20 best movies like Criminal Law (1988)

List of the best movies like Criminal Law (1988): To Catch a Killer, Devil's Knot, Deceived, Panic in the Streets, Resurrection Man, Just Cause, The Mighty Quinn, Killing Emmett Young, Best Seller, The Double.

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Markimdb: 7.3
Genrethriller, drama, crime, biography
CountryCanada, USA

"To Catch a Killer" tells the true gruesome story of John Wayne Gacy - a good friend and helpful neighbour, a great child entertainer, a respectful businessman, and a violent serial killer who raped and murdered over 30 young boys.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryUSA
Duration01:54

The savage murders of three young children sparks a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a satanic ritual.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryUSA

A marriage that seemed perfect comes crashing down after the supposed death of Jack Saunders, husband of Adrienne Saunders. After his supposed death, strange developments begin to be discovered by Adrienne regarding Jack's past. Developments that lead her to believe she has been Deceived.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genrethriller, drama, crime, film noir
CountryUSA
Duration01:36

One night in the New Orleans slums, vicious hoodlum Blackie and his friends kill an illegal immigrant who won too much in a card game. Next morning, Dr. Clint Reed of the Public Health Service confirms the dead man had pneumonic plague. To prevent a catastrophic epidemic, Clint must find and inoculate the killers and their associates, with the reluctant aid of police captain Tom Warren, despite official skepticism, and in total secrecy, lest panic empty the city. Can a doctor turn detective? He has 48 hours to try...

Markimdb: 5.3
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration01:42

Belfast, in 1970s. Victor Kelly is a young protestant man who hates the Catholics so much that one night he begins to brutally murder them. A reporter soon tries to uncover the murder and obtained prestige for himself, while Victor sinks deeper into madness.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryUSA
Duration01:38

Bobby Earl is facing the electric chair for the murder of a young girl. Eight years after the crime he calls in Paul Armstrong, a professor of law, to help prove his innocence. Armstrong quickly uncovers some overlooked evidence to present to the local police, but they aren't interested - Bobby was their killer.

Markimdb: 6
Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryUSA

Police chief Xavier Quinn investigates the gruesome murder of Donald Pater, one of the wealthiest residents on a Caribbean island. He was found decapitated in his Jacuzzi. Although the local political establishment, especially crooked Governor Chalk, insists that small-time thief Maubee is responsible, Xavier has his doubts. This view is complicated by the police chief's personal history with Maubee: The men have been friends since childhood.

Markimdb: 6
Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime
CountryUSA

In the Philadelphia police department, Emmett Young is a hotshot, a workaholic newly promoted to homicide. He learns he has a disease that will soon kill him painfully, so he hires a stranger to arrange his own death. With one eye on the calendar (he's allowed a few days' grace before his murder), he pursues a final case, the serial killing of young women. Emmett develops a profile of the assailant. Meanwhile, his fixer hires an ex-cop to kill Emmett, a lonely security guard whom the fixer taunts and belittles. In this limited time, can Emmett sort out what's important? Written by

Markimdb: 6.4
Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
CountryUSA
Duration01:35

Hit man Cleve approaches writer/cop Dennis about a story for his next book: How Cleve made a living, working for one of the most powerful politicians in the country. To get the story right, they travel around the country to gather statements and evidence, while strong forces use any means they can to keep the story untold.

Markimdb: 5.9
Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
CountryUSA, United Arab Emirates
Duration01:38

The mysterious murder of a US senator bearing the distinctive trademark of the legendary Soviet assassin 'Cassius', forces retired CIA operative, Paul Shepherson to team with rookie FBI agent, Ben Geary to solve the crime. Having spent his career chasing Cassius, Shepherdson is convinced his nemesis is long dead, but is pushed to take on the case by his former supervisor, Tom Highland. Geary, who wrote his Master's thesis on Shepherdson's pursuit of the Soviet killer, is certain that Cassius has resurfaced.

Markimdb: 5.9
Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryUSA
Duration01:40

A tough police detective escapes from custody after being framed and arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, and must now find the real killer and prove his innocence.

Markimdb: 6.5
Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime
CountryUSA
Duration02:05

The beautiful Mrs. Paradine is accused of poisoning her older, blind husband. She hires married Anthony Keane as her lawyer and when he begins to fall in love with her, she encourages him.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genrehorror, thriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryCanada, USA
Duration01:48

A seasoned police detective and his partner have just uncovered a string of unusual murders that lead them to a serial killer, who believes that he is the descendant of Judas.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryUSA
Duration01:51

Boston is being terrorized by a series of seemingly random murders of women. Based on the true story, the film follows the investigators path through several leads before introducing the Strangler as a character. It is seen almost exclusively from the point of view of the investigators who have very few clues to build a case upon.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrethriller, drama, crime, film noir
CountryUSA
Duration01:28

Eddie Miller struggles with his hatred of women, he's especially bothered by seeing women with their lovers. He starts a killing spree as a sniper by shooting women from far distances. In an attempt to get caught, he writes an anonymous letter to the police begging them to stop him.

Markimdb: 5.4
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryUSA
Duration01:47

Valerie is a juror in the trail of a mob boss. When her young son's life is threatened, she has no option other than to see that justice isn't done.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryUSA
Duration01:35

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.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genrethriller, drama, crime, history
CountryUSA, Hungary
Duration01:43

Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed victim to over 50 people. His victims were mostly under the age of 17. In what was then a communists state, the police investigations were hampered by bureaucracy, incompetence and those in power. The story is told from the viewpoint of the detective in charge of the case.

Markimdb: 5.2
Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryUSA, France
Duration01:41

    After Washington DC detective Alex Cross is told that a family member has been murdered, he vows to track down the killer. He soon discovers that she was not his first victim and that things are not what they seem.

    Markimdb: 6.6
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA, Germany
    Duration02:10

    A saga centered on a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers. The family's moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney, investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law. For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora's Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.

    Markimdb: 6.2
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryUSA, United Kingdom, France
    Duration02:31

    A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.

    Markimdb: 6.2
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryUSA, Canada, United Kingdom
    Duration01:58

    Guy Luthan, a British doctor working at a hospital in New York, starts making unwelcome enquiries when the body of a man who died in his emergency room disappears. After the trail leads Luthan to the door of an eminent surgeon at the hospital, Luthan soon finds himself in extreme danger people who want the hospital's secret to remain undiscovered.

    Markimdb: 6.5
    Genreaction, thriller, crime, detective
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:34

    Some of Sin City's most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.

    Markimdb: 5.4
    Genrehorror, thriller, crime
    CountryUSA

    A psychological thriller based on the concept of anamorphosis, a painting technique that manipulates the laws of perspective to create two competing images on a single canvas.

    Markimdb: 6.5
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryCanada, USA
    Duration01:44

    On the afternoon of July 1, 1981, Los Angeles police responded to a distress call on Wonderland Avenue and discovered a grisly quadruple homicide. The police investigation that followed uncovered two versions of the events leading up to the brutal murders - both involving legendary porn actor John Holmes. You're about to experience both versions.

    Markimdb: 5.7
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryCanada, Germany
    Duration01:31

    When up-and-coming District Attorney Mitch Brockden commits a fatal hit-and-run, he feels compelled to throw the case against the accused criminal who was found with the body and blamed for the crime. Following the trial, Mitch's worst fears come true when he realizes that he acquitted a guilty man, and he soon finds himself on the hunt for the killer before more victims pile up.

    Markimdb: 6.3
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:49

    As violence escalates in Los Angeles and heinous murders are committed, Steven Hardin, a young judge of the California Supreme Court, must struggle with his tortured conscience and growing despair as he watches helplessly as the ruthless criminals brought before his court go free because clever lawyers find obscure loopholes in the law.

    Markimdb: 5.5
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:31

    Three teenage friends get in way over their head when they cross a down-home crime syndicate. They hope to make a break for it and escape their dead-end existence in a cotton-mill town but get sucked into the seedy underbelly of organized crime when one of them steals from the wrong man.

    Markimdb: 7.1
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryUSA, United Kingdom, France
    Duration02:07

    Handsome, unflappable U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins is the future of his political party: an honorable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending. All eyes are upon the rising star to be his party's contender for the upcoming presidential race. Until his research assistant/mistress is brutally murdered and buried secrets come tumbling out.

    Markimdb: 6.6
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA, United Kingdom
    Duration02:12

    A young district attorney seeking to prove a case against a corrupt police detective encounters a former lover and her new protector, a crime boss who refuse to help him.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:59

    A law firm brings in its 'fixer' to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multi-billion dollar class action suit.

    Markimdb: 6.9
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:42

    A Jewish homicide detective investigates a seemingly minor murder and falls in with a Zionist group as a result.

    Markimdb: 5.6
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUnited Kingdom
    Duration01:39

    Set ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, the film follows Liam (Sam Claflin), an ex-con trying to win back the love and trust of his family. He has lost everything at the hands of a local crime syndicate run by Clifford Cullen (Spall), who has high-level connections in politics, finance and the police force. Liam's drive for redemption sees him caught up in a web of conspiracy, crime, and corruption.

    Markimdb: 7
    Genrehorror, thriller, drama, crime
    CountryGermany
    Duration02:07

    When a notorious German serial killer is captured after committing some of the most heinous acts against humanity ever imaginable, a farmer and police officer from a sleepy rural community on the outskirts of Berlin is drawn into the case as he searches for the answers to a murder that has shaken his tight-knit community.

    Markimdb: 6.1
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUnited Kingdom, USA, Canada
    Duration01:48

    Callum Crane, a lawyer and would-be federal judge, jeopardizes his chances at a judgeship by forcing himself on his secretary. He then worsens the situation by trying to have the woman murdered. Further complicating matters, he assigns the task to a young man who, unbeknownst to Crane, is actually his son, Nathan. Nathan refuses to do the deed, but not before informing several people, one of whom tries to take on the job.

    Markimdb: 6.8
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:49

    Richard spots a man dumping a body, and decides to expose the man he thinks is the culprit with his friend Alex Cutter.

    Markimdb: 6.3
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryUSA, United Kingdom, Spain, South Korea
    Duration02:32

    A tight-knit team of FBI investigators, along with their District Attorney supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered.

    Markimdb: 7.1
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA, France
    Duration01:30

    When the quiet life of a beach bum is upended by dreadful news, he sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance.

    Markimdb: 6.5
    Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:54

    Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

    Markimdb: 6.9
    Genrethriller, melodrama, drama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:56

    Megan Carter is a reporter duped into running an untrue story on Michael Gallagher, a suspected racketeer. He has an alibi for the time his crime was allegedly committed—but it involves an innocent party. When he tells Carter the truth and the newspaper runs it, tragedy follows, forcing Carter to face up to the responsibilities of her job when she is confronted by Gallagher.

    Markimdb: 5.1
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:36

    Forced to work under slave-like conditions in a "prison for profit" program, the inmates of a mostly-African-American female prison, Whitehead Correctional, try to take over the institution. At the core of the story is Frances, who finds herself in prison after being falsely convicted of murder, and who is told that her baby has been murdered, sparking her to lead her fellow inmates in the protest

    Markimdb: 7.3
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective, film noir
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:35

    A man working for the War Crimes Commission suspects that an important Nazi official has folded himself into a quaint Connecticut town.

    Markimdb: 5.5
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA

    Kate and her brutish boyfriend Big Al sell handguns on the streets of New York. She's smart, stylish, and self-confident, but all that leaves her when Al, in a jealous and self-indulgent rage, beats her. Three friends encourage her recovery: Vic, a woman who would like to be Kate's lover; Reilly, who runs with Al but also is attracted to Kate and repulsed by Al's violence; and, Liz, the counselor assigned to Kate from a battered-women's program. Vic and Reilly talk about killing Al, Liz gives pep talks; Kate remains frightened. Will Al's menace and Kate's dependency hold sway?

    Markimdb: 4.7
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
    Duration01:27

    The morphine-addicted detective Charlie Daines is on the trail of a sophisticated psychopath who is setting up murders and broadcasting them live on the internet. As he closes in on the killer, he realizes that it has become personal and that he is to be the final victim. Will he catch the killer before it's too late or will his old-school methods mean his death?

    Markimdb: 7.3
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:56

    A psychological thriller about a man who is sometimes controlled by his murder-and-mayhem-loving alter ego.

    Markimdb: 6.3
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:41

    Based on the real-life Richard Speck murders. After his bizarre behavior results in rejection from countless women, Warren Stacy begins murdering women, always while he is naked, which minimizes any physical evidence left behind. Detective Leo Kessler is convinced of Stacy’s guilt and, over the objections of his partner, plants evidence to get him behind bars. When Stacy is released on a technicality, he threatens to go after Kessler and his family, leaving Kessler to defend himself with little help from the police.

    Markimdb: 5.2
    Genrethriller, crime, detective
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:33

    The sins of the past are not forgotten in this chilling suspense thriller. When the first body was discovered, it seemed a coincidence. But now homicide detective Jack Verdon has cause to worry: the victims of a series of brutal sex murders are all his former girlfriends. Suspected by the FBI agent who’s taken over the case and suspended by his captain, Jack must work outside the law if he’s to find the killer, save his future and protect what’s left of his past.

    Markimdb: 6.8
    Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime
    CountryUSA, Canada
    Duration01:53

    Seen-it-all New York detective Frank Keller is unsettled - he has done twenty years on the force and could retire, and he hasn't come to terms with his wife leaving him for a colleague. Joining up with an officer from another part of town to investigate a series of murders linked by the lonely hearts columns he finds he is getting seriously and possibly dangerously involved with Helen, one of the main suspects.

    Markimdb: 6.6
    Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
    CountryFrance
    Duration01:45

    A robber escapes from prison with a single objective in mind: to track down his former cellmate, a serial killer who intends to pin his crimes on him. A cop is sent after the robber who, despite his best efforts, soon becomes Public Enemy Number One. As the protagonists are driven to their limits, it becomes increasingly unclear who is the hunter and who is the prey.

    Markimdb: 5.4
    Genreaction, thriller, comedy, drama, crime
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:31

    A former government operative renowned for his stealth, Jack Cole is now a Los Angeles police detective. When a series of horrible murders occurs in the metro area, Cole is assigned to the case, along with tough-talking fellow cop Jim Campbell. Although the two men clash, they gradually become effective partners as they uncover a conspiracy linked to the killings, which also involves terrorism and organized crime.




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