Best movies like The Girl by the Lake

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.

FBI agent Joel Campbell, burnt-out and shell-shocked after years spent chasing serial killers, flees L.A. to begin a new life for himself in Chicago. But five months later, Joel's best laid plans are abruptly cut short when his new hometown becomes the setting for some particularly gruesome murders--murders that could only have been committed by one man: David Allen Griffin. One of Joel's most elusive and cunning nemeses, Griffin has followed his former pursuer to Chicago in order to play a sadistic game of cat and mouse. Taunting Joel with photographs of his intended victims and leaving his crime scenes meticulously free of clues in order to keep the police at bay, Griffin derives as much pleasure out of watching Joel react to every movement as watching his victims die. But when Griffin moves into Joel's inner circle, Joel must quickly find some way to stop him before someone close to him becomes the next one to die.

Someone is shooting the residents of a mountain resort town. Sheriff McNeill (Andy Griffith) must figure out the connection that links the victims and find the sniper before he (or she) kills again, and before the town council relieves him of duty.

A stylish horror film based on the life of Richard Ramirez, aka the Nightstalker, who terrorized people in Los Angeles during the 1980s.

A private detective investigates her sister's suicide 16 years earlier.

A film based on the true story of Ed Kemper, a serial killer who murdered ten in Santa Cruz, CA during the late sixties and early seventies.

A series of random suicides in Rome, Italy are attributed to a heatwave, but a young pathologist named Simona—who is working on a thesis about murders disguised as suicides—suspects otherwise. When a young girl associated with Simona's playboy father ends up dead in another apparent suicide, Simona teams up with the girl's priest brother to prove she was murdered and track down the unknown serial killer.

The Amish farming community of Painter’s Mill, Ohio, is shattered when a series of brutal murders leaves the town with a sense of frailty and loss of innocence. Among the most affected by the tragedy was Kate Burkholder, a young girl who survived the terror and, as a result, left the Amish life behind. Fifteen years later, Kate returns to Painter’s Mill as its Chief of Police. Certain she’s come to terms with her past, Kate’s renewed life in her hometown is shattered when a murder investigation triggers deep-seated emotions from her childhood and exposes a dark secret that could destroy her.

A Texas Ranger hunts for a hooded serial killer terrorizing the residents of a small town, set in 1946 Arkansas. Loosely based on a true story.

In a wealthy and isolated desert community, a sound expert is targeted as the prime suspect of a series of brutal murders of local suburban housewives who were attacked and mutilated in their homes. As he desperately tries to prove his innocence, his wife starts to uncover startling truths...

A maniac on the loose is committing savage acts of slaughter, and one survivor may be the only key to unmasking the serial slayer known as the Half-Moon Killer. The mysterious half-moon lockets he leaves with his victims could be the only key to unraveling his sinister motives, but will that be enough before he completes his ice-cold plot to claim his intended seven victims?

Lt. Dave Robicheaux, a detective in New Iberia, Louisiana, is trying to link the murder of a local hooker to New Orleans mobster Julie (Baby Feet) Balboni, who is co-producer of a Civil War film. At the same time, after Elrod Sykes, the star of the film, reports finding another corpse in the Atchafalaya Swamp near the movie set, Robicheaux starts another investigation, believing the corpse to be the remains of a black man who he saw being murdered 35 years before.

A small-town police chief investigating a murder is offered help by a self-described psychic. However, when the chief discovers that the "psychic" is in possession of information known only to the police, he suspects that the man may be more involved in the case than he lets on.

Jack, a Palm Beach detective, becomes involved in a case of multiple murders. All the women can be linked to Jack in some way. Jack and his partner have no leads, but numerous suspects. The murders continue, along with anonymous letters from the killer.

Fifteen years after a murderer is convicted he is released and all the witnesses against him begin to be murdered.

A twisted man holds a TV newswoman and a girl hostage in the bowels of Grand Central Station.

A teenage girl is plagued by bizarre occurrences and deaths related to her new home.

A rich brother and sister are crazed killers. She lures men into her bed, and he attacks them and murders them. A detective is assigned to find the killers and bring them in.

Vancouver Police Detective Henry Smith is one of those investigating the murder of Roman Catholic Father Martin, who was crucified in his own church.

A serial killer is stalking New York. Inspector Edward X. Delaney is an NYPD detective, nearing retirement, who is trying to put together the pieces of the case. Are the victims somehow linked? What does the brutal method of death signify?

Millionaire Richard Trainor is rolling out a new spread featuring a beautiful nude model for each month of the year. However, the party is ruined when Miss January is pushed off a building and later Miss February is knifed to death. Homicide detective Dan Stoner is assigned to the case which leads to the seductive former model Cassie Bascombe. What connection is she to the case and will the killer be caught before they reach Miss December?

A police detective investigates the apparent serial killing of several children which is linked to an institutionalized, autistic child.

The detective Maud Graham hides her sensibility behind the image of a strong and independant woman. She frequently offers her hospitality to a 16-year-old prostitute, Grégoire, a young man who became her friend. But when the teenager decides to invite a 12-year-old boy who is running away from home, Maud is near illegality. In addition, the detective has to deal with a serial killer who had already killed and mutilated many women. When she understands that the killer is very intelligent and organized, she elaborates a strategy to arrest him. There starts a dangerous game where the two teenagers that Graham is protecting will be implied. The killer is getting closer, revealing more and more of his madness.

A series of interviews are conducted with convicted serial killer Ted Bundy in hopes of gaining insight into the Green River Killer who is terrorizing Seattle.

Haunted by the murder of her politician husband 6 years ago, former police detective Joanne Kilbourn (Wendy Crewson) keeps looking for clues, with the help of her old partner (Victor Garber). When a prime suspect is caught, it looks as if the killer may finally be brought to justice … but in a shocking turn of events, the suspect is gunned down as he's brought to the police station. Is there more to her husband's death than Joanne realized?

A police profiler has just returned from psychiatric leave only to find that he is caught up in a serial killer's rampage. Fighting to keep buried the trauma of his childhood, he must confront the all too-familiar flesh masks that the killer leaves on the faces of his victims. He must face his own demons along with the killer to save his small eroding existence.

An Oregon woman vanishes. In her wake remains a single black rose & a note reading gone but not forgotten. Now a man stands accused: a private eye has gone missing: a detective knows more than she lets on: & a tough female attorney has entered a web of duplicity revenge & multiple murder.

A group of snowbound strangers discover there are killers amongst them.

A serial killer is loose on the streets of Atlantic City. His ten victims are prostitutes, his methods are ruthless and yet his motives are unknown. Two embattled homicide detectives, Mayfield and Jesse, are in a race against time to catch this killer. They have just a few hours to utilize all of their resources and prevent murder number eleven. But with very few leads, very little support, and luck playing against them they are in for a long night because being wrong is unforgiving and number eleven is already gone.

Two police detectives try to track down a vicious serial killer bent on reclaiming his mother's family heirloom wedding ring as it passes from bride to bride with the killer always one step behind, and the detectives one step behind the killer.

Detective Burt Williams has been on the trail of the infamous "Poe killer" for nearly three years. The most recent abduction of fashion model Heather Makepiece prompts state authorities to bring in the FBI. Burt's daughter Kris Williams, a homicide agent for the FBI, along with her partner Sean Michaels take over. Burt reluctantly steps down from the case and retires. For the next seven months the "Poe Killer" continues his murderous rampage, until Kris discovers that the killer uses internet chat rooms to seduce his prey. She logs in as Annabel Lee and sure enough, he contacts her. With the help of Larry the tech guy, she sets up a meeting at a nearby bowling alley. But, when things go wrong and Kris is abducted and her partner Sean is slaughtered, it becomes a race against time for Burt and ex-partner Grace Andrews to find Kris before she becomes the next victim of the "Poe Killer".

The lines between reality and fiction, and good and bad blur when both a nihilistic detective and a serial killer's affairs with a mysterious girl overlap.

A struggling freelance writer, while investigating the transvestite night life, stumbles across a serial killer in action. The two then strike up a bizarre partnership to document the killer's motives and handiwork as a possessed detective struggling with his own personal demons tries to solve the crimes.

Anne Winslow hosts a popular classical music radio show. Detective Lou Heinz discovers Anne is connected to a series of murders in which the victim is killed via poisoned wine while a radio is tuned into her show. It seems that each victim had wronged Anne in some way and whoever is sending her roses may be the killer.

A Boston detective investigates the mummified remains of six women, based on a novel by Lisa Gardner.