Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keywords "california", "killer"
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1. Scream (1996)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich
Votes: 388,319 | Gross: $103.05M
2. Scream (I) (2022)
R | 114 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
25 years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, Calif., a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town's deadly past.
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera
Votes: 158,804 | Gross: $81.64M
3. Collateral (2004)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo
Votes: 433,004 | Gross: $101.01M
4. The Meg (2018)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A group of scientists exploring the Marianas Trench encounter the largest marine predator that has ever existed - the Megalodon.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis
Votes: 207,484 | Gross: $143.01M
5. Chinatown (1974)
R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez
Votes: 349,745
6. Twins (1988)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Crime
A physically perfect but innocent man goes in search of his long-lost twin brother, who is short, a womanizer, and small-time crook.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, Kelly Preston, Chloe Webb
Votes: 137,174 | Gross: $111.94M
7. Scream 3 (2000)
R | 116 min | Horror, Mystery
While Sidney and her friends visit the Hollywood set of Stab 3, the third film based on the Woodsboro murders, another Ghostface killer rises to terrorize them.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Liev Schreiber
Votes: 164,009 | Gross: $89.14M
8. Freeway (1996)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A twisted take on "Little Red Riding Hood", with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker travelling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer and pedophile.
Director: Matthew Bright | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Bokeem Woodbine, Paul Perri
Votes: 31,739 | Gross: $0.30M
9. The Fugitive (1963–1967)
TV-PG | 51 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A doctor, wrongly convicted for a murder he didn't commit, escapes custody and must stay ahead of the police to find the real killer.
Stars: David Janssen, William Conrad, Barry Morse, Paul Birch
Votes: 4,686
10. Menace II Society (1993)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life.
Directors: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes | Stars: Tyrin Turner, Larenz Tate, June Kyoto Lu, Toshi Toda
Votes: 64,445 | Gross: $27.90M
11. Kalifornia (1993)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A journalist duo goes on a tour of serial-killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.
Director: Dominic Sena | Stars: Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, Kathy Larson, David Milford
Votes: 58,185 | Gross: $2.40M
12. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A Highway Patrol Officer, two criminals and a station secretary defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct office against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West
Votes: 55,597
13. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
R | 86 min | Horror, Thriller
Laurie Strode, now the dean of a Northern California private school with an assumed name, must battle the Shape one last time, as the life of her own son hangs in the balance.
Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams
Votes: 82,028 | Gross: $55.04M
14. Point of No Return (1993)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A government fakes the death of a criminal to turn this young woman into a killer on its service.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Bridget Fonda, Gabriel Byrne, Dermot Mulroney, Miguel Ferrer
Votes: 30,162 | Gross: $30.04M
15. Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (2021)
TV-MA | 47 min | Documentary, Crime, Mystery
This limited docu-series tells the true story of how one of the most notorious serial killers in American history was hunted down and brought to justice.
Stars: Paul Skolnick, Gil Carrillo, Frank Salerno, Pearl Carrillo
Votes: 30,288
16. Blood Father (2016)
R | 88 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ex-con reunites with his estranged wayward 17-year old daughter to protect her from drug dealers who are trying to kill her.
Director: Jean-François Richet | Stars: Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty, Diego Luna, Michael Parks
Votes: 67,659
17. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Passed | 108 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
A teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers
Votes: 70,484
18. Experiment in Terror (1962)
Not Rated | 123 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A man with an asthmatic voice telephones and assaults clerk Kelly Sherwood at home and coerces her into helping him steal a large sum from her bank.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Stefanie Powers, Roy Poole
Votes: 6,633
19. Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973)
R | 86 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A powerful cosmic force is turning Earth women into queen bees who kill men by wearing them out sexually.
Director: Denis Sanders | Stars: William Smith, Anitra Ford, Victoria Vetri, Cliff Osmond
Votes: 3,183
20. Shocker (1989)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
After being sent to the electric chair, a serial killer uses electricity to come back from the dead and carry out his vengeance on the football player who turned him in to the police.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Michael Murphy, Mitch Pileggi, John Tesh, Heather Langenkamp
Votes: 17,707 | Gross: $16.55M
21. Murder by Contract (1958)
Approved | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Claude is a ruthless and efficient contract killer - until he finds his next target is a woman.
Director: Irving Lerner | Stars: Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, Herschel Bernardi, Caprice Toriel
Votes: 4,359
22. The First Power (1990)
R | 98 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
A dedicated L.A. police detective and a psychic must stop a demonic serial killer who was given the powers of resurrection, teleportation and possession.
Director: Robert Resnikoff | Stars: Lou Diamond Phillips, Tracy Griffith, Jeff Kober, Mykelti Williamson
Votes: 4,881 | Gross: $22.42M
23. He Walked by Night (1948)
Approved | 79 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
This film-noir piece, told in semi-documentary style, follows police on the hunt for a resourceful criminal who shoots and kills a cop.
Directors: Alfred L. Werker, Anthony Mann | Stars: Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell
Votes: 6,701
24. Mope (2019)
TV-MA | 105 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
The tragic true story of best friends Steve Driver and Tom Dong, two low end porn actors who sought fame but gained infamy.
Director: Lucas Heyne | Stars: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Kelly Sry, Brian Huskey, Max Adler
Votes: 906
25. Homegrown (1998)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three marijuana farmhands see their boss killed, ending their peaceful existence in NW California. They decide to harvest, process and sell the crop themselves. Crime bosses, corrupt cops, killer pilot, greed etc. ensue.
Director: Stephen Gyllenhaal | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Hank Azaria, Kelly Lynch, John Lithgow
Votes: 5,045 | Gross: $0.22M
26. Step Down to Terror (1958)
Passed | 76 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A killer on the lam takes refuge in his childhood home where his mother and widowed sister-in-law are ignorant of his criminal past.
Director: Harry Keller | Stars: Colleen Miller, Charles Drake, Rod Taylor, Josephine Hutchinson
Votes: 314
27. The Zodiac (2005)
R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
An elusive serial killer known as the Zodiac terrorizes the San Francisco Bay in the late 1960s, while detectives aim to stop him before he claims more victims. Based on a true story.
Director: Alexander Bulkley | Stars: Justin Chambers, Robin Tunney, Rory Culkin, William Mapother
Votes: 7,478 | Gross: $0.04M
28. Killer's Delight (1978)
R | 85 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A detective tracks a serial killer through San Francisco.
Director: Jeremy Hoenack | Stars: James Luisi, Susan Sullivan, John Karlen, Martin Speer
Votes: 627
29. The Zodiac Killer (1971)
R | 87 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A serial killer in San Francisco murders without motive or apparent pattern and taunts the police with phone calls and letters.
Director: Tom Hanson | Stars: Hal Reed, Bob Jones, Ray Lynch, Tom Pittman
Votes: 963
30. Death Valley (1982)
R | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A divorced mother, her young son and her new boyfriend set out on a road trip through Death Valley and run afoul of a local serial killer.
Director: Dick Richards | Stars: Paul Le Mat, Catherine Hicks, Stephen McHattie, Wilford Brimley
Votes: 1,865
31. Storage Hunters (2011–2013)
Reality-TV
A group of hunters join in a bidding war for storage lockers that could be a win or a bust.
Stars: Sean Kelly, Cam Rowe, Brandon Bernier, Lori Bernier
Votes: 1,641
32. Weird Woman (1944)
Passed | 63 min | Horror, Mystery
While on a South Seas trip, a professor falls in love and marries an exotic native woman. What he doesn't know is that she was raised by superstitious natives who believe her to be some ... See full summary »
Director: Reginald Le Borg | Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Gwynne, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Morgan
Votes: 1,153
33. El padrino (2004)
R | 128 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In the streets of East Los Angeles, Manny is a formidable drug dealer. Impressed by his extravagant lifestyle and prowess, his young son Kilo yearns to follow in his footsteps. Kilo ... See full summary »
Director: Damian Chapa | Stars: Damian Chapa, Sal Lopez, Emilio Rivera, Jennifer Tilly
Votes: 774
34. The Young Land (1959)
Approved | 89 min | Western
An American gunslinger kills a Mexican man in California immediately after the Mexican-American war. The killer is arrested and put on trial for murder with the Hispanic population waiting to learn of American justice.
Director: Ted Tetzlaff | Stars: Patrick Wayne, Yvonne Craig, Dennis Hopper, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 347
35. Apartment Zero (1988)
R | 124 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In early 1980s Buenos Aires, a struggling movie theater owner takes in a roommate but suspects he is responsible for a series of political assassinations.
Director: Martin Donovan | Stars: Hart Bochner, Colin Firth, Dora Bryan, Liz Smith
Votes: 4,236 | Gross: $0.67M
36. The Crimson Ghost (1946)
Approved | 167 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
A criminal mastermind known as the Crimson Ghost is out to steal a device called the Cyclotrode, which can short-circuit every electrical current on the planet.
Directors: Fred C. Brannon, William Witney | Stars: Charles Quigley, Linda Stirling, Clayton Moore, I. Stanford Jolley
Votes: 528
37. Trick or Treats (1982)
R | 91 min | Horror
A baby sitter is stuck watching over a young brat on Halloween night who keeps playing vicious pranks on her. To add to her trouble the boy's deranged father has escaped from an asylum and is planning on making a visit.
Director: Gary Graver | Stars: Jacqueline Giroux, Peter Jason, Chris Graver, David Carradine
Votes: 1,528
38. Midnight Ride (1990)
R | 93 min | Action, Horror, Thriller
A house wife just left her cop husband, when she picks up Justin Mckay she'll wish she never did as she's plunged into a nightmare and the grip of a psychotic killer.
Director: Bob Bralver | Stars: Michael Dudikoff, Mark Hamill, Savina Gersak, Robert Mitchum
Votes: 1,144
39. Backfire (1950)
Passed | 91 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
While recuperating from wartime back injuries at a hospital, veteran Bob Corey is visited on Christmas Eve by a beautiful stranger with an even stranger message.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Viveca Lindfors, Dane Clark, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien
Votes: 1,790
40. Cell 2455, Death Row (1955)
Approved | 77 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Whit, condemned and awaiting execution, reviews the events of his life that has brought him to Cell 2455 on San Quentin's Death Row, a story he had told in a autobiography that became a ... See full summary »
Director: Fred F. Sears | Stars: William Campbell, R. Wright Campbell, Marian Carr, Kathryn Grant
Votes: 487
41. Land Shark (2017)
Unrated | 80 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Lucinda Regis, Director of Development at MALCO Oceanic Research, becomes the target of a dangerous killer after unraveling a sinister plot to inject sharks with human DNA.
Director: Mark Polonia | Stars: Sarah French, Peter Baldo, Kathryn Sue Young, Eric Spudic
Votes: 468
42. The Long Wait (1954)
Approved | 94 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
An amnesiac finally learns his true identity...as a murder suspect. And he doesn't even know whether he is guilty...
Director: Victor Saville | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Charles Coburn, Gene Evans, Peggie Castle
Votes: 526 | Gross: $1.50M
43. Red Light (1949)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The former employee of a trucking company, currently in prison for embezzlement, plans his eventual revenge against his former boss.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: George Raft, Virginia Mayo, Gene Lockhart, Raymond Burr
Votes: 1,146
44. The Death Kiss (1932)
Passed | 75 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Murder during film shoot sparks search for a killer.
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Adrienne Ames, John Wray
Votes: 1,418
45. The Phantom of Crestwood (1932)
Passed | 76 min | Crime, Mystery
Jenny Wren is found dead after threatening to blackmail some prominent men, and it's up to a detective to find out what happened to Jenny.
Director: J. Walter Ruben | Stars: Ricardo Cortez, Karen Morley, Anita Louise, Pauline Frederick
Votes: 847
46. Angel on the Amazon (1948)
Approved | 86 min | Adventure, Romance
An expedition exploring the Amazon jungle comes across a jungle goddess who lives among the animals and fears none of them--and apparently has found the secret of eternal youth.
Director: John H. Auer | Stars: George Brent, Vera Ralston, Brian Aherne, Constance Bennett
Votes: 162
47. Prison Break (1938)
Approved | 72 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Joaquin Shannon arrives home from a cruise on his fishing boat. His first mate, Charles Nelson, is to marry Shannon's sister the next day. Nelson gets drunk and Shannon finds him near the ... See full summary »
Director: Arthur Lubin | Stars: Barton MacLane, Glenda Farrell, Paul Hurst, Constance Moore
Votes: 316
48. The Young Captives (1959)
Approved | 61 min | Crime, Drama
Gripping melodrama about newlyweds involved with a psychopathic killer who holds them captive.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Steven Marlo, Luana Patten, Tom Selden, Joan Granville
Votes: 80
49. My Friend Rockefeller (2015)
86 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Portrait of Christian Gerhartsreiter, who posed as a Rockefeller heir for decades, but who was, in fact, a con artist and a murderer.
Director: Steffi Kammerer | Stars: Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, Dan Banks, Sandra Boss, Meredith Brucker
Votes: 715
50. Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936)
Approved | 256 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
A 14-episode serial in which Mala, a Polynesian in the employ of U.S. Intelligence investigates sabotage on Clipper Island. A gang of spies causes the eruption of a volcano, for which our ... See full summary »
Directors: Ray Taylor, Mack V. Wright | Stars: Mala, Rex, Buck the Dog, Mamo Clark
Votes: 120