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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari poster

Movies that feel likeThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep.

If you loved The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the closest films we have are Wait Until Dark (1967), The Black Cat (1934) and Kill List (2011). All three share The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Phantom of the Opera (1925).

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Robert Wienecontemplativedreadunsettlingtensegritty
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Peacock Premium

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If The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari hit the spot, these will too

Wait Until Dark poster
Wait Until Dark
1967 · dir. Terence Young
🍅 96%★ 7.7thriller · crime · horror

The same mix in both: dread, then unease

The difference: Less contemplative, more its own thing

After a flight back home, Sam Hendrix returns with a doll he innocently acquired along the way. As it turns out, the doll is actually stuffed with heroin, and a group of criminals led by the ruthless Roat has followed Hendrix back to his place to retrieve it. When Hendrix leaves for business, the crooks make their move -- and find his blind wife, Susy, alone in the apartment. Soon, a life-threatening game begins between Susy and the thugs.

The Black Cat poster
The Black Cat
1934 · dir. Edgar G. Ulmer
🍅 89%★ 6.9horror · thriller

The same preoccupation in both: black and white

After a road accident in Hungary, the American honeymooners Joan and Peter and the enigmatic Dr. Werdegast find refuge in the house of the famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig, who shares a dark past with the doctor.

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

Tense where it counts, gritty underneath

The difference: 91 years apart, and the 2010s show

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.

Red Dragon poster
Red Dragon
2002 · dir. Brett Ratner
🍅 68%★ 7.2crime · thriller · horrorNetflixPeacock

Both keep coming back to the same thing: megalomania

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

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.

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

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

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.

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

Horror with a pulse of dread, 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.

The Girl Who Killed Her Parents poster
The Girl Who Killed Her Parents
2021 · dir. Maurício Eça
★ 5.9crime · drama · thrillerPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on thriller

Based on one of the most shocking and gruesome murder cases in Brazil, the film presents Daniel Cravinhos's point of view of the events that led to the death of Marísia and Manfred von Richthofen, his girlfriend’s parents.

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

Unsettling crime in both cases

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.

The Phantom of the Opera poster
The Phantom of the Opera
1925 · dir. Rupert Julian
🍅 90%★ 7.5horror

One thread runs through both: silent film

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

Green Room poster
Green Room
2016 · dir. Jeremy Saulnier
🍅 90%★ 6.9horror · crime · thrillerNetflix

Horror built on tension, twice over

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.

Faust poster
Faust
1926 · dir. F. W. Murnau
🍅 91%★ 8.1fantasy · drama · horror

Common ground: german expressionism

The difference: Leans further into fantasy

Murnau’s epic adaptation of Goethe’s tragedy stands with Fritz Lang’s Metropolis among the supreme achievements of German silent cinema. Gösta Ekman plays the alchemist who, his faith shaken in a time of plague, is offered the gift of healing and eternal youth… in exchange for his soul.

Thriller: A Cruel Picture poster
Thriller: A Cruel Picture
1973 · dir. Bo Arne Vibenius
🍅 56%★ 6.4action · thriller · crime

Gritty drama in both cases

The difference: Played as action first

Madeleine, rendered mute after being sexually assaulted as a youth, accepts a lift from a wealthy and sadistic pimp who soon enslaves her into his prostitution racket. Despite her limited means, Madeleine embarks on a bloody road to revenge against her captors.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’s defining feeling.