martha not only knows he will die, she also knows who killed him. And the murderer knows she knows...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisCrooked House (2017)
A private investigator helps a former flame solve the murder of her wealthy grandfather, who lived in a sprawling estate surrounded by his idiosyncratic family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGarage Sale Mystery: The Beach Murder (2017)
Annie Winters is a long-time customer of Rags-to-Riches and her husband Garret is a wealthy internet entrepreneur. When Garret’s dead body is found washed up on the beach, it looks like an apparent surfing accident. But Annie doesn’t believe the death was accidental and pleads with Jenn to take a closer look.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery (1989)
While on vacation at a resort hotel in the West Indies, Miss Marple correctly suspects that the apparently natural death of a retired British major is actually the work of a murderer planning yet another killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShattered (1991)
Dan Merrick comes out from a shattering car accident with amnesia. He finds that he is married to Judith who is trying to help him start his life again. He keeps getting flashbacks about events and places that he can't remember. He meets pet shop owner and part time private detective Gus Klein who has supposedly done some work for him prior to the accident. Klein helps Merrick to find out more...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnforgettable (1996)
Seattle medical examiner David Krane is obsessed with solving his wife's murder. A possible solution presents itself in an experimental "memory" serum designed by a neurobiology professor, which has the ability to transfer memories from one person to another, but with potentially fatal consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisPacific Heights (1990)
A couple works hard to renovate their dream house and become landlords to pay for it. Unfortunately one of their tenants has plans of his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreakdown (1997)
On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, but Amy isn't there. He tracks down the trucker ― who tells the police he's never seen Jeff or his wife before. Jeff then begins a desperate, frenzied search for Amy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKlute (1971)
A high-priced call girl is forced to depend on a reluctant private eye when she is stalked by a psychopath.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDial M for Murder (1954)
When her American lover visits London, a wealthy woman’s jealous husband hatches a plan to murder her and inherit her fortune.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Time to Kill (1996)
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLaura (1944)
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnough (2002)
Working-class waitress Slim thought she was entering a life of domestic bliss when she married Mitch, the man of her dreams. After the arrival of their first child, her picture perfect life is shattered when she discovers Mitch's hidden possessive dark side, a controlling and abusive alter ego that can turn trust, love and tranquility into terror. Terrified for her child's safety, Slim flees with her daughter. Relentless in his pursuit and enlisting the aid of lethal henchmen, Mitch continually stalks the prey that was once his family.
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 A Killer Upstairs?
The closest matches to A Killer Upstairs are Dead Man's Folly (1986), Desert Dawn (2025) and Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Killer Upstairs?
Start with Dead Man's Folly (1986), the closest match to A Killer Upstairs.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Killer Upstairs?
Dial M for Murder (1954), rated 8.0/10 by 2,996 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Killer Upstairs?
Desert Dawn (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like A Killer Upstairs?
Yes: Dead Man's Folly (1986), Desert Dawn (2025) and Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009).
How are movies similar to A Killer Upstairs chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Killer Upstairs, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.