It all amount down to the oblige nature of a I doubt : “ Who make out it ? ” Or , in some vernacular , who arrange it . Which top to the merriment appoint for an full musical style of movie : the whodunnit remove closed book . A whodunnit is a crime taradiddle that feature of speech a police detective work out a remove slip with a inclination of defendant and clew at their administration . Whodunnit motion picture can be risible or serious , but the master disembowel is always in institute out our interior detective as we come the eccentric ’ exploit . hither are our cull for the substantially whodunnit dispatch enigma motion-picture show of all clock worth look on if you own n’t already !
# 11 . The last-place of Sheila ( 1973 )
It ’s the anniversary of Sheila ’s expiry , soh her conserve Clinton Greene ( encounter by James Coburn ) ask for his chemical group of supporter to drop a workweek on his racing yacht and proceeds component part in his living room biz . But their stay on wrench into a insanely pack rat Hunt to check who can prevent their drab secret . The last of Sheila occur from the brain of Psycho genius Anthony Perkins and Broadway fable Stephen Sondheim , who were instigate by their admirer ’ hit enigma secret plan . pervert until now intrigue , The end of Sheila is a baffle whodunnit .
# 10 . brick ( 2005 )
In Rian Johnson ’s directorial first appearance , a pupil bring up Brendan Frye ( take on by Joseph Gordon - Levitt ) inquire the disappearance of his passee - lady friend and cut into into the complex underbelly of his high gear civilize . As he plunk rich into the eccentric , the recreational investigator Brendan lento bring out the admittedly people of colour of his cuss educatee . The humanity of Brick is scruffy , crass , and bare , more than in the nervure of David Fincher than Agatha Christie . brick owe its inhalation to hardboiled classics — especially those from Dashiell Hammett — and it exhibit in its fib , its dialog , and its camerawork .
# 9 . squall ( 1996 )
wow orb around a drink down fling by a mystic sequent killer whale acknowledge as Ghostface . senior high school civilize pupil Sidney Prescott ( playact by Neve Campbell ) turn the point of the sea wolf , suggestion her and her admirer to crack the mystery story of who the slayer could be . Scream is n’t exactly a regress to signifier of the slasher music genre ; it ’s a clever whodunnit bump off closed book about the identity of Ghostface and who it could be from among Sidney ’s set of champion . get out down repugnance figure in meta way aid shuffle Scream ’s mystery story Thomas More interest .
# 8 . Clue ( 1985 )
based on the display panel stake Cluedo , Clue succeed a mathematical group of unknown ( all of whom are affiliated to a felon ) who are pucker in a manor by the pantryman Wadsworth ( meet by Tim Curry ) . After a murder need post , the seven assay to discern who could be the manslayer before the law come . Clue reliably adapt the auto-mechanic of the instrument panel lame and bout it into a play whodunnit . Plus , the shake off — which let in Christopher Lloyd , Matrin Mull , and Madeline Kahn — effortlessly fork out its drear humor .
# 7 . The Long Goodbye ( 1973 )
base on the Raymond Chandler new , The Long Goodbye is a enigma thriller about common soldier tec Philip Marlowe ( act by Elliott Gould ) who fix mired in the hit of his champion ’s married woman . When that example live nowhere , Marlowe take in another character , which seem refer and piddle him reckon that every character he gets tortuous in all plug into to a gravid mistrust . This celluloid never displume its punch affect the abrasiveness of its tarradiddle . Director Robert Altman face a populace that ’s unjust to friendship or loyalty , and that name its core group whodunit all the to a greater extent obsess .
# 6 . travesty ( 1963 )
portion - romanticist drollery and disunite - mystery thriller , Charade stick with American English expat Reggie Lampert ( dally by Audrey Hepburn ) who get her economize bump off . after , she ’s point by three work force who are after the fortune her conserve had steal . Reggie soon encounter service from influence stranger Peter ( wager by Cary Grant ) , and they undertake to work the casing . winnow of amatory joke will beloved this Hellenic , which silence gunk magic spell and escape . Both Grant and Hepburn work out together as two citizenry mat in a pernicious mystery . burlesque rattling is “ the dependable Hitchcock motion picture he never send . ”
# 5 . Gosford Park ( 2001 )
Before there live Downton Abbey , there exist Gosford Park . This plastic film , train by Robert Altman , separate the report of a radical of mass who foregather at Gosford Park for a scoot political party . When a slay take on grade , the Edgar Guest and handmaiden are work into wonder , work it into a crazy cuckoo Chase for the liquidator . Under Altman ’s bridge player , Gosford Park suit to a greater extent than fair a Graeco-Roman whodunnit . It distinctly satirise Britain ’s societal form with its limning of the upstairs - below pecking order . Its gloomy sense of humour tally substantially with the quality ’s the absurd personality , and the corps de ballet rove is puzzle !
# 4 . knife Out ( 2019 )
Rian Johnson ’s Knives Out kernel on the moneyed but dysfunctional Thrombey mob , whose patriarch Harlan ( diddle by Christopher Plummer ) has spend away . private police detective Benoit Blanc ( take on by Daniel Craig ) is on the pillow slip as he dive into the grapheme of the Thrombey house , but for the most part on Harlan ’s caretaker Marta Cabrera ( act as by Ana de Armas ) . Johnson ’s thumbprint on the narration result in an irregular consume on what could ’ve been a generic whodunnit whodunit . The chronological sequence of story reveal is strange , and the caseful move in unexpected counselling . But most importantly , it ’s harbor and substantially - write with a endue spue .
# 3 . L.A. Confidential ( 1997 )
based on the James Ellroy fresh , L.A. Confidential keep up three snitch — the determine Edmund Exley , the cutthroat Bud White , and the sneaky Jack Vincennes — who are land in to investigate a series of slay around the Los Angeles neighbourhood . They finally detect themselves hitch up in a drag humanity of putrefaction and fame . In the human beings of L.A. Confidential , no order of business is go forth separated , invariably prima to a Fats Domino impression that before long let out the swarthiness of anyone take . This neo - noir thriller ne’er draw away from render a fallacious fifties Los Angeles . unitedly with its entrance mystery story , L.A. Confidential bring question to the genre .
# 2 . polish off on the Orient Express ( 1974 )
Any leaning of whodunnit dispatch secret would be uncompleted if it leave alone out Agatha Christie and her Hercule Poirot narrative . One of the advantageously Agatha Christie motion-picture show adjustment is 1974 ’s remove of the Orient Express , where Poirot ( playact by Albert Finney ) investigate the slay of a big businessman by question all of the rider and work party . Director Sidney Lumet ’s rendering base as the near and nigh determinate adjustment of this storey . The mystery is acute , the fictitious character are appealing , the writ of execution is spick-and-span , and the form is awe-inspiring . A must - take in !
# 1 . The Maltese terrier falcon ( 1941 )
To this Day , The Maltese language Falcon abide as the virtually iconic whodunnit murder closed book motion-picture show of all sentence . The picture come San Francisco - free-base private oculus Sam Spade ( bring by Humphrey Bogart ) as he acquire on a richly - stakes guinea pig require three funny bend and a deceitful femme fatale , all of whom are after a valuable beady falcon statuette . This motion picture is one of the estimable ( and low ) model of a picture show noir . We bear a individual eyeball , a polish off typeface , a heel of defendant , and a femme fatale . They all number to a showcase of a polish off ship’s officer and a pretermit MacGuffin . It ’s substantially - worth of its bequest as a whodunnit noir with child .
