Movies Like The Butterfly Murders (1979)

The Butterfly Murders is a 1979 action, fantasy, horror, mystery, thriller film from Tsui Hark with a MovieMagicScore of 6.5/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Sword and Boat People.

Action Fantasy Horror Mystery Thriller

The Sword

1980

Swordsman Li Mak-Jan is on a quest to duel the powerful and reclusive Hua Qian Shu. But will a cursed sword and the intrigues of the martial world bring him fame or tragedy?

6.9

MagicScore

Boat People

1982

A Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the liberation to document the nation, and begins following and documenting the young children from a poor Vietnamese family.

7.6

MagicScore

Eros

2004

A three-part anthology about love and sexuality: it features three different tales of passion. In "The Hand," young tailor Zhang (Chen Chang) is attracted to high-priced prostitute Miss Hua (Gong Li). Next is "Equilibrium," in which stressed businessman Nick (Robert Downey Jr.) explains his problems to unhelpful therapist Dr. Pearl (Alan Arkin). Finally, "The Dangerous Thread of Things" examines the relationship problems of Christopher (Christopher Buchholz) and Chloe (Regina Nemni), a couple on vacation in Tuscany.

5.7

MagicScore

The Crow: Salvation

2000

Alex Corvis, a man wrongly executed for the murder of his girlfriend, returns from the dead and sets out to find the real killer.

5.5

MagicScore

Blade II

2002

Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire council in order to combat the Reapers, who are feeding on vampires.

6.6

MagicScore

Dracula 2000

2000

When a team of techno-savvy thieves break into a high-security vault, they don't discover priceless works of art... they find a crypt unopened for 100 years.

5.2

MagicScore

The Crow

1994

Exactly one year after young rock guitarist Eric Draven and his fiancée are brutally killed by a ruthless gang of criminals, Draven, watched over by a hypnotic crow, returns from the grave to exact revenge.

7.5

MagicScore

Encounters of the Spooky Kind

1980

"Big Guts" Cheung, a man well known in his local village for his lack of fear, is put to the test after being tricked into spending the night in a temple full of spirits, zombies, and vampires.

6.7

MagicScore

The Long Kiss Goodnight

1996

Samantha Caine is a small-town schoolteacher and mom with no memory of her life before washing up on a beach eight years ago. After a car accident and a violent home invasion trigger flashes of her past, she discovers she used to be a deadly CIA assassin. Teaming up with a wisecracking private investigator, Samantha must return to her old ways to take down the people who tried to erase her.

6.6

MagicScore

#10

The Heroic Trio

1993

While one tough woman with an invisible robe has stolen 18 babies for her powerful master, two other tough women and the cops try to stop her.

6.6

MagicScore

#11

Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle

1987

Goku and Kuririn are given an assignment by Kame-Sen'nin: "Retrieve the sleeping princess from Lucifer and I will take you as my students." But the mission proves to be more perilous than originally thought.

6.6

MagicScore

#12

Death Warrant

1990

Canadian policeman Louis Burke is assigned in a jail to investigate the murders of prisoners and jailors. While there, Louis, using his outstanding martial arts skills, is able to save his life and make himself respected in this violent world.

6.2

MagicScore

#13

The Tournament

2009

Every ten years, in an unsuspecting town, The Tournament takes place. A battle royale between 30 of the world's deadliest assassins. The last man standing receives the $10,000,000 cash prize and the title of World's No. 1 Assassin, which itself carries the legendary million dollar-a-bullet price tag.

5.9

MagicScore

#14

The Medallion

2003

A Hong Kong detective suffers a fatal accident involving a mysterious medallion and is transformed into an immortal warrior with superhuman powers.

5.6

MagicScore

#15

The Crow: City of Angels

1996

A murder victim is brought back to life by a mysterious crow. With the help of a beautiful woman, he exacts revenge on his killers – only to realize his enemy has discovered the one weakness that can destroy him forever.

5.5

MagicScore

#16

The Devil's Sword

1984

A legendary warrior embarks on a deadly quest to retrieve the cursed Devil’s Sword, a mystical weapon with dark powers capable of unleashing unimaginable destruction. When the sword falls into the wrong hands, chaos, and bloodshed follow. Now, it’s up to our hero to confront an army of evil warriors, deadly assassins, and supernatural creatures in a battle for the fate of the world.

5.0

MagicScore

#17

Automatic

1995

Robgen industries newest security system is "The J Series Automatic", an android model designed and programmed to protect humans from violent attacks. But one night, an Automatic named J269 discovers a Robgen executive trying to rape a female employee named Nora Rochester. While trying to stop the crime, he inadvertently kills the executive. At this point, J269 then calls Goddard Marx (his creator and a Robgen chairman) to inform him of the incident. Marx tells the android to stay there with Rochester until help arrives, but Marx is intent on sweeping the fiasco under the rug by sending mercenaries to eliminate both J269 and Rochester. Now the two are fugitives on the run from a para-military hit squad.

4.8

MagicScore

#18

Beowulf

1999

Beowulf is a wanderer who learns about a man-eating creature called Grendel, which comes in the night to devour warriors trapped at the Outpost. The Outpost is ruled by Hrothgar. He has a daughter, whose husband may have been murdered by the Outpost's master of arms.

4.3

MagicScore

#19

The Crow: Wicked Prayer

2005

After ex-con Jimmy and his girlfriend are brutally murdered by a biker gang, he is resurrected by the power of The Crow to avenge their deaths and reunite with her in the afterlife.

3.7

MagicScore

#20

Dragonball Evolution

2009

On his 18th birthday, Goku receives a mystical Dragonball as a gift from his grandfather. There are only six others like it in the whole world, and legend has it that whoever possesses all seven will be granted one perfect wish. When the arrival of a dark force triggers a tragedy, Goku and his companions are propelled into an epic quest to collect the seven Dragonballs and save the Earth from destruction.

2.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Butterfly Murders?

The top films similar to The Butterfly Murders by MovieMagicScore are The Sword (6.9), Boat People (7.6), Eros (5.7). Each shares action/fantasy/horror/mystery/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Butterfly Murders worth watching?

The Butterfly Murders holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.5/10 from 32 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Butterfly Murders?

The Butterfly Murders (1979) is a action, fantasy, horror, mystery, thriller film directed by Tsui Hark, starring Lau Siu-Ming, Michelle Yim, Wong Shu-Tong.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Butterfly Murders?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like The Sword Movies like Boat People Movies like Eros Movies like The Crow: Salvation Movies like Blade II Movies like Dracula 2000

About movies like The Butterfly Murders

This ranked list pairs The Butterfly Murders (1979), a action and fantasy and horror and mystery and thriller film from Tsui Hark, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Lau Siu-Ming 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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