Movies like Formula for a Murder (1985)
The best movies like Formula for a Murder (1985) are The Fifth Cord (1971), Dressed to Kill (1980) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971). If Formula for a Murder hooked you with its thriller and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSuccubus (2024)8.3/10 from 279 votes
- NewestUntil You're Alone (2026)Released 2026
- In ItalianThe Fifth Cord (1971)Also in Italian
The Fifth Cord (1971)
A journalist finds himself on the trail of a murderer who's been targeting people around him, while the police are considering him a suspect in their investigation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDressed to Kill (1980)
After witnessing a mysterious woman brutally slay a homemaker, prostitute Liz Blake finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation. While the police thinks she is the murderer, the real killer is intent on silencing her only witness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFour Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)
Roberto, a drummer in a rock band, keeps receiving weird phone calls and being followed by a mysterious man. One night he manages to catch up with his persecutor and tries to get him to talk but in the ensuing struggle he accidentally stabs him. He runs away, but he understands his troubles have just begun when the following day he receives an envelope with photos of him killing the man. Someone is killing all his friends and trying to frame him for the murders.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe New York Ripper (1982)
A burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Stepfather (1987)
Seemingly mild-mannered Henry Morrison has just murdered his entire family. After adopting a new identity and skipping town, he begins building a new relationship with a widow and her teenage daughter. However, he soon begins struggling to hide his true identity and maintain a grip on reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHatchet for the Honeymoon (1970)
A madman haunted by the ghost of his ex-wife carves a corpse-laden trail.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTorso (1973)
A masked serial killer with psychosexual issues strangles female coeds with scarves before dismembering them. When a wealthy student identifies one of the scarves and thinks she has a lead on a suspect, she becomes the killer's next target, retreating to her family's remote cliffside villa with three of her girlfriends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll the Colours of the Dark (1972)
After a car accident that caused the loss of her baby, Jane experiences an increasing amount of nightmares that shake her to her core. After seeking professional help, her haunting visions turn into an even more frightening reality, one full of black magic, blood orgies, and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSee No Evil (1971)
In the English countryside, Sarah Rexton, recently blinded in a horse riding accident, moves in with her uncle's family and gallantly adjusts to her new condition, unaware that a killer stalks them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invisible Man (2020)
When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat Have You Done to Solange? (1972)
After several Catholic school pupils are murdered, a teacher who is having an affair with one of his students becomes a suspect. When other gruesome murders start occurring shortly thereafter, the teacher suspects that he may be the cause of them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Darling (2024)
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuccubus (2024)
A new father going through a marital separation joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman... whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Evil (1978)
Shortly after moving into a dark, brooding mansion, a psychologist and his co-workers are terrorized by a horrible evil being.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Psychic (1977)
A woman with psychic powers has a vision of a murder that took place in a house owned by her husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLike Minds (2006)
A forensic psychologist must determine if a minor should be charged with murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971)
A rich, mentally-unstable man with a penchant for playing deadly S&M games with women who resemble his dead wife, sparks off a chain of bizarre events after getting remarried.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYour Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)
Oliviero is a drunk, burned-out writer who amuses himself by hosting orgies at his grand country manor and humiliating his wife Irina. When a number of women are murdered in grisly fashion, Oliviero becomes a prime suspect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEyes of Crystal (2004)
While hunting a cultured and vicious psychopath, detective Amaldi faces the physical and moral decay of his city as well as the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971)
When socialite and heiress Julie Wardh begins receiving blackmail letters attributed to a mysterious serial killer, she suspects her cruel and sadistic former lover Jean is behind them. With her husband Neil frequently out of town, she falls into the arms of her friend's cousin George, and as the unknown assassin begins to make his move, she fears that one of the three men in her life may be the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead in 3 Days (2006)
When Nina and her high school friends receive eerie text messages declaring that they will all die within three days, they dismiss it as a hokey prank - until one by one, the pals start turning up dead in the alpine countryside. With the cops stymied, Nina and her remaining friends must scour their past for clues to identify the madman before he kills them all.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisPig (1999)
A young man journeys through a desert, where he is kidnapped by a sadistic stranger clad in a pig mask. The stranger proceeds to brutally torture the young man, who then finds himself escaping into his imagination, with fantasy and reality intersecting.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Until You're Alone (2026)
After becoming the lead suspect in a series of brutal slayings, a close-minded architect must team up with a free-spirited sex worker in order to clear his name and solve the crimes before they become the killer's next victims in this suspenseful, stylish, and hilarious queer love letter to Hitchcock, De Palma, and the Italian giallo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
Alleluia (2014)
Michel, a murderous womanizer, meets introverted Gloria online and treats her to a whirlwind one-night-stand. Offering herself as an accomplice in his seductive crimes, the unhinged lovers embark on a deadly odyssey amplified by wild sex, unbridled jealousy, and passionate forays into the dark arts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisLonely Hearts (2006)
In the late 1940s, a murderous couple known as the 'The Lonely Hearts Killers' kills close to a dozen people. Two detectives try to nab the duo who find their targets via the personals in the paper.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStreet Kings (2008)
Tom Ludlow is a disillusioned L.A. Police Officer, rarely playing by the rules and haunted by the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he's been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Psycho (2000)
A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLes Femmes (2022)
A young woman guides a man through a mysterious forest. In his eyes, everything seems normal, until he comes across two women waiting for him in a macabre ritual.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
New York detective John McClane is back and kicking bad-guy butt in the third installment of this action-packed series, which finds him teaming with civilian Zeus Carver to prevent the loss of innocent lives. McClane thought he'd seen it all, until a genius named Simon engages McClane, his new "partner" -- and his beloved city -- in a deadly game that demands their concentration.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSecret Window (2004)
Mort Rainey, a writer just emerging from a painful divorce with his ex-wife, is stalked at his remote lake house by a psychotic stranger and would-be scribe who claims Rainey swiped his best story idea. But as Rainey endeavors to prove his innocence, he begins to question his own sanity.
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 Formula for a Murder?
The closest matches to Formula for a Murder are The Fifth Cord (1971), Dressed to Kill (1980) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Formula for a Murder?
Start with The Fifth Cord (1971), the closest match to Formula for a Murder.
What is the highest-rated movie like Formula for a Murder?
Succubus (2024), rated 8.3/10 by 279 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Formula for a Murder?
Until You're Alone (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Formula for a Murder?
Yes: The Fifth Cord (1971), Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971) and The New York Ripper (1982).
How are movies similar to Formula for a Murder chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Formula for a Murder, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.