Best movies like Murder One
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like Murder One? Leverage your knowledge to guide others toward films and tv series you've seen before that they might like also. Help broaden the community of people suggesting videos to each other. We welcome your engagement!
Plot Summary:
This crime drama is based on the true story of Billy Isaacs. Freshly escaped from prison, Isaac is picked up by his brothers, and the entire dysfunctional brood embarks on a crime spree that takes them through a dozen states, claiming the lives of six innocent people.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 359
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy
Best tv shows and movies like Murder One (1988):
Similar in 78%
Hard Choices (1984)
Plot Summary:
A teenaged boy goes for a ride with his brother and the brother's friends, who proceed to rob a store and murder the clerk. They are caught and, despite the young boy's protestations, he is convicted of murder and sent to prison. A female social worker assigned to the boy's case not only believes him, but begins to fall in love with him, and determines to either help him prove his innocence or escape.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 142
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
April Showers (2009)
Plot Summary:
A look inside a tragedy through the eyes of a survivor. Based on actual events, April Showers is about picking up the pieces in the direct aftermath of school violence.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 86%
Killer: A Journal of Murder (1995)
Plot Summary:
Carl Panzram is sent to Leavenworth Prison for burglary. While there, he is brutally beaten by a guard. Neophyte guard Henry Lesser feels sympathy for Panzram, befriends him, and gets him to write his life story. Lesser learns that Panzram's past is much more violent than he thought, but also that he's capable of being a much better person than the rest of the prison staff believes - or so Lesser thinks.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, psychological, unusual plot structure, bloody
Similar in 76%
Roberto Succo (2001)
Plot Summary:
'Kurt' claims to be a sales rep. He also claims to be English in spite of his heavy Italian accent. Kurt is an habitual liar and a dangerous driver, at the very least. In the south of France he meets Léa, age 16. Between his increasingly strange dates with Léa, Kurt engages in a number of armed robberies, some successful, some not... The police are perplexed by a series of crimes including disappearances and a murder. They conclude that they are dealing with a madman... After he proposes, Léa breaks up with Kurt. The attempt to find a new girlfriend leads to a shooting by Kurt, now calling himself André. Léa's information identifies Kurt/André as Roberto Succo, psychiatric patient and parental murderer. The police hunt for Roberto covers three countries.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: France, Switzerland
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: rough, melancholic, suspenseful, captivating
Similar in 83%
Provoked: A True Story (2006)
Plot Summary:
Provoked is the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a Punjabi woman who moved to London after her marriage with Deepak Ahluwalia. Her husband seemed caring at first but then began to beat her up. He started drinking a lot and sleeping around with other women. he also subjected her to spousal rape. After ten years and having two children with him, out of fear, she sets him on fire.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: UK, India
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: serious, bleak, realistic, suspenseful, exciting
Similar in 88%
An American Crime (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: disturbing, harsh, serious, bleak, brutal, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, emotional, sad
Similar in 78%
Murderous Maids (2000)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of two chambermaids (the Papin sisters) of 1930s France who murdered their employer and her daughter. Christine Papin (Sylvie Testud), and Léa Papin (Julie-Marie Parmentier) are sisters with an already troubled past. Madame Lancelin takes them into her home and employs the girls as maids. Christine sees in Madame Lancelin an ideal mother figure — in spite of her severity. But their wretched background — an indifferent mother and drunken abusive father — casts a shadow over the girls and over time their ill-fated situation darkens. The sisters withdraw into themselves and finish by committing the worst — killing Madame Lancelin and her daughter after six years of service, on the 2 February 1933 in Le Mans.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, disturbing, realistic, suspense, exciting, captivating, independent film, queer cinema, weird
Similar in 83%
At Close Range (1986)
Plot Summary:
Based upon the true story of Bruce Johnston Sr., his son, and his brothers; together, they constituted one of suburban Philadelphia's most notorious crime families during the 1970's. Their criminal activities ranged from burglary, theft... and ultimately, murder.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: neo noir, disturbing, tense, bleak, realistic, entertaining, cynical, crime drama, independent film, rough
Similar in 88%
Amish Grace (2010)
Plot Summary:
When a gunman killed five Amish children and injured five others in a Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting in October of 2006, the world media attention rapidly turned from the tragic events to the extraordinary forgiveness demonstrated by the Amish community.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, disturbing, rough, emotional, realistic, christian film, thought provoking, anthropological, bleak
Similar in 75%
The Executioner's Song (1982)
Plot Summary:
In this fact-based film, Gary Gilmore, an Indiana man who just finished serving a lengthy stay in prison, tries to start anew by moving to Utah. Before long, Gary begins an ill-advised romance with the troubled Nicole Baker, a teenage single mother. As their relationship quickly deteriorates, Gary goes on a murderous rampage, leaving two dead. During his trial, he demands capital punishment; a media circus ensues and outsiders look to profit from his story.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense
Similar in 85%
The Pastor's Wife (2011)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Matthew Winkler, a beloved minister who, in 2006, was found shot and killed in his Selmer, Tennessee home, his wife and young daughters missing. Authorities soon zeroed in on Matthew's wife, Mary, as the prime suspect in the murder. After her capture, the residents of Selmer were left to wonder what would drive Mary to shoot her husband in the back as he slept. They would get their answers during her trial, when what went on behind the closed doors of this seemingly perfect family was revealed for all to see.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 571
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, serious, realistic, detective
Similar in 84%
Bonnie & Clyde: The Real Story (1992)
Plot Summary:
Bonnie Parker is estranged from her husband while still only just barely eighteen. Clyde Barrow, a handsome charmer who is in love with Bonnie, is a small-time thief, 'borrowing' cars to teach Bonnie to drive. He falls in with WD Jones, and their crime levels quickly rise. Soon Bonnie is dragged in with them, due to her love for Clyde, and within a short space of time, everyone is baying for the blood of Bonnie and Clyde.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 340
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: rough, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, disturbing, saga, contemplative
Similar in 75%
The Onion Field (1979)
Plot Summary:
Greg Powell, a disturbed ex-con, recruits Jimmy Youngblood (Smith) a petty thief, as partner in crime. Powell panics when they two of are pulled over by two cops for tail lights. Powell decides to kidnap the cops and Smith goes along with his crazy scheme. They drive out to a deserted onion field in Bakersfield, where one cop is killed and the other escapes. The film explores the consequences.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: neo noir, atmospheric, psychological, realistic, rough, serious, disturbing, detective, bleak, emotional
Similar in 88%
Happy Face Murders (1999)
Plot Summary:
An eccentric older woman (Ann-Margret) implicates her brutal & controlling lover in the murder of a young retarded girl. Absorbed with "Murder She Wrote" and "Matlock", she creates details of the murder from clues she picks up from the detectives (Marg Helgenberger, Henry Thomas) on the case. Implicating herself and sentenced to jail, she then recants her testimony. But no one believes her until clues surface from the real killer that he is still out there, has killed before, and will kill again. He signs his messages with Happy Faces.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 392
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Freeway Killer (2010)
Plot Summary:
For years he terrorized California motorists as he rode the endless highways searching for his next victim. The discarded bodies turned up beaten, sexually assaulted and horribly mutilated. Deceptively charming and intelligent, the scheming murderer easily avoided police at first. But as police closed in and the killer’s pattern grew more erratic, the only question was how many more will die?.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, scary, mind bending, realistic
Similar in 77%
Bundy: An American Icon (2009)
Plot Summary:
Bundy, starring Corin Nemec in the title role and co-starring Kane Hodder, details the dark psyche and previously unexplored motivations of the man who became known as one of the most notorious serial killers to leave behind a legacy of evil.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 922
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, slasher, suspenseful, disturbing, scary, realistic
Similar in 89%
B.T.K. Killer (2005)
Plot Summary:
Veteran Boogey Man and Zodiac Killer director Ulli Lommel continues his long tradition of delivering tense thrills with this relentless look at the life of the elusive, Kansas-based serial killer known to authorities only as "B.T.K." before his arrest.
IMDB Rating: 1.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, scary, bleak, realistic, slasher
Similar in 85%
Dahmer (2002)
Plot Summary:
On February 15, 1992 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, one of the world's most infamous serial killers, was convicted of 15 counts of murder and sentenced to 937 years in federal prison. This movie is based on events from his life. Certain characters and events are fictional.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, scary, slasher, stylized, rough, suspense, suspenseful, dark, controversial
Similar in 78%
The Preacher (2004)
Plot Summary:
Different solution new movie ;-) The Preacher tells the story about the rise and fall off a dutch mafiaboss. The movie is based on the story of Klaas Bruinsma.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense, bleak, controversial
Similar in 83%
I Want to Live (1983)
Plot Summary:
The movie tells the story of a woman who struggles and fights to escape the gas chamber being condemned with capital punishment because of her participation in a hold up in which a person was killed.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 196
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 82%
In Cold Blood (1967)
Plot Summary:
A 1967 film based on Truman Capote's book of the same name. After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: black and white, disturbing, suspense, neo noir, bleak, tense, controversial, road movie, detective, inspirational
Similar in 79%
Blue Caprice (2013)
Plot Summary:
A narrative feature film inspired by the events known as the Beltway sniper attacks.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, realistic, disturbing, captivating, educational, tense, atmospheric, serious, independent film
Similar in 75%
The Riverman (2004)
Plot Summary:
A series of interviews are conducted with convicted serial killer Ted Bundy in hopes of gaining insight into the Green River Killer who is terrorizing Seattle.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, mystical, detective, realistic, suspense
Similar in 85%
Ted Bundy (2002)
Plot Summary:
Docu-drama based on the life of Ted Bundy, a serial killer who killed at least 19 young women during the 1970's (though some sources say as many as 30 to 35 were murdered). Set from his college student years, to his first victims, his capture, escape from prison (twice), his final killing spree to his trial, conviction and execution.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: scary, disturbing, rough, suspenseful, suspense, slasher, controversial, cult classic, frightening, twisted
Similar in 75%
Raising Jeffrey Dahmer (2006)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of the mass murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, the events within the family behind, and leading up to, his capture.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 465
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, tense, realistic, disturbing, suspense, non-linear, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
Cleveland Abduction (2015)
Plot Summary:
A single mother becomes Ariel Castro's first kidnapping victim, and finds herself trapped in his home with two other women for 11 years.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, bleak, serious, emotional, disturbing, realistic, dark
Similar in 83%
3096 Days (2013)
Plot Summary:
A young Austrian girl is kidnapped and held in captivity for eight years. Based on the real-life case of Natascha Kampusch.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: realistic, rough, dark, saga, disturbing, controversial, teen, twisted, captivating, serious
Similar in 86%
Act of Vengeance (1986)
Plot Summary:
In 1969, an administrator runs against the corrupt president of the United Coal Miners Union, and becomes the target of a murder plot.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 797
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sincere, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Gotti (2018)
Plot Summary:
John Gotti rises to the top of the New York underworld to become the boss of the Gambino crime family. His life takes a tumultuous turn as he faces tragedy, multiple trials and a prison sentence.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic, inspirational, sad, disgusting, independent film
Similar in 82%
Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey (2018)
Plot Summary:
The disturbing true-story of Lisa McVey, who was abducted in 1984 but later released by her abuser, only to have people question her story.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, touching, rough, captivating, thought provoking, disturbing, tense