Mystery, Suspense, and Detective Mystery Parodies
by dgranger | created - 08 Feb 2018 | updated - 17 Feb 2018 | PublicThe word “Parody” means a humorous exaggerated imitation or ode to a writer, artist, person, or genre. These are comedies that parody mysteries, suspense (with a mystery or detective story in it aka, you know who the killer is before the detective does) and detective mysteries. Also by the word “mystery”, ghost stories too are included since some of the classic ghost stories had a mystery story that needed to be figured out in them, like the serious stories “The Turn Of The Screw”, and “The Uninvited” (1944) and “The Uninvited” (2009). (Two different ghost stories with the same title). Which of these movies parodying mystery, detective, and suspense movies is the best?
Follow funny clues here to discuss it.
P.S. Since three of the entries are based on the same play and I wanted the people to know that, I had included all the “based on” credits here. Why single out just three films and exclude all the others? Besides, it promotes reading too, if people are interested in reading the source material.
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1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
PG | 104 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
When a cartoon rabbit is accused of murder, he enlists the help of a burnt out private investigator to prove his innocence.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer
Votes: 216,741 | Gross: $156.45M
Based on the novel “Who Censored Roger Rabbit” by Gary K. Wolf.
2. Murder by Death (1976)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Five famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a bizarre mansion to solve an even stranger mystery.
Director: Robert Moore | Stars: Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Eileen Brennan
Votes: 41,656
3. Clue (1985)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Six guests are anonymously invited to a strange mansion for dinner, but after their host is killed, they must cooperate with the staff to identify the murderer as the bodies pile up.
Director: Jonathan Lynn | Stars: Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd
Votes: 109,236 | Gross: $14.64M
Based on the board game “Clue” or “Cluedo” and it’s characters.
4. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
PG | 88 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Film noir parody with a detective uncovering a sinister plot. Characters from classic noir films appear as scenes from various movies interjected into the story.
Director: Carl Reiner | Stars: Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Alan Ladd, Carl Reiner
Votes: 23,729 | Gross: $18.20M
5. Scared Stiff (1953)
Approved | 108 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
Fleeing a murder charge, a busboy and a nightclub singer wind up on a spooky Caribbean island inherited by a young woman.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lizabeth Scott, Carmen Miranda
Votes: 2,089
Based on the play “The Ghost Breaker” by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard.
6. The Ghost Breakers (1940)
Passed | 85 min | Comedy
A radio broadcaster, his quaking manservant and an heiress investigate the mystery of a haunted castle in Cuba.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas
Votes: 4,156
Based on the play “The Ghost Breaker” by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard.
7. The Ghost Breaker (1922)
57 min | Comedy, Horror
A young man and his manservant, escaping from a backwoods family feud, are persuaded by a beautiful young heiress to help her rid her newly-gained Spanish castle of ghosts. The ghostly ... See full summary »
Director: Alfred E. Green | Stars: Wallace Reid, Lila Lee, Walter Hiers, Arthur Edmund Carewe
Votes: 33
Based on the play “The Ghost Breaker” by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard.
8. High Anxiety (1977)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman
Votes: 23,870 | Gross: $31.06M
9. Spook Busters (1946)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy
Newly graduated from exterminator college, Slip and the boys open a pest control business. Their first job leads to a doctor who wants to transplant Sach's brain.
Director: William Beaudine | Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Douglass Dumbrille, Bobby Jordan
Votes: 559
10. The Black Bird (1975)
PG | 110 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
The son of famous detective Sam Spade carries on the family tradition of getting involved with the Maltese Falcon - and with the people who will stop at nothing, including murder, to get it.
Director: David Giler | Stars: George Segal, Stéphane Audran, Lionel Stander, Lee Patrick
Votes: 623
Parodying the character Sam Spade and “The Malteze Falcon” by Dashiell Hammett.
11. Fletch (1985)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
While working undercover wisecracking newspaper reporter Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher is offered a large sum by a millionaire with a terminal disease to kill him. Intrigued, Fletch decides to unearth the full story behind the offer.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Chevy Chase, Joe Don Baker, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Richard Libertini
Votes: 57,861 | Gross: $50.61M
Based on the novel by Gregory McDonald.
12. Fletch Lives (1989)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
After receiving an inheritance in Louisiana, Los Angeles reporter Irwin Fletcher heads to the Belle Isle plantation where he gets himself into hilarious trouble.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Chevy Chase, Hal Holbrook, Julianne Phillips, R. Lee Ermey
Votes: 23,245 | Gross: $35.15M
Based on the “character” by Gregory McDonald.
13. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
PG-13 | 86 min | Comedy
A goofy detective specializing in animals goes in search of the missing mascot of the Miami Dolphins.
Director: Tom Shadyac | Stars: Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc
Votes: 324,977 | Gross: $72.22M
14. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
PG-13 | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, returns from a spiritual quest to investigate the disappearance of a rare white bat, the sacred animal of a tribe in Africa.
Director: Steve Oedekerk | Stars: Jim Carrey, Ian McNeice, Simon Callow, Maynard Eziashi
Votes: 233,445 | Gross: $108.39M
15. Foul Play (1978)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
A San Francisco librarian picks up a hitchhiker whose car has broken down, which leads to her being stalked and hunted by shady individuals. A cop she briefly met during a function eventually comes to her rescue.
Director: Colin Higgins | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith, Rachel Roberts
Votes: 16,931 | Gross: $45.00M
16. Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Mystery
A middle-aged couple suspects foul play when their neighbor's wife suddenly drops dead.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Jerry Adler, Lynn Cohen
Votes: 46,802 | Gross: $11.29M
17. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
An insurance investigator and an efficiency expert who hate each other are both hypnotized by a crooked hypnotist with a jade scorpion into stealing jewels.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Greg Stebner, Woody Allen, John Tormey, John Schuck
Votes: 42,415 | Gross: $7.50M
18. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Incompetent police Detective Frank Drebin must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
Director: David Zucker | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson, Ricardo Montalban
Votes: 184,809 | Gross: $78.76M
19. The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Lieutenant Frank Drebin discovers that his ex-girlfriend's new beau is involved in a plot to kidnap a scientist who advocates solar energy.
Director: David Zucker | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson
Votes: 122,144 | Gross: $86.93M
20. Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)
PG-13 | 83 min | Comedy, Crime
Frank Drebin comes out of retirement to help Police Squad infiltrate a gang of terrorists planning to detonate a bomb at the Academy Awards.
Director: Peter Segal | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson
Votes: 111,809 | Gross: $51.13M
21. The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Music
The younger brother of the consulting detective tries to steal Sherlock's glory by solving an important case assisted by an eccentric Scotland Yard detective and a lovely but suspicious actress.
Director: Gene Wilder | Stars: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise
Votes: 7,304
22. Hot Fuzz (2007)
R | 121 min | Action, Comedy, Mystery
An overachieving London police sergeant is transferred to a village where the easygoing officers object to his fervor for regulations, all while a string of grisly murders strikes the town.
Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy
Votes: 535,129 | Gross: $23.64M
23. Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)
PG-13 | 84 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
In this Lethal Weapon (1987) spoof, two mismatched LA cops investigate a case involving cocaine-laced girl scout cookies.
Director: Gene Quintano | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Samuel L. Jackson, Jon Lovitz, Tim Curry
Votes: 51,169 | Gross: $27.98M
24. Wrongfully Accused (1998)
PG-13 | 87 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
Ryan Harrison is framed for murder and must prove himself innocent by finding a mysterious one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged man after escaping from a bus accident on the way to jail.
Director: Pat Proft | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Richard Crenna, Kelly LeBrock, Melinda McGraw
Votes: 29,251 | Gross: $9.62M
25. Scooby-Doo (2002)
PG | 86 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
After an acrimonious break up, the Mystery Inc. gang are individually brought to an island resort to investigate strange goings on.
Director: Raja Gosnell | Stars: Matthew Lillard, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini
Votes: 125,482 | Gross: $153.29M
26. The Trouble with Harry (1955)
PG | 99 min | Comedy, Mystery
Harry's dead and, while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. After Harry's body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed but what to do with the body.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Edmund Gwenn, Mildred Natwick
Votes: 41,257
27. The Pink Panther (1963)
Approved | 115 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
The bumbling Inspector Clouseau travels to Rome to catch a notorious jewel thief known as "The Phantom" before he conducts his most daring heist yet: a princess' priceless diamond with one slight imperfection, known as "The Pink Panther".
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine
Votes: 56,640 | Gross: $10.88M
28. A Shot in the Dark (1964)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Inspector Clouseau falls in love with a murder suspect and tries to clear her name.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Peter Sellers, Elke Sommer, George Sanders, Herbert Lom
Votes: 30,924 | Gross: $12.37M
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