20 best movies like The Steam Experiment (2009)

Two leading computer scientists work toward their goal of Technological Singularity, as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.

When the Universe decides what it wants, it's pointless to resist. With his family's life at stake, Joseph Steadman finds himself the unwilling test subject of a maniacal scientist in a battle that could save the world – or destroy it.

A wealthy young man is conned into staging a fake kidnapping in order to be a hero and win the affection of a girl he's madly in love with. But when one of the hired kidnappers is accidentally killed during the charade, he's forced to actually save her life while not revealing that it's been a ruse all along.

A stranger armed with a shotgun takes seven patrons hostage in a remote roadside diner. But as the body count increases, the desperate survivors discover that one of the hostages may be even more dangerous than their captor.

When you become a detective in Warsaw Indiana - you go to Poker Night, where you play against some of the best cops in the business. They tell you stories about their time on the job - their successes and failures. When new Detective Stan Jeter leaves the game, he is caught by a vicious psychopath and locked in a basement. Using the stories he heard at Poker Night, he must match wits against his captor - and save not only himself, but the young girl trapped in the basement with him. Like Seven and Usual Suspect, Poker Night combines thrills and twists and turns that will leave you guessing till the very end.

Terrorists hijack a 747 inbound to Washington D.C., demanding the the release of their imprisoned leader. Intelligence expert David Grant (Kurt Russell) suspects another reason and he is soon the reluctant member of a special assault team that is assigned to intercept the plane and hijackers.

A helicopter charter turns deadly when the pilot finds that she is on a building held by terrorists. It is up to her and her husband to save the hostages.

A special agent's plans to reconcile with his ex-fiancé are ruined when she boards a private jet that is targeted by hijackers working for the same crime lord that he is chasing.

After a perverted impulse drives them to kill, Alice and her boyfriend, Luc, drag the body into the woods, only to find themselves hopelessly lost – much like the fairy-tale plight of Hansel and Gretel. Starving and with no hope of being found, they chance upon a dilapidated cottage where a hulking man takes them prisoner and proceeds to feed Luc's sexual appetite.

Crazed members of a sadistic family return to their childhood home to terrorize the new owners.

A Moscow charity concert turns bloody when armed extortionists take the headlining American pop-star, Venus, and the Russian President with his family, hostage. The drummer of a heavy metal warm-up band, an ex-bad ass biker played by Lundgren, and a young Russian F.S.B. agent team up to fight back. Our two heroes are seriously outnumbered, and things aren't as simple as they appear, when old ghosts from the Soviet Union appear to haunt the present in this fast paced action piece.

Survivors of a nuclear attack are grouped together for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at their dynamic.

Robert Saunters, a mechanic is knocked unconscious at his birthday dinner and wakes up to find himself locked up inside the restaurant's freezer. Knowing nothing of why he's there, he realizes he has been mistaken as someone else.

Held for Ransom is a 2000 direct-to-video film about five high-school students that are kidnapped and held for ransom in a remote swamp area in Florida. It was directed and written by Lee Stanley based on the novel by Lois Duncan.

A reclusive photojournalist lives quietly in a New York penthouse, until a smooth but sadistic criminal looking for a hidden fortune enters her life.

Two policemen, one an old-timer, the other his volatile younger partner, find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arm tactics becomes the media's cause du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due, but instead find far more than they wanted awaiting them in the shadows.

Three soldiers get trapped in an elevator when terrorists set off a dirty bomb. But when White escapes, her world turns upside down as she realizes nothing is what it seems.

Ray Owens is sheriff of the quiet US border town of Sommerton Junction after leaving the LAPD following a bungled operation. Following his escape from the FBI, a notorious drug baron, his gang, and a hostage are heading toward Sommerton Junction where the police are preparing to make a last stand to intercept them before they cross the border. Owens is reluctant to become involved but ultimately joins in with the law enforcement efforts

Ex-government operative Bryan Mills finds his life is shattered when he's falsely accused of a murder that hits close to home. As he's pursued by a savvy police inspector, Mills employs his particular set of skills to track the real killer and exact his unique brand of justice.

When a group of friends decides to follow a car they've seen posted on an Amber Alert, things start to go very wrong.

When the daughter of veteran 911 call center operator Pamela, and her estranged husband Jeremy, a Senior Police Officer, is kidnapped and held hostage, they are left desperate, with no choice but to follow the kidnapper's rules: send messages through dispatch for all police and fire units to scatter to remote locations throughout the city where they are met with chaos. Not knowing who or why, the one thing they do know is if they fail to discreetly collaborate with one another - they will be solely responsible for facilitating the biggest crime in the city's history. Now they must race against the clock to make the choice of their lives - save the city - or save their daughter.

A gang of ruthless highway killers kidnap a wealthy couple traveling cross country only to shockingly discover that things are not what they seem.

Dave and Emma have found the perfect house, until they discover a stash of heroine and end up imprisoned in it by violent thugs.

A tough undercover cop inadvertently gets involved in a dangerous heroin ring when a young defector of the drug trade leaves his five year-old sister in his care.

After being mysteriously kidnapped by a Doctor and his violent henchman, a young man is held captive in the converted cellar of an old mansion. For reasons unknown, he's forced to endure heinous physical and psychological torture, but slowly realizes the worst is yet to come when the Doctor's brutal plan for him is finally revealed….

Former Hollywood star Reagan Pearce is kidnapped by two men connected to his past while on location in Louisiana. When he wakes up bound and chained in a rundown shack, he soon discovers the real motives of his captors and finds himself in the middle of a twisted scheme with little chance to survive. With no rescue in sight, Reagan must use every ounce of strength he has left to break free and get his revenge.

A heroic high school teacher leads a band of students trapped in school by violent drug-runners.

Eugene is a small town barber, beloved by the local community, but hiding a deadly secret. John is hunting for a serial killer not to expose him but to learn the business! They form a twisted bond and turn the town upside down as Eugene teaches John to kill.

A teenage boy discovers the perpetrators of several brutal kidnappings in his home town.

Shaun Russell takes her son and daughter on a weekend getaway to her late father's secluded, high-tech vacation home in the countryside. The family soon gets an unwelcome surprise when four men break into the house to find hidden money. After managing to escape, Shaun must now figure out a way to turn the tables on the desperate thieves and save her captive children.

When two friends embark on a journey to Mexicali for a Birthday celebration, they soon realize their psychedelic shenanigans have taken a turn for the worse.

Samantha Holt had the perfect life with a handsome fiancée and a future that couldn’t look brighter. But an unexpected turn on a dark lonely road puts her on a collision course with Bruce Miller, a devoted family man who descends into madness when he loses everything he ever cared about. One year later, Bruce decides to give Samantha the punishment he believes she escaped. Samantha has struggled with her own demons since that fateful night, and Bruce will take her struggles to the edge when he implements a demented plan to teach her a twisted lesson that may cost her the ultimate price.

Jessica and Dave along with three other young couples are kidnapped in Griffith Park by unseen Abductors and must fight to escape certain death only to discover the world will never be the same.

An earnest life-coach/author, Thomas Carter, is mysteriously abducted by a deranged client, Angel Sanchez, who delves into Thomas' teachings and uses his spiritual messages of Karma - action and reaction (Vipaka), against him to terrorize him and his family for their past sins.

Deadly Impact follows hard-nosed cop Thomas Armstrong (Flanery) whose life was shattered when he became the helpless target of a mastermind murderer. Returning home after a much-needed break, Armstrong joins the FBI to seek revenge and help track down the same killer that threatened his existence, however this time the assassin is back to terrorize not just a single person, but the entire city.

The tragic death of a beautiful young girl starts a tense and atmospheric game of cat and mouse between hunter John Moon and the hardened backwater criminals out for his blood.

In the morning of April 5, 2004, the greatest bank robbery in Norwegian history was carried out in Stavanger. The robbery itself is the main character of the story, and it is illuminated from several angles in the course of the film, from the perspective of the police, the robbers, the central cash service personnel, and ordinary people

A married couple's life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder. Lara Brennan is arrested for murdering her boss with whom she had an argument. It seems she was seen leaving the scene of the crime and her fingerprints were on the murder weapon. Her husband, John would spend the next few years trying to get her released, but there's no evidence that negates the evidence against her. And when the strain of being separated from her family, especially her son, gets to her, John decides to break her out. So he does a lot of research to find a way.

A ransom scheme turns into a nightmare for a group of kidnappers who become victims of a horrifying secret that must be paid every spring.

An ex-cop turned con threatens to jump to his death from a Manhattan hotel rooftop. The NYPD dispatch a female police psychologist to talk him down. However, unbeknownst to the police on the scene, the suicide attempt is a cover for the biggest diamond heist ever pulled.

Sara is a teen girl who is looking forward to her 18th birthday to move away from her controlling father Don. But before she could even blow out the candles, Don imprisons her in the basement of their home.

A small-town marshal who hasn't carried a gun since he left the Texas Rangers after a tragic shooting must pick up his gun again to do battle with a gang of outlaw bikers that has invaded the town to pull off a brazen and violent heist.

Kyle (Nicolas Cage) and Sarah Miller (Nicole Kidman) have it all: a huge gated house on the water, fancy cars, and the potential for romance in their relationship. He's just back from a business trip (he brokers diamonds) and their teen daughter Avery (Liana Liberato) is sneaking out to a party, when four thugs in security uniforms and ski masks stage a home invasion. They want what's in the safe: cash and diamonds. As Kyle stalls them, trying to negotiate for Sarah's freedom, the fault lines in Kyle and Sarah's marriage and the pasts of the four robbers come into play. Is there room here for heroism?

A paranormal-obsessed man mounts his own investigation into the beyond with his depressed best friend, misfit nephew, a cable access medium and an overeager security guard.

A struggling motel owner and her daughter are taken hostage by a nearly blind career criminal to be his eyes as he attempts to retrieve his cash package from a crooked cop.

British Ministry agent John Steed, under direction from "Mother", investigates a diabolical plot by arch-villain Sir August de Wynter to rule the world with his weather control machine. Steed investigates the beautiful Doctor Mrs. Emma Peel, the only suspect, but simultaneously falls for her and joins forces with her to combat Sir August.

Jason Gedrick and Eric Roberts lead the cast of this thriller about a submarine captain who attempts to hold Washington, D.C. hostage for a billion dollars, and the heroic doctor who struggles to thwart the plan before the situation escalates.

A doctor of Indian origin returning to Mumbai from London is forced to participate in a terrorist plot.

The Biddle brothers, shot while robbing a gas station, are taken to the prison ward of the County Hospital; Ray Biddle, a rabid racist, wants no treatment from black resident Dr. Luther Brooks. When brother John dies while Luther tries to save him, Ray is certain it's murder and becomes obsessed with vengeance. But there are black racists around too, and the situation slides rapidly toward violence.

Sean Haggerty only has an hour to deliver his illegal cargo. An hour to reassure a drug cartel, a hitman, and the DEA that nothing is wrong. An hour to make sure his wife survives. And he must do it all from the cockpit of his Cessna.