Best Mystery Movies of the 1980s

1. 1
   The Thing 1982

   Directed by John Carpenter · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Philo, AMC Plus
   8.1

   8.1 · 8.4K votes
2. 2
   Fanny and Alexander 1982

   Directed by Ingmar Bergman · Streaming on HBO Max, Shout! Factory TV, Plex
   7.6

   7.8 · 926 votes
3. 3
   Mississippi Burning 1988

   Directed by Alan Parker · Streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
   7.6

   7.7 · 2K votes
4. 4
   Blue Velvet 1986

   Directed by David Lynch · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla
   7.6

   7.6 · 4K votes
5. 5
   Angel's Egg 1985

   Directed by Mamoru Oshii · Streaming on HBO Max
   7.5

   7.7 · 627 votes
6. 6
   The Name of the Rose 1986

   Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, The CW
   7.5

   7.5 · 3.4K votes
7. 7
   Scooby-Doo's A Nutcracker Scoob 1984

   Directed by Charles August Nichols
   7.4

   9.0 · 68 votes
8. 8
   The Secret of NIMH 1982

   Directed by Don Bluth · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Xumo Play, Tubi TV
   7.3

   7.4 · 994 votes
9. 9
   Blow Out 1981

   Directed by Brian De Palma · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Hoopla
   7.3

   7.3 · 1.8K votes
10. 10
    The Vanishing 1988

    Directed by George Sluizer
    7.3

    7.4 · 902 votes
11. 11
    Bianca 1984

    Directed by Nanni Moretti
    7.3

    7.5 · 415 votes
12. 12
    Videodrome 1983

    Directed by David Cronenberg · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
    7.2

    7.3 · 2.6K votes
13. 13
    Clue 1985

    Directed by Jonathan Lynn · Streaming on Kanopy, Pluto TV
    7.2

    7.2 · 2.1K votes
14. 14
    Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School 1988

    Directed by Charles August Nichols
    7.1

    7.4 · 344 votes
15. 15
    Angel Heart 1987

    Directed by Alan Parker · Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, YouTube Free
    7.1

    7.1 · 1.8K votes
16. 16
    Scooby-Doo! Meets the Boo Brothers 1987

    Directed by Paul Sommer
    7.1

    7.4 · 277 votes
17. 17
    Missing 1982

    Directed by Costa-Gavras
    7.1

    7.2 · 448 votes
18. 18
    The Great Mouse Detective 1986

    Directed by Ron Clements · Streaming on Disney Plus
    7.0

    7.0 · 1.9K votes
19. 19
    Terrorizers 1986

    Directed by Edward Yang
    7.0

    7.4 · 183 votes
20. 20
    Day of the Dead 1985

    Directed by George A. Romero · Streaming on fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Philo
    7.0

    7.0 · 1.5K votes
21. 21
    Dressed to Kill 1980

    Directed by Brian De Palma · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Hoopla
    6.9

    6.9 · 1.2K votes
22. 22
    The Draughtsman's Contract 1982

    Directed by Peter Greenaway · Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, Kino Film Collection
    6.9

    7.1 · 276 votes
23. 23
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles - Part 1 1981

    Directed by Igor Maslennikov
    6.8

    7.3 · 137 votes
24. 24
    Music Box 1989

    Directed by Costa-Gavras · Streaming on Kanopy
    6.8

    7.2 · 192 votes
25. 25
    Confidentially Yours 1983

    Directed by François Truffaut · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.8

    7.1 · 229 votes
26. 26
    Man Facing Southeast 1987

    Directed by Eliseo Subiela · Streaming on Fawesome
    6.8

    7.5 · 90 votes
27. 27
    Ten Little Indians 1987

    Directed by Stanislav Govorukhin
    6.8

    7.5 · 87 votes
28. 28
    Rouge 1987

    Directed by Stanley Kwan Kam-pang
    6.8

    7.4 · 96 votes
29. 29
    The Great Muppet Caper 1981

    Directed by Jim Henson · Streaming on Disney Plus
    6.8

    6.9 · 362 votes
30. 30
    Evil Under the Sun 1982

    Directed by Guy Hamilton · Streaming on Britbox, The Roku Channel, BritBox
    6.8

    6.9 · 545 votes
31. 31
    The Entity 1982

    Directed by Sidney J. Furie · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
    6.8

    6.9 · 613 votes
32. 32
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: Hunting the Tiger 1980

    Directed by Igor Maslennikov
    6.7

    7.7 · 62 votes
33. 33
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: Mortal Fight 1980

    Directed by Igor Maslennikov
    6.7

    7.6 · 67 votes
34. 34
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: King of Blackmailers 1980

    Directed by Igor Maslennikov
    6.7

    7.6 · 67 votes
35. 35
    One Deadly Summer 1983

    Directed by Jean Becker
    6.7

    7.0 · 248 votes
36. 36
    The Sign of Four 1987

    Directed by Peter Hammond
    6.7

    7.4 · 84 votes
37. 37
    Tenebre 1982

    Directed by Dario Argento · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Philo, AMC+
    6.7

    6.8 · 728 votes
38. 38
    Young Sherlock Holmes 1985

    Directed by Barry Levinson · Streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
    6.7

    6.8 · 741 votes
39. 39
    Fletch 1985

    Directed by Michael Ritchie · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Free
    6.7

    6.8 · 805 votes
40. 40
    Body Double 1984

    Directed by Brian De Palma · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Tubi TV
    6.7

    6.7 · 974 votes
41. 41
    The Hound of the Baskervilles 1988

    Directed by Brian Mills
    6.7

    7.3 · 84 votes
42. 42
    Frantic 1988

    Directed by Roman Polanski
    6.7

    6.7 · 1.2K votes
43. 43
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Treasures of Agra 1983

    Directed by Igor Maslennikov
    6.7

    7.5 · 63 votes
44. 44
    Patlabor: The Movie 1989

    Directed by Mamoru Oshii
    6.6

    6.9 · 198 votes
45. 45
    Cocoon 1985

    Directed by Ron Howard
    6.6

    6.6 · 1.5K votes
46. 46
    Opera 1987

    Directed by Dario Argento · Streaming on Philo, Kanopy, Fandango at Home Free
    6.6

    6.7 · 547 votes
47. 47
    Aunt Alejandra 1980

    Directed by Arturo Ripstein
    6.6

    7.5 · 54 votes
48. 48
    The Woman in Black 1989

    Directed by Herbert Wise
    6.6

    6.9 · 147 votes
49. 49
    A Soldier's Story 1984

    Directed by Norman Jewison · Streaming on Tubi TV, Sony Pictures Core
    6.6

    6.8 · 211 votes
50. 50
    Miss Marple: 4.50 from Paddington 1987

    Directed by Martyn Friend
    6.6

    7.5 · 49 votes

Smart score = (votes × rating + 82 × 6.03) ÷ (votes + 82): the TMDB rating, pulled toward the catalog average as if every film had 82 extra average votes.

1. 1
   W's Tragedy 1984

   Directed by Shinichiro Sawai
   6.4

   7.7 · 25 votes
2. 2
   Ico, the Brave Horse 1983

   Directed by Manuel García Ferré
   6.4

   7.8 · 20 votes
3. 3
   Yavanika 1982

   Directed by K. G. George
   6.3

   8.3 · 11 votes
4. 4
   The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Treasures of Agra - Part 1 1983

   Directed by Igor Maslennikov
   6.3

   7.6 · 19 votes
5. 5
   The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles 1981

   Directed by Igor Maslennikov
   6.3

   8.0 · 12 votes
6. 6
   The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles - Part 2 1981

   Directed by Igor Maslennikov
   6.3

   7.5 · 20 votes
7. 7
   Adventures of Vasia Kurolesov 1981

   Directed by Vladimir Popov
   6.3

   7.6 · 17 votes
8. 8
   Aparan 1988

   Directed by P. Padmarajan
   6.3

   8.0 · 11 votes
9. 9
   The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Twentieth Century Begins - Part 2 1988

   Directed by Igor Maslennikov
   6.3

   7.3 · 22 votes
10. 10
    Garfield's Babes and Bullets 1989

    Directed by Phil Roman · Streaming on Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+
    6.3

    7.3 · 20 votes