Best movies like A Killing in a Small Town
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The gory ax-murder of one mousy, suburban Texas housewife by another is nearly as shocking as the excuse offered by the bespectacled defendant's attorney: self-defense. Could it be so?.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 746
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: spooky, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Best tv shows and movies like A Killing in a Small Town (1990):
Similar in 90%
Paris Trout (1991)
Plot Summary:
Paris Trout is a vile Southern bigot. He owns a store and is a loanshark. He often sues people, and so his lawyer, Harry Seagraves, eventually meets Paris' wife Hannah. A former schoolteacher, she made the mistake of her life when she married Paris, who brutalizes her. Soon Paris goes beyond the overgenerous bounds of what a man in his position can get away with even in the segregated South, leading to a spiral of perverse insanity.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, biting, suspense
Similar in 86%
Laws of Deception (1997)
Plot Summary:
A law student is seduced by a beautiful woman he doesn't know, and after a one night stand with her, his roommate warns him to be careful because he suspects she may have other motives. Years later, she returns and hires him as her lawyer to defend against a charge of murdering her husband. A web of intrigue ensues as the lawyer begins his hunt to find the killer and also confront the demons of his past.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, independent film
Similar in 76%
Without Evidence (1995)
Plot Summary:
It is based on the true story of Michael Francke, who was the Head of Corrections for the state of Oregon before being murdered. Just before his murder, Francke visits his brother and informs him of a drug ring involving his prison colleagues. When Michael is killed, his brother begins his own investigation into the murder, leading him to more lies and deceit.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Thriller, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: spectacular, independent film, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
And Never Let Her Go (2001)
Plot Summary:
The true story of a woman's suspicious disappearance after ending an affair with a powerful, married attorney.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 699
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 200 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, mind bending, realistic
Similar in 85%
Murder Ordained (1987)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of a minister who's feeling unhappy in his marriage who then has an affair with a church employee, who is also married, and who also has affairs, and whose husband is unwilling to divorce her. One day the minister's wife is found dead, in what appears to be an auto accident, but the highway patrolman who investigated the accident doesn't think that it's an accident but doesn't have enough evidence to justify an investigation. Later, when the woman's husband is killed an investigation begins.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 375
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 185 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 82%
Trapped (2009)
Plot Summary:
The suicide was easy, getting away with everything else could be murder.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 106
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 78%
Where Love Has Gone (1964)
Plot Summary:
A divorced couple's teen-age daughter stands trial for stabbing her mother's latest lover.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: slasher, sincere, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy, campy
Similar in 90%
Eye of the Stranger (1993)
Plot Summary:
A stranger comes into town and causes a stir when he stands up for the townfolk, in the face of the intimidation tactics from Mayor Howard Baines. The scheming mayor wants to buy up all the local properties, and has hired two thugs to help 'persuade' the owners to sell.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 135
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy
Similar in 76%
A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story (1992)
Plot Summary:
After sixteen years of marriage and four children, Betty Broderick's high-powered attorney husband decides to leave her for a younger woman with whom he's been having an affair. Hurt by his betrayal and feeling helpless against his legal expertise, Betty begins a campaign of vandalism and verbal assault. Her rage consumes her and ultimately leads to a terrible and violent act.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, biting, suspense, ridiculous
Similar in 78%
Blood Crime (2002)
Plot Summary:
For burned-out Seattle cop Daniel Pruitt, a camping trip turns hellish when his wife, Jessica, is savagely attacked in the forest. En route to the hospital, the Pruitts collide with a semi, and Jessica identifies the driver as her assailant. Enraged, Pruitt pummels the man. Once at the ER, however, she changes her mind and names a male nurse as her attacker. But before Pruitt can make amends, he learns that his victim, the son of Sheriff Morgan McKenna, is dead.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 670
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense
Similar in 82%
Three Blind Mice (2001)
Plot Summary:
A lawyer defends a man he's known since serving together in Vietnam, who has been accused of murdering three Vietnamese immigrants. Now he'll have to fight against a tenacious District Attorney, and evidence connected to the man's wife.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 286
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, captivating, suspenseful, exciting, realistic
Similar in 81%
Bound by Lies (2005)
Plot Summary:
When Detecive Max Garrett is assigned to protect the sultry photographer Laura Cross from a ruthless killer, he has no idea what he's in for. The more involved Garrett gets in the case, the more attracted he is to Cross, but as they get closer, so does the killer.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 593
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective, sexual, sexy
Similar in 82%
The Two Mr. Kissels (2008)
Plot Summary:
Drama based on a true story. Rich, high-flying brothers Robert and Andrew Kissel seemingly have everything: beautiful wives who love them, great jobs and huge houses. But beneath the surface lie resentments and secrets that will eventually be their horrible undoing.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 605
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Deceit (2004)
Plot Summary:
Ellen's life is turned upside down after her wealthy hubby vanishes at sea. Everyone close to her is a liar - especially Ellen's missing spouse. Was this a case of an affair gone bad? A corporate cover-up? Or something far more sinister? The truth can only be found when all of the deceit is finally revealed.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 139
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, mind bending
Similar in 89%
Word of Honor (2003)
Plot Summary:
Prompted by a just-published book that holds ex-lieutenant Ben Tyson accountable for a hushed-up massacre committed by his platoon in a Hue hospital 18 years before, the army recalls Tyson to stand trial for murder. Tyson, confronted by an army authority anxious to save its own face, an embarrassed federal government, and a threatened marriage, and entangled, furthermore, in his own past lives and present sense of guilt, must call on all his cleverness and his own inner toughness to fight his case.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 584
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, bleak, realistic
Similar in 80%
Complicity (2000)
Plot Summary:
Local journalist, Cameron Colley writes articles that are idealistic, from the viewpoint of the underdog. A twisted serial killer seems to have some motives. His brutal murders are also committed on behalf of the underdog. The stories begin to merge and Cameron find himself inextricably and inextricably implicated by the brutal killer. The arms dealer that Cameron plans to expose is found literally 'disarmed' before he can put pen to paper. The brewery chief, loathed by Cameron, who sold up at the expense of his workers, finds himself permanently unemployable. The police are convened of Cameron's guilt and so are half his friends and colleagues. Cameron is forced to employ all his investigative skills to find the real killer and his motive.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 897
Genere: Thriller, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, bleak, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 82%
The Exonerated (2005)
Plot Summary:
Six people tell their stories on a single subject - how they got wrongfully convicted to death penalty, but later got exonerated.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 463
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, disturbing, suspenseful, mockumentary
Similar in 86%
Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story (2002)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Clarence Brandley, a black man wrongly accused in 1980 of the murder of a 16-year-old white high school girl named Cheryl Ferguson. Brandley worked at Conroe High School, where Ferguson was visiting as a member of the Belleville High School volleyball team. Three days after her body was discovered, Brandley was arrested as the murderer. Jew Don Boney, a popular activist and Houston city council member, leads the fight to uncover the truth about the Ferguson murder. Mike DeGeurin, a Texas attorney, is brought in to act as the head defense attorney for Brandley, and is joined by a former minister, Jim McCloskey. The lawyers discover that not only is there a complete lack of evidence against Brandley, but the District Attorney, James Keeshan, has been strategizing with the presiding judge. After nine years in prison, three trials and a stay of execution that saved Brandley's life, justice finally prevails as Brandley is granted his freedom.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 165
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: disturbing, emotional, realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious
Similar in 88%
Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story (1991)
Plot Summary:
Pamela Smart knows exactly what she wants and is willing to do anything to get it. She is fed up with teaching, and her marriage offers little excitement. Looking for a way out she applies for a job at a local TV station. When her dreams of fame are dashed by rejection, she seduces 15-year-old Billy, one of her students. Pam challenges Billy to prove his love for her by getting rid of her husband. The stakes heat up with a huge insurance policy on her husband's life.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 683
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, realistic, cynical
Similar in 79%
Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009)
Plot Summary:
Barbara Hoffman is a University of Wisconsin science student. She is a part-time employee at a local massage parlor. She is also a killer. Now all Detective Lulling has to do is prove it.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 895
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, serious, realistic, christmas horror, suspense, mind bending, suspenseful, detective, independent film
Similar in 87%
Suburban Madness (2004)
Plot Summary:
Based on the real story of Clara Harris, the Houston, Texas dentist who made headlines in July 2002 when she killed her adulterous husband by repeatedly running over him with her car.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 317
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, disturbing, psychological
Similar in 89%
Crime of the Century (1996)
Plot Summary:
In 1932, the nation was shocked when the 14-month-old son of Charles Lindberg was kidnapped, held for ransom, and murdered. Two years later, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested, convicted, and executed. This film dramatizes the investigation against Hauptmann, the trial, and the execution, painting a picture of a corrupt police force under pressure to finger a killer framing an innocent man by manufacturing evidence, paying-off and blackmailing witnesses, and covering up exculpatory evidence.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 888
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 80%
Vendetta (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true tale of power, corruption and murder, Christopher Walken stars in the story of the largest lynching in American history.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 81%
Citizen Verdict (2003)
Plot Summary:
Marty Rockman, the notorious producer of the hit reality-TV show "So Sue Me", has a brand new concept: "Citizen Verdict". Each week a real criminal case will be tried before the American people, but this time they're also the jury. If the defendant is voted guilty in a death penalty case, Rockman will televise the execution. When an escalation in violent crime and terrorism hits the state of Florida, Governor Tyler, desperate to be seen as a tough-on-crime Republican leader in the upcoming Presidential race, decides to give Rockman his chance and "Citizen Verdict" goes into production in Tampa. Selected by phone-in vote, the show's first contestant is Ricky Carr -- a man accused of the rape and murder of popular celebrity-chef Dolly Hamilton. The case is a surefire ratings winner. But when an investigation begins, it becomes apparent that Ricky may be innocent of murder.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 491
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: serious, disturbing, thought provoking, bleak, realistic, clever, cynical, biting, suspense
Similar in 77%
Prosecuting Casey Anthony (2013)
Plot Summary:
"Prosecuting Casey Anthony" reveals Florida prosecutor, Jeff Ashton’s inside story of the true crime drama that captivated and then shocked the nation when Caylee Anthony’s mother, Casey, was acquitted of killing her daughter, despite what many thought to be overwhelming evidence of guilt. The movie is seen from Ashton’s (Lowe) perspective and it takes viewers behind-the-scenes of both the investigation into Caylee’s tragic death and the ensuing trial, shedding new light on the many questions of what happened to the two year-old girl, how Ashton and his fellow prosecutors built their case and why a woman so shrouded in suspicion was proclaimed innocent. With in-depth information about the case and the accused, "Prosecuting Casey Anthony" examines what the prosecution got right, what they got wrong and why Ashton remains convinced of Casey Anthony’s guilt.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: disturbing, serious, captivating, realistic, emotional, detective, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 82%
One Angry Juror (2010)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Sarah Walsh, a tough New Orleans attorney who serves on a murder trial jury and does some investigating of her own.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 279
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, tense, independent film
Similar in 82%
Color of Justice (1997)
Plot Summary:
Four young black men kill a white woman, the D.A. is very cautious in how to proceed.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 228
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, rough, thought provoking, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami (1988)
Plot Summary:
There is no question that the Arab terrorist portrayed by Robert Davi is guilty of killing five US citizens in Barcelona. Even his lawyers have zero respect for the rabidly sociopathic Davi. But Jewish defence attorney Ron Leibman is obsessed with the concept of Due Process, and has vowed that Davi will receive a scrupulously fair trial when the terrorist is extradited to America. The defence mounted by Leibman confounds and aggravates government prosecutor Sam Waterston--but he, like Leibman, remains a man of judiciary integrity.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 156
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: independent film, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Witness for the Prosecution (1982)
Plot Summary:
Sir Wilfred Robarts, a famed barrister is released from the hospital, where he stayed for two months following his heart attack. Returning to the practise of his lawyer skills, he takes the case of Leonard Vole, an unemployed man who is accused of murdering an elderly lady friend of his, Mrs. Emily French. While Leonard Vole claims he's innocent, although all evidence points to him as the killer, his alibi witness, his cold German wife Christine, instead of entering the court as a witness for the defense, she becomes the witness for the prosecution and strongly claims her husband is guilty of the murder.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tense, mind bending, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, witty, contemplative, talky
Similar in 88%
The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story (2004)
Plot Summary:
Dean Cain portrays Scott Peterson, the California man accused of murdering his 8 month pregnant wife, Laci. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: disturbing, tense, serious, suspenseful, bleak, emotional, realistic