Movies Like The Scent of Death

If you liked The Scent of Death (1987), a action and crime movie directed by Ismael Rodríguez Jr., here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Colombiana (2011)
★ 6.7/10Also action and crime
After witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, Cataleya Restrepo grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante…
2
The Outsiders (1983)
★ 7.2/10Also crime and drama
In 1960s Tulsa, class divisions ignite a violent rivalry between the working-class Greasers and the privileged Socs. When a deadly encounter forces two Greasers, Ponyboy and Johnny, to flee, their struggle for survival…
3
Dead End (1937)
★ 7.1/10Also crime and drama
The lives of a young man and woman, an infamous gangster and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.
4
Belly (1998)
★ 6.4/10Also crime and drama
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking…
5
Bound by Honor (1993)
★ 8.2/10Also crime and drama
Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East L.A. gang known…
6
Siberian Education (2013)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and crime
The story of a gang of children growing up in a community of banished criminals, in a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. This community rejects the world outside. The only law it obeys… is its own. Against…
7
Gang Related (1997)
★ 6.4/10Also action and crime
After murdering an undercover DEA agent, two corrupt cops scramble to cover up what they've done.
8
The Substitute (1996)
★ 7/10Also action and crime
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon…
9
The Brotherhood of Justice (1986)
★ 6/10Also action and drama
High-school students start a vigilante group in their neighbourhood but, as their power increases, they become more abusive and dangerous.
10
What Doesn't Kill You (2008)
★ 6/10Also action and crime
Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.
11
Each Dawn I Die (1939)
★ 6.9/10Also crime and drama
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
12
Vigilante (1983)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and action
New York City factory worker Eddie Marino is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a sadistic street gang brutally assaults his wife and murders his child. When a corrupt judge sets the thugs free, he goes…
13
Absolution (2024)
★ 5.9/10Also action and crime
An aging ex-boxer gangster working as muscle for a Boston crime boss receives an upsetting diagnosis. Despite a faltering memory, he attempts to rectify the sins of his past and reconnect with his estranged children…
14
Becky (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also horror and action
A teenager's weekend at a lake house with her father takes a turn for the worse when a group of convicts wreaks havoc on their lives.
15
Menace II Society (1993)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and crime
A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life.
16
M (1951)
★ 6.5/10Also crime and drama
In the city, someone is murdering children. The police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible.
17
Rise of the Footsoldier (2007)
★ 6.4/10Also action and crime
Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.
18
Winged Creatures (2009)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and drama
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an…
19
Oliver Twist (2005)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and drama
An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of…
20
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)
★ 7/10Also crime and drama
A wealthy society doctor decides to research the medical aspects of criminal behaviour by becoming one himself. He joins a gang of thieves and proceeds to wrest leadership of the gang away from its extremely resentful…