Best Mystery Movies of 2012

A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

True-crime writer Ellison Oswald is in a slump; he hasn't had a best seller in more than 10 years and is becoming increasingly desperate for a hit. So, when he discovers the existence of a snuff film showing the deaths of a family, he vows to solve the mystery. He moves his own family into the victims' home and gets to work. However, when old film footage and other clues hint at the presence of a supernatural force, Ellison learns that living in the house may be fatal.

In 1994 a 13-year-old boy disappeared without a trace from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three-and-a-half years later he is found alive thousands of miles away in a village in southern Spain with a horrifying story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems.

A fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet is in pursuit of a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories.

Jill Conway is trying to rebuild her life after surviving a terrifying kidnapping attempt. Though she is having a difficult time, she takes small steps toward normalcy by starting a new job and inviting her sister, Molly, to move in with her. Returning home from work one morning, Jill discovers that Molly has vanished, and she is certain that the same man who previously abducted her has returned for revenge.

When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.

Four everyday suburban guys come together as an excuse to escape their humdrum lives one night a week. But when they accidentally discover that their town has become overrun with aliens posing as ordinary suburbanites, they have no choice but to save their neighborhood - and the world - from total extermination.

On a particularly busy day at a suburban Ohio fast food restaurant, manager Sandra receives a phone call from a police officer saying that an employee has stolen money from a customer.

Something sinister has come to the shores of Erin Island, unbeknownst to the quaint population of this sleepy fishing village resting somewhere off Ireland’s coast. First, some fishermen go missing. Then there is the rash of whale carcasses suddenly washing up on the beach. When the murders start, it’s up to two mismatched cops – an irresponsible alcoholic and his new partner, a by-the-book woman from the mainland – to protect the townsfolk from the giant, bloodsucking, tentacled aliens that prey upon them. Their only weapon, they discover, is booze. If they want to survive the creatures’ onslaught, everyone will have to get very, very drunk!

When Scooby and the gang hear of a werewolf plaguing a traveling circus, they go undercover as circus performers to get to the bottom.

Dolph Springer wakes up one morning to realize he has lost the love of his life, his dog, Paul. During his quest to get Paul (and his life) back, Dolph radically changes the lives of others -- risking his sanity all the while.

Scooby and the gang have their first musical mystery in “Scooby Doo: Music of the Vampire.” It begins when they take a sing-a-long road trip into bayou country to attend the “Vampire-Palooza Festival” – an outdoor fair dedicated to all things Draculian. At first it looks as if they’re in for some fun and lots of Southern snacks, but events soon turn scary when a real live vampire comes to life, bursts from his coffin and threatens all the townsfolk. On top of that, this baritone blood sucker seems intent on taking Daphne as his vampire bride! Could the vampire be a descendant of a famous vampire hunter who is trying to sell his book? Or perhaps he’s the local politician, who has been trying to make his name in the press by attacking the vampires as downright unwholesome. The answers are to be found in a final song-filled showdown in the swamp in which our heroes unmask one of their most macabre monsters yet.

Heather Mason and her father have been on the run, always one step ahead of dangerous forces that she doesn't fully understand, Now on the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by horrific nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she's not who she thinks she is. The revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her forever.

An heiress who's been shut inside her apartment building for nearly two decades is forced to confront her fears after one of her neighbors is killed and a detective arrives to begin the investigation.

As investigative reporter Ward Jansen and his partner Yardley Acheman chase a sensational, career-making story with the help of Ward's younger brother Jack and sultry death-row groupie Charlotte Bless, the pair tries to prove violent swamp-dweller Hillary Van Wetter was framed for the murder of a corrupt local sheriff.

An obsessed cop is on the trail of a serial killer prowling the streets of Buffalo, N.Y. but when his teenage daughter disappears, he drops any professional restraint to get the killer.

After their mother passes away, sisters Nicole and Annie reluctantly return to their childhood home to pay their last respects. While staying overnight in the house, the sisters sense a mysterious presence in their midst: noises startling them in the night, objects moving about, a fallen picture of an unknown woman posed next to their mother. Annie begins experiencing a series of intense and disturbing dreams - visions that lead her to uncover something terrible about her mother's past that is finally revealing itself.

Jim Moriarty hatches a mad scheme to turn the whole city against Sherlock.

The rivalry between the manipulative boss of an advertising agency and her talented protégée escalates from stealing credit to public humiliation to murder.

Follows disillusioned young family man John as a mysterious stranger, Richie takes him on a murder-fueled ride that transforms the weak-willed John into a desperate hero willing to go to any length to protect his family.

After Washington DC detective Alex Cross is told that a family member has been murdered, he vows to track down the killer. He soon discovers that she was not his first victim and that things are not what they seem.

After his family is kidnapped during their sailing trip in Spain, a young Wall Street trader is confronted by the people responsible: intelligence agents looking to recover a mysterious briefcase.

Jesse finds himself struggling to get his job back as the Paradise police chief, and he is forced to rely on his cop intuition to sort through a maze of misleading clues and hidden meanings as he attempts to solve a shocking and horrifying mob-related double homicide.

A baby abducted at birth and raised by the woman who took her, eventually discovers she is a missing child, reconnects with her birth parents, and struggles with choosing between her two identities.

Set in 1952, as England prepares for the coronation, The Scapegoat tells the story of two very different men who have one thing in common - a face.

A little boy troubled by a paper bird - Quote : "I am alone in my gondola, I am trapped in the sky, My name's Nathan, I don't like the real"

Lovell Milo is a man who begins experiencing his life out of order; every day he wakes up at a different age, on a different day of his life, never knowing where or when he’s going to be once he falls asleep. He’s terrified and wants it to stop - until he notices a pattern in his experience, and works to uncover why this is happening to him - and what or who is behind it.

A group of friends are lured to an isolated cabin by a promise of heavy partying, only to find themselves in a nightmarish game of truth or dare.

The son of a slain NYPD officer joins the force, where he falls in with his father's former partner and a team of rogue cops. His new boss, Sarcone, will see if he has what it takes to be rogue through many trials and tribulations of loyalty, trust and respect. When the truth about his father's death is revealed revenge takes him over and he won't stop until justice has been truly served.

Jack Irish is a man getting his life back together again. A former criminal lawyer whose world imploded, he now spends his days as a part-time investigator, debt collector, apprentice cabinet maker, punter and sometime lover - the complete man really. Jack is an expert in finding those who don't want to be found - dead or alive. He helps out his mates while avoiding the past. That is until the past finds him.

The gang flies off to Africa for a video animal Safari, So Goodi!, only to learn that - zoinks! - the creatures are actually shape-shifting jungle demons! In Homeward Hound, a "fiercely fanged" cat creature petrifies the competing pooches at a dog show, including the visiting Scooby-Doo! Finally, a giant Wakumi bird is stealing sculptures that are scheduled to be housed in a museum in New Mexico, Old Monster. There's never a dull moment when Scooby-Doo enters the scene!

When two bus crash survivors awake to discover that they are the only people left in their small town, they must form an unlikely alliance in a race to unravel the truth behind their isolation. As strange events begin to unfold, they start to question whether the town they know so well is really what it seems.

The police force of a remote Midwestern town search for a killer Santa Claus who is picking off citizens on Christmas Eve.

When a dying theater’s last hope for business suddenly goes from a murder mystery show to an actual murder mystery, the cast must play it off in order to save their jobs!

Shaggy is selected to participate in the World Invitational Games in London, England.

A dark comedy about two people's chase around Los Angeles to find a missing cooler.

HE, the third work in the ongoing collaboration between Rouzbeh Rashidi and actor James Devereaux, is a troubling and mysterious portrait of a suicidal man. Rashidi juxtaposes the lead character’s apparently revealing monologues with scenes and images that layer the film with ambiguity. Its deliberate, hypnotic pace and boldly experimental structure result in an unusual and challenging view of its unsettling subject.

The global economy is on the brink of collapse. Brilliant creators, from artists to industrialists, continue to mysteriously disappear. Unemployment has risen to 24%. Gas is now $42 per gallon. Dagny Taggart, Vice President in Charge of Operations for Taggart Transcontinental, has discovered what may very well be the answer to the mounting energy crisis - found abandoned amongst ruins, a miraculous motor that could seemingly power the World. But, the motor is dead... there is no one left to decipher its secret... and, someone is watching. It’s a race against the clock to find the inventor and stop the destroyer before the motor of the World is stopped for good. A motor that would power the World. A World whose motor would be stopped. Who is John Galt?

Melbourne, 1886. Two gentlemen climb into a hansom cab late one murky night. One man climbs out, the other travels on to St Kilda. On arrival, the driver finds the second man dead; murdered. The ‘high-society’ killing sends shockwaves through the young city, still flush from its gold-rush boom.

Suspected of murdering her best friend, a teenage computer-hacker goes on the run to find the real killer.

In Real Fear: The Truth Behind the Movies, Chiller investigates the terrifying factual stories that inspired some of the scariest horror movies of all time, including Silent Hill, The Amityville Horror, The Mothman Prophecies and Poltergeist, through exclusive eyewitness interviews and reenactments of actual events. Paranormal investigator Katrina Weidman (Paranormal State) travels with three of her friends into the dark recesses of the unknown to uncover the buried secrets behind these four iconic films. Journey down the haunted high-ways of the American East Coast on a road trip to discover the origins of our most beloved horror films made. From a grisly series of murders in the small town Amityville to a devastating, subterranean fire in the rural town of Centralia...From the eye-witness reports of the inexplicable, red-eyed creature known as Mothman to the documented paranormal activity that inspired Poltergeist...The movies may be fiction, but the fear is very, very real...

Scooby-Doo and the gang participate in a toy store's holiday parade where they discover the abandoned haunted clock tower with a troubled past. A sinister snowman haunts the streets and accompanied with a large blizzard, threatens to close down the toy store for good.

A pair of working-class brothers flee their Reno Motel after getting involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident.

A seductive teen becomes vindictive when her boyfriend tries to end the relationship.

A noir thriller told from the point of view of a femme fatale, who falls for the detective in charge of a murder case.

Sam loves scary movies, especially the ones with Dracula. This year, instead of writing to Santa for Christmas, Sam writes to Dracula, telling Dracula that he wants to be a real vampire on Halloween this year. Sam is in for quite a surprise as the most famous of all vampires himself responds.

Four mathematicians are gathered and meet with a top official of the United States Department of Defense. After some discussion, the group agrees that they must be wary with whom to trust and control their solution. The official offers them a reward of $10 million in exchange for their portion of the algorithm, swaying them by attempting to address their concerns. Only one of the four speaks out against the sale, and in doing so is forced to reveal a dark truth about his portion of the solution. Before they sign a license to the government, however, they wrestle with the ethical consequences of their discovery. -- Wikipedia

Crystal and her boyfriend Leo embark on a tense and mysterious road trip through the desolate yet hauntingly beautiful landscape of central Florida.

A troubled engineer faces pressure at work and problems at home with his moody wife. American expat Chuck, rescues him from the brink of despair and becomes an unlikely mentor.