The top three Murder Mysteries that aren’t Rear Window

Ok, so the original plan for this week was to put together an election-themed section. Maybe ‘best films featuring presidents’ or ‘best political dramas’? The truth of it is that I’m a bit election’d out right now… Either that or I couldn’t find anything on Google other than Lincoln. You know what’s more exciting than student elections though? Murder. Hitchcock’s Rear Window may be the best but it’s not the be-all-and-end-all:

Memento (2000)

Christopher Nolan’s breakout feature Memento still stands up today as one of the most intelligent and intricate films ever. It focuses on Leonard Shelby, a man who is hunting for his wife’s murderer. What’s unique is that Leonard can only form short term memories. Because of this, Memento is told backwards, with X minutes of his life being told followed by a skip back in time. Makes sense? No? I swear it’s not as hard as it sounds.

Se7en (1995)

Seven (or ‘Se7en’ as it sometimes weirdly stylised) is easily one of the most critically acclaimed films in the genre. A modern-day classic, Seven tells the story of the hunt for a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. There are endless twists and turns as well as stellar performances by Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and, in particular, Kevin Spacey.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

Don’t even challenge me on this. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is a flawless, loving spoof of the noir genre. Bob Haskins is a perfect leading man and had the incredibly hard job of interacting with characters who weren’t actually there. This is something which also made the film quite revolutionary. Also, was I the only person scarred by ‘the Toon’ as a kid? I doubt I could sit through the ending even now.