13 Creepy Detective Movies You Shouldn’t Watch Alone
“If we catch John Doe and he turns out to be the devil, I mean if he’s Satan himself, that might live up to our expectations, but he’s not the devil. He’s just a man.”
There’s something deeply unsettling — and irresistibly fascinating — about a detective on the hunt for an elusive serial killer. Creepy detective movies blend the thrill of the hunt with our real life obsession with true crime and the darkness of the human psyche. Whether it’s a brooding gumshoe chasing a killer through rain-slicked streets or a modern sleuth unraveling an internet mystery soaked in psychological horror, these films don’t just entertain — they provoke a disturbing feeling of unease that lingers long after the credits roll. This list catalogs the best of the creepy detective genre:
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is an FBI trainee who is privately ashamed of her humble roots in dirt-poor West Virginia. Her boss asks her to question a convicted serial killer named Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a former forensic psychiatrist who had cannibalized his victims. Clarice’s task is to slalom around Lecter’s terrifying presence and adeptness at playing mind games to get his expert opinions about how she might be able to track down a new serial murderer known in the media as “Buffalo Bill.”
Basic Instinct (1992)
After a rock star is murdered in San Francisco, detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) interviews the deceased’s girlfriend, crime novelist Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone). Trammell is enigmatic and seductive, and Curran takes his eye off the ball (solving the case) in order to have a brief affair with his prime suspect. Basic Instinct is a great murder mystery and one of the best erotic thrillers ever made.
Se7en (1995)
This influential crime thriller directed by David Fincher follows two homicide detectives–one (Brad Pitt) young and impulsive, the other (Morgan Freeman) old and reflective. The partners are assigned to find a serial killer who seems to choose his victims based on the notion of the “seven deadly sins”. The gruesome crime scenes lead them nowhere, though it seems the killer is determined for the two to find him.
See also: 50 Trivia Items About the Movie ‘Seven’ (1995)
Cure (1997)
A Japanese psychological horror movie by writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Cure follows Detective Takabe (Kōji Yakusho) as he searches for answers in a puzzling series of murders in which people with no history of violence suddenly commit murder, carving an ‘X’ into each victim. Although the culprits are easy to find, their motives are non-existent, they describe simply suddenly being compelled to murder. Takabe works with forensic psychologist Sakuma (Tsuyoshi Ujiki) and theorizes that the murderers are somehow being hypnotized into committing acts of extreme violence.
Kiss the Girls (1997)
This neo-noir psychological thriller is based on the novel of the same name by James Patterson. It follows Washington, D.C. detective Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) as he learns of his niece Naomi’s kidnapping and devotes himself to solving the case. He discovers that Naomi’s disappearance is connected to ten other kidnappings in the area, none of which have been solved. Meanwhile, Dr. Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd) is abducted by the killer and held captive in a cave where other women, including Naomi, are being held in similar cells. When Dr. McTiernan escapes, she works closely with Detective Cross to rescue not only Naomi, but the other women being held captive as well.
A sequel, Along Came a Spider, was released in 2001.
Fallen (1998)
Homicide detective John Hobbes (Denzel Washington) successfully captures serial killer Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas) and later watches his execution. However, murders in the style of Reese’s Modus Operandi begin occurring again. Is it a copycat killer? Or something even more sinister?
The Bone Collector (1999)
Based on the novel of the same name by Jeffery Deaver, The Bone Collector stars Denzel Washington as quadriplegic forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme. When rookie cop Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) discovers a corpse, the two work together to find the identity of the murderer. Because of his injury, Rhyme is confined to his bed and relies on technology to research the case and communicate with Amelia. The killer leaves clues for the detectives at each new murder scene, goading them to solve the case before he strikes again.
In 2020, a television series, Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, was made based on the character of Lincoln Rhyme.
The Watcher (2000)
This thriller follows an FBI agent (James Spader) after he fails to save a woman from a serial killer and retires. After moving to Chicago, he learns of several women who have been murdered in his apartment building. At first resistant to returning to work, he is pursued by the serial killer who wants to resume their cat-and-mouse game.
Red Dragon (2002)
This prequel to The Silence of the Lambs (1991) follows FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton), the man who first realized forensic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) was a dangerous cannibalistic serial murderer. Injured during the arrest, Graham retires and relocates his family to Key West to live a quieter life. He is called out of retirement to help the FBI identify a serial killer known as the “Tooth Fairy”, who targets families and kills during the full moon.
Memories of a Murder (2003)
A neo-noir crime thriller directed and co-written by Bong Joon-ho. In the late 80s, inexperienced small town detective Park Doo-man (Song Kang-ho) seeks to find the identity of the person responsible for a string of rapes and murders with the help of Seoul detective Seo Tae-yoon (Kim Sang-kyung). As such sadistic crimes are rare in the area, the detectives struggle to find the killer.
Taking Lives (2004)
FBI profiler Illeana Scott (Angelina Jolie) travels to Montreal to help Canadian police track down a serial killer who takes on the identity of his victims in order to evade detection. She works with art dealer James (Ethan Hawke), who witnessed the killer and is able to make a drawing that leads detectives to the killer’s apartment (complete with a corpse of one of his victims). Though Illeana is a gifted detective, the killer manages to stay one step ahead of the investigation.
Shutter Island (2010)
In what would become Martin Scorsese’s most lucrative film up to that time, Leo DiCaprio stars as Federal Marshall Teddy Daniels, who along with his partner Chuck take a boat out to Shutter Island, off the coast near Boston. They have been assigned to search for a missing inmate at the highly fortified asylum on the island. Teddy is a World War II veteran and is still haunted by memories of what he saw when he and his unit liberated Nazi concentration camps. What he sees at the asylum brings back bad memories.
Longlegs (2024)
A scary and unsettling horror thriller about a new FBI agent, Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) and the hunt for a prolific serial killer named Longlegs. Longlegs (Nic Cage) is somehow responsible for dozens of familicides between the 1970s and the “present day” (1990s), leaving letters with Satanic coding at each scene. Mildly clairvoyant, Harker is a gifted detective and is able to make progress in the case, leading to the identity of Longlegs.
