The Best Mystery & Thriller Movies of the 1980s

The crown jewel of buddy cop movies, Lethal Weapon sees an unlikely friendship blossom between two incredibly different cops.

Sergeant Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) is an ex-Green Beret who has become suicidal and unstable following the death of his wife. Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is a seasoned policeman and family man who also served in a war.

When they're partnered together to investigate a suicide, they're like oil and water. But as they dive deeper and take on an international crime ring, they forge a stronge bond of respect.

The 80s produced quite a few iconic mystery movies, and this one may well be the best. Based off the board game of the same name, Clue perplexed and tickled audiences in equal turns.

Six guests (Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, and Lesley Ann Warren) are invited to a dinner party at a mansion by a mysterious host.

After a blackmail plot is unveiled, the host is found dead.

As the guests try to pin down the killer, more and more bodies turn up. With no way to trust their fellow guests, tensions and hilarity run high.

This dark crime thriller is not for the faint of heart. Based on the Freedom Summer murders of 1964, Mississippi Burning takes viewers into the dark heart of racism in the south.

It's 1964, and three civil rights workers have arrived in Jessup County, Mississippi to organize a voter registry for African Americans. Unfortunately, they never get the chance to leave.

Two FBI agents (Willem Dafoe and Gene Hackman) are sent to investigate the disappearances of these activists.

As they wade through KKK involvement, they are quick to discover the local authorities are more keen to stand in their way than help.

Just in time to name drop the new installation in the franchise, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, this film is an essential 80s action comedy.

Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is a streetwise Detroit cop. When his old friend Mikey (James Russo) is murdered, Foley takes an unauthorized trip to Beverly Hills to solve the crime himself.

As cultures clash, Foley stays one step ahead of the local cops tailing him, and hot on the trail of a dangerous drug ring.

Based on the novel of the same name, this film takes viewers back to medieval times.

A Benedictine abbey in Northern Italy is the site of a slew of mysterious deaths.

Franciscan friar William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) uses his keen analytical mind to investigate what he believes to be murders.

Loosely based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, this movie is truly one of a kind.

Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is a private detective in 1947 Hollywood. A Hollywood which happens to see humans co-exist with “toons”, who are living breathing cartoons.

Down on his luck and depressed, Eddie takes a job to hunt down proof that gorgeous toon Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner) is cheating on her husband Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer) with gag factory mogul Marvin Acme (Christopher Lloyd).

When Acme is found murdered, Eddie must now try and prove Roger's innocence.

If Clue is the defining mystery of the 80s, then Die Hard is without a doubt the defining thriller. This Bruce Willis film has left a long-lasting impact on pop culture.

NYPD detective John McClane (Willis) visits Los Angeles to spend Christmas Eve with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia).

Unfortunately, Holly's company Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza is taken hostage by a band of German radicals.

Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) is leading this group of thugs, with designs on millions of dollars worth of bonds in the vault.

It's up to McClane to unravel Gruber's nefarious plot and keep the hostages safe.

A young Amish boy is the only witness to the brutal murder of an undercover cop. Now Philadelphia detective John Book (Harrison Ford) must protect the boy and his mother.

However, as the case becomes more dangerous, Book must seek refuge with the family on their farm.