Movies Like The Unknown (1927)

The Unknown is a 1927 drama, horror, romance film from Tod Browning with a MovieMagicScore of 7.5/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with He Who Gets Slapped and A Daughter Of Destiny.

Drama Horror Romance

He Who Gets Slapped

1924

After a baron steals his scientific discoveries, runs away with his wife, and slaps him in public, a man joins a Parisian circus sideshow as a clown whose act consists of being slapped repeatedly and becomes infatuated with a showgirl colleague whose father intends to marry her off to the baron.

7.6

MagicScore

A Daughter Of Destiny

1928

Hanns Heinz Ewers' grim science-fiction novel Alraune has already been filmed twice when this version was assembled in 1928. In another of his "mad doctor" roles, Paul Wegener plays Professor Brinken, sociopathic scientist who combines the genes of an executed murderer with those of a prostitute. The result is a beautiful young woman named Alraune (Brigitte Helm), who is incapable of feeling any real emotions -- least of all guilt or regret. Upon attaining adulthood, Alraune sets about to seduce and destroy every male who crosses her path. Ultimately, Professor Brinken is hoist on his own petard when he falls hopelessly in love with Alraune himself. Alraune was remade in 1930, with Brigitte Helm repeating her role, and again in 1951, with Hildegarde Knef as the "heroine" and Erich von Stroheim as her misguided mentor.

6.2

MagicScore

Nosferatu

1922

The mysterious Count Orlok summons a happily married real estate agent to his castle, located up in the Transylvanian mountains, to finalise a terrifying deal.

7.7

MagicScore

West of Zanzibar

1928

A magician seeks vengeance upon the man who paralyzed him and the illegitimate daughter he sired with the magician's wife.

6.8

MagicScore

The Circus

1928

Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman - soon the star of the show - and falls in love with the circus owner's stepdaughter.

7.9

MagicScore

Mera Naam Joker

1970

Raju faces many hurdles and disappointments in matters of the heart throughout his life. But as a clown in a circus, he tries to make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. Along the way, Raju loves and loses, but must always keep a smile on his face because, in the words of his circus manager, "The show must go on."

7.4

MagicScore

The Playboys

1992

A young woman, Tara Maguire (Robin Wright) scandalizes her provincial Irish village in the 1950s by having a baby out of a wedlock, and refusing to name the father. She has a rare beauty and every man in town desires her, especially Sergeant Hegarty (Albert Finney). The arrival of a dramatic troupe stirs things up even more, especially when she falls in love with one f the "Playboys", Tom Casey (Aidan Quinn).

6.0

MagicScore

Man Is Not a Bird

1965

A Serbian engineer falls for a younger woman, but he is inept at courtship.

5.9

MagicScore

Freaks

1932

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

7.8

MagicScore

#10

Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man

2000

A child is born. We see underwater swimmers representing this. He is young, in a jungle setting, with two fanciful "instincts" guiding him as swooping bird-like acrobats initially menace, then delight. As an adolescent, he enters a desert, where a man spins a large cube of metal tubing. He leaves his instinct-guides behind, and enters a garden where two statues dance in a pond. As he watches their sensual acrobatics of love, he becomes a man. He is offered wealth (represented by a golden hat) by a devil figure. In a richly decorated room, a scruffy troupe of a dozen acrobats and a little girl reawaken the old man's youthful nature and love.

7.1

MagicScore

#11

The Last Circus

2010

A trapeze artist must decide between her lust for Sergio, the Happy Clown, or her affection for Javier, the Sad Clown, both of whom are deeply disturbed.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

One from the Heart

1982

In a dazzling, dreamlike Las Vegas, longtime couple Hank and Frannie break up on their fifth anniversary and each pursue the fantasy of new love over one neon-soaked night—he with a free-spirited acrobat, she with a seductive musician. But as illusion and reality blur, both must decide whether passion or devotion truly defines the heart.

5.9

MagicScore

#13

Fun and Fancy Free

1947

Jiminy Cricket hosts two Disney animated shorts: Bongo about a circus bear escaping to the wild, and Mickey and the Beanstalk, a take on the famous fairy tale.

6.3

MagicScore

#14

Adventureland

2009

In the summer of 1987, a college graduate takes a 'nowhere' job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.

6.4

MagicScore

#15

The Bride!

2026

A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride is born. But what ensues is beyond what either of them imagined.

6.1

MagicScore

#16

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend

1989

Legend has it that the human race is not the only dominant civilization living on Earth. Two other races exist in this world: the Makai (a demon race) and the Jujinkai (a half-man, half-beast race). Once every 3,000 years, a supreme being known as the "Choujin" (Overfiend) will emerge and bring balance to all three realms on Earth. In present-day Japan, after 300 years of endless searching, a Jujinkai named Amano Jyaku has discovered the presence of the Choujin inside high school slacker Tatsuo Nagumo. But now, Amano, along with his sister Megumi and their sidekick Kuroko must protect Nagumo and his new girlfriend Akemi Ito from the Makai, who believe that Nagumo is not the Choujin, but an evil entity bent on destroying all living beings on Earth.

6.0

MagicScore

#17

The Rajasaab

2026

Seeking his lost grandfather, a young man enters a haunted mansion and awakens a family curse powerful enough to upend both his life and reality.

5.5

MagicScore

#18

Mad Love

1935

An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace her wounded pianist husband's hands with those of a knife-throwing murderer.

7.0

MagicScore

#19

Nightmare Alley

1947

Roustabout Stanton Carlisle joins a traveling carny and unsuccessfully schemes to figure out the mind-reading act of Mademoiselle Zeena and her alcoholic husband, Pete.

7.1

MagicScore

#20

Nightmare Alley

2021

An ambitious carnival man with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychologist who is even more dangerous than he is.

7.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Unknown?

The top films similar to The Unknown by MovieMagicScore are He Who Gets Slapped (7.6), A Daughter Of Destiny (6.2), Nosferatu (7.7). Each shares drama/horror/romance themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Unknown worth watching?

The Unknown holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.5/10 from 202 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Unknown?

The Unknown (1927) is a drama, horror, romance film directed by Tod Browning, starring Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Unknown?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like He Who Gets Slapped Movies like A Daughter Of Destiny Movies like Nosferatu Movies like West of Zanzibar Movies like The Circus Movies like Mera Naam Joker

About movies like The Unknown

This ranked list pairs The Unknown (1927), a drama and horror and romance film from Tod Browning, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Lon Chaney take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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