Best movies like Gang Tapes
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
When a brutal carjacking yields a videocamera, a teenage boy decides to document his life and the lives of his fellow gangbangers.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, hood, tense, suspense, crime drama, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like Gang Tapes (2001):
Similar in 77%
Chains of Gold (1990)
Plot Summary:
Scott Barnes is an alcoholic turned social worker hellbent on saving a young boy named Tommy from self-destructing when he finds out he has begun selling crack in an organization called YIP, run by Carlos.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, psychotronic
Similar in 82%
The Children of Times Square (1986)
Plot Summary:
An alienated teenage boy runs away from home and ventures to New York City where he falls in with a gang of juvenile delinquents working as drug dealers and pickpockets for a shady crime boss.(IMDB).
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 422
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
Boulevard Nights (1979)
Plot Summary:
A focus on life in a gang, Boulevard Nights portrays the dangers of street violence. Richard Yniguez plays a young Chicano who tries to get out of the gang, but he keeps finding himself drawn back into it.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 740
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: hood, hispanic, crime drama, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing, biting, suspense
Similar in 83%
Five Star (2014)
Plot Summary:
After John’s absent father is struck by a stray bullet, Primo takes it upon himself to verse the young boy in the code of the streets—one founded on respect and upheld by fear. A member of the Bloods since the age of twelve—both in the film and in reality—the streets of Brooklyn are all Primo has ever known. While John questions whether or not to enter into this life, Primo must decide whether to leave it all behind as he vows to become a better husband and father. Set during those New York summer weeks where the stifling heat seems to encase everything, Five Star plunges into gang culture with searing intensity. Director Keith Miller observes the lives of these two men with a quiet yet pointed distance, carefully eschewing worn clichés through its unflinching focus. Distinctions between fiction and real life remain intentionally ambiguous, allowing the story of these two men to resonate beyond the streets, as they face the question of what it means to be a man.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 569
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, sexy, hood, tense, sincere, rough, bleak
Similar in 89%
Snow on tha Bluff (2011)
Plot Summary:
When Curtis Snow steals a video camera from some college kids during a dope deal, he gives the camera to his best friend, Pancho, and they start documenting their lives. At first its business as usual for Curtis. He robs dope boys, he runs from the cops, he sells drugs, all while trying to provide for his two-year-old son. But when one of the dealers he ripped off comes for revenge, Curt’s life starts to spiral out of control.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, hood, captivating, psychological, tense, rough, crime drama, disturbing
Similar in 86%
The Tribe (2014)
Plot Summary:
Deaf mute Sergey enters a specialized boarding school for deaf-and-dumb. In this new place, he needs to find his way through the hierarchy of the school’s network dealing with crimes and prostitution, the Tribe. By taking part of several robberies, he gets propelled higher into the organization. Then he meets one of the Chief’s concubines Anya, and unwillingly breaks all the unwritten rules of the tribe.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Ukraine, Netherlands
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: disturbing, depressing, erotic, surreal, art house, melancholic, lyrical, sexual, realistic, bleak
Similar in 83%
Hell's Kitchen (1998)
Plot Summary:
When a robbery goes awry, the bandits all end up in a puddle of blood and only one lives and goes to jail for five years. Upon his release, the girlfriend wants her new boyfriend to kill him. Only trouble is the boyfriend knows that the fault was not the ex-con's and can't bring himself to do the task. Meanwhile, the ex-con tries to turn his life around by becoming a boxer and training under a former heavyweight contender.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, disturbing, independent film, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 84%
Strapped (1993)
Plot Summary:
Ex-con attempting to go straight runs across serious problems. His girlfriend gets arrested for dealing crack to an undercover police officer. In a desperate attempt to get the charges dropped against his woman, he strikes deal with weapons cop to turn in local gun dealers. How ever, the D.A. is not satisfied with the results, resulting in some serious game playing and double crossing.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: hood, crime drama, grim, rough, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 84%
My Crazy Life (1993)
Plot Summary:
Mousie and Sad Girl are childhood best friends in a contemporary Los Angeles poor Hispanic neighborhood. But when Sad Girl becomes pregnant by Mousie's boyfriend, a drug dealer named Ernesto, the two become bitter enemies. While their dispute escalates towards violence, the violence of the world around them soon also impacts their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: realistic, talky, serious, hood, cult classic, independent film, bleak, hispanic, crime drama, sincere
Similar in 77%
State Property (2002)
Plot Summary:
Frustrated with being broke, Beans decides that the only way to grasp the American Dream is to take it.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Crime, Action
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: hood, rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, bleak, realistic
Similar in 78%
Corrupt (1999)
Plot Summary:
After decades of terror, two deadly street gangs reach a delicate truce and young MJ (Silkk the Shocker) sees a way out of the hood once and for all. Only Corrupt (Ice-T) stands in MJ's way, resulting into a violent and brutal roller coaster ride of action!.
IMDB Rating: 2.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 69 min
Plot tags: hood, independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
Straight Out of Brooklyn (1991)
Plot Summary:
A Special Jury Award winner at the Sundance Film Festival, this drama stars a then-19-year-old Matty Rich (who also wrote and directed it). Rich plays Larry, a troubled teen living in the rough Red Hook section of Brooklyn who decides he wants out and turns to crime to fund his escape. But his plan involves scamming the neighborhood's biggest drug kingpin, a heist that's dangerous at best.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 659
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: hood, independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Hot Boyz (2000)
Plot Summary:
Injustice begets a criminal. Kool is an artist without prospects, a black belt in karate, and in love with LaShawna, poised and college bound. One night she witnesses a stabbing and discovers the victim is a cop as he dies in her arms. She's jailed for murder by the infamous Ramparts Division of the LAPD. Kool wants to prove her innocence, and Tully, the cynical detective in charge, ignores LaShawna's case but uses Kool to break up an incipient crime operation. She's in danger because the guilty parties fear that the officer talked before he died. While in jail awaiting a hearing and legal help, she's beaten to death by a rogue cop. Kool vows revenge: the Hot Boyz are born.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: hood, realistic, suspenseful, rough, serious, crime drama, independent film, bleak
Similar in 75%
Illtown (1996)
Plot Summary:
Dante and his girlfrend Micky run a very profitable drug operation in a seaside town, aided and abetted by a host of teens who sell the smack at discos around town, as well as by Lucas, a corrupt cop who's on the take. Their downfall comes when they suspect one of the boys, Pep, of ripping them off, and his accidental death causes disloyalty among the teens, who suspect Dante offed them. All of this is perfect for the return of Gabriel, a one-time partner of Dante, who has just been released from jail, and has an almost angelic demeanor and the certainty that he can fix everyone's lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 487
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, surreal, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Imperial Dreams (2014)
Plot Summary:
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, rough, serious, hood, inspirational, feel good, social, crime drama, realistic
Similar in 79%
Federal Hill (1994)
Plot Summary:
In Providence's Italian neighborhood, Federal Hill, five young are immersed in drugs, crime and violence. Everything changes when one of the guys in the band know love.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 491
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: black and white, independent film, tense, serious, realistic, romantic, rough, sexy, clever, enigmatic
Similar in 78%
Thicker Than Water (1999)
Plot Summary:
In Los Angeles, two rival gang leaders are also trying to be music producers. When DJ's equipment shorts out and Lonzo is cut out of the action by a record producer, the two join forces, which also requires a tentative peace between gangs. With backing from Gator, a smooth New Orleans drug king, DJ and Lonzo start dealing, organizing their gangs into pushers. Just as their finances are looking up, one of Gator's team pulls a double cross and two of DJ and Lonzo's gang bangers start a shooting war. Can the erstwhile music producers salvage anything of their bond or their plans?.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 689
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: hood, crime drama, independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cynical, surprise ending
Similar in 89%
LUV (2012)
Plot Summary:
Over the course of one day, a shy 13-year-old forms a bond with his troubled uncle.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, rough, realistic, hood, crime drama, independent film
Similar in 77%
First Time Felon (1997)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by the true story of Greg Yance. In the film, Yance (Epps) is a hood who goes to jail for possession of drugs. He is given a choice: 5 years in jail or a couple of months in boot camp. He chooses boot camp and finds out it is tougher than he thought it would be. He braves it through and comes home a better man. He then has to deal with the real world, and never gives up no matter what the odds.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: hood, inspirational, tense, rough, serious, realistic, black cinema
Similar in 84%
Sugar Hill (1993)
Plot Summary:
In the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the Mafia steps in when a drug dealer quits his partner brother to lead a straight life with his girlfriend.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: hood, serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, crime drama, independent film, black cinema
Similar in 90%
Strays (1997)
Plot Summary:
Rick (Diesel) is frustrated by the repetitious grind of one-night stands and aimless hustling. Whilst looking for more to his life he meets Heather (Lanza), a neighbour. Rick takes the opportunity to escape his boring life style with her, but soon finds that his volatile behaviour threatens to finish their relationship before it even really begins.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: cult classic, tense, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
Blue Hill Avenue (2001)
Plot Summary:
A child of a middle class home with solid moral values is lured into a world of crime and corruption.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: hood, rough, bleak, realistic, serious, crime drama, beautiful
Similar in 76%
Squeeze (1997)
Plot Summary:
Ty, Hector, and Bao are close friends in a tough section of Boston, where they're called "the PG-13 crew." They're 14, decent kids with few skills who've bailed out of school. A small gang of older tough guys, led by Marcus and Tommy, menace them, and when the PG-13s fight back and rob one of the gang, Marcus and Tommy vow to kill them. They seek protection from Derick, a drug dealer, who agrees to help if they'll sell drugs. Meanwhile, Ty is recruited to work at a community center by J.J., its quiet leader. Ty and his friends are in a squeeze: surrounded by violence, drugs, and no opportunities, is there any way out?.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 344
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: crime drama, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
Sket (2011)
Plot Summary:
When a young woman is cruelly and indiscriminately attacked by a notorious gang led by the violent Trey, her little 16 year old sister Kayla wants revenge and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means joining a rival girl gang led by the volatile and damaged man-hating Danielle.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic, bleak
Similar in 86%
Bullet Boy (2004)
Plot Summary:
Ricky is just out of a young offenders institute, heading home to Hackney and determined to go straight. Instead, he heads straight for trouble when he becomes involved in a street confrontation, siding with his best friend Wisdom against a local rude boy. The trouble escalates into a series of tit-for-tat incidents that threaten to spiral out of control. Ricky's 12-year-old brother Curtis, hero-worships Ricky, though he appears smart enough to know he doesn't want to follow his example. Yet, despite the stern warnings from his mother and support from her friends in the community, might Ricky's bad boy allure be too attractive for Curtis to resist?.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, realistic, hood, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 82%
New Jersey Drive (1995)
Plot Summary:
New Jersey Drive is a 1995 film about black youths in Newark, New Jersey, the unofficial "car theft capital of the world". Their favorite pastime is that of everybody in their neighborhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts when they steal a police car and the cops launch a violent offensive that involves beating and even shooting suspects.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: realistic, hood, brutal, melancholic, rough, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, cult classic, independent film
Similar in 86%
Turn It Up (2000)
Plot Summary:
Trying to bootstrap his way out of Brooklyn's mean streets is Diamond, a rap musician. With his long-time pal Gage acting as his manager, he's trying to lay down a demo tape with cut-rate studio time. To pay the bills, he and Gage run drugs for "Mr. B." Inside a week, Diamond's beloved mother dies suddenly, his father appears after an absence of 12 years and wants a relationship, and his girlfriend Kia tells him she's pregnant, asking him if he's ready to be a father. Gage steals $100,000 in a multiple-felony robbery so that Diamond can record a full album, not knowing it's Mr. B's money he's taken. B wants his money, Diamond wants his music, Tia wants an answer.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Action, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, serious, realistic, hood, crime drama
Similar in 86%
South Central (1992)
Plot Summary:
A man is put to prison for 10 years. Coming out of prison he wants to live a normal life and stop with crime but his son has yet followed the criminal path of his father.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: hood, captivating, social, sexual, crime drama, tense, rough, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 88%
Sucker Free City (2004)
Plot Summary:
The film follows three young men as they are drawn into lives of crime. Nick (Crowley) uses his entry-level corporate job to commit credit card fraud and deals drugs on the side. K-Luv (Mackie) is a member of the "V-Dubs", an African-American street gang. Lincoln (Leung) is a rising figure in the Chinese mafia. Gentrification forces Nick's family to move out of their home in the Mission District into Hunter's Point where they are harassed by the V-Dubs. K-Luv's side business of selling bootleg compact discs leads him to enlist Nick's help to bootleg CDs and to negotiate a truce with Lincoln. Lincoln conducts an affair with his boss' daughter Angela (Carpio), a Stanford student engaged to a medical student classmate.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, tense, bleak, crime drama
Similar in 88%
The Corner (2000)
Plot Summary:
The Corner presents the world of Fayette Street using real names and real events. The miniseries tells the true story of men, women and children living amid the open-air drug markets of West Baltimore. It chronicles a year in the lives of 15-year-old DeAndre McCullough, his mother Fran Boyd, and his father Gary McCullough, as well as other addicts and low-level drug dealers caught up in the twin-engine economy of heroin and cocaine.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 376 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, emotional, sitcom, hood, crime drama, bleak, realistic