MTDb › Best of › Mystery › 1990s
Best Mystery Movies of the 1990s
#1 Se7en (1995) · ★ 8.4 · 23,805 votes · 2h 7m · thriller, crime, mysteryTwo homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tor…
#2 The Sixth Sense (1999) · ★ 8.0 · 13,363 votes · 1h 47m · thriller, drama, mysteryFollowing an unexpected tragedy, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe meets a nine year old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret.…
#3 Three Colors: Red (1994) · ★ 7.9 · 1,606 votes · 1h 40m · romance, drama, mysteryPart-time model Valentine unexpectedly befriends a retired judge after she runs over his dog. At first, the grumpy man shows no concern about the dog, and Valentine decides to keep…
#4 L.A. Confidential (1997) · ★ 7.8 · 5,767 votes · 2h 18m · thriller, crime, mysteryThree detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night d…
#5 Primal Fear (1996) · ★ 7.7 · 4,188 votes · 2h 10m · thriller, drama, crimeDefense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering th…
#6 Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) · ★ 7.7 · 861 votes · 1h 17m · horror, animation, familyAfter going their separate ways, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred reunite to investigate the ghost of Moonscar the pirate on a haunted bayou island, but it turns out the…
#7 Twelve Monkeys (1995) · ★ 7.6 · 9,403 votes · 2h 9m · thriller, science-fiction, mysteryIn the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and…
#8 The Game (1997) · ★ 7.6 · 7,403 votes · 2h 9m · thriller, drama, mysteryIn honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift…
#9 Gattaca (1997) · ★ 7.6 · 7,170 votes · 1h 47m · thriller, romance, dramaVincent is an all-too-human man who dares to defy a system obsessed with genetic perfection. He is an "In-Valid" who assumes the identity of a member of the genetic elite to pursue…
#10 Lost Highway (1997) · ★ 7.6 · 3,072 votes · 2h 14m · thriller, drama, mysteryA tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.…
#11 Cure (1997) · ★ 7.6 · 880 votes · 1h 51m · thriller, horror, crimeA frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.…
#12 Eyes Wide Shut (1999) · ★ 7.5 · 7,104 votes · 2h 39m · thriller, drama, mysteryAfter Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexua…
#13 The Devil's Advocate (1997) · ★ 7.5 · 7,032 votes · 2h 24m · thriller, drama, horrorAspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that his boss has something far mo…
#14 Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) · ★ 7.5 · 1,306 votes · 1h 16m · action, adventure, dramaAndrea Beaumont leaves her father to return to Gotham, rekindling an old romance with Bruce Wayne. At the same time, a mysterious figure begins to hunt down Gotham's criminals, wro…
#15 The Double Life of Véronique (1991) · ★ 7.5 · 914 votes · 1h 38m · fantasy, romance, dramaVéronique is a beautiful young French woman who aspires to be a renowned singer; Weronika lives in Poland, has a similar career goal and looks identical to Véronique, though the tw…
#16 Scream (1996) · ★ 7.4 · 8,254 votes · 1h 52m · horror, crime, mysteryA year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.…
#17 Contact (1997) · ★ 7.4 · 5,196 votes · 2h 30m · drama, science-fiction, mysteryA radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action…
#18 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) · ★ 7.4 · 2,353 votes · 2h 15m · drama, horror, mysteryIn the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended,…
#19 Jacob's Ladder (1990) · ★ 7.4 · 2,007 votes · 1h 53m · drama, horror, mysteryAfter returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world…
#20 Three Colors: White (1994) · ★ 7.4 · 1,381 votes · 1h 32m · comedy, drama, mysteryPolish immigrant Karol Karol finds himself out of a marriage, a job and a country when his French wife, Dominique, divorces him after six months due to his impotence. Forced to lea…
#21 Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost (1999) · ★ 7.4 · 509 votes · 1h 10m · comedy, fantasy, animationScooby-Doo and the Mystery Gang visit Oakhaven, Massachusetts to seek strange goings on involving a famous horror novelist and his ancestor who is rumored to have been a witch.…
#22 Dark City (1998) · ★ 7.3 · 3,362 votes · 1h 41m · science-fiction, mysteryA man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of h…
#23 Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) · ★ 7.3 · 1,672 votes · 1h 40m · drama, crime, mysteryAn examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office. Unscrupulous salesmen try to hawk dubious real estate to suckers.…
#24 Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) · ★ 7.3 · 1,213 votes · 1h 44m · comedy, mysteryA middle-aged couple suspects foul play when their neighbor's wife suddenly drops dead.…
#25 Dolores Claiborne (1995) · ★ 7.3 · 905 votes · 2h 12m · drama, crime, mysteryDolores Claiborne was accused of killing her abusive husband twenty years ago, but the court's findings were inconclusive and she was allowed to walk free. Now she has been accused…
#26 Sleepy Hollow (1999) · ★ 7.2 · 7,617 votes · 1h 45m · fantasy, thriller, dramaSkeptical young detective Ichabod Crane gets transferred to the hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, New York, where he is tasked with investigating the decapitations of three people – murders…
#27 Ghost (1990) · ★ 7.2 · 6,230 votes · 2h 7m · fantasy, thriller, romanceAfter a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.…
#28 In the Mouth of Madness (1995) · ★ 7.2 · 1,995 votes · 1h 35m · fantasy, thriller, dramaAn insurance investigator visits a small town while looking into the strange disappearance of a popular horror novelist. He soon finds that the impact of the author’s books is far…
#29 Quiz Show (1994) · ★ 7.2 · 1,018 votes · 2h 13m · drama, history, mysteryHerbert Stempel's transformation into an unexpected television personality unfolds as he secures victory on the cherished American game show, 'Twenty-One.' However, when the show i…
#30 The Player (1992) · ★ 7.2 · 993 votes · 2h 4m · comedy, thriller, dramaA Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?…
#31 Pi (1998) · ★ 7.1 · 2,603 votes · 1h 24m · thriller, drama, mysteryA mathematical genius discovers a link between numbers and reality, and thus believes he can predict the future.…
#32 The Thirteenth Floor (1999) · ★ 7.1 · 1,628 votes · 1h 40m · thriller, science-fiction, mysteryIn Los Angeles, a wealthy man, known as Mr. Fuller, discovers a shocking secret about the world he lives in. Fearing for his life, he leaves a desperate message for a friend of his…
#33 Basic Instinct (1992) · ★ 7.0 · 4,549 votes · 2h 8m · thriller, mysteryCatherine, a novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite, becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered -- a crime she had described in her latest story.…
#34 In the Line of Fire (1993) · ★ 7.0 · 1,877 votes · 2h 8m · action, thriller, dramaVeteran Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan is a man haunted by his failure to save President Kennedy while serving protection detail in Dallas. Thirty years later, a man calling h…
#35 Amistad (1997) · ★ 7.0 · 1,465 votes · 2h 35m · drama, history, mysteryIn 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticu…
#36 Arlington Road (1999) · ★ 7.0 · 1,307 votes · 1h 57m · thriller, drama, crimeBedraggled college professor Michael Faraday has been vexed — and increasingly paranoid — since his wife's accidental death in a botched FBI operation. When a seemingly all-America…
#37 The X-Files (1998) · ★ 6.9 · 1,915 votes · 2h 1m · thriller, science-fiction, mysteryMulder and Scully, now taken off the FBI's X Files cases, must find a way to fight the shadowy elements of the government to find out the truth about a conspiracy that might mean t…
#38 Election (1999) · ★ 6.9 · 1,244 votes · 1h 43m · comedy, romance, dramaA high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.…
#39 Breakdown (1997) · ★ 6.9 · 1,166 votes · 1h 33m · action, thriller, dramaOn their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break wh…
#40 Cube (1998) · ★ 6.8 · 5,408 votes · 1h 30m · thriller, science-fiction, mysteryA group of strangers find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison. It soon becomes clear that each of them possesses the peculiar skills necessary to escape, if they don't wind up…