Best Crime Movies of 1988

Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his partner, a former sheriff.

When the incompetent Lieutenant Frank Drebin seeks the ruthless killer of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.

A diamond advocate is attempting to steal a collection of diamonds, yet troubles arise when he realizes that he is not the only one after the diamonds.

Errol Morris's unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas.

The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then, the Popes have been on the run with the authorities never far behind.

An accountant embezzles $15 million of mob money, jumps bail and is chased by bounty hunters, the FBI, and the Mafia.

Two con men try to settle their rivalry by betting on who can be the first to swindle a young American heiress out of $50,000.

A tough Russian policeman is forced to partner up with a cocky Chicago police detective when he is sent to Chicago to apprehend a Georgian drug lord who killed his partner and fled the country.

The wife of an American doctor suddenly vanishes in Paris and, to find her, he navigates a puzzling web of language, locale, laissez-faire cops, triplicate-form filling bureaucrats and a defiant, mysterious waif who knows more than she tells.

Sherlock Holmes is as dashing as ever, but with a little secret: Dr. Watson is the brains behind the operation. When Reginald Kincaid, the actor he has hired to play Holmes becomes insufferable, Watson fires him and tries to go out on his own, but finds that he has done too good a job building Holmes up in the public's mind.

A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.

A confident young cop is shown the ropes by a veteran partner in the dangerous gang-controlled barrios of Los Angeles, where the gang culture is enforced by the colors the members wear.

Jack Spade returns from the army in his old ghetto neighbourhood when his brother, June Bug, dies. Jack declares war on Mr. Big, powerful local crimelord. His army is led by John Slade, his childhood idol who used to fight bad guys in the 70s.

Dirty Harry Callahan returns for his final film adventure. Together with his partner Al Quan, he must investigate the systematic murder of actors and musicians. By the time Harry learns that the murders are a part of a sick game to predict the deaths of celebrities before they happen, it may be too late...

A few years from now, Earth will have the first contact with an alien civilisation. These aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after years of quarantine.

In New York, people are slain and strangled to death brutally on the open street. All witnesses agree that the murderer was in a cop's uniform. Soon the police search and find a suspect in its own ranks: Jack Forrest, suspected of murdering his own wife and the rest of the unfortunate individuals to die by the Maniac Cop’s reign of terror. To prove his innocence, he investigates the case with his partner, Theresa Mallory.

Angela de Marco is fed up with her gangster husband's line of work and wants no part of the crime world. When her husband is killed for having an affair with the mistress of mob boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo, Angela and her son depart for New York City to make a fresh start. Unfortunately, Tony has set his sights upon Angela -- and so has an undercover FBI agent looking to use her to bust Tony.

In a seaside California town, best friends Mac and Nick are on opposite sides of the law. Mac is a former drug dealer trying to clean up his act, while Nick is a high-profile detective trying to take down a Mexican drug lord named Carlos. Soon Nick's loyalties are put to the test when he begins an affair with restaurateur Jo Ann -- a love interest of Mac's -- unwittingly leading his friend into a police-orchestrated trap.

Jay Austin is now a civilian police detective. Colonel Caldwell was his commanding officer years before when he left the military police over a disagreement over the handling of a drunk driver. Now a series of murders that cross jurisdictions force them to work together again. That Austin is now dating Caldwell's daughter is not helping their relationship.

Vengeance drives a tough Detroit cop to stay on the trail of a power hungry auto magnate who's systematically eliminating his competition.

Jack the Ripper was a 1988 two-part television movie/mini-series portraying a fictionalized account of the hunt for Jack The Ripper, the killer responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888. The series coincided with the 100th anniversary of the murders. Using historical characters involved in the genuine 1888 hunt for the killer, the film was written by Derek Marlowe and David Wickes

A Scotland Yard police inspector, battling the booze, investigates the Jack the Ripper murders and discovers a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the Queen.

The Police Academy misfits travel to Miami Beach for Commandant Lassard to be honored with a prestigious lifetime award pending his retirement. Things take a turn when Lassard unknowingly ends up in possession of stolen diamonds from a jewel heist.

Jerry, a misfit Mafia henchman, is assigned the low-level job of keeping an eye on Gino, a shoe repairman fingered by the Mob to confess to a murder he didn't commit. But Gino's mistaken for a Mafia boss, and the two are suddenly catapulted to the highest levels of mobster status. Only friendship will see them through this dangerous adventure alive!

The inmates and guards of a modern, clean and efficient maximum security wing are slowly and increasingly brutalized until they erupt in violence. Dark and macabre, and based in truth, the story is told in a traditional dramatic style combined with telephone interviews and narration.

In an intense action-filled 85 minutes, you will learn to defend yourself against the mounting threat of “knife culture” offenders.

Emily Boynton, the stepmother to three children, blackmails the family lawyer into destroying a second will of her late husband that would have freed the children from her dominating influence. She takes herself, the children, and her daughter-in-law on holiday to Europe and the Holy Land. At a dig, Emily is found dead and Hercule Poirot investigates.

Goose leaves the gang life behind after pleas from his girlfriend. But it isn't long before he's pulled back into the world of violence.

When a corrupt American businessman tries to strong arm his way into businesses in Newcastle, England, he is thwarted by a club attendant and his waitress girlfriend.

An obsessive, insubordinate homicide cop is convinced a serial killer is loose in the Hollywood area and disobeys orders in order to catch him.

McGriff and Albaby are probably doing the worst law enforcement job in the world - they are plain clothes U.S. military policemen on duty in war-time Saigon. However, their job becomes even harder when they start investigating the serial killings of local prostitutes. Their prime suspect is high ranking U.S. Army officer which brings their lives in danger.

An FBI agent posing as a combine driver becomes romantically involved with a Midwest farmer who lives a double life as a white supremacist.

A millionaire past his prime and his young wife arrive in Kenya circa 1940 to find that the other affluent British expatriates are living large as the homefront gears up for war. They are busy swapping partners, doing drugs, and attending lavish parties and horse races. She begins a torrid affair with one of the bon vivants, and her husband finds out and confronts them. The husband and wife decide to break up peacefully, but the bon vivant is murdered and all the evidence points to the husband.

Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp team up to solve a murder at the Academy Awards in 1929 Hollywood.

Ellie DeWitt and Janis Zuckermann are admitted to the very strict FBI Training Academy. They get a hard course, in which they learn to deal with guns and to recognise crimes. They also get a physical training. It appears that Ellie is a real fighting- machine, in contrast with Janis, the great student. They have to help each other, all the way to graduation.

Two brothers who are forced off their farm in the debt stricken mid-west become folk heroes when they begin robbing the banks that have been foreclosing on farmers.

When a local drug dealer shoots a dishonest cop in self-defense, lawyer and renegade undercover cop join forces to clear him. But when their investigation leads them into a maze of greed and corruption, they learn that in a town where everything is for sale, anything can happen.

Mason defends a man he had sentenced to prison when he was an appellate-court judge. Now, 18 months after the sentencing, a new witness turns up to prove the man's innocence. Mason steps in to defend the man.

Buster is a small time crook who pulls a big time job. When he finds that the police will not let the case drop, he goes into hiding and can't contact his wife and child. He arranges to meet them in Mexico where he thinks they can begin again, but finds that he must choose between his family and freedom.

Wifes and children of the Mormon Orville Beecham become victims of a massacre in his own house. The police believes the crime had a religious motive. Orville doesn't give any comment on the case, is taken into protective custody. Journalist Smith persuades him to help him in the investigation - and finds out about economic motives for the murder.

A young doctor is suspected when a series of Jack the Ripper copycat killings is committed. However, when the doctor himself is murdered, his identical twin brother claims to have seen visions of the true killer.

A woman suddenly disappears after an early morning walk, and her husband is accused of murder.

Danny O'Brien is back in action fighting the notorious Simon Moon, also known as The Terror. Three years earlier O'Brien had single-handedly captured The Terror and was called Hero by the people of L.A. Now Simon has escaped and has started killing women again, and O'Brien is the only man who can stop him.

It is 1985, and a small, tranquil Florida town is being rocked by a wave of vicious serial murders and bank robberies. Particularly sickening to the authorities is the gratuitous use of violence by two “Rambo” like killers who dress themselves in military garb. Based on actual events taken from FBI files, the movie depicts the Bureau’s efforts to track down these renegades.

After witnessing her lover being murdered by his jealous wife, Angela seeks refuge in a church where she encounters a young priest named Michael, who gives her sanctuary. But the killing was not a simple act of passion, as the victim had ties to organized crime, and, surprisingly, so does Michael, whose father is a powerful don. When the priest finds himself falling in love with Angela, his religious vows and family ties are both severely tested.

Jack Deth, the super cop from the future, has put away three centuries worth of time traveling criminals. But Deth's most dangerous collar, the ultraviolent assassin Edlin Shock, has escaped from her maximum security holding cell and won't rest until she's exacted revenge. Meanwhile, Deth is trying to make a life for himself as a private eye in 1988 Los Angeles with his hot-blooded girlfriend Lena. Relationship troubles are just the beginning of Deth's problems when he learns that Edlin Shock has followed him back in time.

A drifter becomes both a bank robber and a hero in this crime thriller. Andrew McCarthy stars as Wade Corey, who hitches a ride on a freight train already occupied by Doyle Kennedy (Matt Dillon), a charming ex-con who convinces Wade to accompany him to his hometown. Once there, Wade realizes too late that Doyle is intent on robbing the local bank. After they are separated following the crime, Wade hides the money. Happening upon a drowning in progress, he saves a young girl who just happens to be the daughter of the state governor, and he becomes an unlikely hero. Finding work at a nearby farm, the meandering Wade becomes a hired hand, falls for the beautiful daughter (Leslie Hope) of his boss, and dreads the return of Doyle, who is sure to come looking for his money.

A young mother turns a young man's streetwise life around when she reveals to him that he is the father of her infant baby.

Tension between a jealous husband, his wife who's attracted to his friend and the friend is rising as their small, deeply catholic, Mexican village is deciding who will be Christ during the possibly dangerous reenactment of the Crucifixion.