Thrillers can be some of the most gripping movies you watch. A thriller’s ability to grab your attention and pull you into a mystery so deep that you leave your phone in your pocket is an impressive feat. In honor of Knives Out coming out this weekend, we have assembled our Top 10 Murder Mysteries!
Religion, conspiracy, murder and mystery! What more could you want?! While many are more familiar with its predecessor, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons is arguably the stronger of the two. From the moment Tom Hanks’ Robert Langdon lands in The Vatican, there’s a high paced mystery afoot that becomes more dangerous the longer it’s not solved. Troubles follow Langdon as he tries to stop mass murder, while also having to dodge the strict rules and judgment of the Church and its patrons. All that aside, however, it’s just a fun time. It’s exciting, visceral and has one of the most explosive endings I have every witnessed…literally! Add that to the fact that the whole-time religion is called into question against science, the movie debates one of the world’s longest held discussions. Not to mention it is a quietly star-studded cast with Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgård joining Hank’s tumultuous mission on the sides of religion and the law. Honestly, it’s bat**** crazy, and I love it for that fact. No matter how many times I watch it, I always find it fascinating and end up loving the ending just as much every time. In fact, writing this blurb has put me in the mood, so excuse me while I go experience this mystery once again! (Alice-Ginevra Micheli)
David Fincher is well known for adding immense layers of tensions to any project that he tackles, his remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is no exception. A remake of the 2009 Film of the same name, Fincher provides great direction while Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross construct the perfect score to accompany this. The general premise for the film/book is journalist Mikael Blomkvist seeks the aid of a brilliant young computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander to solve the mystery of a woman who has been missing for 40 years. The film itself had big shoes to fill with the original film only being 2 years removed and the book series by Stieg Larson being such a phenomenal success. David Fincher showed that he was up to the task with already having adapted source material before with great success with Fight Club. With the darker tones of his prior works such as Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room and Zodiac. The confidence in his direction and his work with his trusted Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth creates something that is truly signature to his style of thriller/mystery filmmaking. Along with a great creative team, the performances of the film are excellent in there own right. Especially that of Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig who are both the leads of the film. They do great justice to the prior performers who assumed these roles before them (Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist). Rooney Mara loses herself in the role and received a well deserved an Academy Award Nomination for her take on the character. Anyone who is into Mystery/Drama that can handle intense subject matter will want to look into this film because it is quite an experience. (Joseph Vargas)
There’s a chance you’ve ended up seeing a different adaptation of this well known story before. It’s one that has definitely been around for quite some time. The reason I love to recommend this version is due not only from how updated it is technically in terms of filmmaking, but also because of it’s great cast. Without giving away anything too specific for people who are unfamiliar with this tale I’ll explain it simply. While Hercule Poirot, who happens to be a well known Detective is aboard the Orient Express, a murder occurs, and as usual everyone is a suspect. Kenneth Branagh plays Hercule, as well as Directs the film. I think he does a great job balancing the two. Like I said the cast is great. To name a few we have Daisy Ridley, Josh Gadd, Penelope Cruz, William Dafoe, Judy Dench, and many more along for the ride. My only problem with the movie is that it has a feel that it’s a movie that’s better than it actually comes across, pretty much a bit of a nitpick really. Other than that, any fan of Murder Mysteries should feel right at home. (Alex Henderson)
If you were to go to the theater on October 2nd 2014, you would have seen my jaw hit the floor in shock at the twist in Gone Girl. I’ve never once been as bamboozled as I was in this 2014 mystery/thriller that plays out like a real horror film. David Fincher pulls you into the lives of Nick Dunne and “Amazing Amy” herself, Amy Dunne, and never lets you get a release from the sense of dread and uncertainty until the bitter end. This is one of David Finchers best directing efforts. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are also terrific as Nick And Amy Dunne, but it’s Rosamund Pike in particular who stands out. She’s diabolical, sympathetic, and down right scary. Personally, I believe she should have won the Oscar that she was nominated for in 2014. Gone Girl isn’t just a good movie, but a great movie that happens to be one of my favorites from the past decade. (Ben Davis)
When Renner and Olsen aren’t taking down Ultron together, they are teaming up to take down a murderer. The writing and dialogue is near transcendent and the emotion is raw and meaningful. The movie’s ability to bounce back and forth between unnerving calmness to in your face action is impressive. Honestly, this still tops my “Movies of the decade that got overlooked” list and I hope it picks up more love over the years. (Blake Hodges)
Who says a murder mystery can’t be a hilarious romp of a good time? It definitely wasn’t those behind the big screen adaptation of the famous board game, Clue! The cast was pitch perfect from the intense and erratic butler played with wonderful zeal by Tim Curry. How about the creepy yet snarky professor played by Back to the Future alum Christopher Lloyd? But maybe my favorite is the manic energy and commitment of Michael McKean’s Mr. Green. The mansion is used for great effect with mystery behind every door and tapestry. The characters all have their moments with humor and fun. With murder around every turn, you really do wonder “Who will be next?”. The cast is wonderful and their chemistry makes for a great time as the film sprints to a delightfully zany finish. But here is the real question to solve. Which delightfully zany finish will you get? I love watching the edit with all three as you come to a new resolution…or do you? But the answer was always so simple! The murderer is…(Shane Conto)
Part of the reason that Christopher Nolan is my favorite director is because of the way he will have you thinking one thing for an entire movie, but at the end, pull the rug out from under you and make you reconsider everything you’ve just seen. That all started with Memento as he cuts back and forth between scenes in the present and past as Leonard, a man with short term memory loss, tries to find out who killed his wife. This film does an amazing job of letting you know exactly as much as the protagonist knows, which is uniquely unsettling as you try to figure out what’s happening. It is a movie about the lies we tell ourselves to find purpose in our lives, and it is one of Nolan’s very best. (Robert Bouffard)
In a not too distant future, we have the technology and resources to predict murder and have a special crime unit to prevent these murders before they are performed. What happens when the head of this unit finds himself on the run for the future murder of a man he’s never met? This is the excellent premise of Minority Report directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise. The future world stands up almost 20 years later, and the story is riveting on countless repeat viewings and the supporting cast is superb. The mystery keeps you guessing and the visuals have an amazing sense of flair. This movie has so much going for it and has also inspired a lot of future techs we now see today. X-box Kinect anyone? Seriously though, if you somehow haven’t seen this film, its a must-watch. I predict you are going to love it. (Evan Lucken)
What a wonderful experience it could have been going into David Fincher’s Se7en without knowing who was behind all of the grizzly murders? John Doe is one of the scariest and memorable monsters in film due to the fact it was a human being who committed such havoc on a city. Each murder is in itself iconic as his fight on humanity and their seven deadly sins is visualized in each victim. The sequence with “Sloth” is still one of the most unexpected and scary scenes I have seen in a thriller. As Morgan Freeman looks for this killer, the audience must follow him through the circles of hell. As I watched the film I thought “What could have done these torturous and terrible things to these people?”. Maybe the mystery of this film really isn’t who committed these murders but rather how this being could even exist at all. Se7en is a mystery that penetrates and shocks you all the way up to the gut punching finale. (Shane Conto)
If you’re looking for a thriller that offers an absurd amount of fun, you can’t do any better than with Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Based on Cornell Woolrich’s 1942 short story, “It Had to Be Murder,” the movie follows L.B. “Jeff’ Jefferies (James Stewart), a photographer who’s confined to his apartment while healing from a broken leg. To pass the time, he looks out his window and views the lives those who live in his complex. When he believes one of the residents, Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), has committed a murder, Jeff recruits his girlfriend, Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly), and his nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), to help prove his assumptions true. The three lead performances are perfect in how they engage with each other and display the excitement of their characters getting involved with the mystery. While Stewart and Kelly are as wonderful as ever, Ritter is a highlight with her razor-sharp quick wit that eases the tension at the right moments, never undermining the danger at hand. Just as Hitchcock accomplished before Rear Window with Lifeboat, Rope, and Dial M for Murder, his talent for constructing limited-setting films is evident once again in this entertaining foray into the deadly secrets that could be hiding so close to us. If ever there was a classic movie mystery to make your pulse quicken and heart race for almost two hours, this is the window you should open. (Vincent Abbatecola)
Also See:
Chinatown, The Usual Suspects, Zodiac, LA Confidential, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Primal Fear, Basic Instincct, The Third Man, The Fugitive, Silence of the lambs, Dial M for Murder