The Best Kidnapping Movies on Free Services

What it's about: NYPD cop John McClane's plan to reconcile with his estranged wife is thrown for a serious loop when, minutes after he arrives at her office, the entire building is overtaken by a group of terrorists. With little help from the LAPD, wisecracking McClane sets out to single-handedly rescue the hostages and bring the bad guys down.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: In 1994 a 13-year-old boy disappeared without a trace from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later he is found alive thousands of miles away in a village in southern Spain with a horrifying story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Google Play).

What it's about: A murderous lust for the British throne sees Richard III (Ian McKellen) descend into madness. Though the setting is transposed to the 1930s, England is torn by civil war, split between the rivaling houses of York and Lancaster. Richard aspires to a fascist dictatorship, but must first remove the obstacles to his ascension -- among them his brother, his nephews and his brother's wife (Annette Bening). When the Duke of Buckingham (Jim Broadbent) deserts him, Richard's plans are compromised.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (Vudu).

What it's about: Jordan Turner is an experienced 911 operator but when she makes an error in judgment and a call ends badly, Jordan is rattled and unsure if she can continue. But when teenager Casey Welson is abducted in the back of a man's car and calls 911, Jordan is the one called upon to use all of her experience, insights and quick thinking to help Casey escape, and not just to save her, but to make sure the man is brought to justice.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Realizing the urban legend of their youth has actually come true; two filmmakers delve into the mystery surrounding five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Daring Docs & Fear Factory) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 3 others).

What it's about: In 1930s Southern US, a widow and her family try to run their cotton farm with the help of a disparate group of friends.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A rich man's daughter is held captive in an abandoned apartment by two former convicts who abducted her and hold her ransom in exchange for her father's money.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu & Tribeca Short List) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 3 others).

What it's about: A band of medieval mercenaries take revenge on a noble lord who decides not to pay them by kidnapping the betrothed of the noble's son. As the plague and warfare cut a swathe of destruction throughout the land, the mercenaries hole up in a castle and await their fate.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When a teenager from a political family in the Philippines is accused of a double murder, the country’s entire judicial system is put to the test after years of alleged corruption.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: When an Egyptian terrorism suspect "disappears" on a flight from Africa to Washington DC, his American wife and a CIA analyst find themselves caught up in a struggle to secure his release from a secret detention facility somewhere outside the US.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Charlie, a former mobster, is abducted by five privileged young men desperate to raise a $2 million ransom to save the sister of a friend. As Charlie plays mind games, however, his captors splinter -- each wondering whether one of their own had a hand in the crime.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV, Vudu & IMDb TV), stream on a subscription service (Tribeca Short List) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: A special agent assigned to protect a wealthy business magnate. However, when the businessman is kidnapped in a daring ambush, he teams up with a seasoned detective to crack the case. But soon he discovers the case isn't that simple.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Shout Factory TV, Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Prime Video & YouTube).

What it's about: A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a band of (largely aged) mercenaries in London and sends them in to save the virtuous but imprisoned opposition leader who is also critically ill and due for execution. Just when the team has performed a perfect rescue, the multinational does a deal with the vicious dictator leaving the mercenary band to escape under their own steam and exact revenge.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a subscription service (Fandor) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & Microsoft).

What it's about: A disturbed gang of youths kidnap, torture and murder two teenage girls; unbeknownst to the gang, the parents of one of the girls live nearby...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Charly Matteï has turned his back on his life as an outlaw. For the last three years, he's led a peaceful life devoting himself to his wife and two children. Then, one winter morning, he's left for dead in the parking garage in Marseille's Old Port, with 22 bullets in his body. Against all the odds, he doesn't die...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Cinefest & ConTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Terry is a tough mercenary and a master of martial arts. When an important business magnate dies, leaving billions to his daughter, the Mafia and Yakuza try to hire Terry to kidnap the daughter. When they refuse to meet his exorbitant price, then try to kill him to conceal their secret plans, he promptly offers his services to protect her. Much ultra-violent martial-arts fighting action, as expected, ensues. This also includes a subplot of a family's blood-feud with Terry over a disputed debt.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms & Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.00 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: An ace police crisis negotiator, Chae-yoon, is called to the scene where her supervisor is taken hostage. Through the control room monitor, she is faced with the cold-blooded hostage taker, Tae-gu, whose demeanors are difficult to interpret. Against the 21-hour deadline Tae-gu has set, Chae-yoon tirelessly tries to crack the unusually calm perp over multiple video-calls. Eventually, the shocking truth begins to unveil.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: A ten year old boy, prone to excessive worry, begins to succumb to his anxiety as a string of child abductions plague his town.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: The descendant of Elizabeth Bathory is abducted by a cult of self-proclaimed supermen who achieve this state of superiority by drinking from the "blood cows" (read: people) kept at the "dairy farm", and they try to get her to join them.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor & Shudder) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (Vudu).

What it's about: Special Agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) works in an elite division of the FBI dedicated to fighting cybercrime. She thinks she has seen it all, until a particularly sadistic criminal arises on the Internet. This tech-savvy killer posts live feeds of his crimes on his website; the more hits the site gets, the faster the victim dies. Marsh and her team must find the elusive killer before time runs out.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Afghanistan. War correspondent Elsa Casanova is taken hostage by the Taliban. Faced with her imminent execution, a Special Forces unit is dispatched to free her. In some of the world’s most breathtaking yet hostile landscapes, a relentless pursuit begins between her kidnappers who have no intention of letting their prey escape them and a group of soldiers who risk their lives in pursuit of their single aim – to bring her home alive. This strong, independent woman and these men of duty are thrown together and forced to confront situations of great danger that inextricably bind them – emotionally, violently and intimately.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A gang of ruthless highway killers kidnap a wealthy couple traveling cross country only to shockingly discover that things are not what they seem.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV, Vudu & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Angela, a corporate climber, gets stuck working late on Christmas Eve and finds herself the target of an unhinged security guard. With no help in sight, the woman must overcome physical and psychological challenges to survive.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV, Vudu & IMDb TV), stream on a subscription service (Tribeca Short List), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Dolph Springer wakes up one morning to realize he has lost the love of his life, his dog, Paul. During his quest to get Paul (and his life) back, Dolph radically changes the lives of others -- risking his sanity all the while.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Cinefest) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Boxer Santaros is an action star who's stricken with amnesia. His life intertwines with Krysta Now, an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Ronald Taverner, a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A recently released ex-con gets involved in a fake kidnapping scheme that turns very real.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Teens P.J. and Goose get their thrills on BMX bikes, performing hair-raising tricks all across Sydney, Australia. Along with their new friend Judy, they discover a box of walkie-talkies -- and find out that a gang of criminals intends to use them to monitor police signals during a bank robbery. When the young trio snatches the devices, it propels them on a hair-raising adventure in which their pedaling skills might just save their necks.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi TV) & stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor & Shout Factory TV).

What it's about: Michelle Pfeiffer is ferocious in the role of a desperate mother whose 3-year-old son disappears during her high school reunion. Nine years later, by chance, he turns up in the town in which the family has just relocated. Based on Jacquelyn Mitchard's best-selling novel (an Oprah book club selection), the movie effectively presents the troubling dynamics that exist between family members who've suffered such an unsettling loss.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Docu-drama based on the life of Ted Bundy, a serial killer who killed at least 19 young women during the 1970's (though some sources say as many as 30 to 35 were murdered). Set from his college student years, to his first victims, his capture, escape from prison (twice), his final killing spree to his trial, conviction and execution.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When their daughter is kidnapped by experienced nappers (Bacon and Love), the Jennings' (Theron and Townsend) turn the tables on this seemingly foolproof plan.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: It was an ingenious enough plan: rob the Riviera Casino's count room during an Elvis impersonator convention. But Thomas Murphy decided to keep all the money for himself and shot all his partners, including recently-freed ex-con Michael Zane. With $3.2 million at stake, the Marshals Service closing in, Michael must track down Murphy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: To remedy his financial problems, a travel agent has his eye on a frozen corpse, which just happens to be sought after by two hitmen.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: The young daughter of a politician runs away due to lack of attention. She hides in the car of two not too bright crooks who are slowly converted into parent figures as the police web closes down on the supposed kidnappers.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Dove Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & Microsoft).

What it's about: In coastal Cornwall, England, during the early 19th Century, a young woman discovers that she's living with a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecking for profit.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms), stream on a subscription service (Fandor, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: A rich brat (Alicia Silverstone) fakes her own kidnapping, but in the process ends up locked in the trunk of a car that gets stolen.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Master thief Will Montgomery is just released from the State penitentiary after serving a 10 year sentence, is contacted by Vincent, his ex comrade in crime, who is holding Will’s teenage daughter ransom in a hijacked taxi cab. Vincent will only surrender her when Will reveals the whereabouts of the 20 million dollars he contrived to conceal from their last robbery.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Drawing on remarkable true stories, Peter Chan delivers a moving drama about child abduction in China. Huang Bo stars as a father whose young son disappears in the streets of a big city. He sets out on a search across China, stopping at nothing to find him. In this star-studded cast, Zhao Wei plays the role of a mother from a poor rural area.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A group of high school outcasts get revenge on the students that torment them.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Deathstalker helps Reena the Seer out of a few jams, and she solicits his help for a bigger task. She reveals that she is actually Princess Evie, but the evil sorcerer had her abducted and cloned in order to seize control of the kingdom. Together they travel to the evil sorcerer's stronghold to restore the princess to her rightful position, encountering challenges along the way both from the sorcerer's goons and the fierce Amazon women.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: When the Russian mob kidnaps the daughter of a reformed criminal, he rounds up his old crew and seeks his own brand of justice.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: Communication is the key to the survival for nine strangers who have been kidnapped by a masked gunman and told that one of them will die every ten minutes until they discover how they are all connected. Who of the nine lives and who dies?

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: An alienated and misanthropic teenager gains sudden and unwanted celebrity status after he's taken hostage by terrorists where his indifference to their threats to kill him makes news headlines.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu) & stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix).

What it's about: When two American girls on a bike trip in a remote part of Argentina split up and one of them goes missing, the other must find her before her worst fears are realized.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Tribeca Short List) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 3 others).

What it's about: Max Kirkpatrick is a cop who protects Kate McQuean, a civil law attorney, from a renegade KGB team out to terminate her

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The film follows John Crenshaw as he accompanies his girlfriend and her students on a weekend nature-photography expedition deep into the woods. What should be an educational and fun-filled weekend turns into horror as the group is besieged by an unspeakable evil - a horde of hideously disfigured, mutated humans with an insatiable taste for blood. As things go from bad to worse, Crenshaw becomes their only hope if they are going to get out alive.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Maria seeks revenge on the killers of her husband. She enlists the help of her husband's best friend, Manual, a reluctant, but skilled, gunfighter.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Sons and daughters of international billionaires are sent to an boot camp where they are taught basic survival skills in hopes it will teach them responsibility. When they are taken hostage and taken for ransom by kidnappers, they will need to utilize every skill they learned to survive.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).