Best movies like Desperation Road

A sociopathic stranger all but destroys a small hardscrabble town but the 'mayor' convinces its survivors to stay and rebuild.

Hoping to leave behind troubled days in the Baltimore city police department, Nate Burns journeys to Alaska, where he takes up a quiet life as a small-town sheriff and begins a romance with spirited bush pilot Meg Galligan). But when Meg's father turns up dead, Burns finds himself thrust into the limelight of a dangerous murder investigation.

A big-city cop is reassigned to the country after his superiors find him too angry to be an effective policeman. While on his temporary assignment he assists in a manhunt of a suspected murderer.

When brutal murdering starts in a small riverside town, the sheriff must investigate and face the horrific past.

A man with a troubled past tries to settle down in a small town, finds love and then ends up being the target of a witch hunt.

New school headmaster and single mother Kathy discovers her vacation fling with charming 18-year-old Ian was no accident when he transfers to her school targeting Kathy and her teenage daughter Bree in a deadly scheme. Ian wants revenge as he believes Kathy is responsible for splitting up his family ultimately leading to his father's death. Kathy will need to uncover Ian's motives quickly if she hopes to protect herself and Bree from his dangerous threats.

Freewheeling, motorcycle-riding musician Johnny rolls into a small town with his band, and meets Kathy, an honor student who catches his eye. Meanwhile, Kathy's father, after being in the Witness Protection Program, is finally tracked down by two corrupt cops he escaped from years ago, who want the money he owes them.

A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.

When the body of Army Capt. Elizabeth Campbell is found on a Georgia military base, two investigators, Warrant Officers Paul Brenner and Sara Sunhill, are ordered to solve her murder. What they uncover is anything but clear-cut. Unseemly details emerge about Campbell's life, leading to allegations of a possible military coverup of her death and the involvement of her father, Lt. Gen. Joseph Campbell.

When a trio of ex-convicts led by Mattie Appleyard is released from prison, they hope to open a general store using money Mattie has saved during his 40-year sentence. This attempt is met with great resistance from a corrupt prison official and the banker who issued Mattie the check.

Many years after a devastating accident that took the life of his only son and permanently injured his wife, Joe finally comes home and tries to redeem himself.

A crooked sheriff in a small Southern town frames an ex-convict in a drug bust and takes his girlfriend.

Set in sultry 1950s Mississippi, two teenagers grapple with surging hormones and the enticing promise of love, unknowing of the tragedy that looms ahead.

A young, troubled city girl decides to move to her family owned horse ranch in a small, southern town for the summer to care for her dying mother.

Four assassins led by Baron, pose as Secret Service agents to commandeer the house of war-widow ELLEN. Her home is a prime sniper position for their plan to assassinate the President on his visit to the small town of Suddenly. The men fool the local cops except for one, TODD. A washed-up former war hero and deputy who is now the town drunk, Todd served with Ellen’s deceased husband and has developed romantic feelings for her over the years. But she rebuffs his advances. Todd visits the house and is immediately suspicious of Baron, but no one will listen to the ravings of a drunk. Once Todd realizes what is going on, he manages to kill one of Baron’s crew, but is captured. Now he and Ellen must find a way to stop Baron and his men before they kill the President.

After a young woman is gang raped and murdered in a California college town, her brother takes up arms by night with a gang of like-minded vigilantes from his fraternity, brutally punishing any miscreants they catch in a criminal act.

Lily and her son John live alone in a small town as her husband has been killed fighting the war in France. Or at least that is what she told John, but the arrival of Frank back in the town leads him to find out that she not only has been lying about that but also about the fact that she never married him. When Frank tussles with Lily in her yard she applies for a restraining order, calling on the help of her father (the esteemed judge Stoddard Bell) and his partner (lawyer Harmon Cobb). The case fails and when Frank is found murdered later that night Stoddard is arrested and Cobb has a defence case on his hands.

It was the best time of their lives. A kid from Oklahoma. An immigrant's daughter. A senator's son, a society girl, and a college professor with a dream. They had one thing in common...the will to win. A group of college debaters learn about the world, friendships, love, dreams and family.

An ambitious trio of inner-city high school grads tries to hit the big time by turning a run-down country hotel into a rock & roll resort with around-the-clock music and live entertainment. Standing in their way are fearful townsfolk, unscrupulous businessmen and the tax collector, all threatening to bring the curtain down on the teens' aspirations. But this is one threesome who refuses to give up on their lifelong goal without a fight — and a song.

In a 1950s-era Missouri town the life of a couple is thrown into chaos when the husband's sister is released from the local asylum and comes to live with the family.

What happens when a 30-something woman allows life's "what ifs" to overwhelm her appreciation for what life actually is. Disregarding her current obligations, she digs into her romantic past in hopes of invigorating her present.

Terry is a young woman determined to find her estranged father, a novelist who abandoned her as a child. After arriving in the small New Mexico town where he lives, Terry sets about planning her revenge: seducing her loving father.

In order to secure the position of Head of Pediatrics at a top Chicago hospital, a young, highly accomplished, pediatrician agrees to spend a summer setting up a clinic in a small town in the North Carolina mountains. Clashing against the ways of the small community he is forced to deal with the recent loss of his wife while reconnecting with his 9 year old son, and learning a different pace of life.

Henrickson plays Frank Morgan, a notorious and feared gunfighter that has lived his life on the run. His face and eyes reveal a man that has been very much hardened by that life. We quickly learn, however, that there is still passion inside. Upon receiving a telegram from Linda, an old lover (played by Kay Lenz), requesting his presence, he abandons his woman, mounts his horse and rides to Linda without giving it a second thought. Upon arrival, he learns that Linda is now happily married to the owner of the local general store. The only vestige of her past that remains is a daughter, who Frank is surprised to learn is his. Written by Dave Gan

A former high-school football star loses his shot at a college scholarship due to a devastating gridiron injury, but gets a second chance at living his dream.

Overwhelmed by a disastrous lightning storm that his son predicted, a man must learn to trust his son in order to save his family and the whole community.

Paul (Macfadyen), a prize-winning war journalist, returns to his remote New Zealand hometown due to the death of his father, battle-scarred and world-weary. For the discontented sixteen-year-old Celia (Barclay) he opens up a world she has only dreamed of. She actively pursues a friendship with him, fascinated by his cynicism and experience of the world beyond her small-town existence. But many, including the members of both their families (Otto, Moy), frown upon the friendship and when Celia goes missing, Paul becomes the increasingly loathed and persecuted prime suspect in her disappearance. As the violent and urgent truth gradually emerges, Paul is forced to confront the family tragedy and betrayal that he ran from as a youth, and to face the grievous consequences of silence and secrecy that has surrounded his entire adult life.

In the small town of Revelstoke, Alaska, local barber Dexter is surprised to learn that the body of Lucy Waters has been discovered. Having killed this woman, days ago, he hoped her body wouldn't be found until spring. Through the eyes of a serial killer, we discover the chilling layer of a weary town whose only concern is another long, dark winter.

A Montana marshal fights a land baron out to parch homesteaders with a spite dam.

Just in time for the joyous holiday season, this film connects the ancient Mayan prophecy of worldwide destruction at the end of 2012, and the iconic holiday song, The 12 Days of Christmas. But there is hope: a father learns that his daughter is really the "Chosen One" who, alone, can stop further catastrophe - if he can stave off the lunatic townspeople blaming her for the community's destruction.

A young drifter returns to his home in Key West, Florida and attempts to open a fishing charter business, provoking a dangerous feud with a rival fishing sea captain.

Good Witch Cassie Nightingale (Catherine Bell) is back to her bewitching ways, but this time she’s also juggling a newborn daughter and her job as town Mayor. With such a busy schedule she and her husband, town sheriff Jake Russell (Chris Potter), aren’t getting much sleep. Hoping for a break, Cassie plans a much needed vacation with her new family. But things go awry when a crime wave sweeps through town and an investigative reporter (Geordie Johnson) tries to ruin Cassie’s image after a video of her magically disappearing turns up on the internet. To make matters worse, Cassie’s estranged foster mother (Janet-Laine Green) appears in town and Cassie’s stepdaughter (Hannah Endicott-Douglas) is suddenly accused of the recent robberies. Supported by her loyal family and friends, Cassie must rely on her signature charm to put a stop to the rumors before they completely destroy the town, and a Good Witch’s reputation!

Pollyanna Whittier goes to live with her wealthy but bitter aunt after the tragic death of her father. Pollyanna shares a game her father taught her -- the 'Glad Game' -- in which everyone can find a silver lining in even the darkest cloud, and her sunny nature, good humor and determination to look on the bright side of life prove to have an astonishing effect on those around her. With the help of her orphaned friend, Jimmy Bean, she casts her spell on the grumpiest townsfolk of Beldingsville -- including the cynical shut-in Mrs. Snow, the morose millionaire Mr. Pendleton and the enigmatic Dr. Chilton. And Pollyanna masterminds the romance between her Aunt's maid, Nancy, and the handyman, Tim. It is only Aunt Polly, who cannot bring herself to embrace Pollyanna's innocence and joy. But all is not straightforward in Pollyanna's war against pessimism, since she must overcome a personal tragedy that threatens to banish "glad" from her vocabulary forever.

A young bride tries to rebuild her life after she learns her husband has been killed in the war.

An amazing murder mystery taking place in a setting that no one would expect the coast of Mississippi. A young woman tried to live a normal life despite a horrible upbringing. But she will learn her past will haunt her once more.