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Red Dragon poster

Movies that feel likeRed Dragon (2002)

Former FBI Agent Will Graham, who was once almost killed by the savage Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter, now has no choice but to face him again, as it seems Lecter is the only one who can help Graham track down a new serial killer.

If you loved Red Dragon, the closest films we have are Kill List (2011), Green Room (2016) and The House That Jack Built (2018). All three share Red Dragon's gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Thesis (1996).

🍅 68% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Brett Ratnergrittytensedreadunsettling
12 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Red Dragon hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Silence of the Lambs (1991) · Hannibal (2001)

Kill List poster
Kill List
2011 · dir. Ben Wheatley
🍅 79%★ 6.3horror · thriller · crimeRent or buy

Gritty and tense in the same breath

Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.

Green Room poster
Green Room
2016 · dir. Jeremy Saulnier
🍅 90%★ 7horror · crime · thrillerNetflix

Dread-soaked where it counts, unsettling underneath

Members of a punk rock band and a tough young woman are forced to fight for survival after witnessing an act of violence at a skinhead bar.

The House That Jack Built poster
The House That Jack Built
2018 · dir. Lars von Trier
🍅 59%★ 6.8drama · horror · crimeRent or buy

Both are working the same pair: psychopath, serial killer

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Red Dragon does

Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering piece of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer for twelve years.

Thesis poster
Thesis
1996 · dir. Alejandro Amenábar
🍅 86%★ 7.4horror · thriller

Common ground: murder

The difference: Easier on the grit than Red Dragon

While working on a thesis about audiovisual violence, film student Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that she was a former student in her university, and that the authors of the video are not very far either.

The Sadness poster
The Sadness
2021 · dir. Rob Jabbaz
🍅 88%★ 6.5horror · thrillerRent or buy

Thriller with a pulse of grit, in both cases

A young couple is pushed to the limits of sanity as they attempt to be reunited amid the chaos of a pandemic outbreak. The streets erupt into violence and depravity, as those infected are driven to enact the most cruel and ghastly things imaginable.

Creep poster
Creep
2014 · dir. Patrick Brice
🍅 91%★ 6.3horror · thrillerNetflixPrime Video

The same preoccupation in both: psychopath

Looking for work, Aaron comes across a cryptic online ad: "$1,000 for the day. Filming service. Discretion is appreciated." Low on cash and full of naiveté, he decides to go for it. He drives to a cabin in a remote mountain town where he meets Josef, his cinematic subject for the day. Josef is sincere and the project seems heartfelt, so Aaron begins to film. But as the day goes on, it becomes clear that Josef is not who he says, and his intentions are not at all pure.

The Hills Have Eyes poster
The Hills Have Eyes
2006 · dir. Alexandre Aja
🍅 51%★ 6.4horror · thrillerPrime Video

One thread runs through both: cannibal

Based on Wes Craven's 1977 suspenseful cult classic, The Hills Have Eyes is the story of a family road trip that goes terrifyingly awry when the travelers become stranded in a government atomic zone. Miles from nowhere, the Carter family soon realizes the seemingly uninhabited wasteland is actually the breeding ground of a blood-thirsty mutant family...and they are the prey.

Saw IV poster
Saw IV
2007 · dir. Darren Lynn Bousman
🍅 19%★ 5.9horror · thriller · crime

Both are built on the same subject: fbi

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Despite Jigsaw's death, and in order to save the lives of two of his colleagues, Lieutenant Rigg is forced to take part in a new game, which promises to test him to the limit.

Hannibal Rising poster
Hannibal Rising
2007 · dir. Peter Webber
🍅 16%★ 6.1crime · thriller · horrorPrime VideoPeacock

Common ground in both: psychological thriller and biting

The story of the early, murderous roots of the cannibalistic killer, Hannibal Lecter – from his hard-scrabble Lithuanian childhood, where he witnesses the repulsive lengths to which hungry soldiers will go to satiate themselves, through his sojourn in France, where as a medical student he hones his appetite for the kill and learnt sword skills from his Japanese girlfriend, who happened to have similar fate

The Exorcism of Emily Rose poster
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
2005 · dir. Scott Derrickson
🍅 20%★ 6.7crime · drama · horror

Both lean on tension more than on crime

When a young girl called Emily Rose dies, everyone puts blame on the exorcism which was performed on her by Father Moore prior to her death. The priest is arrested on suspicion of murder. The trial begins with lawyer Erin Bruner representing Moore, but it is not going to be easy, as no one wants to believe what Father Moore says is true.

Knock Knock poster
Knock Knock
2015 · dir. Eli Roth
🍅 37%★ 4.9horror · thriller · crimeMax

Dread-soaked horror in both cases

When a devoted husband and father is left home alone for the weekend, two stranded young women unexpectedly knock on his door for help. What starts out as a kind gesture results in a dangerous seduction and a deadly game of cat and mouse.

The Call poster
The Call
2013 · dir. Brad Anderson
🍅 43%★ 6.7crime · thrillerStarz

Both keep coming back to the same thing: murder

Jordan Turner is an experienced 911 operator but when she makes an error in judgment and a call ends badly, Jordan is rattled and unsure if she can continue. But when teenager Casey Welson is abducted in the back of a man's car and calls 911, Jordan is the one called upon to use all of her experience, insights and quick thinking to help Casey escape, and not just to save her, but to make sure the man is brought to justice.

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The best-reviewed films that share Red Dragon’s defining feeling.