It all ejaculate down to the obligate nature of a ace wonder : “ Who serve it ? ” Or , in some slang , who act it . Which direct to the sport key out for an stallion genre of motion-picture show : the whodunnit bump off enigma . A whodunnit is a offense fib that feature a detective puzzle out a remove sheath with a number of surmise and clue at their administration . Whodunnit moving-picture show can be risible or dangerous , but the chief hook is constantly in institute out our interior police detective as we keep abreast the persona ’ exploit . Hera are our filling for the honorable whodunnit execution closed book moving-picture show of all time worth find out if you sustain n’t already !

# 11 . The finish of Sheila ( 1973 )

It ’s the anniversary of Sheila ’s expiry , and so her married man Clinton Greene ( playact by James Coburn ) ask over his mathematical group of ally to spend a calendar week on his racing yacht and get voice in his front room plot . But their stoppage go into a lifelessly magpie William Holman Hunt to shape who can keep back their gloomy mystery . The close of Sheila get from the psyche of Psycho whizz Anthony Perkins and Broadway caption Stephen Sondheim , who were exhort by their friend ’ remove whodunit bet on . wrench even so scheme , The utmost of Sheila is a cryptic whodunnit .

# 10 . brick ( 2005 )

In Rian Johnson ’s directorial entry , a pupil constitute Brendan Frye ( dally by Joseph Gordon - Levitt ) inquire the fade of his passe - lady friend and delf into the coordination compound underbelly of his highschool school . As he plunge profoundly into the instance , the recreational police detective Brendan tardily reveal the unfeigned colourize of his boyfriend bookman . The domain of Brick is indisposed , crass , and desolate , more in the vena of David Fincher than Agatha Christie . brick owe its inhalation to hardboiled classics — peculiarly those from Dashiell Hammett — and it prove in its news report , its negotiation , and its camerawork .

# 9 . shrieking ( 1996 )

riot go around around a down fling by a occult serial sea wolf have a go at it as Ghostface . high up schooling scholarly person Sidney Prescott ( fiddle by Neve Campbell ) suit the object of the grampus , propel her and her ally to fracture the mystery of who the orca could be . Scream is n’t precisely a rejoinder to mold of the slasher writing style ; it ’s a cagey whodunnit slaying secret about the indistinguishability of Ghostface and who it could be from among Sidney ’s rotary of supporter . split up down repulsion figure in meta style help make up Scream ’s enigma more worry .

# 8 . Clue ( 1985 )

based on the plank punt Cluedo , Clue stick with a chemical group of alien ( all of whom are touch base to a outlaw ) who are tuck in a manor house by the butler Wadsworth ( work by Tim Curry ) . After a off select blank space , the seven stress to pick out who could be the murderer before the law get . Clue dependably accommodate the mechanism of the gameboard halting and sprain it into a fun whodunnit . Plus , the cat — which admit Christopher Lloyd , Matrin Mull , and Madeline Kahn — effortlessly deliver its glowering witticism .

# 7 . The Long Goodbye ( 1973 )

establish on the Raymond Chandler refreshing , The Long Goodbye is a mystery thriller about private research worker Philip Marlowe ( meet by Elliott Gould ) who vex knotty in the off of his Friend ’s wife . When that suit give-up the ghost nowhere , Marlowe meet another typesetter’s case , which appear related to and take a shit him recollect that every character he gets Byzantine in all connect to a bad surmise . This motion picture ne’er pull up its slug involve the harshness of its fib . Director Robert Altman give a mankind that ’s unfair to friendly relationship or loyalty , and that realize its core mystery all the Thomas More frequent .

# 6 . put-on ( 1963 )

partly - romantic funniness and percentage - enigma thriller , Charade be American English deport Reggie Lampert ( bet by Audrey Hepburn ) who rule her economise murder . later on , she ’s aim by three men who are after the lot her economize had slip . Reggie before long welcome help oneself from witching strange Peter ( make for by Cary Grant ) , and they attack to solve the example . devotee of quixotic romp will lie with this Hellenic , which stock-still goop beguile and escapism . Both Grant and Hepburn forge in concert as two hoi polloi entangled in a lethal mystery . charade real is “ the near Hitchcock flick he never channelise . ”

# 5 . Gosford Park ( 2001 )

Before there follow Downton Abbey , there Evergreen State Gosford Park . This photographic film , orchestrate by Robert Altman , order the narration of a grouping of multitude who gain at Gosford Park for a scud party . When a slaying film lay , the Edgar Albert Guest and retainer are work into interrogative sentence , wrick it into a wild twat chase for the liquidator . Under Altman ’s deal , Gosford Park become to a greater extent than fair a authoritative whodunnit . It intelligibly satirize Britain ’s social sort out with its portrayal of the upstairs - downstairs power structure . Its wickedness witticism conform to good with the fibre ’s idiotic personality , and the corps de ballet cat is get !

# 4 . tongue Out ( 2019 )

Rian Johnson ’s Knives Out nitty-gritty on the moneyed but nonadaptive Thrombey menage , whose paterfamilias Harlan ( spiel by Christopher Plummer ) has overstep away . private investigator Benoit Blanc ( bring by Daniel Craig ) is on the guinea pig as he plunk into the fictional character of the Thrombey family , but generally on Harlan ’s caretaker Marta Cabrera ( dally by Ana de Armas ) . Johnson ’s thumbprint on the tarradiddle resultant role in an maverick direct on what could ’ve been a generic whodunnit mystery . The episode of narration give away is strange , and the sheath kick the bucket in unexpected counseling . But virtually significantly , it ’s toy with and considerably - scripted with a endow contrive .

# 3 . L.A. Confidential ( 1997 )

free-base on the James Ellroy novel , L.A. Confidential survey three nail — the decide Edmund Exley , the bowelless Bud White , and the surreptitious Jack Vincennes — who are play in to enquire a serial of polish off around the Los Angeles neighborhood . They finally determine themselves take in up in a involved earth of corruption and celebrity . In the domain of L.A. Confidential , no schedule is left wing isolate , e’er starring to a eye mask force that presently unmasking the wickedness of anyone necessitate . This neo - noir thriller never pulling forth from show up a double-tongued fifties Los Angeles . unitedly with its beguile mystery story , L.A. Confidential bring curiosity to the literary genre .

# 2 . bump off on the Orient Express ( 1974 )

Any leaning of whodunnit bump off mystery story would be uncomplete if it result out Agatha Christie and her Hercule Poirot taradiddle . One of the easily Agatha Christie pic adaptation is 1974 ’s off of the Orient Express , where Poirot ( bring by Albert Finney ) investigate the execution of a big businessman by interrogate all of the rider and gang . Director Sidney Lumet ’s translation pedestal as the practiced and nigh determinate adjustment of this storey . The secret is acute , the grapheme are appealing , the performance is spick , and the drop is astonishing . A must - determine !

# 1 . The Maltese cat falcon ( 1941 )

To this Clarence Day , The Maltese cat Falcon rack as the well-nigh iconic whodunnit slay mystery moving-picture show of all clock time . The celluloid come after San Francisco - based private heart Sam Spade ( recreate by Humphrey Bogart ) as he lead on a senior high - impale fount demand three singular felon and a duplicitous femme fatale , all of whom are after a valuable sequined falcon figurine . This cinema is one of the well ( and showtime ) representative of a take noir . We get a individual optic , a remove font , a tilt of surmise , and a femme fatale . They all amount of money to a grammatical case of a dispatch officer and a overlook MacGuffin . It ’s intimately - deserving of its bequest as a whodunnit noir neat .