Top 50 Crime films
A different kinda crime every time
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1.
Chinatown
(1974)
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption and murder. (130 mins.)
Director: Roman Polanski
2.
Fracture
(2007)
An attorney, intent on climbing the career ladder toward success, finds an unlikely opponent in a manipulative criminal he is trying to prosecute. (113 mins.)
Director: Gregory Hoblit
3.
Cape Fear
(1962)
A lawyer's family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail. (105 mins.)
Director: J. Lee Thompson
4.
The Silence of the Lambs
(1991)
A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims. (118 mins.)
Director: Jonathan Demme
5.
Rising Sun
(1993)
When an escort girl is found dead in the offices of a Japanese company in LA, detectives Web Smith and John Connor act as liaison between the company's executives and the investigating cop Tom Graham. (125 mins.)
Director: Philip Kaufman
6.
In the Valley of Elah
(2007)
A retired military investigator works with a police detective to uncover the truth behind his son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq. (121 mins.)
Director: Paul Haggis
7.
Primal Fear
(1996)
An altar boy is accused of murdering a priest, and the truth is buried several layers deep. (129 mins.)
Director: Gregory Hoblit
8.
Mr. Brooks
(2007)
A psychological thriller about a man who is sometimes controlled by his murder-and-mayhem-loving alter ego. (120 mins.)
Director: Bruce A. Evans
9.
The Name of the Rose
(1986)
An intellectually nonconformist friar investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey. (130 mins.)
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
10.
Dolores Claiborne
(1995)
A big-city reporter travels to the small town where her mother has been arrested for the murder of an elderly woman that she works for as a maid. (132 mins.)
Director: Taylor Hackford
11.
Raising Cain
(1992)
The oncologist wife of a prominent child psychologist suspects her husband has an unhealthy scientific obsession with their child, unaware of what - or who - is really going on inside his head. (91 mins.)
Director: Brian De Palma
12.
Copycat
(1995)
An agoraphobic psychologist and a female detective must work together to take down a serial killer who copies serial killers from the past. (123 mins.)
Director: Jon Amiel
13.
The Skin I Live In
(2011)
A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession. (120 mins.)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
14.
Zodiac
(2007)
A San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer. (157 mins.)
Director: David Fincher
15.
Secret Window
(2004)
A writer is accused of plagiarism by a strange man, who then starts haunting him for "justice." (96 mins.)
Director: David Koepp
16.
The Night Listener
(2006)
In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan, a young boy, via the telephone. But when questions about the boy's identity come up, the host's life is thrown into chaos. (91 mins.)
Director: Patrick Stettner
17.
The Exorcist III
(1990)
A police lieutenant uncovers more than he bargained for as his investigation of a series of murders, which have all the hallmarks of the deceased 'Gemini' serial killer, lead him to question the patients of a psychiatric ward. (110 mins.)
Director: William Peter Blatty
18.
The Negotiator
(1998)
In a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, a skilled police negotiator accused of corruption and murder takes hostages in a government office to gain the time he needs to find the truth. (140 mins.)
Director: F. Gary Gray
19.
Hard Rain
(1998)
In Huntingburg, the armored truck with three million dollars driven by Tom and his Uncle Charlie gets... (97 mins.)
Director: Mikael Salomon
20.
The Usual Suspects
(1995)
A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which begin when five criminals meet at a seemingly random police lineup. (106 mins.)
Director: Bryan Singer
21.
Se7en
(1995)
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. (127 mins.)
Director: David Fincher
22.
Insomnia
(2002)
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen. (118 mins.)
Director: Christopher Nolan
23.
The Tourist
(2010)
Revolves around Frank, an American tourist visiting Italy to mend a broken heart. Elise is an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path. (103 mins.)
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
24.
The Fugitive
(1993)
Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt. (130 mins.)
Director: Andrew Davis
25.
Surveillance
(2008)
Two FBI agents attempt to clarify the murders occurring in a desolate region. They approach the witnesses of the latest incident with the help of the local police. All of them hide something and all have wildly different stories to tell. (97 mins.)
Director: Jennifer Lynch
26.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
(1999)
In late 1950s New York, Tom Ripley, a young underachiever, is sent to Italy to retrieve Dickie Greenleaf, a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures. (139 mins.)
Director: Anthony Minghella
27.
Misery
(1990)
After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse. (107 mins.)
Director: Rob Reiner
28.
Orphan
(2009)
A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a nine year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be. (123 mins.)
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
29.
Shatterbrain
(1991)
Charles Dexter Ward's wife enlists the help of a private detective to find out what her husband is up to in a remote cabin owned by his family for centuries. (108 mins.)
Director: Dan O'Bannon
30.
Identity
(2003)
Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain-storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one. (90 mins.)
Director: James Mangold
31.
The Interview
(1998)
A duel between a suspected murderer and a detective pressed by people who want results. But whose skin is really wanted. (104 mins.)
Director: Craig Monahan
32.
Funny Games
(2007)
Two psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin. (111 mins.)
Director: Michael Haneke
33.
Catch Me If You Can
(2002)
The true story of Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars' worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. (141 mins.)
Director: Steven Spielberg
34.
The Best Offer
(2013)
In the world of high-end art auctions and antiques, Virgil Oldman is an elderly and esteemed but eccentric genius art-expert... (131 mins.)
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
35.
Dead Calm
(1989)
After a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae spend some time isolated at sea when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship. (96 mins.)
Director: Phillip Noyce
36.
Surviving the Game
(1994)
A homeless man is hired as a survival guide for a group of wealthy businessmen on a hunting trip in the mountains, unaware that they are killers who hunt humans for sport, and that he is their new prey. (96 mins.)
Director: Ernest Dickerson
37.
Midnight Express
(1978)
Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison. (121 mins.)
Director: Alan Parker
38.
The Call
(2013)
When a veteran 911 operator takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl who has just been abducted, she realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life. (94 mins.)
Director: Brad Anderson
39.
True Romance
(1993)
In Detroit, loner Clarence marries a call girl named Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood. Meanwhile, the owners of the cocaine, the mob, track them down and try to reclaim it. (120 mins.)
Director: Tony Scott
40.
Rope
(1948)
Two young men strangle their "inferior" classmate, hide his body in their apartment, and invite his friends and family to a dinner party as a means to challenge the "perfection" of their crime. (80 mins.)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
41.
Collateral
(2004)
A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles. (120 mins.)
Director: Michael Mann
42.
Falling Down
(1993)
A borderline personality disordered defense worker frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society, begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them. (113 mins.)
Director: Joel Schumacher
43.
Funny Games
(1997)
Two violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement. (108 mins.)
Director: Michael Haneke
44.
Shooter
(2007)
A marksman living in exile is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the President. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he goes on the run to find the real killer and the reason he was set up. (124 mins.)
Director: Antoine Fuqua
45.
Harry Brown
(2009)
An elderly ex-serviceman and widower looks to avenge his best friend's murder by doling out his own form of justice. (103 mins.)
Director: Daniel Barber
46.
Hard Candy
(2005)
A teenage girl raids a man's home in order to expose him under suspicion that he is a sex offender with pedophilia. (104 mins.)
Director: David Slade
47.
Fallen
(1998)
Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style. (124 mins.)
Director: Gregory Hoblit
48.
The Perfect Host
(2010)
An on the run con' looks for temporary; cover, refuge & lite medical attention, finds it at the house of a very Colorful Character who refuses to allow the con man to take advantage of him or hurt him in any way! Now lets party! (93 mins.)
Director: Nick Tomnay
49.
The Bone Collector
(1999)
A quadriplegic ex-homicide detective and his female partner try to track down a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City. (118 mins.)
Director: Phillip Noyce
50.
Basic
(2003)
A DEA agent investigates the disappearance of a legendary Army ranger drill sergeant and several of his cadets during a training exercise gone severely awry. (98 mins.)
Director: John McTiernan
51.
Murder by Numbers
(2002)
Two gifted high school students execute a "perfect" murder - then become engaged in an intellectual contest with a seasoned homicide detective. (115 mins.)
Director: Barbet Schroeder
52.
Mercury Rising
(1998)
Shadowy elements in the NSA target a nine-year old autistic savant for death when he is able to decipher a top secret code. (111 mins.)
Director: Harold Becker
53.
A Perfect Getaway
(2009)
Two pairs of lovers on a Hawaiian vacation discover that psychopaths are stalking and murdering tourists on the islands. (98 mins.)
Director: David Twohy
54.
We Need to Talk About Kevin
(2011)
Kevin's mother struggles to love her strange child, despite the increasingly vicious things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined. (112 mins.)
Director: Lynne Ramsay
55.
Inside Man
(2006)
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. (129 mins.)
Director: Spike Lee