Best Investigation movies of 1980s

Actors : Don Knotts, Tim Conway, Trisha Noble, Bernard Fox,
Directors : Lang Elliott,

This spoof of the Sherlock Holmes stories finds Inspector Winship and Dr. Tart investigating a strange death in a possibly haunted mansion, while dealing with the beautiful heiress and the ...

Actors : Nick Nolte, Debra Winger, Will Patton, Judith Ivey,
Directors : Karel Reisz,

A seeming good Samaritan (Debra Winger) hires a private detective (Nolte) to prove a teen sitting in prison on a murder charge is innocent. His investigation discovers deep corruption in a ...

Actors : Kate Nelligan, Stockard Channing, Judd Hirsch, David Dukes,
Directors : Stanley R. Jaffe,

This film, centering on a child's abduction, casts Kate Nelligan as the distraught mother who lashes out at the police (in the person of a relentless detective played by Judd Hirsch), who ...

Actors : Leo Rossi, Judd Nelson, Robert Loggia, Meg Foster,
Directors : William Lustig,

Two Los Angeles police detectives, cynical veteran Malloy and cocky rookie Dietz, hunt for a serial killer, an ex-cop named Taylor, whom randomly chooses his victims from a phone directory.

Actors : Anne Archer, Kate Capshaw, Tom Berenger, Elizabeth Perkins,
Directors : Alan Rudolph,

Vampish miss Dolan hires hardboiled P.I. Harry Dobbs to tail her shady boyfriend. Harry realizes that the man leads a double life but then his client disappears. Harry teams up with his own tail, P.I. Stella Wynkowski, to clear things up.

Actors : Virginia Madsen, Tom Hulce, Don Keith Opper, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio,
Directors : Wayne Wang,

An artist, framed for the murder of a woman, is drawn into a web of corruption, blackmail and deceit.

Actors : Lena Stolze, Monika Baumgartner, Elisabeth Bertram, Hans-Reinhard Müller,
Directors : Michael Verhoeven,

When a young woman investigates her town's Nazi past, the community turns against her.

Actors : Norman Burton, Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomerson, Gwynne Gilford,
Directors : Vernon Zimmerman,

A shy, lonely film buff embarks on a killing spree against those who browbeat and betray him, all the while stalking his idol, a Marilyn Monroe lookalike.

Actors : Sophie Marceau, Richard Anconina, Pascale Rocard, Gérard Depardieu,
Directors : Maurice Pialat,

A moody, jaded police detective, while investigating a drug ring, falls for a mysterious woman and is drawn into a shady and dangerous scheme.

Actors : Brittain Frye, Keely Christian, David Greenlee, Michael Harris,
Directors : Sally Mattison,

Jackie Cassidy and her friends are stalked by a serial killer while having a slumber party.

Actors : Richard Hatch, Peter Ustinov, Angie Dickinson, Lee Grant,
Directors : Clive Donner,

Famous detective Charlie Chan is called out of retirement to help a San Francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders. With his bumbling grandson as his sidekick, Chan also ...

Actors : Hitomi Kobayashi, Eriko Nakagawa, Aya Katsuragi, Miyuki Ono,
Directors : Toshiharu Ikeda,

A TV station employee takes a camera crew out to an abandoned factory to investigate a purported snuff film that was made there, only to end up running for her life when a small, fetus-like creature murders her crew.

Actors : Jean-Louis Trintignant, Lambert Wilson, Wadeck Stanczak, Juliette Binoche,
Directors : André Téchiné,

A provocative erotic drama, stylishly rendered by Andre Techine, who won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for this compelling investigation into the intersection of sexual and artistic passion.

Actors : Kemal Sunal, Sümer Tilmaç, Ali Sen, Nevra Serezli,
Directors : Ugur Inan,

Juvenalian satire comedy adapted from stage features a withdrawn family man who just doesn't respond to anything done to him. Only until a serial killer steals his driver's licence and the family man is mistaken as a serial killer.

Actors : Alan Arkin, Charles Durning, Peter Falk, Beverly D'Angelo,
Directors : John Cassavetes,

Insurance agent plots with client to kill her nutty husband.

Actors : Karen Austin, Richard Masur, Drew Barrymore, Matt Frewer,
Directors : Meiert Avis,

A teenage girl and her father driving cross-country become stranded when their car runs out of gas in a remote Nevada desert town and they're forced to stay in a dilapidated trailer park where a serial killer lurks.

Actors : Louise Lasser, Mark Soper, Julie Gordon, Jayne Bentzen,
Directors : John Grissmer,

As kids, Todd is institutionalized for a murder whilst his twin goes free. 10 years later, on Thanksgiving, Todd escapes and a killing spree begins in his neighborhood.

Actors : Charles Borromel, George Eastman, Katya Berger, Annie Belle,
Directors : Joe D'Amato,

A priest comes to a small town to help get rid of a monster whose blood coagulates very fast. This creates problems as the monster is very hard to kill and then decides to go on a killing spree of its own.

Actors : Michael Rubin, Craig Sabin, Steve McCoy, George Seminara,
Directors : John Elias Michalakis,

Six high school buddies accidentally kill a drug pusher and dump his body in toxic waters. When the pusher returns as a zombie and goes on a killing spree, their only recourse is to dump ...

Actors : Chris Sarandon, Pat Morita, Jay Leno, Tom Noonan,
Directors : Lewis Teague,

A Japanese investigator (Morita) and a Detroit cop (Leno) team up to track down a stolen prototype turbocharger.