Best movies like El Cortez
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A man just released from a mental institution gets involved in a gold mine scheme while trying to avoid the cops, a wrathful drug dealer, and a sultry femme fatale.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 596
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, atmospheric, realistic, neo noir, independent film
Best tv shows and movies like El Cortez (2006):
Similar in 78%
Special Effects (1984)
Plot Summary:
Reality and illusion collide in this thriller about a megalomaniacal movie director who murders a young would-be actress, then sets about making a feature about the deed, casting the dead woman's clueless husband as the patsy, and finding a dead ringer to play the part of the dead actress.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective, independent film
Similar in 89%
Who Killed Bambi? (2003)
Plot Summary:
Isabelle, a beautiful nursing student, is starting her internship at a prestigious hospital. She meets Dr. Philip there, feels atracted to him from the beggining and starts suffering from strange fainting; so he calls her Bambi: her legs don't support her. Patients mysteriously start to dissappear from their rooms; so Bambi and Dr. Philip start a cat vs. mouse paranoid game, in order to catch the probable killer.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Thriller, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, suspenseful, stylized, serious, mad
Similar in 85%
The Grind (2009)
Plot Summary:
Luke, is a grifter who owes a significant debt to the Mexican mob. Set in the gritty underbelly of Gardena, CA Luke has to come up with one final scheme to pay back his debt or his life is at risk. Supported by his two only friends, Courtney and Josh, they come together to devise a plan that with a little blind luck just might get Luke out of the hole.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 369
Genere: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, rough, realistic, suspenseful, tense, neo noir
Similar in 84%
Forfeit (2007)
Plot Summary:
An armored car guard's elaborate plan for revenge is threatened by his relationship with an old friend -- a brilliant and unpredictable television preacher.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 282
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, suspenseful, disturbing, bleak, serious, realistic, psychological thriller, psycho film
Similar in 86%
Sugar Cookies (1973)
Plot Summary:
A film producer murders his star actress during an erotic "game" and makes it look like suicide. The dead girl's lesbian lover discovers what happened, and plots her revenge.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 638
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: queer horror, erotic, tense, sexy, mind bending, serious, realistic, suspenseful, sexual, independent film
Similar in 89%
The Big Town (1987)
Plot Summary:
It is 1957. J.C. Cullen is a young man from a small town, with a talent for winning at craps, who leaves for the big city to work as a professional gambler. While there, he breaks the bank at a private craps game at the Gem Club, owned by George Cole, and falls in love with two women, one of them Cole's wife.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: romantic, visually stunning, atmospheric, serious, realistic, stylized
Similar in 77%
Poison Ivy: The Secret Society (2008)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious death of a young college student occurs late one night at a prestigious New England college.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, serious, realistic, erotic, sexy, suspense, psychological, sexual, independent film
Similar in 82%
Under Lock and Key (1995)
Plot Summary:
An FBI agent goes undercover in a women's prison to find evidence hidden by a drug dealer's ex-girlfriend. After she is taken off the case, she finds that the drug dealer has kidnapped her daughter. She enlists the help of one of her prison guards, and together they take on the drug dealer's mob.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 322
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 89%
Dirty Work (2006)
Plot Summary:
Bad City is the tangled story of three men's lives: Manning, a dirty, disillusioned cop; Julian, king of drugs, thugs and prostitution; and Frank, a ruthless politician who destroys everything in the way of his ambition.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 302
Genere: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, neo noir
Similar in 85%
Love Walked In (1997)
Plot Summary:
Two romantically involved down-and-out lounge singers get involved in a caper.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 439
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Argentina, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspenseful, serious, captivating, tense, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 80%
Hotel Noir (2012)
Plot Summary:
Los Angeles, 1958: a detective holes up in a downtown hotel awaiting killers to come get him. During the course of one night he will meet various occupants of the hotel and the truth of how he came to be in his present situation will be revealed.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: neo noir, atmospheric, realistic, suspenseful, serious, black and white, suspense, detective, stylized, independent film
Similar in 89%
An Occasional Hell (1996)
Plot Summary:
A former policeman-turned college professor of forensics, is asked by a widow to solve the murder of her unfaithful husband and the disappearance of his mistress who may have been linked to some drug dealers.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 780
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: erotic, psychological, atmospheric, mind bending, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, gloomy
Similar in 82%
The Box (2003)
Plot Summary:
An ex-con tries to go straight but also wants to get back money he's owed for the job that put him in prison. He meets a waitress who's also seen her share of trouble and they start up a tenuous relationship. Then there's a murder and things get complicated. It's noir so the plot isn't the main focus but the mood of the film is consistent and properly downbeat. The characters can't seem to shake the fate that hangs over them.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 481
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 76%
Scenes of the Crime (2001)
Plot Summary:
A young man about to get married earns extra cash by driving a local mobster, but things go awry when the mobster is shot dead by a rival crime boss.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, serious, suspenseful, erotic, neo noir
Similar in 75%
Loaded (2008)
Plot Summary:
A young, wealthy club kid's life spirals downward into an out-of-control world of drugs, sex and violence.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
Toxic (2008)
Plot Summary:
The lives of a nightclub owner, a crime boss, a stripper, a bartender, two hitmen, a prostitute and a psychic take a turn for the worse when they are trapped in an escaped mental patient's sinister path of madness and destruction.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 968
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, suspenseful, realistic, independent film, fast
Similar in 75%
Tell (2014)
Plot Summary:
Ethan Tell is a small time crook who makes a big-time score when he steals 1 million dollars. Ironically, his life radically changes for the worst when he discovers that stealing the money was the easy part and he now must keep his partner, his wife, his parole officer, and two corrupt detectives from stealing it from him.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating, independent film
Similar in 87%
Guilty by Association (2003)
Plot Summary:
There is no honor without truth. When gang wars spin out of control in downtown Washington D.C., one man steps onto the battlefirld to hunt down a ruthless killer. A young man has been released from prison and is determined to build a new life for himself. Unfortunately, without any prospects in sight, he gets lured back into the only world he knows....crime. He gets in touch with his former best friend who has since "made it big" as a drug dealer during his time in prison. But what starts out as a partnership which promises to get them both out of the projects, soon turns rotten as money comes between the two. As loyalties are divided, anger and violence erupt... destroying anyone who gets in the way. Innocent victims get caught in the crossfire and its up to one man, Police Lieutenet Redding (Morgan Freeman) to take matters into his own hands and stop the needless deaths before it's too late.
IMDB Rating: 2.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, rough, serious
Similar in 81%
Heart of Midnight (1988)
Plot Summary:
A young woman who is getting back on her feet after a mental breakdown, Carol Rivers discovers that her late uncle has left her a rundown nightclub. Carol decides to renovate the venue, but, in the process, uncovers dark secrets about the club and her dead relative. After a series of disturbing events, Carol becomes increasingly unstable, but she finds some measure of comfort in Sharpe, an enigmatic older detective.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, serious, suspenseful, scary, tense, atmospheric, mind bending, realistic, erotic
Similar in 86%
In the Shadows (2001)
Plot Summary:
When a stunt man dies in Miami, his uncle, a New York mob boss, sends a hit man to tail the stunt coordinator, whom the boss wants dead. The hit man, Eric O'Bryne, gets close to his mark's daughter, and through her he asks her dad to teach him to do stunts. While waiting for the word to kill this mentor, Eric discovers the joy of stunt work and of being part of a family. Meanwhile, several people are looking for the dead man's briefcase of money and a cloth bag of illegal drugs that he stole from an undercover FBI agent now desperate to get the borrowed drugs back to the bureau. The stunt coordinator says that 'we dance in the shadows of death.' Can Eric step out into the sun?.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 991
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 77%
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 81%
Three Way (2004)
Plot Summary:
Lew is a small time loser with a troubled past and a very big secret. Overhearing a couple plan a kidnapping, Lew is tempted to come up with a scheme of his own. He decides to get to the victim first and then blackmail the real criminals. His plan soon spins out of control.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious, neo noir, surprise ending
Similar in 75%
Born Bad (2011)
Plot Summary:
A young woman (Bonnie Dennison) falls for a mysterious man (Michael Welch) who reveals his dark side.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, suspenseful, exciting, crime drama
Similar in 75%
One in the Gun (2010)
Plot Summary:
A sexy brain teaser of a thriller with nods to classic film noir of the past mixed with a post-modern flair of David Lynch-style surrealism and surprises. When Mickey Lewis, a homeless struggling artist crosses paths with Katrina, the beautiful rich wife of Arthur Webb and is enlisted to paint their home, deadly passions ignite. Soon hidden agendas, dangerous seductions, double and triple-crosses spiral Mickey's life out of control leading to a motel in the middle of nowhere filled with strange people and twisted secrets that all hold the key to the mystery of Mickey's past, present, and future. All it takes is - ONE IN THE GUN.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 258
Genere: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: neo noir, serious, psychological, surreal, tense, captivating, suspense, rough, sexy, mind bending
Similar in 87%
Sinful Intrigue (1995)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious attacker is preying on the rich and decadent set in an elite community.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 230
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: erotic, rough, sexy, mind bending, serious, realistic, suspenseful, sexual, independent film, suspense
Similar in 85%
Malicious (1995)
Plot Summary:
A mystery woman turns vengeful after a college athlete dumps her following a one-night stand.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, erotic, psychological, tense, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, neo noir, suspense
Similar in 89%
Night Eyes (1990)
Plot Summary:
A Beverly Hills home-security guard is seduced by a rock star's wife he monitors by video.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 753
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sexy, rough, realistic, suspenseful, serious, cult classic, independent film, sexual, erotic, hot
Similar in 80%
Poison Ivy: The New Seduction (1997)
Plot Summary:
A sinister seductress vows to destroy a suburban family.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: erotic, sensual, sexy, suspense, sexual, romantic, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
The Grifters (1990)
Plot Summary:
A young short-con grifter suffers both injury and the displeasure of reuniting with his criminal mother, all the while dating an unpredictable young lady.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: neo noir, sexy, tense, atmospheric, suspense, intense, serious, bleak, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 89%
Twilight (1998)
Plot Summary:
A retired ex-cop and private detective gets mixed up in murder when he is asked to deliver blackmail money and walks into a 20 year old case involving the mysterious disappearance of an actress' former husband.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, clever, talky, detective, serious, realistic, witty, smart, cynical