The 80s were a fun time for a lot of different movies, but one type among all of them that was getting better and better during this period was the mystery movie. It could encompass a wide variety of movies so long as it had the mystique that was necessary to make it the kind of film that raised one or more questions, and it was almost always easy for someone to figure out but harder for the rest. Such movies were often engaging and used to push some sort of agenda about one part of society or another, but now and again they were used just as a fun bit of entertainment that allowed people to escape their normal routine for a couple of hours. Movies in the 80s were still something of a privilege at times since streaming hadn’t been invented yet and the internet was still a ways off. So mysteries were fun simply because they made you think instead of Googling the plot.
Here are a few good mysteries from the 80s.
5. The Name of the Rose
There’s something so extremely compelling about murder and religion and how they go together at times that such films tend to draw a crowd at least as long as it takes to release the movie and then let people figure things out on their own. Perhaps it’s the idea that murder and religion shouldn’t go together and are still intertwined as they have been for so long, or maybe it’s something else that people feel is simply a good story that is told by those that seem to find solace in the fact that a great cast can elevate a story beyond what it might have started as. In any case this movie was rather interesting if kind of dry in many areas.
4. No Way Out
To think that this entire movie was over the death of a woman that was seeing one man and cheating on him with another is kind of missing the point since her death puts into motion an entire witch hunt for a man that supposedly does not exist save for rumors and a belief that is created in order to keep one highly-ranked person from going to prison. The politics and backhanded deals that go on during this movie seem way too close to the truth in some cases, albeit not in an overly dramatic Hollywood type of way. There’s not a lot of guesswork to be done in this film until the end, when you start to wonder just who the main protagonist really is.
3. The Dead Zone
Having the ability to tell the future is more of a curse than a blessing since seeing tragedy coming seems like a poor gift to receive after having a horrendous accident that in effect takes one’s whole life away from them in what seems like the blink of an eye. But when Johnny realizes the ability he now has he at least attempts to use it for whatever good he can, though when no one believes in your gift since they can’t see it life becomes a little harder as many people tend to think he’s a kook. He does manage to avert at least one major disaster when he exposes a politician for the man he really is and thereby denies him the power he craves so badly.
2. Witness
There are a lot of folks that don’t understand the Amish and don’t try to largely because they do tend to live in a very antiquated way. But the idea of not defending yourself against others is something that those in the current era really don’t understand. When a young Amish boy is witness to a brutal murder a detective finds it necessary to make it his duty to protect the boy and in doing so he becomes another target. By making his way into Amish country with the boy and his mother however he soon gains the respect of the community and manages to bring down the corrupt cops that are after him.
1. Blade Runner
Blade Runner is the kind of movie that makes people think and causes arguments at the same time. It was well done for its time and the effects were good enough to turn it into a classic, as was the story. But to this day the idea that Deckard was a replicant is still one that people will debate over without cease since the unicorn theory and so many other things that point to such a revelation seem too vague to really put a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the matter in a definitive voice. In fact not even the sequel that came not that long ago really managed to do that.
The 80s proved to be a great time for movies, period.
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