Subgenre Sampler

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Before We Die (TV Series) (2021): Feat. Lesley Sharp, Patrick Gibson, Vincent Regan; 6 part Police drama based on the popular Scandi–noir series of the same name, shifting the setting from Stockholm to Bristol. Follows a…
Whitstable Pearl (TV Mini-series) (2021): Feat. Kerry Godliman, Howard Charles, Frances Barber; Cosy crime miniseries based on the novels by Julie Wassmer about a single mum and ex–police officer who pursues her dream to start a detective…
Bad Boys For Life (2019): Dir. Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Feat. Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Anne Hudgens; The infamous pair of Miami detectives are back for one last ride in this enjoyably over the top action comedy.
Enemy Within, The (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Jennifer Carpenter, Morris Chestnut, Raza Jaffrey…; Gripping counter–intelligence drama series following an ex–CIA–spy–turned–traitor (Jennifer Carpenter, DEXTER) who is…
Manhunt (TV Mini-series) (2019): Dir. Marc Evans
Feat. Martin Clunes, Stephen Wight, Katie Lyons; Solid Brit–cop drama starring Martin Clunes as a London Metropolitan police detective who tracks down a serial killer. Based on the true story…
Wild Bill (TV Mini-series) (2019): Feat. Rob Lowe, Bronwyn James, Rachael Stirling…; British drama with Rob Lowe playing a US police chief who moves to Lincolnshire from Miami with his 14 year old daughter. Hoping to escape a painful…
ABC Murders, The (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Alex Gabassi
Feat. John Malkovich, Andrew Buchan, Eamon Farren…; Three–part adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel with John Malkovich refreshing as retired detective Hercule Poirot who is here targeted by a…
Alienist, The (TV Mini-series) (2018): Feat. Daniel Bruhl, Luke Evans, Dakota Fanning…; Crime drama series that assembles an ad hoc team in mid–1890s New York to investigate a serial killer who is murdering street children. The…
Bletchley Circle, The: San Francisco (TV Mini-series) (2018): Feat. Julie Graham, Rachael Stirling, Crystal Balint…; Set during the thrilling social change of the mid–1950s, these new episodes see two characters from the original British series travel to…
Hard Sun (TV Series) (2018): Feat. Jim Sturgess, Agyness Deyn, Nikki Amuka-Bird…; Neil Cross (LUTHER, SPOOKS) penned this dystopian British crime drama, where two mismatched police officers investigate evidence that a mysterious…
Instinct (TV Series) (2018): Feat. Alan Cumming, Bojana Novakovic, Naveen Andrews; Police procedural based on the novel "Murder Games" by James Patterson, with Alan Cumming playing an academic and married gay man, who is lured back…
Jack Ryan (TV Series) (2018): Feat. John Krasinski, Abbie Cornish, Wendell Pierce…; John Krasinski inhabits the TV incarnation of the action–man role created by Tom Clancy and previously played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford,…
Mystery Road (TV Mini-series) (2018): Dir. Rachel Perkins
Feat. Aaron Pedersen, Judy Davis, Deborah Mailman…; Six–part miniseries based on the outback noir film of the same name, following indigenous detective Jay Swan as he investigates the…
Purity of Vengeance, The (Journal 64) (2018): Dir. Christoffer Boe
Feat. Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Fares Fares; The fourth and final installment in the Danish 'Department Q' detective series initiated by The KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES is a conspiracy thriller…
Rookie, The (TV Series) (2018): Feat. Nathan Fillion, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones; Police procedural drama with Nathan Fillion playing a small–town guy pursuing his dream of becoming an LAPD officer, and proving himself…
White Boy Rick (2018): Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt, Bel Powley…; Compelling true crime story from the director of '71, following 14–year old drug trafficker Richard Wershe Jr. who was an undercover informant…
Broadchurch - Series 3 (TV Series) (2017): Feat. David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker…; The third and final series has detectives Hardy and Miller investigating a serious sexual assault in the beleagured Dorset village, and explores the…
Prime Suspect 1973 (TV Series) (Prime Suspect: Tennison) (2017): Dir. David Caffrey
Feat. Stefanie Martini, Sam Reid, Blake Harrison…; A retro–dated prequel to Lynda LaPlante's long–running British detective drama series, originally starring Helen Mirren as DCI Jane…
Dark Heart (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Tom Riley, Charlotte Riley; Crime mini–series set in London, following an alcoholic and workaholic detective investigating a string of horrific murders, all the while…
In Plain Sight (TV Mini-series) (2016): Dir. John Strickland
Feat. Douglas Henshall, Martin Compston, Shauna Macdonald; Three–part drama series covering the crimes committed by serial killer Peter Manuel in Lanarkshire, Scotland in the 1950s, shocking local…
Level, The (TV Series) (2016): Dir. Mark Everest, Andy Goddard
Feat. Karla Crome, Lindsey Coulson, Noel Clarke…; Six–part British crime drama featuring Karla Crome as a detective with the National Crime Division assigned to Brighton CID to investigate the…
Lucky Man (TV Series) (Stan Lee's Lucky Man) (2016): Feat. James Nesbitt, Amara Karan, Sienna Guillory…; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
New Blood (TV Series) (2016): Feat. Mark Strepan, Ben Tavassoli, Mark Addy…; A light–on–its–feet London–based BBC police series from the creator of FOYLE'S WAR that brings together a pair of cheeky…
Secret, The (TV Mini-series) (2016): Dir. Nick Murphy
Feat. James Nesbitt, Genevieve O’Reilly, Jason Watkins…; Award–winning mini–series based on Belfast journalist Deric Henderson's true–life account of the double murder of a couple whose…
Black Work (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Sheridan Smith, Matthew McNulty, Geraldine James…; Pacy British crime series with Sheridan Smith as a policewoman who sets out to discover who murdered her husband, an undercover officer.
Broadchurch - Series 2 (TV Series) (2015): Feat. David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Andrew Buchan…; Second season of the compelling mystery series returns to the titular town one year after Danny Latimer's killer was revealed. Inevitably more…
Bureau, The (TV Series) (Le Bureau des Legendes) (2015): Feat. Mathieu Kassovitz; CONTRABAND TITLE. Seasons 1 to 3 are not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of…
Coroner, The (TV Series) (2015-2016): Feat. Claire Goose, Matt Bardock; Light and fanciful whodunnit drama series starring Claire Goose as a coroner poring over suspicious corpses in a fictional South Devon coastal town.…
Norskov (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Thomas Levin, Claus Riis Ostergaard, Jacob Lohmann; CONTRABAND TITLE. Season 1 is not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film &…
Team, The (TV Series) (2015): Feat. Lars Mikkelsen, Veerle Baetens, Jasmin Gerat; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
True New Zealand Crime Stories (How to Murder Your Wife; Monster of Mangatiti; Venus and Mars; Bloodlines; Siege) (2015): Dir. Riccardo Pellizzeri, John Laing, Peter Burger
Feat. Mark Mitchinson, Craig Hall, Sara Wiseman…; How to Murder Your Wife: A black comedy based on the true story of Alfred Benning's outlandish attempts to murder his overbearing wife in 1977.…
Bosch (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Titus Welliver; Titus Welliver stars as Michael Connelly's famed detective in this acclaimed series in which Bosch pursues a murderer while standing trial for the…
Brokenwood Mysteries, The (TV Series) (2014-2024): Feat. Neill Rea, Fern Sutherland; A local stab at the ever popular murder mystery genre with this Kiwiana policier featuring two mismatched detectives investigating a series of…
Chasing Shadows (TV Mini-Series) (2014): Dir. Christopher Menaul, Jim O’Hanlon
Feat. Reece Shearsmith, Alex Kingston, Noel Clarke; British crime series following the work of a missing persons unit, with Reece Shearsmith as a brilliant yet socially awkward detective Sergeant who…
Fall, The - Series 2 (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, John Lynch; Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan reprise their roles, and continue their gripping game of cat and mouse through the streets of Belfast.
Hannibal - Season 2 (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas…; Further episodes in the grisly, ultra stylised thriller based on Thomas Harris' ubiquitous crime novels, with the grimly compelling relationship…
Happy Valley (TV Series) (2014-2023): Feat. Sarah Lancashire, Steve Pemberton, Siobhan Finneran; Another riveting top–shelf British police drama hot on the heels of BROADCHURCH. Sarah Lancashire stars as a Yorkshire sergeant who suspects a…
True Detective - Season 1 (TV Series) (2014): Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga
Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Monaghan…; This superlative HBO policier – a marquee television event in 2014, and the first in an anthology of bespoke detective stories – pairs…
Almost Human (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Karl Urban, Michael Ealy, Minka Kelly…; Futuristic sci–fi series set in the year 2048, where a human cop (Karl Urban) partners up with an android to fight crime as part of a new…
Back in Crime (2013): Dir. Germinal Alvarez
Feat. Jean-Hugues Anglade, Mélanie Thierry, Philippe Berodot; Offbeat police thriller with Anglade as an obsessive cop who finds himself inexplicably transported back in time.
Broadchurch - Series 1 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker…; Superb addition to the euro crime craze, with Tennant and Colman bringing a surprisingly fresh take on the mismatched partner scenario, as detectives…
Fall, The - Series 1 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, Laura Donnelly; A dark exemplar of the current wave of female–driven crime dramas, with former X–FILES stalwart Gillian Anderson bringing a steely edge…
Hannibal - Season 1 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas…; A grisly, ultra stylised thriller based on Thomas Harris' ubiquitous crime novels, with the grimly compelling relationship between FBI agent Will…
Harry (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Oscar Kightley, Sam Neill, Hunter Kamuhemu…; Oscar Kightley plays a grieving South Auckland detective swamped by a series of armed robberies in this dark, authentic local policier, a welcome…
Top of the Lake (TV Series) (2013): Dir. Jane Campion, Gerard Lee
Feat. Elisabeth Moss, Peter Mullan, David Wenham…; An unnerving, atmosphere–rich 'feminist' policier from Australasian auteur Jane Campion, centred on the mystery of a 12–year–old…
Tunnel, The (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Stephen Dillane, Clemence Poesy, Mia Goth; An Anglo/French remake of Scandinavian crime hit THE BRIDGE, centred alternatively on a British and French detective who find themselves working…
Alcatraz (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Sarah Jones, Jorge Garcia, Sam Neill…; A short–lived but engrossing policier with a mystery hook – a la LOST – which re–imagines San Francisco's Alcatraz prison as…
Killing, The - Series 3 (TV Series) (Forbrydelsen) (2012): Feat. Sofie Grabol, Søren Malling; Final episodes in the ripping, immensely popular Danish homicide serial weaves a third plot exploring a death linked to the global financial crisis…
Line of Duty (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Lennie James, Martin Compston, Vicky McClure…; Outstanding new British policier deals with corruption and department politics within a special unit whose record crime figures don't quite add up.…
Place Beyond the Pines, The (2012): Dir. Derek Cianfrance
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper…; Ryan Gosling re–teams with the dir. of BLUE VALENTINE for this equally arresting crime saga that unfolds after a motorcycling drifter's…
Ripper Street (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Matthew MacFadyen, Jerome Flynn, MyAnna Buring; A gritty and gripping period policier which revisits the manhunt for Jack the Ripper in Victorian London. Series One: eight episodes across three…
Safe House (2012): Feat. Errol Shand, Peter Elliot, Morgana O’Reilly…; The infancy of witness protection in New Zealand is given a suspenseful retelling in this quality feature–length production from TVNZ's Sunday…
Young Montalbano (TV Series) (Il giovane Montalbano) (2012): Feat. Michele Riondino; The popular Inspector Montalbano lives on in this prequel which employs Andrea Camilleri's earlier books to paint a picture of Montalbano in his…
Arne Dahl (TV Series) (2011): CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Bridge, The - Series 1 (TV Series) (Bron/Broen) (2011): Feat. Sofia Helin, Kim Bodnia, Dag Malmberg; The Scandi–crime wave continues with this steely Danish–Swedish murder mystery, centred on the discovery of a body straddling the…
Case Sensitive (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Olivia Williams, Darren Boyd, Peter Wight…; Serviceable British policier centred on the case–solving acumen of a male–female detective team whose work regularly descends into…
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The (2011): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer…; David Fincher helms this electrifying big–budget remake of the dynamite Swedish thriller, adapted from Stieg Larsson's worldwide bestseller.…
Grimm (TV Series) (2011): Feat. David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch…; A supernaturally gifted homicide detective begins to take on cases linked to creature mythology and fairytale archetypes in this police procedural…
Killing, The (TV Series, US) (2011): Feat. Mireille Enos, Billy Campbell, Michelle Forbes; Absorbing US remake of the hit Danish homicide serial remains faithful to the long–form, deep–focus procedural format of the original…
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011): Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Feat. Muhammet Uzuner, Firat Tanis, Yilmaz Erdogan; Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan directs this masterful long–haul road movie about a convoy of policemen searching for a body on the…
Person of Interest (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson; A rogue CIA agent is recruited by a reclusive computer genius to help run an unwanted crime prediction system he developed for the government. Strong…
Polisse (2011): Dir. Maïwenn
Feat. Karin Viard, Marina Fois, Nicolas Duvauchelle …; A tough, unglamorous insight into the police work of a Parisian Juvenile Protection Unit, whose officers grapple with the moral and personal dilemmas…
Rampart (2011): Dir. Oren Moverman
Feat. Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Cynthia Nixon…; Woody Harrelson plays a reckless Los Angeles police officer whose corruption on the job extends to his family and personal life in this profane,…
Scott & Bailey (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Suranne Jones, Lesley Sharp, Rupert Graves…; A tough–minded and level–headed female policier in the spirit of CAGNEY & LACEY (with shades of PRIME SUSPECT), framed around the private…
Shadow Line, The (TV Series) (2011): Dir. Hugo Blick
Feat. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Eccleston, Rafe Spall…; This quality BBC production builds a compelling and morally complex story around the death of a convicted drugs smuggler, whose murder is…
Silence, The (Das letzte Schweigen) (2011): Dir. Baran bo Odar
Feat. Ulrich Thomsen, Katrin Sass, Wotan Wilke Möhring; German thriller set in 2009, 23 years after the unsolved rape and murder of an 11–year old girl, when a remarkably similar crime attracts the…
Son of No One, The (2011): Dir. Dito Montiel
Feat. Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Ray Liotta…; Channing Tatum plays a rookie policeman assigned to the neighborhood of his troubled youth in this excitable crooked cop tale. Great cast, though…
Zen (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Rufus Sewell, Caterina Murino, Julie Cox…; Short–lived but stylish BBC detective series wades into the overcrowded male crime fighter market with suave Rufus Sewell in the role of…
Blue Bloods (TV Series) (2010-2020): Feat. Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan; Character driven police procedural set in New York City where an Irish Catholic family has a history of work in law enforcement, with each family…
DCI Banks (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Stephen Tompkinson, Caroline Catz, Andrea Lowe; Stephen Tompkinson embodies the firm, working class stock of Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks in this solid British police procedural. Series…
Five Days (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Suranne Jones, Anne Reid, Bernard Hill…; High concept BBC crime series magnifies the complex thread of events and consequences surrounding a lengthy crime investigation by focusing on five…
Guard, The (2010): Dir. John Michael McDonagh
Feat. Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham…; A straitlaced FBI agent (Cheadle) and a raucous Irish cop (Gleeson) buddy up to take down an international drug smuggling ring in this riotous…
Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim…; A souped–up, though still relatively faithful update of the funky surf and sun policier, originally a hit in the late sixties. Alex O'Loughlin…
Luther (TV Series) (2010-2019): Feat. Idris Elba, Saskia Reeves, Indira Varma…; Stylish, swaggering BBC cop show created by SPOOKS–scriptwriter (and currently Wellington resident) Neil Cross stars THE WIRE's Idris Elba as a…
Rizzoli & Isles (TV Series) (2010-2016): Feat. Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Bruce McGill…; Girl–powered police procedural series that teams up Angie Harmon as police detective Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as medical examiner Dr.…
Sebastian Bergman (TV Series) (Den fördömde) (2010): Feat. Rolf Lassgard; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
Small Town Murder Songs (2010): Dir. Ed Gass-Donnelly
Feat. Peter Stormare, Jill Hennessy, Martha Plimpton…; Simmering provincial redemption story stars Peter Stormare as a clammy police officer trying to escape his violent past in a small Mennonite…
Thorne (TV Series) (2010): Feat. David Morrissey, Eddie Marsan, Aidan Gillen…; Another top–draw British policier loaded with all the usual suspects: atmosphere, plot twists, and a hard–bitten hero, with David…
Above Suspicion (TV Series) (2009): Feat. Kelly Reilly, Ciaran Hinds, Shaun Dingwall; British crime series based on the novels written by Lynda La Plante (PRIME SUSPECT). A rookie female detective, determined to prove herself amidst…
Brooklyn's Finest (2009): Dir. Antoine Fuqua
Feat. Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke…; The dir. of TRAINING DAY spins this heavy–handed multi–narrative around three burnt out NYC cops at the end of their tether. Posturing…
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The (2009): Dir. Niels Arden Oplev
Feat. Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre; One of the highest–grossing foreign language hits at the NZ box office, this riveting, full–bodied Swedish thriller follows an escalating…
In the Electric Mist (2009): Dir. Bertrand Tavernier
Feat. Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard…; Improving on previous James Lee Burke adaptation HEAVEN’S PRISONERS, this sturdy New Orleans thriller has Tommy Lee Jones assuming the plum role of…
Killing, The - Series 2 (TV Series) (Forbrydelsen) (2009): Feat. Sofie Grabol, Søren Malling; Further episodes from the ripping, immensely popular Danish homicide serial weaves a secondary plot of intrigue, corruption, and bureaucracy…
Lie To Me (TV Series) (2009-2011): Feat. Tim Roth, Kelli Williams, Brendan Hines; Engaging crime drama that sees an unlikely Tim Roth play Cal Lightman, a doctor who has such an uncanny ability to read facial expressions and body…
Moses Jones (TV Mini-Series) (2009): Dir. Michael Offer
Feat. Shaun Parkes, Matt Smith; Grimy, downtrodden policier finds the titular Moses Jones (Parkes) re–assigned to investigate a brutal murder amid London’s Ugandan exile…
Red Riding Trilogy (1974, 1980, 1983) (2009): Dir. Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, Anand Tucker
Feat. Sean Bean, Andrew Garfield, David Morrissey…; David Peace’s gritty quartet of crime novels receive a stunning translation to the screen with this threesome of British detective thrillers, based…
Secret in Their Eyes, The (El Secreto de sus Ojos) (2009): Dir. Juan José Campanella
Feat. Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Carla Quevedo; Arresting, well–rounded Argentine crime drama sees a retired court employee become obsessed with a 25–year–old murder case that he…
White Collar (TV Series) (2009-2014): Feat. Matt Bomer, Marsha Thomason, Tim DeKay…; Police procedural series following a hard working and honest FBI agent (Tim DeKay) who makes a work–release deal with a captured con artist…
Whiteout (2009): Dir. Dominic Sena
Feat. Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Columbus Short…; Brisk, improbable thriller starring Kate Beckinsale as a U.S. Marshall investigating Antarctica’s first ever homicide on the brink of continent’s…
Detective De Luca (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Alessandro Prezioni; Another good looking entry into the Italian crime fiction genre, only this time set during the country's fascist era and along the war torn Bologna…
Flashpoint (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Hugh Dillon, Enrico Colantoni, Sergio Di Zio; High–octane cop show from Canada following the 'Strategic Response Unit', a team of elite police who take on the riskier jobs the rest won't…
Fred Vargas Collection (TV Series) (2008-2010): Dir. Josee Dayan
Feat. Jean-Hugues Anglade, Helene Fillieres, Charlotte Rampling; Four excellent French TV adaptations of crime fiction novelist Fred Vargas' popular policiers, with her famous protagonist, Detective Adamsberg, a…
Go Fast (2008): Dir. Olivier Van Hoofstadt
Feat. Roschdy Zem, Olivier Gourmet; An exciting, if standard issue Gallic policier set around the high–stakes world of narcotics, where an Arab police officer goes undercover to…
Lady Cop and Papa Crook (Daai Sau cha Ji Neui) (2008): Dir. Siu Fai Mak, Felix Chong
Feat. Eason Chang, Sammi Cheng, Tak-bun Wong…; An oil kingpin (Chang) finds himself in alliance with a cop (Cheng) when his son is kidnapped, resulting in an uneasy relationship between the law…
Mentalist, The (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang; Superior crime series sees Simon Baker play an ex–'psychic' who now uses his remarkable powers of scrupulous observation in the name of the…
Pride and Glory (2008): Dir. Gavin O'Connor
Feat. Colin Farrell, Edward Norton, Jon Voight…; A withdrawn, honest Irish cop becomes tangled in a web of betrayal when his brother's drug bust goes savagely wrong and he is ordered to investigate…
Righteous Kill (2008): Dir. Jon Avnet
Feat. Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, John Leguizamo…; Heavyweight has–beens De Niro and Pacino team up again as a couple of NYPD detectives on the trail of a serial killer, whose signature murders…
Street Kings (2008): Dir. David Ayer
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie, Forest Whitaker…; LA CONFIDENTIAL author James Ellroy and the writer of TRAINING DAY team up for this ultra–macho, ultra–violent LAPD–centric…
Wallander (TV Series, UK) (2008): Feat. Kenneth Branagh, Sarah Smart, Sadie Shimmin; UK adaptation of Henning Mankell’s crime novels sees Branagh take on the titular role of the grizzled Nordic detective, solving gristly crimes in…
Whitechapel (TV Mini-series) (2008): Feat. Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis, Steve Pemberton; Atmospheric detective show focused on a group of detectives who are trying to track down a Jack The Ripper copycat. Filmed entirely in the East…
Brave One, The (2007): Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Jodie Foster, Naveen Andrews, Terrence Howard; Jodie’s gotta gun, here playing a radio jock turned vigilante avenging her husband's fatal mugging in Neil Jordan's tough stylish, revenge…
Exodus (Cheut ai kup gei) (2007): Dir. Pang Ho-Cheung
Feat. Simon Yam, Nick Cheung, Annie Liu; An indifferent Hong Kong detective slowly becomes convinced that women are conspiring to kill off the entire male species in this curious melange of…
Flock, The (2007): Dir. Wai Keung Lau
Feat. Richard Gere, Claire Danes, Ray Wise…; Creepy thriller with Gere as a vigilant federal agent in pursuit of a recently paroled sex offender. Danes is the rookie along for the…
George Gently (TV Series) (Inspector George Gently) (2007): Feat. Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby; Retro policier with a superb attention to detail, starring Martin Shaw as the eponymous inspector whose old–school detective methods are caught…
Girl by the Lake, The (La ragazza del lago) (2007): Dir. Andrea Molaioli
Feat. Toni Servillo, Denis Fasolo, Nello Mascia…; A murder–mystery that swept Italy's Academy Awards set in an idyllic North Italian village where a beautiful young girl is found murdered.…
Gone Baby Gone (2007): Dir. Ben Affleck
Feat. Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman…; Surprisingly gutsy and sure–footed urban crime drama from actor Ben Affleck, who stays behind the camera to direct his brother, Casey, as a…
I Witness (2007): Dir. Rowdy Herrington
Feat. Portia de Rossi, Jeff Daniels, James Spader…; When the bodies of 27 Mexican factory workers are found in an underpass, an American human rights activist gets embroiled in Tijuana's political and…
Invisible Target (Naam yi boon sik) (2007): Dir. Benny Chan
Feat. Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Chan, Shawn Yue…; Unyielding martial arts thriller rumbles with a group of detectives commissioned to take out a local Hong Kong mercenary gang. The expected ass…
Killing, The - Complete Series Boxset (TV Series) (Forbrydelsen) (2007-2012): Feat. Sofie Grabol; The entire 40–episode story arc of the gripping Danish crime thriller – an immensely popular series synonymous with the 'Nordic Noir'…
Killing, The - Series 1 (TV Series) (Forbrydelsen) (2007): Dir. Birger Larsen
Feat. Sofie Grabol, Søren Malling; A ripping Danish homicide serial in the long–form tradition of THE WIRE, which weaves a plot of intrigue, corruption, and bureaucracy around a…
Life (TV Series) (2007): Feat. Damian Lewis, Adam Arkin; Damian Lewis riffs Hugh Laurie’s ‘House’ as an incongruous detective returning to the force to uncover the person who got him locked up for 12…
Moonlight (TV Series) (2007-2008): Feat. Alex O'Loughlin, Sophia Myles, Shannyn Sossamon; Underrated crime series featuring a private investigator that just happens to be a vampire and treads the fine line between his daytime duties and…
Mr. Brooks (2007): Dir. Bruce A. Evans
Feat. Demi Moore, Kevin Costner, Dane Cook…; Cool, conceptual psycho–drama in which Costner and Hurt play two sides of the same character: an on–the–wagon serial killer from…
Noise (2007): Dir. Matthew Saville
Feat. Brendan Cowell, Maia Thomas; An impressive Australian modern 'noir', refreshingly off–centred around a hearing–afflicted cop who is assigned the night shift at a…
Shoot on Sight (2007): Dir. Jag Mundhra
Feat. Naseeruddin Shah, Greta Scacchi, Om Puri…; Not so much hot potato as lukewarm, this political thriller bases its story on the real–life shooting of an innocent Brazilian man gunned down…
We Own the Night (2007): Dir. James Gray
Feat. Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes…; Accomplished crime saga concerns a nightclub manager (Phoenix) on the fringe of New York's Russian Mafia, whose lifestyle is jeopardized when family…
Zodiac (2007): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards…; Intense, painstaking thriller from the dir. of SEVEN magnifies San Francisco's unsolved ‘Zodiac’ killings with obsessive compulsion and…
24 - Season 5 (TV Series) (2006): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland; Further episodes in this high–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode) with Kiefer Sutherland as lead…
Anna Pihl (TV Series) (2006-2008): Feat. Charlotte Munck, Iben Hjejle; Praised for its realism, this Danish police drama centres around a Copenhagen policewoman also having to deal with solo parenthood.
Confession of Pain (Seung sing) (2006): Dir. Siu Fai Mak, Wai Keung Lau
Feat. Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Takeshi Kaneshiro, Shu Qi; The directorial duo behind INFERNAL AFFAIRS eek out this morose and melancholic policier about two troubled detectives tracking down a killer in…
Dark Sea (Mare Nero) (2006): Dir. Roberta Torre
Feat. Luigi Lo Cascio, Anna Mouglalis; Ice cold policier charts a lone cops descent into the sex underworld after the murder of a sexually adventurous teenager. Full of Lynchian…
Dexter (TV Series) (2006): Feat. Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter…; Deliciously twisted crime drama series following a forensics investigator encouraged by his adopted father to knock off the dregs of the criminal…
Inside Man (2006): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster…; Proficient, personalised heist thriller from dir. Spike Lee (25TH HOUR) in which a smooth and cold super–crim (Owen) engineers the robbery of…
Jar City (Mýrin) (2006): Dir. Baltasar Kormakur
Feat. Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Agusta Eva Erlendsdóttir, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson; With dirt under its fingernails and ice on its breath, this forensic thriller harnesses the harsh, otherworldly elements of its Icelandic setting to…
Miami Vice (2006): Dir. Michael Mann
Feat. Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Gong Li…; A brooding reprise of the cult 80s cop TV series with uber–stylist Michael Mann (HEAT) ramping up the serious atmospherics in a prolonged…
24 - Season 4 (TV Series) (2005): Feat. Kiefer Sutherland, Elisha Cuthbert; Further episodes in this high–concept TV thriller, covering 24 hours of real time events (an hour per episode) with Kiefer Sutherland as lead…
Bones (TV Series) (2005-2014): Feat. David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel; A curious forensic policier positing a new angle on the genre, this partners a brilliant anthropologist (Deschanel) and a cocky FBI agent (Boreanaz)…
Bystanders (Diary of June) (2005): Dir. Kyung-Soo Im
Feat. Yunjin Kim; Proficient Korean thriller grapples with a murder mystery of cryptic diary notes left inside the bodies of murder victims; the handwriting matched to…
Closer, The (TV Series) (2005-2006): Feat. Kyra Sedgwick; Capable and assured detective drama dodges most of the worst cliches of the genre, with Kyra Sedwick playing a talented 'Southern Belle' investigator…
Criminal Minds (TV Series) (2005): Feat. Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson, Lola Glaudini; An elite team of FBI profilers attempt to get under the skin of America's most wanted in this tough, if routine procedural drama. Lead by a…
CSI: Grave Danger (TV Series) (2005): Dir. Quentin Tarantino
Feat. William Petersen; Commissioned by producers to write and direct this fifth season cliffhanger of the forensic crime series, Quentin Tarantino exhumes the "buried…
Hostage (2005): Dir. Florent Emilio Siri
Feat. Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Jonathan Tucker…; Bruce Willis negotiates familiar territory as a SWAT agent drawn into a messy siege in a high–security mansion, where three white–trash…
Jesse Stone [Movie Series] (2005-2015): Feat. Tom Selleck, Jane Adams, Saul Rubinek…; Based on the detective novels by Robert B. Parker, Tom Selleck plays his eponymous law enforcement officer from Massachusetts in this series of…
Murder Take One (The Big Scene) (2005): Dir. Jin Jang
Feat. Ha-kyun Shin, Seung-Won Cha; Thwarted by a television agreement consigning an ongoing homicide investigation to the prying eyes of a Reality TV show, prosecutor Choi (Cha) must…
Wallander (TV Series) (2005): Feat. Krister Henriksson, Johanna Sällström; Suspenseful Scandinavian procedural finds drama within the inner–workings of a police force in southern Sweden, chiefly between the series’…
36 Quai Des Orfevres (2004): Dir. Olivier Marchal
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil; Gerard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil partner again for this straight–faced policier as two veteran cops who compete for the top job while trying…
Eagle, The (TV Series) (A Crime Odyssey) (2004): Feat. Jens Albinus; An expert Danish thriller dealing in international terrorism and cross–border crime, this involves the usual task force machinations of special…
Spartan (2004): Dir. David Mamet
Feat. Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, William H. Macy…; An expert 'special ops' agent (Kilmer) is sucked headfirst into a wild, yet plausible conspiracy involving the kidnapping of the US president's…
Suspect Zero (2004): Dir. E. Elias Merhige
Feat. Ben Kingsley, Aaron Eckhart, Carrie-Anne Moss; A foreboding blood hunt in the stylish tradition of SEVEN, with serial–killer Kingsley and FBI–man Eckhart circling each other in a fog…
Blackjack (TV Series) (2003-2007): Dir. Peter Andrikidis
Feat. Colin Friels, Vince Colosimo, Kate Beahan…; Tenacious Aussie crime series centred on a detective banished to work in the police archives section, who uses his new surrounds to solve long…
Blue Murder (TV Series) (2003): Feat. Caroline Quentin; Pragmatic crime series featuring British comedian Caroline Quentin as a detective at the top of her game, trying to juggle her demanding career and…
In the Cut (2003): Dir. Jane Campion
Feat. Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh…; An uncomfortable, darkly ‘feminist’ thriller for which Meg Ryan deflowers her star persona, playing a troubled forty–something who…
Infernal Affairs 3 (Mou gaan dou III) (2003): Dir. Wai Keung Lau, Siu Fai Mak
Feat. Andy Lau, Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Leon Lai…; Actual sequel to the hit Hong Kong gangland–cop thriller attempts valiantly to tie up loose ends, both picking up where corrupt cop Ming (Lau)…
Memories of Murder (Salinui chueok) (2003): Dir. Joon-ho Bong
Feat. Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim; A darkly lyrical thriller, set around the true–life hunt for South Korea's first documented serial killer in 1986, during the years of Chun…
Mystic River (2003): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon…; Dignified crime thriller shot in unfussy style by old pro Clint Eastwood, this is less thrilling than a reliable entertainment, with the emotional…
NCIS (TV Series) (2003-2007): Feat. Mark Harmon, Sasha Alexander; Globe–trotting TV crime series focused on a group of detectives investigating curly crimes connected to the Navy and Marine corps. A riveting…
Planman, The (2003): Dir. John Strickland
Feat. Robbie Coltrane, Graham Crowden; Ingenious two–part thriller in which Robbie Coltrane, in a near–reprise of his CRACKER role, plays a clever Scottish lawyer who in his…
Blood Work (2002): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Anjelica Huston, Jeff Daniels; FBI–profiler Clint Eastwood is coaxed out of retirement when he learns of the background of the heart transplant he has just undergone after a…
City By the Sea (2002): Dir. Michael Caton-Jones
Feat. Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand; Robert De Niro faces a personal and professional dilemma as a decent cop/bad father who discovers that the prime suspect in the murder of his partner…
CSI Miami (TV Series) (2002): Feat. David Caruso, Rory Cochrane; Episodes from the first series of the Florida–based spinoff from the successful forensic procedural series. David Caruso follows William…
Dark Blue (2002): Dir. Ron Shelton
Feat. Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames, Brendan Gleeson…; Unexpectedly sharp police drama lifted from a James Ellroy story and placed into Los Angeles on the eve of the 1992 riots. Expressing the…
Hunted, The (2002): Dir. William Friedkin
Feat. Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen; Hunt–and–kill thriller with Del Toro playing a psychically wounded veteran of Kosovo, who back in America begins stalking deer hunters in…
Infernal Affairs (2002): Dir. Wai Keung Lau, Siu Fai Mak
Feat. Andy Lau, Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Anthony Wong…; This dynamic cops ‘n’ robbers spectacle is populist Hong Kong film–making at its most slick and sophisticated. Infused with more than a…
Insomnia (2002): Dir. Christopher Nolan
Feat. Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank…; Consummate thriller from the director of “Memento” is an exemplary remake that follows closely yet deftly refines the well–regarded yet…
Missing Gun, The (Xun qiang) (2002): Dir. Chuan Lu
Feat. Wen Jiang; Wound–up thriller set in a small and eccentric Chinese village, where a policeman wakes one morning with a hangover to find his…
Narc (2002): Dir. Joe Carnahan
Feat. Ray Liotta, Jason Patric; Both raw–boned and stylish, this low–budget policier explores the brutal killing of an undercover cop and the uncertain motives of the…
Red Dragon (2002): Dir. Brett Ratner
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes…; Betraying the odds after the lackluster “Hannibal”, this accomplished ‘prequel’ based on Thomas Harris’ novel of the same name more than…
Wire in the Blood (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Robson Green, Hermione Norris, Simone Lahbib; Terrific tough–as–nails UK detective show focused on a compassionate clinical psychologist (Green) and an ambitious Detective Inspector…
Wire, The - Season 1 (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Dominic West, Idris Elba, Wood Harris…; Tough, patient HBO TV policier (from David Simon, creator of HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREETS) follows the Baltimore drug scene from both the police and…
Without a Trace (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Anthony LaPaglia, Marianne Jean-Baptiste; Television crime drama from the Jerry Bruckheimer stable (see also CSI) that traces the investigations of the FBI's Missing Persons Squad, led by the…
Inspector Lynley Mysteries, The (TV Series) (2001-2008): Feat. Nathaniel Parker, Sharon Small, Lesley Vickerage; British crime drama based on the novels by American writer Elizabeth George centred around the detective work and personality and class clash of the…
Law and Order: Criminal Intent (TV Series) (2001-2004): Feat. Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Jamey Sheridan…; One of the various spin–offs to the long–running crime drama LAW AND ORDER, in which D'Onofrio and Erbe track down the bad guys for the…
Messiah (TV Series) (2001-2005): Feat. Ken Stott, Frances Grey, Michelle Forbes; Grisly BBC serial in the tradition of PRIME SUSPECT and CRACKER shadows the case solving of a partially–deaf detective with a disturbed nose…
Murder In Mind (TV Series) (2001): Excellent star–studded series of self–contained stories on the theme of murder, generally centered around apparently 'normal people' who…
Murphy's Law (TV Series) (2001-2007): Feat. James Nesbitt, Mark Benton, Claudia Harrison…; BBC TV drama starring James Nesbitt as a tough talking, maverick Irish cop who moves to London and takes on the criminal underworld after his…
Training Day (2001): Dir. Antoine Fuqua
Feat. Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Snoop Dogg…; Denzel Washington luxuriates in an Oscar–winning performance as a slimeball LA cop, who casually metes out brutal street–justice at every…
Burnside (TV Series) (2000): Feat. Christopher Ellison; Bearable Detective spin–off series of THE BILL, with Christopher Ellison reprising the riveting character of Detective Frank Burnside, who…
CSI (TV Series) (Crime Scene Investigation) (2000-2001): Feat. William Petersen; Highly watchable forensic TV drama that follows the fortunes of a police unit in Las Vegas who use tiny clues and the latest scientific methods to…
Tell Me Something (2000): Dir. Chang Yoon-Hyung
Feat. Han Suk-gyu, Shim Eun-ha; A fine slice of Korean “giallo”, this is detective pulp of the lacquered–black, rain–drenched variety, with perverse/macabre…
Traffic (2000): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones…; A masterful, suitably complex address of the ‘drug problem’ and how it enslaves consumers, dealers, policy–makers and law–enforcers…
Turbo (TV Series) (2000-2001): Feat. Roberto Farnesi; Addictive mystery series with the canine detective Turbo tracking villains against the sun–drenched vistas of Tuscany.
Unit One (TV Series) (Rejseholdet) (2000-2004): Feat. Mads Mikkelsen; CONTRABAND TITLE. Series 1 to 4 are not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of…
Waking The Dead (TV Series) (2000): Feat. Trevor Eve, Sue Johnston, Wil Johnson; Flash and cerebral British series has a 'cold case' police squad of professional but complex investigators assigned to research unsolved crimes. With…
Inspector Montalbano (TV Series) (Commissario Montalbano) (1999-2018): Feat. Luca Zingaretti, Katharina Böhm, Cesare Bocci; Based on the global bestsellers by Andrea Camilleri, this series of telemovies is set around a world–weary, though not cynical, Sicilian…
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) (SVU) (1999-2004): Feat. Richard Belzer, Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay…; Another batch of law–enforcers plie their grim vocation, in this LAW AND ORDER satellite series, wherein a special team investigate…
Redball (1999): Dir. Jon Hewitt
Feat. Belinda McClory, John Brumpton; Blistering low–budget Australian cop thriller centered around detective JJ Wilson (Belinda McClory) and her attempts to bring a child killer to…
Vice, The (TV Series) (1999): Feat. Caroline Catz, Marc Warren, Ken Scott; Edgy Bafta Award Winning TV detective drama series focusing on the London Metro Squad examining crime and unsolved murder in the sex industry.
One Tough Cop (1998): Dir. Bruno Barreto
Feat. Stephen Baldwin, Christopher Penn, Gina Gershon; Based on the NYPD memoirs of Bo Dietl, this proficient thriller benefits from the machismo of hardline cops Stephen Baldwin and partner Chris Penn,…
Snake Eyes (1998): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise; Morally dubious cops Nicolas Cage and Gary Sinise investigate an assassination during a pro–boxing match. Esteemed hack Brian De Palma…
Stalker's Apprentice, The (1998): Dir. Marcus D.F. White
Feat. Peter Davison, James Bolam, Kathleen Turner; A book editor uses a writer's manuscript about a serial killer as a template for his own homicidal fantasies in this punchy, at times lurid British…
Versace Murder, The (1998): Dir. Menahem Golan
Feat. Franco Nero, Steven Bauer; Hackmeister General Golan is at it again with this predictably schlocky treatmenr of the tragic slaying of fashion designer Versace. Franco Nero…
Advocates, The (TV Series) (1997): Feat. Ewan Stewart, Isla Blair, Rachel Weisz…; Obscure Scottish legal drama contrasting high powered lawyers with the sleazy underbelly of Edinburgh's streets, and the inevitable merging of the…
Duggan (TV Series) (Death in Paradise, Sins of the Fathers) (1997-1998): Dir. Yvonne MacKay
Feat. John Bach; Detective inspector John Bach heads up these made–for–TV policiers as a recluse drawn into a murder cases near his Marlborough Sounds…
Full Alert (1997): Dir. Ringo Lam
Feat. Lau Ching-wan, Francis Ng; Quality police thriller with realistic drama, bracing action and strong sense of locale – regarded as one of the last 'classics' from the…
Insomnia (1997): Dir. Erik Skjoldbjaerg
Feat. Stellan Skarsgard; An edgy, ingeniously plotted psychological thriller about an amoral Swedish detective whose murder investigation in Northern Norway (where the sun…
Midsomer Murders (TV Series) (1997): Feat. John Nettles, Daniel Casey, Jane Wymark…; A worthwhile British police drama in the tradition of Agatha Christie's MISS MARPLE, in which a veteran detective Inspector Barnaby (Nettles) and his…
Homicide - The Movie (1996): Dir. Jean De Segonzac
Feat. Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer…; A special movie–length episode of the cult TV crime series "Homicide – Life on the Streets", which was probably the grittiest and…
Inspector Wexford Collection, The (TV Mini-series) (1996-2000): Feat. George Baker, Sadie Frost; Collection of commended adaptations based on the Ruth Rendell novels and centred on the recurring Rendell character of Inspector Wexford – an…
Silent Witness (TV Series) (1996): Feat. Amanda Burton, Emilia Fox, William Gaminara; Acclaimed, long–running BBC forensic series, originally focused around expert pathologist Dr Sam Ryan (Burton). This is darker and more complex…
Blue Murder (Mini-Series) (1995): Dir. Michael Jenkins
Feat. Richard Roxburgh, Tony Martin, Steve Bastoni…; Hard–nosed, confrontational broadside on the NSW police force, based on the illegal undertakings of a corrupt detective and a career criminal…
McCallum (TV Series) (1995-1998): Feat. John Hannah; Above–par crime series trails the private and professional life of the titular forensic pathologist as he becomes entangled in various murder…
Seven (Se7en) (1995): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow…; Director David Fincher imbues the hackneyed serial–killer genre with astonishing directorial flair, while bringing an influential 'underground'…
Usual Suspects, The (1995): Dir. Bryan Singer
Feat. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin…; Find out who 'Keyser Soze' is, or who you thought he was, in this utterly captivating, original caper movie that unfolds a series of flashbacks in…
Inspector Rex (TV Series) (1994-2004): Feat. Tobias Moretti; Austrian TV series, with a sizable cult following around the world (especially in Australia), in which a lone policeman and his German Shepherd…
Wycliffe (TV Series) (1994): Dir. Jack Shepherd
Feat. Bill Nighy, Jack Shepherd; Edgy novel based detective drama following the feats of a conventional trench coat clad superintendent investigating small town crime. Effectively…
NYPD Blue (TV Series) (1993): Feat. David Caruso, Dennis Franz, Amy Brenneman…; "Groundbreaking" TV cop show that wasn't so much groundbreaking as a slick 90s rehash of the likes of 'Hill Street Blues'. But despite all the fast…
Rising Sun (1993): Dir. Philip Kaufman
Feat. Wesley Snipes, Sean Connery, Harvey Keitel; Wesley Snipes and Sean Connery are buddy–cops with a murder–mystery on their hands in Tokyo. A glitzy, unsubtle working of Michael…
Between the Lines (TV Series) (1992): Feat. Neil Pearson, Tom Georgeson, Siobhan Redmond…; CONTRABAND TITLE. Not legally available for sale, rent or trade in New Zealand unless submitted for approval to the NZ Office of Film & Literature…
L627 (1992): Dir. Bertrand Tavernier
Feat. Didier Bezace, Jean-Paul Comart; A sharp, unsentimental depiction of the daily grind that a Paris drugs–squad detective must endure, contending with dealers, addicts and…
Maigret (TV Series) (1992-1993): Feat. Michael Gambon, Jack Galloway; Michael Gambon plays Chief Inspector Jules Maigret of the Paris Surete in this realistic crime series centred on Maigret's investigations into…
Highway Patrolman (1991): Dir. Alex Cox
Feat. Roberto Sosa, Bruno Bichir, Vanessa Bauche; A wayward film–maker returns to form in using road–movie conventions to enrich this tale of poverty, drugs, prostitution and rampant…
Homicide (1991): Dir. David Mamet
Feat. Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, Natalija Nogulich…; An absorbing, sophisticated psychological drama from the playwright–turned–director who blessed the genre with HOUSE OF GAMES. Joe…
Prime Suspect (TV Series) (1991-2003): Dir. Christopher Menaul
Feat. Helen Mirren, Tom Bell, Tom Wilkinson…; Helen Mirren stars as DCI Tennison in seven award–winning (Emmy and BAFTA) mini–series from the pen of Lynda La Plante.
Impulse (1990): Dir. Sondra Locke
Feat. Theresa Russell, Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza; Theresa Russell plays a cop who yields to corruption while undercover as a streetwalker. Under–rated police thriller is intelligently played…
Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, The (TV Series) (1990): Feat. Patrick Malahide; Detective series plucked from the novels of famed crime writer Ngaio Marsh follows Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn as he suavely solves crime in…
Internal Affairs (1990): Dir. Mike Figgis
Feat. Richard Gere, Andy Garcia, Nancy Travis…; Richard Gere plays a repugnant cop that will do just about anything for a buck, or a kick. Andy Garcia is the investigator who adopts a personal…
One False Move (1990): Dir. Carl Franklin
Feat. Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, Billy Bob Thornton; Naive county sheriff Bill Paxton gets a chance at the big–time when two vicious criminals sweep through his sleepy town. Things lighten up…
Q & A (1990): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Nick Nolte, Armand Assante, Timothy Hutton…; Lengthy, sometimes incoherent thriller from genre specialist Sidney Lumet, set amid a not entirely unfamiliar cesspit of NYC corruption. Notable for…
Campion (TV Series) (1989-1990): Feat. Peter Davison, Brian Glover, Andrew Burt; Eccentric detective series sees Peter Davison play the titular Albert Campion, who, along with his melancholy sidekick Lugg, solve mind–bending…
Sea of Love (1989): Dir. Harold Becker
Feat. Ellen Barkin, Al Pacino, John Goodman; Murder suspect Ellen Barkin and detective Al Pacino have a very dangerous liaison in this sexy, hi–tension whodunnit. A first class entry with…
Loner, The (Le Solitaire) (1987): Dir. Jacques Deray
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Pierre Malo, Pierre Vernier; Sub–par Belmondo outing has him play the routine jaded cop out to avenge his partner's death. Low on stunts but high on cruelty this is one for…
Wiseguy (TV Series) (1987-1990): Feat. Ken Wahl, Kevin Spacey, Tim Curry…; Influential 80's crime series featuring the appealing Ken Wahl as an undercover FBI agent attempting to infiltrate the Mafia and destroy them from…
P.D. James Collection, The (TV Series) (1985-1998): Feat. Roy Marsden; Award winning drama collections written by P.D. James detailing the challenges of a disciplined detective commander solving a series of scandalous…
Witness (1985): Dir. Peter Weir
Feat. Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Josef Sommer…; Cop Harrison Ford goes undercover at an Amish community after one of their young witnesses a murder. Consummate Hollywood thriller, quite brilliantly…
City Heat (1984): Dir. Richard Benjamin
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Jane Alexander…; Effective self–parody from Eastwood and Reynolds as unlikable cops who team together to clean up gangster–ridden Kansas City in the…
Miss Marple (TV Series) [Joan Hickson] (1984-2002): Dir. Julian Amyes
Feat. Joan Hickson, Paul Eddington, Kevin Whatley…; Best–loved BBC series featuring Agatha Christie's 'Miss Marple', played definitively by the great Joan Hickson. Set in the sleepy, yet…
Agatha Christie: Partners in Crime (TV Series) (1983): Feat. Francesca Annis, James Warwick, Reece Dinsdale; Crisp adaptation of some of Dame Agatha's lesser known short mysteries. The protagonists here are husband and wife sleuths Tommy and Prudence…
Chiefs (TV Mini Series) (1983): Dir. Jerry London
Feat. Charlton Heston, Keith Carradine, Brad Davis…; A well–regarded television series stretching across three generations of policemen in a small city in the American South, beset by changing…
Corrupt (a.k.a Copkiller; Order Of Death; L'assassino Dei Poliziotti) (1983): Dir. Roberto Faenza
Feat. Harvey Keitel, John Lydon, Nicole Garcia…; Surprisingly intense thriller has Harvey Keitel playing a dodgy NYC detective taunted by disturbed youth John Lydon (formerly 'Johnny Rotten' of the…
Cagney and Lacey (TV Series) (1982): Feat. Sharon Gless, Tyne Daly; Women’s Lib. makes headway into New York’s crime fighting ranks in this sturdy eighties policier propelled by two staunch female detectives in a…
New York Ripper (1982): Dir. Lucio Fulci
Feat. Jack Hedley, Daniela Doria; A sadistic tale from Italian dir. Fulci (THE BEYOND) which concerns a killer roaming New York City and murdering women while babbling like 'Donald…
Bergerac (TV Series) (1981): Feat. John Nettles, Terence Alexander; Classic of its kind. Roguish Bergerac races around Jersey trying to thwart jewel thieves, terrorists, murderers and general no gooders. Great fun,…
Night Hawks (1981): Dir. Bruce Malmuth
Feat. Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Rutger Hauer…; Two undercover NYC cops are faced with the unenviable task of tracking down Europe's number one terrorist in this underrated 80's action flick.…
Prince of the City (1981): Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Treat Williams; A rookie cop is victimised and ostracised after blowing the whistle on a corruption ring in his own precinct. This epic, highly detailed treatment of…
Sharky's Machine (1981): Dir. Burt Reynolds
Feat. Burt Reynolds, Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith…; Burt Reynolds assumed directing duties for this sleazy cop–thriller about political corruption. Mixes exciting, gory action–scenes with…
First Deadly Sin, The (1980): Dir. Brian G. Hutton
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Faye Dunaway, Bruce Willis…; Probably Ol' Blue Eyes' last decent film, giving an understated, effective performance as a pressured NYC detective hunting a serial killer and…
Juliet Bravo (TV Series) (1980): Feat. Stephanie Turner, David Ellison, Noel Collins; Massively popular – although rather dated – UK police series focused on a female police officer who takes charge of a fictional…
Magnum P.I. (TV Series) (1980): Dir. Roger Young
Feat. Tom Selleck, John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley…; After a tour of duty in Vietnam, the ever–affable Tom Selleck cruises Hawaii in his Porsche as a private investigator. Classic,…
Vegas (TV Series) (Vega$) (1978): Feat. Robert Urich, Tony Curtis; Although Michael Mann is credited as creator of this splashy 70s detective series (in which Sin City is at its gaudy and ostentatious best), the…
Murder Most English (TV Series) (The Flaxborough Chronicles) (1977): Feat. Anton Rodgers, Christopher Timothy; Based on the Colin Watson mysteries, this Ever–so–English detective series follows two English detectives as they solve particularly…
Brannigan (1975): Dir. Douglas Hickox
Feat. John Wayne, Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson…; Effective late–career casting for Wayne, playing a Chicago cop who pursues a criminal across the Atlantic to London. Although featuring a…
SWAT (TV Series) (S.W.A.T.) (1975): Feat. Steve Forrest, Robert Urich; One of the tough cop shows of the seventies that follows the covert missions of the LAPD's elite force. Season 1 (13 episodes) available over 3…
McQ (1974): Dir. John Sturges
Feat. John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur…; John Wayne plays it tough in this neo–noir as a grizzled Seattle cop investigating the murder of his best friend and the corruption within the…
Rockford Files, The (TV Series) (1974-1975): Feat. James Garner, Noah Jr. Beery, Joe Santos…; In the spirit of 'Cold Case' this detective thriller series stars James Garner as an easy going plaid jacket attired investigator pursuing unsolved…
Kojak (TV Series) (1973-1978): Dir. Joseph Sargent
Feat. Telly Savalas, Ned Beatty; Popular 70s cop show that turned Telly Savalas's funky, lollipop sucking, glow–domed police lieutenant into a cultural icon. Highly quotable,…
Kojak Collection, The (The Marcus-Nelson Murders, The Belarus File, The Price of Justice) (1973-1987): Dir. Joseph Sargent, Robert Markowitz, Alan Metzger
Feat. Telly Savalas, Marjoe Gortner, Jose Ferrer…; Telly Savalas stars as the tough but witty sleuth who became a small screen icon in the 1970's. This set features the three feature–length TV…
Laughing Policeman, The (1973): Dir. Stuart Rosenberg
Feat. Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Anthony Zerbe; Police procedural loosely based on the Swedish novel of the same name, set in the aftermath of a horrific shootout on a public bus. A detective…
Revolver (Blood in the Streets) (1973): Dir. Sergio Sollima
Feat. Oliver Reed, Fabio Testi; Equal turns punchy and preposterous, this 'spaghetti crime thriller' involves a prison warden (Reed) who is drawn into an intricate web of deceit…
Dirty Money (Un Flic) (1972): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Alain Delon, Richard Crenna, Catherine Deneuve; Final film by the suspense–specialist Melville (LE SAMOURAI), spins a familiar tale of cops and bank–robbers involving Alain Delon,…
Van Der Valk (TV Series) (1972-1992): Feat. Barry Foster, Joanna Dunham, Michael Latimer…; A hugely popular police procedural series starring Barry Foster as Van der Valk, a no–nonsense Dutch detective and head of the Amsterdam CID…
Max and the Junkmen (Max Et Les Ferrailleurs) (1971): Dir. Claude Sautet
Feat. Romy Schneider; French crime drama set in the noir shaded streets of Paris follows a frustrated detective getting tangled up in a love triangle after commissioning a…
McCloud (TV Series) (1970-1977): Feat. Dennis Weaver, J.D. Cannon, Ken Lynch…; Nicely executed crime series following an ex–sheriff from "out west" that joins up with a New York City police squadron to nab the baddies by…
Strange Report (TV Series) (1969): Feat. Anthony Quayle, Kaz Garas, Anneke Wills; Wily Anthony Quayle is Adam Strange, ex–police officer turned criminologist charged with cleaning up murder sprees and other unsolvable cases…
Detective, The (1968): Dir. Gordon Douglas
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker…; Interestingly dark and unsentimental policier has Frank Sinatra play an embattled cop investigating the murder of a wealthy homosexual while trying…
Dragnet (TV Series) (1967): Feat. Jack Webb, Harry Morgan; The classic hard–case, ultra–realistic sixties police procedural, with officers Friday and Gannon cleaning up the mean streets of…
Doulos, Le (The Finger Man) (1963): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani; Eschewing the French New Wave movement in favour of homage to the then ‘passe’ genre of film noir, dir. Jean–Pierre Melville adds shades of…
Sapphire (1959): Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Nigel Patrick, Yvonne Mitchell, Michael Craig…; Scandalous subject–wise for post–war Britain, where a murdered black woman is discovered to have been posing as white. Obviously dated…
Detective Story (1951): Dir. William Wyler
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, Cathy O'Donnell…; Kirk Douglas is his grizzled, hard–bitten self as one of several detectives trying to get through the work day at a busy Brooklyn…
Blue Lamp, The (1950): Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Patrick Doonan, Jack Warner; A confident, precisely–judged thriller set in post–war London, with feral petty–crooks Dirk Bogarde and Patrick Doonan being hunted…
Street With No Name, The (1948): Dir. William Keighley
Feat. Mark Stevens, Richard Widmark, Lloyd Nolan…; One of the grittier film noirs of the 1940s, evokes its tale of corruption, mob violence and FBI infiltration with a semi–documentary surface.…
M... Worst Crime of All (1931): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Peter Lorre; A chilling expressionist classic starring Peter Lorre as psychotic child molester. Dir. Lang masterfully fills the screen with understated but…

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