Best movies like The Adventures of Ruth

Innocent lives hang on the whim of an elusive psychopathic murderer whose strange riddles and impossible timelines force three people into a mission to end the game before one or all of them die.

A 1917 movie serial

Sara Novak is an introverted college student with a few skeletons in her closet. Shying away from classmates, she prefers to spend time with Vern, an older comic store owner who shares her passion for mind games and riddles. But when the riddles she solves lead to the deaths of those around her, she realizes the riddles are more than a simple game.....

A group of criminals are brought together under mysterious circumstances and have to work together to uncover what's really going on when their simple job goes completely sideways.

Seeker Dean has found the gold he has been looking for for 15 years. Heading for the Government office, Boone Jackson kills him. Kickabout finds a cryptogram as to the gold's location and Sergeant Kinkaid solves the puzzle. But Jackson learns of the gold's location and to get it, he sets out to dynamite the dam that would flood the entire communuty.

This 13 chapter serial is based on the comic strip character Ace Drummond created by Eddie Rickenbacker. Ace is a 'G-Man of the sky' working out of Washington D.C. He is sent to Mongolia to find out why a mysterious villain known only as 'The Dragon' is trying to prevent the newly formed International Airways from setting up an airport there. Ace meets Peggy Trainor (Jean Rogers) who is searching for her archaeologist father who has disappeared. Together they search for answers to the puzzles.

The serial detailed the experiences of Kathlyn Hare, the pretty daughter of an explorer. Kathlyn resided in a mythical India, fighting off unwanted advances from a handsome native, Umballah, when not battling an endless array of ferocious jungle fauna.

A 12 episode serial starring Rex, the King of the Wild Horses and Rin-Tin-Tin, Jr. Rex is brought from the island of Sujan, where he is worshiped as a God-Horse, to the U.S. to be trained as a polo pony. He escapes, meets Rinty and with the help of Frank Bradley is returned to Sujan. The natives have been persuaded to turn against their God-Horse, however he is rescued just in time before he is burned as a sacrifice.

Gabrielle is writing an illustrated guide book on sex called 'How To Do It.' At a book signing she meets Saul, an established male writer who is straight. She both loves and hates his work which has seeped into her secular Jewish life from childhood. The more Gabrielle tells him about her book the more he wants to know about her life; the relationship with her younger girlfriend Olivia and her determination to "stop using my penis in sex". As her book takes form, is Saul jealous or desirous? Their friendship is tested as is Gabrielle's relationship with Olivia. The film muses on how we write, how we draw. And the nature of "story" and what it makes us do.

Serial killer Keith Jesperson murders at least eight women over a five-year span and taunts authorities with disturbing letters and scribbled confessions signed with a happy face.

Two expeditions are trying to reach the Lost City of Zoloz -- one headed by Professor Davidson, a scientist who wants to establish an archaeological site, and the other by a greedy treasure hunter who wants to keep the fabled treasures of the city for himself. An agent of a foreign power also wants to establish a secret airbase there, so he stirs up the natives against The Phantom, who has been able to get them to stay peaceful so far. When The Phantom is murdered, his son takes his place and sets out to restore peace to the jungle and stop the agents' and the treasure hunters' nefarious plans.

A young woman is sent to Paradise Hills to be reformed, only to learn that the high-class facility's beautiful facade hides a sinister secret.

This serial, starring boxer Leslie King, is presumed lost.

After years of caring exclusively for the needs of her husband and children, Agnes, a devoted housewife living in a small town near New York, has found something she really enjoys doing: solving puzzles.

Set in a gritty and decadent 1970s America, American Boogeyman follows the elusive and charming killer and the manhunt that brought him to justice involving the detective and the FBI rookie who coined the phrase ‘serial killer’.

With his landlord breathing down his neck and his writing career stagnant, the last thing Harrison Tyler (Dean Winters) needs is a kid hanging around. But he's in for a surprise when his ex-girlfriend (Lorraine Ansell) leaves her precocious 6-year-old (Emily Mae Young) in his care for a few weeks. It turns out the girl possesses remarkable matchmaking skills, and soon Tyler's professional and romantic fortunes begin to turn around.

This twenty-three episode serial told the story of a secret society called The Black Hundred and its attempts to gain control of a lost million dollars.

From the Universal synopsis: Retired Inspector Blake of Scotland Yard learns that Lord Blanton has acquired the sacred "Love Ring"---a cursed jewel that has brought grief to its previous owners. Prince Darius seeks to obtain the ring, and the mummy of a princess of an ancient country to return them to his homeland.

The movie serial sequel featuring Stingaree

With the discovery of an ancient puzzle box, a Boy, with the help of his friends, begins an adventure to find his fortune.

Luke, a young professional in New York City, learns his grandfather has disappeared under strange circumstances and is presumed dead. When he arrives at his grandfather's remote cabin, he finds a series of clues and puzzles, each more baffling than the last. With the help of a woman from his past and an eccentric sidekick, he must unravel the puzzle before someone else gets to the dark secret it hides.

This documentary tells the story of Rose West from baby to mother to murderer. This is a side to the world’s most notorious criminal that viewers have never seen before – her childhood. Using incredible first-hand accounts from people who knew her as a child; neighbours, teachers, friends and relatives, we’ll go through the key turning points in her upbringing that made her the killer she was to become. By intercutting between her harsh childhood and the psychopathic tendencies she presented in later life and the despicable crimes she would go on to commit, plus with the advice of on-screen psychologists; the viewer will get a better sense of why Rose West became the serial killer of at least 12 young women.

Tarzan spurns the love of La, Queen of Opar. When he isn't trying to keep the Bolshevik Rokoff and Clayton (pretender to the Greystoke estate) from reaching Opar, he is attacked simultaneously by two lions, dropped into a pit when a volcano splits the ground, nearly sacrificed by sun worshipers, and so on.

Heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey stars in this 15 chapter action serial, of which portions of reels 1, 2, and 4 survive. In the serial he plays the star fullback of his college's football team who gets drawn into an adventure when he stops to rescue a young woman from some thugs on a country road. It includes a gag featuring an exploding football. The rest of the cast includes Lon Chaney, Edgar Kennedy, Bull Montana, Josie Sedgwick and Herschel Mayall.

The beautiful Florida Keys provide the setting of this adventure that tells the tale of a fun-filled fishing trip that becomes a nightmare when the charter boat is wrecked on an isolated island. Unfortunately, there are very few provisions and the group must fend for themselves. They are eventually assisted by a hermit, but before that one of the group goes insane, and another is eaten by an alligator.

A movie serial from 1914

In this movie serial Professor Sturgess invents a miraculous engine which can draw unlimited power from the atoms of the air. When the professor is killed, his daughter and her fiance must fight to keep the secret of the power engine out of the hands of evil Weston Dore and his henchmen.

A train that is carrying the formula for a valuable form of granulated gasoline disappears before it reaches its destination. Railroad investigators and the authorities try to determine where it is and who took it.

A group steals a death ray in order to terrorise the world into peace. The inventor and his daughter try to retrieve the death ray with the aid of a government agent.

Criminals steal a radium-powered tank from an inventor. His heiress and a government agent take up the chase.

When two mysterious deaths mar an otherwise pleasant weekend in the English countryside, unflappable flapper Lady Eileen Brent teams up with the dashing Jimmy Thesinger to solve the dastardly deeds. Their sleuthing leads them into a world of espionage and international intrigue as they discover a secret society known as "The Seven Dials" and the attempted theft of top-secret government documents.

Dr. John Meredith has been driven from civilization by the criminal activities of his twin brother Bradley Meredith. With his infant daughter, he settles in the African jungle, where his ability to cure the native ills has resulted in his virtual control of the Masamba tribes, who possess vast diamond mines coveted by a gang of crooks.

Four youthful cadets are implicated in a series of murders, and must attempt to clear themselves of suspicion.

A newspaperwoman finds trouble aplenty when an Inca tribe believes her to be the reincarnation of their long-lost princess.

Zudora, not knowing she's an heiress to a $20 million fortune, lives with her uncle, a mystic and detective, who covets her inheritance. She wants to marry John Storm but her uncle is against it. However, the uncle makes a bargain; if Zudora can solve the next twenty mysteries brought to him, she can marry as she chooses. Episodes 1,2 and 8, plus another unidentified chapter, survive. The rest is believed to be lost.

An 18-part silent American adventure film serial now considered to be lost. Chapter Titles: 1. The Sea Raiders 2. Shipwrecked 3. The Cannibals' Captives 4. Hidden Gold 5. The Ship of Despair 6. Friday's Faith 7. The Swamp of Terror 8. Marooned 9. The Jaguar Trap 10. A Prisoner of the Sun 11. No Greater Love 12. The Island of Happiness 13. The Sword of Courage 14. The Buccaneers 15. The Jolly Roger 16. The Idol's Bride 17. When the Heart Calls 18. Back to the Primitive

Criminals steal a death ray that concentrates the rays of the sun. The inventor's daughter and a government agent try to retrieve it.

The Timber Queen follows Ruth Rowland as the inheritor of a wealthy timber business who tries to stay independent of a cruel man who wants to marry her and steal her wealth. The UCLA Film and Television Archive has preserved episodes one, four, eight and nine, and distributor Harpodeon has preserved episode twelve.

15-Chapter Serial about a scientist that discovers a formula for making synthetic gold and the people that want it.

Columbia Pictures elevated stunt man Jock O'Mahoney to stardom in this 15 chapter western serial about the building of the transcontinental railroad. O'Mahoney played a railroad agent who uncovers the master criminal behind a series of sabotage attempts on the construction site.

Hawk of the Hills (1927), a ten episode serial, re-edited into a five-reel feature length version released in 1929. Newhall, California. A band of Indians led by the half-breed 'The Hawk' terrorizes prospectors in a valley. When the old prospector Clyde Selby hits the mother lode, The Hawk plans to kidnap his pretty blond daughter Mary Selby. This kidnapping actually proves one of the lesser of the perils faced by the poor Mary. Laramie, a government agent, wants with the help of his friendly Shoshone Indian friends to extricate the damsel-in-distress.

A group of ranchers, led by Colonel Arnold and Ward Gordon, are drilling an oil well but getting fierce opposition from an unknown gang of outlaws. Eastern promoter J.B."Dude" Dawson, is behind the gang as he is out to prevent the co-op members from striking oil before their lease expires, so he can secure the property for his company. When Ward, with the help of Arnold and his daughter Sally, arranges for a new driller to be brought in, the replacement man is killed and one of Dawson's men takes his place.

A young woman finds a trunk full of stolen diamonds, takes them and heads westward, pursued by the thief.

B-Western regulars Jack Perrin and Marilyn Mills starred in this obscure, low-budget Western serial released in 15 chapters.

The only key to a young woman's fortune lies in a marking on the leg of a horse called The Ghost of the Gauchos. But the woman's guardian, her uncle, plots to steal her wealth.

A scientist discovers a death ray and locks it in a box, giving the key to his daughter, who soon finds herself hunted by criminals looking to steal the deadly mineral.

In a spooky hotel on the coast of France, two bands of crooks are working independently of the other in an attempt to steal the inherited fortune of an American girl, Sue Tally. Along the way the heiress is kidnapped, three murders are committed, a girl appears in two places at once, mysterious persons roam about the old hotel at night and mysteriously disappear, and there is a hidden room without any doors.

In attempting to develop a chemical which would make a person super-intelligent, Dr. Montrose fails and the subjects of his experiments metamorphose into hideous monsters who band together and prey on humans. With the police stymied, a young detective attempts to track down the leader of the group of killers, known only to have a small crimson stain in one eye.

When a city is terrorized by a sadistic serial killer, a seasoned detective and a newly recruited paramedic discover the key to stopping the bloodshed lies in unlocking the truth of their own haunted pasts.

The Élan School was a for-profit, residential behavior modification program and therapeutic boarding school located deep within the woods of Maine. Delinquent teenagers who failed to comply with other treatment programs were referred to the school as a last resort. Treatment entailed harsh discipline, surveillance, degradation, and downright abuse. Years later, the patients who were institutionalized in this facility still carry the trauma they endured, with mixed opinions on the impact of their experience.