Detective Movies belong to a larger genre family, along with Crime and Thriller Movies. Detective Stories or Murder Mysteries usually revolve around the investigation of a deadly crime. Nowadays, it’s the most important genre on worldwide television. You rarely see it in the cinema, because it’s quite cerebral and not really action-oriented.
The most important subgenres of Detective Movies.
Inhalt
The mystery in Detective Movies
The want of the main character is to solve a crime. In contrast with all other genres, the adversary is replaced by a mystery. This, in turn, invites the audience to actively think along. If you are writing a Detective Story, you should definitely know what’s behind the mystery before you start writing.
The key to a good Detective Movie is the crime, and more importantly, how the criminal covers up the crime. The clues to the mystery emerge as we reach the turning points of the story, continuing to complete the puzzle. Regardless of genre, it’s always a good idea to look at the turning points separately from the story and see whether they logically build on each other and increase in intensity as you raise the stakes.
The serious Detective Movie
With ZAHN UM ZAHN, the first German Detective Movie made it to the big screen in 1985. The character Schimanski is definitely a very strong one here. Nevertheless, one has to say that the whole thing has turned out to be very episodic, since the Detective genre was combined with the Adventure without an ongoing adversary. The movie contains some very strong action elements, but still falls apart in terms of suspense.
The Detective Comedy
DAMPFNUDELBLUES is a Detective comedy. On the one hand, the main character in these stories must have a strong motivation to solve the puzzle. On the other hand, they must be kind of incompetent, because that’s the primary way to make fun of this character.
Top Detective Films 2022
Maybe you’ve already seen one or the other.
DEATH ON THE NILE
THE BATMAN
GUGELHUPFGESCHWADER
A few words about me: As a Writer-Director, I write my own stories. I wrote the eBook The Ultimate Reading Guide for students as a learning aid. I also give Writing Seminars and Film Workshops.