Best movies like A Stranger Is Watching
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Three years after Steve Peterson's wife, Nina, was murdered in front of their 11 year old daughter Julie, she and his new girlfriend Sharon Martin are kidnapped by the same killer, the psychotic Artie Taggart. Imprisoning them in a bunker below Grand Central Station, he throws the police into a race against time to save the girls and catch the killer.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 854
Genere: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspense, detective, scary, rough, mind bending, serious, realistic, suspenseful, psychotronic
Best tv shows and movies like A Stranger Is Watching (1982):
Similar in 90%
Creature with the Blue Hand (1967)
Plot Summary:
Scotland Yard is after a homicidal maniac called The Blue Hand, which is what he uses to kill his victims.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 865
Genere: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: West Germany
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: slasher, detective, grindhouse, scary, tense, rough, mind bending, gothic, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Joel (2018)
Plot Summary:
The shocking story of Joel Rifkin, a troubled young man whose hidden fantasies of power and control combined with his obsessive dedication to prostitutes led him to embark on one of the New York area’s most notorious murder sprees, claiming seventeen victims in the late eighties and early nineties.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 228
Genere: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: scary, tense, bleak, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
The First Deadly Sin (1980)
Plot Summary:
A serial killer is stalking New York. Inspector Edward X. Delaney is an NYPD detective, nearing retirement, who is trying to put together the pieces of the case. Are the victims somehow linked? What does the brutal method of death signify?.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: suspense, realistic, suspenseful, rough, serious, neo noir, surprise ending, slasher, independent film, detective
Similar in 75%
Eyes of a Stranger (1981)
Plot Summary:
A TV newswoman (Lauren Tewes) catches a pervert (John DiSanti) watching her sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who cannot see, hear or speak.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: bloody, slasher, creepy, psychological thriller, retro, action thriller, independent film, sadistic, scary, mind bending
Similar in 83%
Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970)
Plot Summary:
Sweeney Todd, a barber, and Maggie Lovett, a baker, join forces to commit a series of brutal, gory murders in London with a little help from Tobias Ragg, an employee of Maggie' bakery who abducts a number of customers from the barber shop and kills them and helps the couple make "meat pies" out of the dead victims for sale.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 656
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, grindhouse, psychological thriller, slasher, sadistic, splatter, independent film, gay cinema, psycho film, awful
Similar in 85%
Highwaymen (2004)
Plot Summary:
James Cray watched as his wife was killed by Fargo, a hit-and-run serial murderer. After severely injuring Fargo and going to prison for several years, James is now determined to avenge his wife's death. He drives across the country looking for Fargo's 1972 Cadillac Eldorado, which the now-disabled killer has turned into a rolling death trap. James' search is helped by a state traffic officer and a singer with her own agenda.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Action, Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, scary, road movie, exciting, rough, surprise ending, slasher, surreal, dread
Similar in 86%
Bereavement (2010)
Plot Summary:
In 1989, six year old Martin Bristoll was kidnapped from his backyard swing in Minersville Pennsylvania. Graham Sutter, a psychotic recluse, kept Martin imprisoned on his derelict pig farm, forcing him to witness and participate in unspeakable horrors. Chosen at random, his victim's screams were drowned out by the rural countryside. For five years, Martin's whereabouts have remained a mystery, until 17 year old Allison Miller (Alexandra Daddario) comes to live with her Uncle, Jonathan (Michael Biehn). While exploring her new surroundings, Allison discovers things aren't quite right at the farmhouse down the road. Her curiosity disturbs a hornet's nest of evil and despair that once torn open, can never be closed. Starring Michael Biehn, Brett Rickaby, Alexandra Daddario, and John Savage. Written and Directed by Stevan Mena.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, disturbing, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, dark, creepy, cult classic
Similar in 75%
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
Plot Summary:
A Texas Ranger hunts for a hooded serial killer terrorizing the residents of a small town, set in 1946 Arkansas. Loosely based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, rough, realistic, serious, suspenseful, grindhouse, creepy, bloody, dark
Similar in 83%
The Factory (2012)
Plot Summary:
An obsessed cop is on the trail of a serial killer prowling the streets of Buffalo, N.Y. but when his teenage daughter disappears, he drops any professional restraint to get the killer.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, Canada, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, rough, realistic, scary, serious, psychological, suspense, psychotronic, crime drama
Similar in 89%
Junkyard Dog (2010)
Plot Summary:
A gritty psychological-horror-thriller that delves the demented mind of a cannibalistic serial rapist who kidnaps his tenth victim in as many months on Halloween night.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 792
Genere: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, scary, realistic, suspense, detective, independent film, slasher
Similar in 79%
Nightstalker (2002)
Plot Summary:
A stylish horror film based on the life of Richard Ramirez, aka the Nightstalker, who terrorized people in Los Angeles during the 1980s.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: suspense, slasher, scary, rough, bleak, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, realistic, detective
Similar in 82%
Too Scared to Scream (1984)
Plot Summary:
A killer of young women is loose in an exclusive apartment complex and a detective is out to stop him. The chief suspect is a Shakespeare-spouting doorman who lives with his invalid mother. Meanwhile, an undercover cop moves into the apartment house. This move is complicated by her relationship with the detective.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 803
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspenseful, scary, psychological thriller, suspense, bloody, independent film, sexy, mind bending, serious
Similar in 81%
The First Power (1990)
Plot Summary:
A young man born out of an incestuous relationship, after enduring an emotionally scarring childhood, gives in to the dark side of Satanic forces and becomes a weapon of evil. He kills with such ferocity that he becomes the main target of the L.A.P.D. Detective Russell Logan engages in a battle of wits with Channing in life and after death. It appears that Channing can't be stopped, but Logan has a few tricks of his own to match Channing's -"First Power".
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: slasher, disturbing, scary, rough, bleak, serious, satanic, detective, religious horror, demonic
Similar in 75%
Amsterdamned (1988)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious diver hiding in Amsterdam's canal system embarks on a rampage of gruesome murders, terrifying city officials and leaving few clues for the city's best detective, who doesn't suspect that both his new girlfriend and twelve-year-old daughter may be closer than he is to finding the killer.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Action, Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, rough, serious, suspenseful, detective, cult classic, psychotronic, slasher horror, weird
Similar in 90%
Son of Sam (2008)
Plot Summary:
This chilling tale recounts the late 70's in New York City, when a serial killer on the loose dubbed "Son of Sam" creates havoc. When arrested, "Son of Sam" tells police he was influenced by a satanic cult. New York would never be the same.
IMDB Rating: 1.8
IMDB Votes: 469
Genere: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, suspenseful, psychological thriller, slasher
Similar in 76%
The Last Showing (2014)
Plot Summary:
A couple trapped in a cinema are manipulated into becoming unwilling actors in a film being captured by CCTV cameras.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, scary, tense, serious, psychological thriller, slasher, action thriller, realistic, sinister, independent film
Similar in 86%
Blood Song (1982)
Plot Summary:
A psychopath escapes from a mental institution and starts a murder spree, which ends in the pursuing of a young handicapped girl, who once got a blood transfusion from him.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 585
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: slasher, grindhouse, bloody, psychological thriller, independent film, psycho film, cult film
Similar in 76%
He Knows You're Alone (1980)
Plot Summary:
A reluctant bride to be is stalked by a serial killer who only kills brides and the people around them. While her friends get whacked one by one, a hard boiled renegade cop whose bride had been killed years before tries to hunt him down before it is too late. Meanwhile, the bride has to figure out if it is all in her imagination or not, aided by her ex-boyfriend.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspense, scary, tense, suspenseful, rough, serious, psychological thriller, disturbing, bloody
Similar in 85%
Henry II: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1996)
Plot Summary:
Henry has wandered into a small town looking for work and a place to stay. He gets a job delivering and cleaning porto-potties and moves in with a co-worker until he gets his feet off of the ground. Henry and his new friend soon start to kill.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: slasher, disturbing, scary, psychological, terrifying, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
Madman (1981)
Plot Summary:
At a summer camp for youths, cocky pre-teen calls out the name of mass serial killer "Madman Marz". Suddenly, counselors are being maimed and slaughtered in various ways by the backwoodsman who has returned when his name was called.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: scary, slasher, suspenseful, bloody, serious, grindhouse, slasher horror, cult horror, independent film, suspense
Similar in 86%
The Tortured (2010)
Plot Summary:
An upper-middle-class couple's life is destroyed when their only child is kidnapped and killed. Obsessed with revenge, the couple seizes an opportunity to kidnap the killer.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: sadistic, disturbing, tense, rough, bleak, slasher, serious, scary, psychological, depressing
Similar in 75%
The Last House on the Left (1972)
Plot Summary:
Mari and Phyllis go to the "big city" to see their favorite band BloodLust. Along the way they meet up with newly escaped convict Krug and his gang.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: disturbing, slasher, scary, grindhouse, sadistic, bleak, psychological, creepy, cult classic, bloody
Similar in 78%
Dark Ride (2006)
Plot Summary:
Ten years after he brutally murdered two girls, a killer escapes from a mental institution and returns to his turf, the theme park attraction called Dark Ride. About to crash his path are a group of college kids on a road trip who stumble across the park.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, rough, serious, suspenseful, psychological thriller, bloody, dark, grindhouse, teen horror
Similar in 76%
The Watcher (2000)
Plot Summary:
FBI agent Joel Campbell, burnt-out and shell-shocked after years spent chasing serial killers, flees L.A. to begin a new life for himself in Chicago. But five months later, Joel's best laid plans are abruptly cut short when his new hometown becomes the setting for some particularly gruesome murders--murders that could only have been committed by one man: David Allen Griffin. One of Joel's most elusive and cunning nemeses, Griffin has followed his former pursuer to Chicago in order to play a sadistic game of cat and mouse. Taunting Joel with photographs of his intended victims and leaving his crime scenes meticulously free of clues in order to keep the police at bay, Griffin derives as much pleasure out of watching Joel react to every movement as watching his victims die. But when Griffin moves into Joel's inner circle, Joel must quickly find some way to stop him before someone close to him becomes the next one to die.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, Vietnam
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, suspenseful, scary, rough, slasher, serious, realistic, neo noir, independent film
Similar in 81%
Alone in the Dark (1982)
Plot Summary:
A quartet of murderous psychopaths break out of a mental hospital during a power blackout and lay siege to their doctor's house.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, bloody, cult classic, grindhouse, creepy, classic horror
Similar in 78%
The Collector (2009)
Plot Summary:
Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 71000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, brutal, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, rough, sadistic, splatter, bloody
Similar in 84%
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Plot Summary:
After the Crystal Lake Massacres, Jason is pronounced dead and taken to the hospital morgue, where he is mysteriously revived, allowing his diabolical killing spree to continue at the camp where the gruesome slaughtering began. But this time, in addition to terrified teenagers, he meets a young boy named Tommy who has a special talent for horror masks and make up, leading up to a horrifying, bloody battle! Has Jason finally met his match?.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 58000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, splatter, grindhouse, bloody, suspenseful, spooky, teen horror, slasher horror, psychological
Similar in 78%
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Plot Summary:
An idyllic summer turns into a nightmare of unspeakable terror for yet another group of naive counselors. Ignoring Camp Crystal Lake's bloody legacy, one by one they fall victim to the maniacal Jason who stalks them at every turn.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, bloody, suspenseful, grindhouse, cult classic, classic horror, spooky, brutal, splatter
Similar in 82%
Mindhunters (2004)
Plot Summary:
Trainees in the FBI's psychological profiling program must put their training into practice when they discover a killer in their midst.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 63000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: Netherlands, UK, Finland, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, psychological, suspense, scary, suspenseful, twist ending, slasher, detective, clever, intense
Similar in 77%
Escapee (2011)
Plot Summary:
While on a class observation trip at a local mental hospital, young psychology major, Abby Jones has a chilling encounter with high-risk patient, Harmon. She returns home for an evening of normal study with her two roommates unaware of the darkness shes awakened within him.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, rough, serious, scary, slasher, realistic, independent film, suspense