::LOCKED ROOM MYSTERIES + IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES::
THE GIST OF THE LIST: The "Locked Room Mystery" - and with it the "Impossible Crime" - is a popular sub-genre of mystery-detective literal. They're cerebral puzzles, lateral-thinking riddles, enveloped within a tight crime narrative. Despite being a pure joy to read, few of these clever yarns have made it to screen... which is a shame.
[LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER]
OTHER LISTS:
CAMMANDO (MEN-ON-A-MISSION) THRILLERS
CON THRILLERS
COURTROOM THRILLERS
CULT EUROPEAN SUPERHERO MOVIES
DARK COMEDIES WITH PESKY CORPSES, BOTCHED KIDNAPPINGS, MURDEROUS BLUNDERS & ACCIDENTAL DEATHS
DEALS WITH THE DEVIL
DINNER PARTIES FROM HELL
DON'T PERFORM THE AUTOPSY! I'M NOT DEAD!
GOTHIC HORROR
HEIST THRILLERS
HEROIC BLOODSHED + BULLET BALLET + GUN-FU
HOLLYWOOD GIALLO (+ ITS OTHERS)
INNOCENT FUGITIVE ON-THE-RUN THRILLERS
ITALIAN GIALLO (+ ITS OTHERS)
LOCKED ROOM MYSTERIES + IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES
LO-FI SCI-FI
ONE ROOM THRILLERS
PARALLEL UNIVERSES, ALTERNATE REALITIES, FEVERISH DREAMS
POLICE PROCEDURALS
PRISON ESCAPE THRILLERS
RURAL-COUNTRY THRILLERS
THEOLOGICAL FILMS
THRILLING SHORT FILMS
THRILLING TV EPISODES
THRILLING TV MOVIES
UNKNOWN + UNAVAILABLE THRILLERS
VANISHED PERSON THRILLERS
[LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER]
OTHER LISTS:
CAMMANDO (MEN-ON-A-MISSION) THRILLERS
CON THRILLERS
COURTROOM THRILLERS
CULT EUROPEAN SUPERHERO MOVIES
DARK COMEDIES WITH PESKY CORPSES, BOTCHED KIDNAPPINGS, MURDEROUS BLUNDERS & ACCIDENTAL DEATHS
DEALS WITH THE DEVIL
DINNER PARTIES FROM HELL
DON'T PERFORM THE AUTOPSY! I'M NOT DEAD!
GOTHIC HORROR
HEIST THRILLERS
HEROIC BLOODSHED + BULLET BALLET + GUN-FU
HOLLYWOOD GIALLO (+ ITS OTHERS)
INNOCENT FUGITIVE ON-THE-RUN THRILLERS
ITALIAN GIALLO (+ ITS OTHERS)
LOCKED ROOM MYSTERIES + IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES
LO-FI SCI-FI
ONE ROOM THRILLERS
PARALLEL UNIVERSES, ALTERNATE REALITIES, FEVERISH DREAMS
POLICE PROCEDURALS
PRISON ESCAPE THRILLERS
RURAL-COUNTRY THRILLERS
THEOLOGICAL FILMS
THRILLING SHORT FILMS
THRILLING TV EPISODES
THRILLING TV MOVIES
UNKNOWN + UNAVAILABLE THRILLERS
VANISHED PERSON THRILLERS
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48 titles
- DirectorMarcel L'HerbierStarsHuguette DuflosKissa KouprineMaxime DesjardinsA professor's daughter is attacked in her sealed bedroom.Her fiance is suspected but a cub journalist finds the surprising culprit.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: The young lady had just retired to her room when sounds of a struggle ensue, and cries of "Murder!" and revolver shots ring out. When her locked door is finally broken down by her father and a servant, they find the woman on the floor, badly hurt and bleeding. No one else is in the room. There is no other exit except through a barred window. How did the attacker escape?
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsBarbara KentJohn HollandDorothy ChristyAlvin Merle, a womanizing Broadway matinée idol, is found strangled in his dressing room. The door is locked from the inside and there is no possible other way into the room. Merle is having an affair with his leading lady, while his wife, actress Ethel Wynn, appearing in another play in a theater around the corner, is doing the same with Frank Murray, the stage manager on Merle's play. Newspaper reporter Jim Ryan is investigating the case and meets Jean Royce, a young actress who had been fired from the play while in rehearsals. Everybody, including Michael, the old actor now relegated to being just a stage-doorman, has a motive. The explanation for the murder lies within the script of the play.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A womanizing man is found strangled in his dressing room. The door is locked from the inside and there is no other way into the room.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsWilliam PowellMary AstorEugene PallettePhilo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A man is found dead in a locked bedroom with a gun in his hand. The police says it's suicide but Philo Vance disagrees!
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsSydney GreenstreetPeter LorreJoan LorringAfter an innocent man is executed in a case for which he was not responsible, a Scotland Yard superintendent finds himself investigating the murder of his key witness.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A man is found stabbed to death in his bed inside a locked room that Greenstreet had to force open.
- DirectorMitsuo MurayamaStarsYoshirô KitaharaRyûji ShinagawaJunko KanôA ruthless serial killer with a peculiar method of stalking and killing his victims comes face to face with a police officer turned invisible by a scientific experiment. Who will emerge triumphant?THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A series of stabbings are occurring in impossible circumstances (i.e. locked rooms, etc.). The only clue is a mysterious buzzing sound which precedes each stabbing!
- DirectorMatti KassilaStarsJoel RinneElina PohjanpääMatti RaninA closed room mystery begins when an infamous tycoon is found dead in his bath tub. The famous police lieutenant Palmu is summoned to investigate.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A tycoon is found murdered in a bathtub despite the fact that the bathroom was locked from the inside.
- DirectorMatti KassilaStarsJoel RinneMatti RaninLeo JokelaA rich widow is found dead of gas poisoning in her flat in Helsinki. First the death is thought to be an accident, but lieutenant Palmu notices that the murderer has made a mistake, and Palmu and his assistants Kokki and Virta start an investigation into who has broken into the apartment through the balcony door and opened the gas tap when Mrs. Skrof was sleeping.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A woman is found dead due to gas in a locked apartment. People say it's suicide, but Inspector Palmu claims it's murder!
- DirectorJack WebbStarsJack WebbHarry MorganCarol ByronFriday and Gannon are working the day watch out of homicide when they respond to a late night call at the house of Jessie Gaynor. Her daughter Nora Hamlin is staying with her due to a separation from her husband. The call involves a gunshot heard from a locked study where Carl Hamlin's body is discovered. It is assumed at first that he killed himself but when Ray Murray from SID tells them that the bullet doesn't match the gun it turns into a murder case.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A shooting victim was found dead in a room where the only door and window were locked, and a chair was blocking the door. Suicide was suspected, but the bullet that killed him was a different caliber than the gun found near the body.
- CreatorAnthony WilsonStarsGeorge PeppardRalph ManzaMurray MathesonThe adventures of proud Polish-American freelance insurance investigator Thomas Banacek.Every episode is an impossible crime!
- DirectorHarvey HartStarsPeter FalkJanet LeighMaurice EvansA faded dance star of film and stage murders her husband and makes it look like a suicide; Lt. Columbo doubts her seemingly perfect alibi.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A murder is made to look like suicide and a locked window is the key!
- 1975–197649mTV-PG8.1 (135)TV EpisodeDirectorJack ArnoldStarsJim HuttonDavid WayneGeorge FurthInspector Queen calls in his son Ellery to help investigate the murder of a newspaper publisher, who first disappears from his private express elevator then is later found there dead by gunshot.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: How was newspaper publisher murdered in an express elevator between the 12th floor to the ground floor when, to all appearances, the elevator did not stop at any point between.
- 1975–197648mTV-PG8.6 (112)TV EpisodeDirectorRichard MichaelsStarsJim HuttonDavid WayneEdward AlbertInspector Queen and Velie are in hot water when a mob witness under their protection is mysteriously killed.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A man is poisoned in a locked room with guards at the door.
- 1975–197648mTV-PG8.2 (94)TV EpisodeDirectorJack ArnoldStarsJim HuttonDavid WayneGary BurghoffA private eye and Richard's mentor is murdered tracking down the murderer in a five-year-old case, and Ellery figures the same murderer is involvedTHE IMPOSSIBILITY: A man is murdered on an airplane but no one can find the weapon on board.
- 1975–197648mTV-PG8.1 (103)TV EpisodeDirectorEdward M. AbromsStarsJim HuttonDavid WayneEddie BrackenA ruthless broadcast executive is murdered in his office during his lunch break - and everyone has a motive and an alibi.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A man is murdered in his private bathroom within his office... the problem is, there's only one door to his office and Ellery himself was outside the whole time!
- DirectorKôsei SaitôStarsToshiyuki NishidaIsao NatsuyagiHaruko WanibuchiFamous detective Kindaichi investigates a series of mysterious murders revolving around a wealthy family.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: Famous detective Kindaichi must solve a locked room mystery!
- DirectorAllen ReisnerStarsAngela LansburyDiana CanovaJosé FerrerA popular nightclub hypnotist is discovered murdered during a private press-call.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A hypnotist invites six journalists to attend a private hypnotism session where he will tell them important information about his past but that when they awake they won't remember a thing he has told them. A group of people, including Jessica, are outside the room when they hear a shot from inside. Breaking in they discover the hypnotist dead while the six journalists are hypnotized and motionless.
- 1984–199647mTV-PG7.3 (643)TV EpisodeDirectorWalter GraumanStarsAngela LansburyChristine BelfordJames CocoJessica gets mixed up with a nasty scheme involving a theme park creator whilst visiting relatives.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A body is discovered behind the door of a locked office, Captain Davis arrives to investigate and initially considers a suicide, as no one else could have entered nor exited until two security guards dismantle the door. Naturally, Jessica thinks otherwise.
- DirectorLeo PennStarsPeter FalkAnthony AndrewsKaren AustinAn egocentric psychic murders his old mentor, a magician charged to expose him as fraud, by beheading him while he's rehearsing his guillotine trick.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A magic trick looks like suicide, but Columbo finds a book called "Locked Room Magic" which suggests it may have been a murderous trick!
- DirectorAnthony Pullen ShawStarsAngela LansburySusan BlakelyGeorge CoeWhile attending the premiere of a film adapted from one of her books in Milan, Jessica searches for the killer when the producer is murdered.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A man is found dead while another man is hovering over him with the murder weapon. The door was locked from the inside so he must have been the killer but the man claims his innocence... and Jessica believes him!
- DirectorVincent McEveetyStarsAngela LansburyCheryl AruttGrand L. BushVoodoo black magic is the apparent cause of death of her host, leaving Jessica to figure out the truth while visiting an old friend in Jamaica.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A man is murdered inside a locked room.
- CreatorPeter S. FischerRichard LevinsonWilliam LinkStarsHal LindenHarry MorganPaula BeyersA magician and his con-man father solve mysteries using a combination of sleight of hand and con games.Every episode is an impossible crime!
- DirectorPaul LynchStarsAvery BrooksRene AuberjonoisAlexander SiddigIbudan, a criminal Odo has dealt with before, returns to DS9 only to be murdered shortly after - leaving Odo to be the prime suspect. Jake and Nog's trouble-making prompt Keiko to do something helpful for the station's children.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A man is found murdered in a locked room with the added twist that the only DNA found in the room is that of the victim.
- StarsAlan DaviesCaroline QuentinStuart MilliganJonathan Creek, a magician with a natural ability for solving puzzles, works from his home in a converted windmill. He uses his abilities to solve impossible crimes and mysterious murders.Every episode is an impossible crime!
- DirectorTony DowStarsAvery BrooksRene AuberjonoisNicole de BoerTo find an apparently untraceable murderer, Ezri Dax reluctantly calls up the residual consciousness remnant of her symbiont's past hidden psychopathic murderer host, Joran.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: A lieutenant on the Defiant's flight crew is found in his room shot in the heart, with no sign of forced entry, or any entry at all.
- DirectorBruno PodalydèsStarsDenis PodalydèsJean-Noël BroutéSabine AzémaFollowing the attempted murder of Mathilde, daughter of renowned Professor Stangerson, Joseph Rouletabille, a young reporter, accompanied by photographer Sainclair, visits the Château du Glandier to try and shed some light on the mystery.THE IMPOSSIBILITY: The young lady had just retired to her room when sounds of a struggle ensue, and cries of "Murder!" and revolver shots ring out. When her locked door is finally broken down by her father and a servant, they find the woman on the floor, badly hurt and bleeding. No one else is in the room. There is no other exit except through a barred window. How did the attacker escape?