#9 ‘Zodiac’ (2007)
Director: David Fincher
Writers: James Vanderbilt (screenplay), Robert Graysmith (book)
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo
Storyline: A serial killer in the San Francisco Bay Area taunts police with his letters and cryptic messages. We follow the investigators and reporters in this lightly fictionalized account of the true 1970’s case as they search for the murderer, becoming obsessed with the case. Based on Robert Graysmith’s book, the movie’s focus is on the lives and careers of the detectives and newspaper people.
#8 ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (2011)
Director: David Fincher
Writers: Steven Zaillian (screenplay by), Stieg Larsson (novel)
Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer
Storyline: This English-language adaptation of the Swedish novel by Stieg Larsson follows a disgraced journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), as he investigates the disappearance of a wealthy patriarch’s niece from 40 years ago. He is aided by the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara). As they work together in the investigation, Blomkvist and Salander uncover immense corruption beyond anything they have ever imagined.
#7 ‘Dial M for Murder’ (1954)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Frederick Knott (screenplay by), Frederick Knott (as adapted from his play)
Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings
Storyline: A man plots the perfect murder to get rid of his adulterous wife, but is backed into a corner when his wife fights back and kills her assassin in self-defense. Another Hitchcock classic, the plot starts out twisty and only gets twistier.
