Best movies like Death Smiles on a Murderer
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A man discovers an ancient Incan formula for raising the dead, and uses it for a series of revenge murders.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, gothic, slasher, scary, psychological, suspenseful, rough, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Best tv shows and movies like Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973):
Similar in 90%
Death Steps in the Dark (1977)
Plot Summary:
An Italian reporter is travelling on the Instabul-Athens train. A woman is murdered with the reporter's letter-opener so that makes him the main suspect. With the help of his Swedish girlfriend he starts investigating in order to prove his innocence.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 367
Genere: Comedy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, Greece
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: slasher
Similar in 85%
Naked You Die (1968)
Plot Summary:
The corpses are piling up at St. Hilda’s School for Girls, leaving top cop Michael Rennie (The Day the Earth Stood Still) with more than the usual suspects. Is the killer playboy riding instructor Mark Damon (House of Usher)? Peeping tom Luciano Pigozzi (Baron Blood)? Or how about hulking swim teacher Giovanni Di Benedetto (The Bird With The Crystal Plumage), whose wetsuit and dive mask make the perfect ensemble for slaughter?.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 719
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, gothic, gothic horror, classic horror, suspense
Similar in 78%
Death Laid An Egg (1968)
Plot Summary:
A love triangle develops between three people who run a high tech chicken farm. It involves Anna (who owns the farm), her husband Marco (who kills prostitutes in his spare time) and Gabriella (the very beautiful secretary). Marco continues to kill as jealousy becomes more prevalent on the farm.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: slasher, surreal, grindhouse, suspense, splatter, weird, bizarre, cult film
Similar in 78%
Lust for Vengeance (2001)
Plot Summary:
Five women obsessed with sex & drugs pay for their sins.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 94
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: rough, suspense, suspenseful, bleak, surprise ending, slasher, independent film, detective, grindhouse
Similar in 89%
Venus in Furs (1969)
Plot Summary:
A couple who get involved in an underground scene of kinky sex and sadism have a surprise coming to them.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: UK, Italy, West Germany
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: erotic, disturbing, sexual, psychedelic, suspense, romantic, grindhouse, existential, sensual, perverse
Similar in 76%
Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)
Plot Summary:
Oliviero is a burned-out writer, living at his estate near Venice, his dead mother dominating his imagination. He is also a degenerate: sleeps with his maid and his ex-student, hosts Bacchanalia for local hippies, and humiliates his wife Irina in front of strangers. She lives in terror. When a young woman is murdered, police suspect Oliviero. Things get complicated when his young, beautiful, and self-confident niece, Floriana, pays an unexpected visit. A silver-haired stranger observes. More women die, and thoughts of harming Irina give Oliviero new inspiration. What's Floriana's game and who's the observant stranger? Watching all is a black cat named Satan.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, surprise ending, erotic, sexy, suspense, grindhouse, psychological, tense, atmospheric
Similar in 82%
Play Motel (1979)
Plot Summary:
The motel has a special room designed for sexual activities. It also has a habit of photographing sex act engines and extorting the parties concerned. One day a mysterious killer with black gloves up and the situation is changing.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 671
Genere: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychotronic, scary, bleak, disturbing, erotic, sexy, sex comedy, psycho sexual, detective
Similar in 87%
The Killer Nun (1979)
Plot Summary:
A demented nun sliding through morphine addiction into madness, whilst presiding over a regime of lesbianism, torture and death. Sister Gertrude is the head nurse/nun in a general hospital, whose increasingly psychotic behavior endangers the staff and patients around her.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: slasher, grindhouse, disturbing, psychological, suspense, surreal, sensual, cult classic, terrifying, queer horror
Similar in 88%
The Beast Kills in Cold Blood (1971)
Plot Summary:
A masked killer stalks an institution for mentally disturbed rich women.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: slasher, erotic, suspense, grindhouse, cult classic, scary, rough, mind bending, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
Amuck! (1972)
Plot Summary:
A young American girl arrives on an island near Venice to begin her new job as secretary to famous novelist Richard Stuart. However, it turns out that her predecessor disappeared without a trace.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: erotic, grindhouse, sexy, slasher, psychological thriller, suspense, disturbing, independent film, cult film
Similar in 80%
All the Colors of the Dark (1972)
Plot Summary:
Jane lives in London with her boyfriend Richard. Her mother was murdered when she was young, she recently lost a baby in a car crash and she's plagued by nightmares of a knife-wielding man. Richard thinks that the cure is vitamins, while Jane's sister recommends psychiatric help. But a new neighbour promises that if she participates in a Black Mass, all her fears will disappear, instead it just seems to bring her nightmares to life.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: Italy, Spain, UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: gothic, sadistic, scary, disturbing, slasher, grindhouse, surreal, suspense, demonic, art house
Similar in 84%
The Lady in Red Kills Seven Times (1972)
Plot Summary:
The film starts out incredibly in a beautiful Gothic castle in Germany. As little girls, Kitty Wildenbrück and her sister Evelyn have been fighting when their grandfather tells them the story behind an incredibly uncanny painting: Legend has it that a fiendish Red Lady is to return to the castle every hundred years and kill seven people. Fourteen years later, Kitty (Barbara Bouchet) has become a successful fashion photographer. Suddenly, people begin to get murdered.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, West Germany, Monaco
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspense, psychological thriller, rough, suspenseful, grindhouse, exciting, psychotronic, erotic, retro
Similar in 80%
Trauma (1976)
Plot Summary:
A paranoid writer is unable to get started on his second novel. He hires a secretary and then his troubles really begin.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: slasher, psychological, grindhouse, disturbing, controversial, terrifying, independent film, scary, sexy, mind bending
Similar in 84%
The House of the Laughing Windows (1976)
Plot Summary:
Stefano, a young restorer is commissioned to save a fresco representing the suffering of St. Sebastiano. The fresco painter was Legnani, and the fresco is his last work. Legnani apparently was mentally disturbed. He was used to paint people close to die or in agony. These facts together with the strange atmosphere that surround this village near Ferrara, in the north of Italy, contribute to put Stefano in a nightmare reality. Soon reality will change into horror.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: surreal, scary, tense, serious, psychological, atmospheric, mind bending, suspenseful, gothic, slasher
Similar in 85%
Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971)
Plot Summary:
Inspector Tellini investigates serial crimes where victims are paralyzed while having their bellies ripped open with a sharp knife.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, slasher, psychotronic, erotic, suspense, detective, light, disturbing, creepy, perverse
Similar in 84%
Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975)
Plot Summary:
When a fashion model dies during an abortion, a series of murders begins, starting with her doctor. The next victims are connected to the modeling agency where she worked, Albatross, run by a hard edged and jealous bi-sexual, Gisella, married to a Farouk-like dissolute. One suspect is Carlo, a playboy photographer who has a hot temper and refuses to share information with the police. He becomes the lover of Magda, another photographer at the agency, who's probably in danger. The murderer wears a black motorcycle outfit and helmet. Will anyone discover the murderer's identity before the entire agency dies?.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: slasher, erotic, suspense, disturbing, controversial, grindhouse, sensual, scary, tense, atmospheric
Similar in 87%
A Blade in the Dark (1983)
Plot Summary:
A killer stalks a composer staying at a posh Tuscany villa while writing the score to a horror film which has an incriminating clue to the killer's identity.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, bloody, suspense, metafiction, creepy, cult classic, horror musical, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
Autopsy (1975)
Plot Summary:
A pathology med student and a priest team up to investigate a wave of suicides blamed on sun spots and discover a number of them to be actual murders.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychotronic, slasher, cult classic, erotic, scary, psychological, tense, rough, mind bending
Similar in 77%
The Card Player (2003)
Plot Summary:
Policewoman Anna Mari is forced to play a dangerous game with the title serial killer. If she loses, she witnesses the maniac's tortured victims having their throats cut in explicit close-up detail via webcam. She teams up with British cop John Brennan to find out the identity of the murderer.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspenseful, psychological, rough, disturbing, suspense, detective, grindhouse, cult horror, scary
Similar in 80%
Trauma (1993)
Plot Summary:
An anorexic young woman escapes from a psychiatric clinic and meets a young man who wants to help. She is caught and returned to her parents, who are soon beheaded by a garrotting stranger making the rounds about town, apparently striking only when it rains. The orphaned young woman and her new lover launch their own investigation and are endangered when a link is discovered with the victims and a particular operation performed years before.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: psychological, slasher, scary, serious, suspenseful, rough, realistic, suspense, disturbing, gothic
Similar in 77%
Opera (1987)
Plot Summary:
A young opperata is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: slasher, disturbing, suspense, scary, bloody, creepy, grindhouse, atmospheric, surreal, controversial
Similar in 86%
A Bay of Blood (1971)
Plot Summary:
An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all-out murder spree as relatives and friends attempt to reduce the inheritance playing field, complicated by some teenagers who decide to camp out in a dilapidated building on the estate.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: slasher, disturbing, grindhouse, scary, suspenseful, bloody, gothic, psychological, creepy, cult classic
Similar in 87%
The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971)
Plot Summary:
A reporter and a blind retired journalist try to solve a series of murders. The crimes are connected to experiments by a pharmaceutical company in secret research. The two end up becoming targets of the killer.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, grindhouse, rough, serious, cult classic, atmospheric, stylized
Similar in 89%
Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)
Plot Summary:
A reporter and a promiscuous young woman try to solve a series of child killings in a remote southern Italian town that's rife with superstition and distrust of outsiders.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, slasher, scary, suspenseful, rough, grindhouse, suspense, disturbing, erotic, surprise ending
Similar in 84%
The New York Ripper (1982)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: slasher, disturbing, grindhouse, detective, dark, suspenseful, scary, bloody, controversial, suspense
Similar in 90%
Pieces (1982)
Plot Summary:
A frustrated Boston detective searches for the maniac responsible for mutilating a number of university coeds.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspense, scary, disturbing, surprise ending, grindhouse, rough, suspenseful, psychological thriller, bloody
Similar in 76%
Deep Red (1975)
Plot Summary:
A musician witnesses the murder of a famous psychic, and then teams up with a fiesty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen killer bent on keeping a dark secret buried.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: psychological, gothic, disturbing, slasher, scary, atmospheric, suspense, suspenseful, grindhouse, tense
Similar in 82%
The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)
Plot Summary:
A young policewoman slowly goes insane while tracking down an elusive serial rapist/killer through Italy when she herself becomes a victim of the brutal man's obsession.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, surreal, dark, disturbing, grindhouse, neo noir, stylized, suspense, creepy
Similar in 75%
The Bodies Presented Traces of Carnal Violence (1973)
Plot Summary:
A series of sex murders shock a college campus, and four beautiful young girlfriends head for the safety of an isolated country villa. But as they succumb to their own erotic desires, their weekend of pleasure becomes a vacation to dismember at the hands - and blade - of the lecherous maniac.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: slasher, suspense, grindhouse, scary, rough, suspenseful, psychological thriller, mind bending, sensual, erotic
Similar in 75%
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
Plot Summary:
In Italy, the American writer Sam Dalmas witnesses an attempt of murder of the owner of an art gallery, a couple of days before his foreseen return to the United States of America. He decides to stay with his girlfriend Julia and help the police in the investigation, while the serial killer stalks Julia and him.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, West Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, twist ending, slasher, grindhouse, tense, suspense, rough, erotic, surreal