A murder – few clues – an investigator – more than one suspect – collecting clues – questioning – viewers are given clues – the climax. This is one genre of movies which hardly missed the chance to satisfy viewers. To short-list few movies of this genre from around the world is very tough. We had collected around 100 titles before short-listing the below list. We might have missed foreign language movies which you can kindly suggest us and will be taken account of for any future listings.
The short-listing was through various aspects of the movie – such as suspense element, script, direction, visuals, performances and music.
Salinui Chueok (2003) [English: Memories of Murder]
1986 somewhere in South Korea, two cops with very different view and plan tracking a serial killer.
Director: Joon-ho Bong
Screenplays: Joon-ho Bong, Kwang-rim Kim
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim and Roe-ha Kim
Language: Korea
Se7en (1995)
Two detectives hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins to kill his victims.
Director: David Fincher
Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey
Language: English
The Usual Suspects (1995)
One survivor and his abnormal, complicated story after a boat misshape, and few murder.
Director: Bryan Singer
Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne and Chazz Palminteri
Language: English
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
A lawyer defending his client to have suffered momentary psychosis while killing the victim after the victim raped his wife.
Director: Otto Preminger
Screenplays: Wendell Mayes
Starring: James Stewart, Lee Remick and Ben Gazzara
Language: English
Drishyam (2013)
How far will you go to keep your family safe?
Director: Jeethu Joseph
Screenplay: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Asha Sharath, Siddhiq
Language: Malayalam
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
An African American detective in-charge of a murder investigation in a small town.
Director: Norman Jewison
Screenplays: Stirling Silliphant
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger and Warren Oates
Language: English
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
A detective is called to solve a murder that occurred in a train.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Screenplay: Paul Dehn
Starring: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman
Language: English
Psycho (1960)
A young woman is missing along with a large amount taken from her employer
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplays: Joseph Stefano
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles
Language: English
Rashomon (1950)
A terrible crime is summoned up by very different characters.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Screenplays: Ryûnosuke Akutagawa and Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô and Masayuki Mori
Language: Japanese
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
A young lade feels her so called ‘Uncle’ is not her real uncle.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplays: Thornton Wilder and Sally Benson
Starring: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten and Macdonald Carey
Language: English
Rear Window (1954)
A photographer in wheelchair finds that one of neighbor is a murderer.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplays: John Michael Hayes
Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly and Wendell Corey
Language: English
Kariyilakkattu Pole (English: Like a Zephyr of Dry Leaves)
The film revolves around the murder investigation of film director Harikrishnan.
Director: P. Padmarajan
Starring: Mohanlal, Mammootty, Rahman, Karthika
Language: Malayalam
J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (2000)
The very point of junction of North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers are found dead and one South Korean is the suspect, and one North Korean is suspected to be the witness.
Director: Chan-wook Park
Screenplays: Seong-san Jeong, Hyeon-seok Kim, and 3 more credits »
Starring: Yeong-ae Lee, Byung-hun Lee and Kang-ho Song
Language: Korea
The Third Man (1949)
The friend who has invited a Screenplay is found dead in a car accident. And he feels suspicious after he starts getting completely unrelated story of the accident from his friend’s friend.
Director: Carol Reed
Screenplays: Graham Greene
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli
Language: English
Chotushkone (2014)
A woman writes a suicide note, and then hangs herself from a ceiling fan. A man is seen with a kid staring at the hanging woman.
Director: Srijit Mukherji
Starring: Aparna Sen, Goutam Ghose, Chiranjeet Chakraborty, Parambrata Chatterjee
Language: Bengali
Yutham Sei (2011) [English: Wage War]
A special investigation team in-search of the murderer who displays the body parts of the victim in public places.
Director: Myshkin
Screenplay: Myshkin
Starring: Cheran
Language: Tamil
Chinatown (1974)
A private detective investigating an infidelity man missing case, finds there is some relation with missing victim and water.
Director: Roman Polanski
Screenplay: Robert Towne
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston
Language: English
Yavanika (1982)
An infamous tabla player of a touring drama group goes missing.
Director: K.G. George
Starring: Bharat Gopi, Mammootty, Jalaja, Nadumudivenu, Shankar
Language Malayalam
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
A murder trail
Director: Billy Wilder
Screenplays: Agatha Christie, Billy Wilder
Starring: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton
Language: English
Memento (2000)
A short-term memory loss patient uses notes, tattoos and his limited memory to find out the real killer of his wife
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenplays: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano
Language: English
Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988) [English: A note from a CBI’s diary]
A detective is asked to investigate a suspicious suicide case of a married woman.
Director: K. Madhu
Screenplay: S.N. Swamy
Starring: Mammootty, Suresh Gopi and Jagathi Sreekumar
Language: Malayalam
Les diaboliques (1955) [English: Diabolique]
The wife and mistress kills of a cruel headmaster but the body get disappears after the murder.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Writers: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Stars: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot and Paul Meurisse
Language: French
12 Angry Men (1957)
A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam
Language: English
Baishe Srabon (2011)
A serial killer who is after innocent victims terrorises the city of Kolkata.
Director: Srijit Mukherji
Starring: Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Abir Chatterjee
Language: Bengali
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