The Perfect Crime/Murder
by dourface | created - 28 Oct 2013 | updated - 25 Mar 2014 | PublicPerfect crime is a colloquial term used in law and fiction (principally crime fiction) to characterize crimes that are undetected, unattributed to a perpetrator, or else unsolved as a kind of technical achievement on the part of the perpetrator.
In certain contexts, the concept of perfect crime is limited to just undetected crimes; if an event is ever identified as a crime, some investigators say it cannot be called 'perfect'.
A perfect crime should be distinguished from one that has merely not been solved yet or where everyday chance or procedural matters frustrate a conviction. There is an element that the crime is (or appears likely to be) unable to be solved.
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1. Double Indemnity (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Byron Barr
Votes: 167,549 | Gross: $5.72M
2. The Man Who Cried Wolf (1937)
Approved | 68 min | Crime, Drama
An actor continually confesses to murders he didn't commit, figuring that the police won't believe him when he confesses to a murder that he actually does intend to commit.
Director: Lewis R. Foster | Stars: Lewis Stone, Barbara Read, Tom Brown, Forrester Harvey
Votes: 70
3. Society Lawyer (1939)
Passed | 77 min | Drama, Music, Mystery
Society lawyer Christopher Durant agrees to defend his friend Phil Siddall when Siddall is arrested for the murder of an ex-girlfriend. With the help of nightclub singer Pat Abbott and ... See full summary »
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Virginia Bruce, Leo Carrillo, Eduardo Ciannelli
Votes: 283
4. Double Alibi (1940)
Approved | 60 min | Adventure, Crime, Mystery
A man's ex-wife is found murdered, and he finds himself to be the prime suspect.
Director: Phil Rosen | Stars: Wayne Morris, Margaret Lindsay, William Gargan, Roscoe Karns
Votes: 63
5. Whistling in the Dark (1941)
Passed | 78 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Radio crime show host 'The Fox' along with his fiancée and ex-girlfriend are kidnapped by a larcenous cult who demand that he help them plan a perfect murder.
Director: S. Sylvan Simon | Stars: Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, Ann Rutherford, Virginia Grey
Votes: 1,098
6. I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
Passed | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Why is Inspector Ed Cornell trying to railroad Frankie Christopher for the murder of model Vicky Lynn?
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone | Stars: Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar
Votes: 5,383
7. Laura (1944)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price
Votes: 51,489 | Gross: $4.36M
8. Gaslight (1944)
Passed | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Ten years after her aunt was murdered in their London home, a woman returns from Italy in the 1880s to resume residence with her new husband. His obsessive interest in the home rises from a secret that may require driving his wife insane.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, May Whitty
Votes: 33,936
9. The Woman in the Window (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a conservative middle aged professor engages in a relationship with a femme fatale, he's plunged into a nightmarish world of blackmail and murder.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Edmund Breon
Votes: 17,795
10. Conflict (1945)
Passed | 86 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
An engineer trapped in an unhappy marriage murders his wife in the hope of marrying her younger sister.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Rose Hobart
Votes: 4,613
11. Scarlet Street (1945)
Approved | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, though her fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Margaret Lindsay
Votes: 19,208
12. And Then There Were None (1945)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Seven guests, a newly hired secretary and two staff are gathered at a manor house on an isolated island by an unknown absentee host and are killed off one-by-one. They work together to determine who the killer is before it's too late.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Roland Young
Votes: 16,652
13. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Passed | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A married woman and a drifter fall in love and then plot to murder her husband.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn
Votes: 22,895 | Gross: $8.33M
14. Boomerang! (1947)
Passed | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The true story of a prosecutor's fight to prove the innocence of a man accused of a notorious murder.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Cara Williams
Votes: 5,063
15. A Man About the House (1947)
99 min | Drama
Two poor sisters inherit a giant villa from their uncle, along with his custodian Salvatore who charms his way into their lives and marries one of them.
Director: Leslie Arliss | Stars: Margaret Johnston, Dulcie Gray, Kieron Moore, Guy Middleton
Votes: 294
16. Rope (1948)
Approved | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Dick Hogan
Votes: 153,773
17. Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
Approved | 105 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
A man dreams of revenge when he suspects his wife is unfaithful.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee, Barbara Lawrence
Votes: 5,868
18. Jigsaw (1949)
Passed | 72 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
New York Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy investigates a series of murders and uncovers an extremist group.
Director: Fletcher Markle | Stars: Franchot Tone, Jean Wallace, Myron McCormick, Marc Lawrence
Votes: 977
19. Tension (1949)
Passed | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A meek pharmacist creates an alternate identity under which he plans to murder the bullying liquor salesman who has become his wife's lover.
Director: John Berry | Stars: Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse, Barry Sullivan
Votes: 3,576
20. The Hidden Room (1949)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Clive Riordan plans a devilish revenge against his wife's lover.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Robert Newton, Sally Gray, Phil Brown, Naunton Wayne
Votes: 2,677
21. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Crime
A distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
Director: Robert Hamer | Stars: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood
Votes: 39,739
22. Paper Gallows (1950)
Approved | 68 min | Crime, Thriller
A story of two brothers, both writers of crime novels, one a fine, upstanding gentleman and the other a moody, neurotic, psychopath. The other is determined to create a 'faked' version of a... See full summary »
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Dermot Walsh, Rona Anderson, John Bentley, Michael Martin Harvey
Votes: 35
23. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Passed | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A major heist goes off as planned, but then double crosses, bad luck and solid police work cause everything to unravel.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore
Votes: 29,987
24. House by the River (1950)
Approved | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A deranged writer murders a maid after she resists his advances. The writer engages his brother's help in hiding the body, causing unexpected problems for both of them.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Louis Hayward, Lee Bowman, Jane Wyatt, Dorothy Patrick
Votes: 4,172
25. The Clouded Yellow (1950)
Approved | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A former British agent is employed at the Fenton country estate where he aids Fenton's niece in eluding the police after she's unjustly accused of murdering a local gamekeeper.
Director: Ralph Thomas | Stars: Jean Simmons, Trevor Howard, Sonia Dresdel, Barry Jones
Votes: 985
26. Strangers on a Train (1951)
PG | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A psychopathic man tries to forcibly persuade a tennis star to agree to his theory that two strangers can get away with murder by submitting to his plan to kill the other's most-hated person.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Leo G. Carroll
Votes: 141,079 | Gross: $7.63M
27. The Ringer (1952)
78 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A criminal master of disguise nicknamed The Ringer is out for deadly revenge against a treacherous London lawyer who is under police protection.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Herbert Lom, Donald Wolfit, Mai Zetterling, Greta Gynt
Votes: 319
28. Sudden Fear (1952)
Approved | 110 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
After an ambitious actor insinuates himself into the life of a wealthy middle-aged playwright and marries her, he plots with his mistress to murder her.
Director: David Miller | Stars: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett
Votes: 7,350
29. Mr. Denning Drives North (1951)
Approved | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A British aircraft engineer accidentally kills his daughter's nasty foreign boyfriend, then tries to cover up his deed.
Director: Anthony Kimmins | Stars: John Mills, Phyllis Calvert, Eileen Moore, Sam Wanamaker
Votes: 582
30. Dangerous Crossing (1953)
Approved | 75 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
When a beautiful bride boards an ocean liner with her new husband, he goes into hiding, and she becomes the target of a murder conspiracy.
Director: Joseph M. Newman | Stars: Jeanne Crain, Michael Rennie, Max Showalter, Carl Betz
Votes: 2,437
31. Dial M for Murder (1954)
PG | 105 min | Crime, Thriller
A former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams
Votes: 188,922 | Gross: $0.01M
32. Diabolique (1955)
Not Rated | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel
Votes: 69,428 | Gross: $1.09M
33. 5 Against the House (1955)
Approved | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Four vets attending college on the GI Bill and a cabaret singer try to rob a Reno Casino and pull off the perfect crime.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Guy Madison, Kim Novak, Brian Keith, Alvy Moore
Votes: 2,054
34. Rififi (1955)
Not Rated | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Four men plan a technically perfect crime, but the human element intervenes...
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel, Janine Darcey
Votes: 36,857 | Gross: $0.06M
35. The Killing (1956)
Approved | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Crook Johnny Clay assembles a five-man team to plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen
Votes: 97,589
36. A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
Approved | 94 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
A ruthless college student resorts to murder in an attempt to marry an heiress.
Director: Gerd Oswald | Stars: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith, Joanne Woodward
Votes: 4,325
37. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A novelist aided by his future father-in-law conspires to frame himself for the murder of a burlesque dancer as part of an effort to ban capital punishment.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Arthur Franz
Votes: 5,903
38. Town on Trial (1957)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
At a local tennis club in a posh London suburb, an attractive but flirty young woman is murdered, prompting a Scotland Yard investigation.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: John Mills, Charles Coburn, Barbara Bates, Derek Farr
Votes: 852
39. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester
Votes: 137,960 | Gross: $8.18M
40. Vertigo (1958)
PG | 128 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore
Votes: 427,221 | Gross: $3.20M
41. Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
Not Rated | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin
Votes: 28,661 | Gross: $0.11M
42. Compulsion (1959)
Approved | 103 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Two wealthy law-school students go on trial for murder in this version of the Leopold-Loeb case.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell, Diane Varsi, Bradford Dillman
Votes: 7,508
43. Seven Thieves (1960)
Approved | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A motley crew of professional thieves plans the robbery of a Monte Carlo casino vault.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Rod Steiger, Joan Collins, Eli Wallach
Votes: 1,756
44. Ocean's Eleven (1960)
Approved | 127 min | Comedy, Crime, Music
Danny Ocean gathers a group of his World War II compatriots to pull off the ultimate Las Vegas heist. Together the eleven friends plan to rob five Las Vegas casinos in one night.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford
Votes: 25,222 | Gross: $12.32M
45. The League of Gentlemen (1960)
Unrated | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A disgruntled veteran recruits a group of disgraced colleagues to perform a bank robbery with military precision.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Jack Hawkins, Nigel Patrick, Roger Livesey, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 5,279
46. Charade (1963)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance
Romance and suspense ensue in Paris as a woman is pursued by several men who want a fortune her murdered husband had stolen. Whom can she trust?
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn
Votes: 85,623 | Gross: $13.47M
47. Topkapi (1964)
Unrated | 120 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A conman gets mixed up with a group of thieves who plan to rob an Istanbul museum to steal a jewelled dagger.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov, Maximilian Schell, Robert Morley
Votes: 10,736
48. Gambit (1966)
Approved | 109 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
An English cat burglar needs a Eurasian dancer's help to pull off the perfect heist, but even the most foolproof schemes have a way of backfiring.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Herbert Lom, Roger C. Carmel
Votes: 6,597
49. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Approved | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke, Jack Weston
Votes: 28,100
50. The Italian Job (1969)
G | 99 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A comic caper movie about a plan to steal a gold shipment from the streets of Turin by creating a traffic jam.
Director: Peter Collinson | Stars: Michael Caine, Noël Coward, Benny Hill, Raf Vallone
Votes: 50,370
51. Kelly's Heroes (1970)
GP | 144 min | Adventure, Comedy, War
A group of U.S. soldiers sneaks across enemy lines in WWII France to get their hands on a secret stash of Nazi treasure.
Director: Brian G. Hutton | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Carroll O'Connor
Votes: 53,740 | Gross: $1.38M
52. Perfect Friday (1970)
R | 94 min | Comedy, Crime
The deputy manager of a London bank has worked out a way to rob the branch of £200,000. When he becomes involved with the attractive Lady Dorset he decides to go ahead with his plan. He ... See full summary »
Director: Peter Hall | Stars: Ursula Andress, Stanley Baker, David Warner, Patience Collier
Votes: 1,171 | Gross: $0.50M
53. Crime and Punishment (1970)
221 min | Drama
Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-law student, kills an old pawnbroker and her sister, perhaps for money, perhaps to prove a theory about being above the law. He comes to police attention ... See full summary »
Director: Lev Kulidzhanov | Stars: Georgiy Taratorkin, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Tatyana Bedova, Viktoriya Fyodorova
Votes: 1,363
54. The Anderson Tapes (1971)
GP | 99 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After ten years in prison to protect a mafia family, Duke Anderson is released and he cashes in a debt of honor with the mob to bankroll a caper.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam, Ralph Meeker
Votes: 8,851 | Gross: $10.90M
55. Endless Night (I) (1972)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A working-class young Englishman marries an affable American heiress, but their marital bliss is soon interrupted when they begin constructing a home on land alleged to be cursed.
Director: Sidney Gilliat | Stars: Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Britt Ekland, Per Oscarsson
Votes: 2,414
56. The Sting (1973)
PG | 129 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
Votes: 280,042 | Gross: $159.60M
57. Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
PG | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In December 1935, when his transcontinental luxury train is stranded by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before, with a multitude of suspects.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery
Votes: 69,180 | Gross: $0.07M
58. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Four armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo
Votes: 35,862 | Gross: $2.49M
59. Family Plot (1976)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/actor boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane
Votes: 24,845
60. Empire of Passion (1978)
R | 105 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
A married woman and her lover murder her husband and dump his body into a well. After a while, his ghost comes to haunt them while the local gossip grows stronger.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: Tatsuya Fuji, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Takahiro Tamura, Takuzô Kawatani
Votes: 4,938
61. The Brink's Job (1978)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A fictional retelling of the infamous Boston Brink's Company robbery on January 17th, 1950, of $2.7M, and cost the American taxpayers $29M to apprehend the culprits with only $58,000 recovered.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Allen Garfield, Warren Oates
Votes: 3,515 | Gross: $9.40M
62. Death on the Nile (1978)
PG | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
As Hercule Poirot enjoys a luxurious cruise down the Nile, a newlywed heiress is found murdered on board. Can Poirot identify the killer before the ship reaches the end of its journey?
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Simon MacCorkindale, Jane Birkin
Votes: 39,863
63. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1980)
102 min | Comedy, Crime
Released from a British prison, an American is hired as an electrician for a London bank but his criminal acquaintances show-up and force the reluctant Yank to join them as the inside-man in a well-planned bank heist.
Director: Ralph Thomas | Stars: Richard Jordan, Oliver Tobias, David Niven, Elke Sommer
Votes: 489
64. Body Heat (1981)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
During an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson
Votes: 40,157 | Gross: $24.06M
65. Deathtrap (1982)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's play.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon, Irene Worth
Votes: 15,453 | Gross: $19.28M
66. Evil Under the Sun (1982)
PG | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Trying to find how a millionaire wound up with a phony diamond brings Hercule Poirot to an exclusive island resort frequented by the rich and famous. When a murder is committed, everyone has an alibi.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Peter Ustinov, James Mason, Maggie Smith, Colin Blakely
Votes: 20,205 | Gross: $6.11M
67. 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: 109,388 | Gross: $14.64M
68. Quick Change (1990)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Crime
Three thieves successfully rob a New York City bank, but making the escape from the city proves to be almost impossible.
Directors: Howard Franklin, Bill Murray | Stars: Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Dale Grand
Votes: 22,213 | Gross: $15.26M
69. The Two Jakes (1990)
R | 137 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The sequel to Chinatown (1974) finds J.J. "Jake" Gittes investigating adultery and murder, and the money that comes from oil.
Director: Jack Nicholson | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe
Votes: 15,501 | Gross: $10.01M
70. A Shock to the System (1990)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
When electrocuted by the fuse box at home, Graham gets ideas concerning his nagging wife and the guy, who got Graham's promotion at the office.
Director: Jan Egleson | Stars: Michael Caine, Elizabeth McGovern, Peter Riegert, Swoosie Kurtz
Votes: 5,857 | Gross: $3.42M
71.
Poirot (1989–2013)
Episode:
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
(1990)
TV-14 | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Hastings renews his friendship with Poirot and involves him in the mysterious poisoning of the mistress of a manor house married to a man twenty years her junior.
Director: Ross Devenish | Stars: David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson, Beatie Edney
Votes: 2,315
72. To Die For (1995)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A beautiful but naïve aspiring television personality films a documentary on teenagers with a darker ulterior motive.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck
Votes: 53,051 | Gross: $21.28M
73. Sweet Killing (1993)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A business man decides to kill his wife but the plan sets off a chain of weird events that cause his life to become a living hell.
Director: Eddy Matalon | Stars: Anthony Higgins, Leslie Hope, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Ironside
Votes: 124
74. The Usual Suspects (1995)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The sole survivor of a pier shoot-out tells the story of how a notorious criminal influenced the events that began with five criminals meeting in a seemingly random police lineup.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin
Votes: 1,146,151 | Gross: $23.34M
75. Bound (1996)
R | 109 min | Crime, Thriller
Tough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, John P. Ryan
Votes: 60,812 | Gross: $3.80M
76. Davids bog (1996)
97 min | Thriller
Henrik and Jacob have just finished high school, but they can't get into university, so Jacob gets a job as a waiter and Henrik helps his uncle clear out a rich man's villa after the owner ... See full summary »
Director: Lasse Spang Olsen | Stars: Tomas Villum Jensen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Camilla Overbye Roos, Torben Jensen
Votes: 142
77. The Swindle (1997)
Not Rated | 101 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Betty and Victor are a pair of scam artists. One day Betty brings in Maurice, a treasurer of a multinational company. Maurice is due to transfer 5 millions francs out of Switzerland, and Betty is convinced he plans to steal that money.
Director: Claude Chabrol | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Michel Serrault, François Cluzet, Jean-François Balmer
Votes: 2,991 | Gross: $0.23M
78.
Dalziel and Pascoe (1996–2007)
Episode:
Deadheads
(1997)
TV-14 | 95 min | Crime, Mystery, Drama
The two detectives investigate a string of bizarre, seemingly accidental deaths occurring over three decades which somehow or other all involve the same man.
Director: Edward Bennett | Stars: Mel Martin, Veda Warwick, Steven Geller, Melissa Knatchbull
Votes: 157
79. Wild Things (1998)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police detective uncovers a conspiracy behind a case involving a high-school guidance counselor when accusations of rape are made against him by two female students.
Director: John McNaughton | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon, Denise Richards
Votes: 130,852 | Gross: $29.75M
80. Double Jeopardy (1999)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A woman framed for her husband's murder suspects he is still alive; as she has already been tried for the crime, she can't be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Greenwood, Benjamin Weir
Votes: 95,950 | Gross: $116.74M
81. Nine Queens (2000)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Two con artists try to swindle a stamp collector by selling him a sheet of counterfeit rare stamps (the "nine queens").
Director: Fabián Bielinsky | Stars: Ricardo Darín, Gastón Pauls, Graciela Tenenbaum, María Mercedes Villagra
Votes: 57,164 | Gross: $1.22M
82. The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Crime
A struggling dentist's life is turned upside down when a famous gangster moves in next door, and his wife convinces him to inform a notorious mob boss about the gangster's whereabouts.
Director: Jonathan Lynn | Stars: Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Clarke Duncan
Votes: 129,219 | Gross: $57.26M
83. The Score (2001)
R | 124 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An aging thief hopes to retire and live off his ill-gotten wealth with his lover when a young kid convinces him into doing one last heist that comes with a large payout.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Marlon Brando, Angela Bassett
Votes: 134,166 | Gross: $71.07M
84. Ripley's Game (2002)
R | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A dying family man in need of money is persuaded to assassinate a European crime boss.
Director: Liliana Cavani | Stars: John Malkovich, Dougray Scott, Lena Headey, Ray Winstone
Votes: 19,489
85. The Good Thief (2002)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An aging gambler on a losing streak attempts to rob a casino in Monte Carlo. But someone's already tipped off the cops before he even makes a move.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Nick Nolte, Ralph Fiennes, Nutsa Kukhianidze, Ouassini Embarek
Votes: 10,908 | Gross: $3.52M
86. Minority Report (2002)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
John works with the PreCrime police which stop crimes before they take place, with the help of three 'PreCogs' who can foresee crimes. Events ensue when John finds himself framed for a future murder.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow
Votes: 584,650 | Gross: $132.07M
87. Murder by Numbers (2002)
R | 115 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Two gifted high school students execute a perfect murder - then become engaged in an intellectual contest with a seasoned homicide detective.
Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt
Votes: 62,427 | Gross: $31.95M
88. Memories of Murder (2003)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha, Song Jae-ho
Votes: 216,724 | Gross: $0.01M
89. Ferpect Crime (2004)
Not Rated | 105 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
An ambitious salesman will do anything for that big promotion he's been chasing, but inevitably, he will learn that there is no such thing as the perfect crime.
Director: Álex de la Iglesia | Stars: Guillermo Toledo, Mónica Cervera, Enrique Villén, Luis Varela
Votes: 12,991
90. Inside Man (2006)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police detective, a bank robber, and a high-power broker enter high-stakes negotiations after the criminal's brilliant heist spirals into a hostage situation.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 398,172 | Gross: $88.51M
91. Zodiac (2007)
R | 157 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards
Votes: 598,785 | Gross: $33.08M
92. Fracture (2007)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After shooting his wife, Ted confesses his crime and asks the court to move his case to trial. He represents himself against Willy, a successful lawyer. But there's more to the case than meets the eye.
Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike
Votes: 219,032 | Gross: $39.02M
93. Mr. Brooks (2007)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A well-respected businessman is sometimes controlled by his murder and mayhem-loving alter ego.
Director: Bruce A. Evans | Stars: Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, William Hurt, Dane Cook
Votes: 156,353 | Gross: $28.48M
94. Roman de gare (2007)
R | 103 min | Drama
A popular novelist researches unlikely sources to find characters for her next bestseller.
Director: Claude Lelouch | Stars: Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon, Audrey Dana, Michèle Bernier
Votes: 2,583 | Gross: $1.85M
95. Rampage (2009)
R | 85 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A man with a thirst for revenge builds a full body armor from Kevlar and goes on a killing spree.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Brendan Fletcher, Shaun Sipos, Michael Paré, Matt Frewer
Votes: 20,177
96. Dolan's Cadillac (2009)
R | 89 min | Crime, Thriller
A young man attempts to seek to avenge his wife's death after she is murdered by a Las Vegas mobster.
Director: Jeff Beesley | Stars: Christian Slater, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Wes Bentley, Greg Bryk
Votes: 7,612
97. Where the Truth Lies (2009)
100 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Dramatization of a real homicide which remains unsolved as investigators cannot determine which of two youths is the culprit.
Director: Ki-Seon Hong | Stars: Natallia Bulynia, Lee Eung-jae, Oh Gwang-Rok, Peter Holman
Votes: 546
98. Love Crime (2010)
Not Rated | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Ruthless executive Christine brings on young Isabelle as her assistant taking delight in toying with her innocence. But when Christine starts passing on her protege's ideas as her own, things take a dark turn.
Director: Alain Corneau | Stars: Ludivine Sagnier, Kristin Scott Thomas, Patrick Mille, Guillaume Marquet
Votes: 5,638 | Gross: $0.53M
99. A Somewhat Gentle Man (2010)
Not Rated | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Ulrik's released from prison after 12 years for murder. Will he go straight? He gets a room and a job as mechanic. He hooks up with his old gang. His son introduces him as uncle to his pregnant fiancée.
Director: Hans Petter Moland | Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Bjørn Floberg, Jorunn Kjellsby, Gard B. Eidsvold
Votes: 7,327 | Gross: $0.04M
100.
Poirot (1989–2013)
Episode:
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case
(2013)
TV-PG | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An ailing Poirot returns to Styles with Hastings nearly three decades after solving their first mystery there in order to prevent a serial killer from claiming more victims.
Director: Hettie Macdonald | Stars: David Suchet, Helen Baxendale, Hugh Fraser, Anne Reid
Votes: 2,568
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