Murder, mystery, intrigue, and the machinations of the macbre hold a lot of what movie-goers find most entertaining and thrilling about storytelling. Found within the idea of not-knowing, the classic “Whodunit?” offers something in the foundation of its conception that other genres do not: An active role for each viewer as a guest-detective.

The best murder mysteries/whodunits do just that, they bring the audience into the story, taking them on a ride, introducing characters, obstacles, and setting, to deliver the poignant punch of mystery. This mystery is what captivates each movie-goer and puts them on both a chase and a race to the finish line, as viewers are tantalized by the mystery and galvanized in their participant-watcher role of both trying to inwardly figure out “who did it” while watching the plot unfold toward the ultimate revelation that either confirms their suspicions or gives them the best “A-Ha!” moment.

Over the years, there have been several movies that have done this extrememly well. Here are some of those, ranked.

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10 Clue (1985)

     Guber-Peters Company

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9 Chinatown (1974)

     Paramount Pictures

Very much known as a classic, Chinatown stars Jack Nicholson as a detective who is hired to expose an adulterer. However, in the course of doing so, is thrown into web of deceit that involves both corruption and murder. The film also starts Faye Dunaway and is directed by Roman Polanski and is considered to be a multi-layered mystery that has nuances of a pyschological drama. Additionally, Chinatown was selected by the Library of Congress to the National Film registry as culturally, historically, or aestically signicant.

8 Blowout (1981)

     Filmways

Blowout is viewed as a gripping thriller that stars John Travolta as a sound engineer who believes he has proof that a politician did not die in an accident but instead was murdered. From there the story unfolds as finding out whether or not the proof is accurate parallels with the possibility of the notion that if it is true then who is behind the murder and cover up.

7 Scream (1996)

     Dimension Films

Also known as part of the horror genre and slasher subgenre, Scream differs from a lot the other movies in those genre because of its murder mystery nature. While the killer is a slasher and is terrorizing victims, the identity of who is under the ghostface mask is a mainstay of the mystery, offering a penultimate reveal at the end of just who it is that has been killing off the group of teenagers in an effort to get to Sidney Prescott.

6 The Maltese Falcon (1941)

     Warner Bros.

Considered a film noir, The Maltese Falcon stars Humphrey Bogart as Detective Sam Spade, who’s out to find out who murdered his partner, Miles Archer, and how a statue of a falcon ties into it. The movie is based on a novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and is considered to be one of the best earlier Whodunit films in the genre.

5 Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

     Buena Vista Pictures Distribution 

This family movie centers around a hard-boiled detective that exists in the real world, which also comprises of a very much known cartoon world where humans and cartoons co-exist, interact, and work together. However, when a human is murdered, a “Toon” named Roger Rabbit is suspected of the murder. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is a classic Whodunit that alters the normal setting and reality in which the mystery is centered, thus making it unique and one of a kind in its genre.

4 Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

     Anglo-EMI Film Distributors

3 Brick (2005)

     Bergman Lustig Productions

Rian Johnson is probably best known for his more recent murder mystery, Knives Out, but before Knives Out there was Brick, his debut feature film. Brick is considered a neo-noir mystery film and is a hard-boiled detective story centered around high school students in a California suburb. The Whodunit stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a teenager trying to figure out who murdered his girlfriend.

2 Kiss Kiss Bang (2005)

Also known as a neo-noir mystery film, Kiss Kiss Bang is full of action and comedy as a case of mistaken identity sends a New York thief to Hollywood to train under a private investigater for a movie role. However, both find themselves caught up in a murder mystery with a struggling actress as they attempt to weave their way through the chaos and find the truth. Kiss Kiss Bang is based on the novel Bodies Are Where You Find Them by Brett Halliday and stars Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer, and Michelle Monaghan.

1 Knives Out (2019)

     Lionsgate

After a couple of other films, including The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson returned to the Whodunit genre to pen and direct Knives Out, which many consider to be a launching pad for the revitalization of the Whodunit genre. Knives Out has an ensemble cast of stars and is about a detective who investigates an eccentric and well-off family after the patriarch, a successful author and publisher, mysteriously dies. Knives Out is an original screenplay and even was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.