Best Crime Movies of 1996

Jerry, a small-town Minnesota car salesman is bursting at the seams with debt... but he's got a plan. He's going to hire two thugs to kidnap his wife in a scheme to collect a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law. It's going to be a snap and nobody's going to get hurt... until people start dying. Enter Police Chief Marge, a coffee-drinking, parka-wearing - and extremely pregnant - investigator who'll stop at nothing to get her man. And if you think her small-time investigative skills will give the crooks a run for their ransom... you betcha!

An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not have been a third person in the room.

Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

A killer known as Ghostface begins killing off teenagers, and as the body count begins rising, one girl and her friends find themselves contemplating the 'rules' of horror films as they try to survive a real-life one.

Seth Gecko and his younger brother Richard are on the run after a bloody bank robbery in Texas. They escape across the border into Mexico and will be home-free the next morning, when they pay off the local kingpin. They just have to survive 'from dusk till dawn' at the rendezvous point, which turns out to be a Hell of a strip joint.

A horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.

Corky, a tough female ex-convict working on an apartment renovation in a Chicago building, meets a couple living next door, Caesar, a paranoid mobster, and Violet, his seductive girlfriend, who is immediately attracted to her.

Four black women, all of whom have suffered for lack of money and at the hands of the majority, undertake to rob banks. While initially successful, a policeman who was involved in shooting one of the women's brothers is on their trail. As the women add to the loot, their tastes and interests begin to change and their suspicions of each other increase on the way to a climactic robbery.

Samantha Caine, suburban homemaker, is the ideal mom to her 8 year old daughter Caitlin. She lives in Honesdale, PA, is a school teacher and makes the best Rice Krispie treats in town. But when she receives a bump on her head, she begins to remember small parts of her previous life as a lethal, top-secret agent.

Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a hair-brained scheme for an as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss, the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry.

John Smith is a mysterious stranger who is drawn into a vicious war between two Prohibition-era gangs. In a dangerous game, he switches allegiances from one to another, offering his services to the highest bidder. As the death toll mounts, Smith takes the law into his own hands in a deadly race to stay alive.

In a sleepy bedroom community of LA's San Fernando Valley, the murder of a professional athlete by two hit men sets into motion a chain of events that puts the mundane lives of a dozen residents on a collision course. This clever tale tells the story of two hit men, a mistress, a nurse, a vindictive ex-wife, a wealthy art dealer and his lovelorn assistant, a suicidal writer and his dog, and a bitter cop and his partner.

In 1950s Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.

Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has never met.

It's fire and brimstone time as grieving mother Karen McCann takes justice into her own hands when a kangaroo court in Los Angeles fails to convict Robert Doob, the monster who raped and murdered her 17-year-old daughter.

The story concerns the funeral of one of three brothers in a family of gangsters that lived in New York in 1930s. Details of the past of the brothers and their families are shown through a series of flashbacks.

A man who has failed as a father and husband commits a heist to make money for his fledging business, but things become complicated when his wife interferes.

An undercover police officer named Rock Keats befriends a drug dealer and car thief named Archie Moses in a bid to catch the villainous drug lord Frank Coltan. But the only problem is that Keats is a cop, his real name is Jack Carter, and he is working undercover with the LAPD to bust Moses and Colton at a sting operation the LAPD has set up.

A former government operative renowned for his stealth, Jack Cole is now a Los Angeles police detective. When a series of horrible murders occurs in the metro area, Cole is assigned to the case, along with tough-talking fellow cop Jim Campbell. Although the two men clash, they gradually become effective partners as they uncover a conspiracy linked to the killings, which also involves terrorism and organized crime.

Sam Clayton's marriage to ex-stripper Freddie comes about when she's strong-armed into the match by Red, a club proprietor who once did her a favor. But Freddie falls in love with Jjaks, Sam's brother, and the pair tries to escape the situation together. It isn't long before both Sam and Red catch up with them, resulting in threats against the two of them -- although tension also starts to build between Sam and Red.

Bounced from her job, Erin Grant needs money if she's to have any chance of winning back custody of her child. But, eventually, she must confront the naked truth: to take on the system, she'll have to take it all off. Erin strips to conquer, but she faces unintended circumstances when a hound dog of a Congressman zeroes in on her and sharpens the shady tools at his fingertips, including blackmail and murder.

While escaping from a foiled robbery attempt, three thieves find themselves surrounded by police at a New Orleans bar--only they're not the people the police are searching for.

John Gotti, the head of a small New York mafia crew breaks a few of the old family rules. He rises to become the head of the Gambino family and the most well-known mafia boss in America. Life is good, but suspicion creeps in, and greed, rule-breaking and his high public profile all threaten to topple him.

Shy sixteen-year-old Stacy Collins can't believe that the most popular guy in school, an attractive athlete named Bobby Tennison, is interested in her. At first she is flattered by his constant attention, but then he becomes possessive and jealous-telling her who she can speak to and what she can wear. Threats escalate into violence when Bobby thinks Stacy has stepped out of line. Soon she is walking on egg shells and living in fear. Having seen the tell-tale bruises, Stacy's best friend convinces her to break things off with Bobby-but in a moment of weakness, Stacy goes to meet him. It will be the last time she is seen alive.

Jenna and Jeanna team up for an explosive feature! In the mood for a little Murder-Mystery (and a lot of sex)? Well, Wicked Pictures has got just the ticket. Jeanna Fine is the prime suspect in the untimely demise of her wealthy husband, and to make matters worse, she was allegedly filmed doing the deed. And if that's not enough , there's always a lover lurking in the shadows, and a receptionist to die for, played by the gorgeous Jenna Jameson. So watch Hard Evidence and judge for yourself. Maybe it's just a basic instinct.

A young half-Navajo convict dying of cancer forces a yuppie doctor to drive him to a magic healing lake.

A newly elected District attorney finds himself in the middle of a police corruption investigation that may involve his father and his partner.

Robert Altman's story – a riff on race, class, and power – cross-cuts between two kidnappings and a background of corrupt politics and virtuoso jazz music. It all takes place in Kansas City in 1934.

Gabriela, a Columbian immigrant, is obsessed with understanding violent crime. The current string of murders by "The Blue Blood Killer" of affluent Miami socialites provides her with fodder for her scrapbook of death. She lands a job with a post-murder cleaning service and during a Blue-Blood clean-up job, discovers evidence that police have overlooked.

Upon taking a new job, young lawyer Rick Hayes is assigned to the clemency case of Cindy Liggett, a woman convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. As Hayes investigates the background for her case, the two begin to form a deep friendship, while all the while the date for her execution draws nearer.

Chris Anderson and his wife Pam live a fairly normal life until Chris loses his job on the police force and secretly turns to robbing banks to make his wife's dreams come true. Upon discovering his secret, she joins his deadly crime wave and together they terrorize an unsuspecting suburban town.

The fourth of eight "Rockford Files" reunion TV movies.

An attempted burglary of a strip club goes awry when one of the three burglars kills a man who draws a gun. This results in the trio taking the dancers and the customers hostage. Why the robbers don't go ahead and escape when the shooting occurs is beyond the viewer. Then all the hostages escape and hide in the club's refrigerator which sort of indicates the intelligence of the stick-up men. Unfortunately, the cops outside are no more intelligent as they stand around outside wondering what to do as one of the strippers who was released crawls back into an extremely large venting system for a small club and rescues the hostages with the help of an ex-cop held inside the club.

Nightclub manager Darnell Wright is a perpetual playboy who is almost as devoted to his job as he is to the pursuit of beautiful women. After he sets his sights on the ultra-classy Brandi Web, he launches an all-out assault to win her heart. Ultimately, charm, lust and passion prevail, but Darnell learns the hard way that when you play, you pay. Brandi is much harder to get rid of than she was to get--especially when she realizes that she has a rival vying for Darnell's affection. When he finally decides to call it quits, Brandi becomes an obsessed femme fatale stalking the new love of her life.

A violent street gang, the Rebels, rule the streets of Gary, Indiana. The Rebels shoot Marvin Bookman, a store-keeper, for giving the police information about a drive-by shooting they committed. Marvin's son, former NFL star John who created the Rebels, returns to Gary to be with his father and, with a little help from his friends, to destroy the Rebels his way.

A depressed housewife whose husband is having an affair contemplates suicide, but changes her mind when she faces death by a killer hired to do her in.

Dreaming of ascending the underworld ladder and gaining revenge on his sadistic boss, Sal, a Mafia flunky, Frankie, tries to take a step in the right direction by "saving" an exploited, drug-addicted porn actress, Margaret.

Two prisoners escape with the help of their jailer to search for a treasure that is supposedly buried with a dead millionaire.

Jim Rockford, is framed for the murder of another rival detective with whom Jim was seen having an argument.

Mary Giordano is a bright, intelligent student who goes to a catholic school. She also has a addiction to mystery novels and detective magazines, which inspire her to do her own detective work. When she starts snooping around on the case of a murderer of teenage girls, it gets her in hot water with her mentor Detective Jerry Gunn. But it also starts a team up with police cadet Tony Campbell. The two work together to find the murderer. But the closer Mary gets to solving the murder, the more danger she puts herself in of being the next victim.

With his boss in the madhouse, a mobster is temporary boss of the criminal empire just as vicious rivals threaten the control of the empire.

An friend of Jim's continues to seek his help for her murdered son, but when she winds up dead not long after an altercation with the mafia man, Jim must must do what it takes to put both her soul and her son's, at rest, himself.

Vinnie Terranova is back, foiling a staged kidnaping of computer mogul Paul Callendar's son in order to probe possible inside information brokering. Meanwhile, McPike is having a hard time working with his young boss, who feels Terranova and McPike are dinosaurs not worth supporting.

Bonnie and Clyde were no match for Depression Era gangster George "Babyface" Nelson and his moll Helen Womack. Constantly on the lam from the law and from Chicago's biggest crime lord Al Capone, Babyface and his female accomplice leave a trail of blood and bullets in their path towards making history.

True story about a kid from rich family with political ties who covers up a suspicious death of a young woman. This comes back to haunt him later.

When two sisters can no longer go on living with the painful memory of their baby sister being murdered 37 years ago by their stepmother, together they try to uncover the truth.

In a small Amish community, three barns are burnt down almost simultaneously. FBI agent Sally Russwell is sent in to investigate this possible hate crime. What she finds however is a community that little trust for outsiders or "The English" as they call them. However, in her investigations, Agent Russell makes friends with one entrepreneurial widow, Annie Beiler who has her own curiosity about this stranger. Together, Annie introduces Russell in-depth to this close knit community bearing many appealing attributes. However, as Sally's investigations continue, she discovers secrets that reveal uncomfortable truths about the religious community that are linked to the arson attacks.

When the body of a victim from the Winterborne case goes missing and a black magic grimoire is stolen from a local museum Liz Shaw teams up with the disgraced former headmaster of Winterborne school, Gavin Purcell to fight it.