Test Your Knowledge: Ultimate Mystery Movie Trivia Quiz

Answers at the bottom — no peeking!

Put your detective skills to the test with this thrilling trivia quiz on classic and modern mystery movies! From Hitchcock’s masterful suspense to twisty whodunits, these 20 questions range from easy warm-ups to brain-bending stumpers. Grab a notebook and see if you can crack every case.

Questions

Question 1: Which 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart features detective Sam Spade hunting for a priceless statue known as the Maltese Falcon?

A. The Big Sleep
B. The Maltese Falcon
C. Laura
D. The Killers

Question 2: Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 thriller Rope is notable for being his first film shot in which format?

A. CinemaScope
B. Black and white
C. Colour
D. 3D

Question 3: In Rear Window (1954), what is the profession of James Stewart’s character, L.B. Jefferies?

A. Photographer
B. Journalist
C. Private detective
D. Architect

Question 4: Who directed the 1974 neo-noir mystery Chinatown starring Jack Nicholson?

A. Roman Polanski
B. Robert Altman
C. Francis Ford Coppola
D. Martin Scorsese

Question 5: What is the famous final line in Chinatown (1974)?

A. “She’s my sister and my daughter.”
B. “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”
C. “You were expecting maybe Ramona?”
D. “I see dead people.”

Question 6: In the 1974 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, who played Hercule Poirot?

A. Peter Ustinov
B. Albert Finney
C. Kenneth Branagh
D. David Suchet

Question 7: The 1985 comedy mystery Clue is based on which classic board game?

A. Monopoly
B. Scrabble
C. Clue (or Cluedo)
D. Risk

Question 8: In The Usual Suspects (1995), what is the name of the elusive criminal mastermind played by Kevin Spacey?

A. Dean Keaton
B. Keyser Söze
C. Verbal Kint
D. Kobayashi

Question 9: Which 1995 mystery thriller features detectives played by Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt hunting a serial killer inspired by the seven deadly sins?

A. Seven (Se7en)
B. Copycat
C. Kiss the Girls
D. The Bone Collector

Question 10: L.A. Confidential (1997) is based on a novel by which author?

A. James Ellroy
B. Michael Connelly
C. Raymond Chandler
D. Dashiell Hammett

Question 11: In The Sixth Sense (1999), what is the iconic line spoken by Haley Joel Osment’s character?

A. “I see dead people.”
B. “They were all dead.”
C. “In the end, we all float.”
D. “Here’s Johnny!”

Question 12: Christopher Nolan’s 2000 mystery Memento is told in which distinctive narrative style?

A. Linear chronology
B. Reverse chronology
C. Flashback-heavy
D. Split-screen

Question 13: David Fincher’s 2007 film Zodiac chronicles the real-life hunt for which serial killer?

A. The Zodiac Killer
B. The Black Dahlia Killer
C. The Night Stalker
D. The Son of Sam

Question 14: In Gone Girl (2014), who directed the adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel?

A. David Fincher
B. Denis Villeneuve
C. Gillian Flynn
D. David O. Russell

Question 15: Which actor plays detective Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson’s 2019 mystery Knives Out?

A. Daniel Craig
B. Chris Evans
C. Jamie Lee Curtis
D. Ana de Armas

Question 16: In Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958), what phobia afflicts James Stewart’s character, Scottie Ferguson?

A. Acrophobia (fear of heights)
B. Claustrophobia
C. Agoraphobia
D. Arachnophobia

Question 17: Otto Preminger’s 1944 film noir Laura centres on the apparent murder of a woman named?

A. Laura Hunt
B. Vivian Sternwood
C. Madeleine Elster
D. Evelyn Cross

Question 18: In Prisoners (2013), which actor plays the desperate father Keller Dover?

A. Hugh Jackman
B. Jake Gyllenhaal
C. Paul Dano
D. Maria Bello

Question 19: Hitchcock’s 1951 mystery Strangers on a Train features tennis star Guy Haines, played by which actor?

A. Farley Granger
B. Robert Walker
C. James Stewart
D. Cary Grant

Question 20: In the 1940 film Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, what is the name of the grand estate owned by Maxim de Winter?

A. Manderley
B. Mandalay
C. Thornfield Hall
D. Winterfell

Answers

  1. B. The Maltese Falcon — The 1941 John Huston film stars Bogart as Sam Spade pursuing the black bird statue.
  2. C. Colour — Rope was Hitchcock’s first colour feature, shot in extended 10-minute takes.
  3. A. Photographer — L.B. Jefferies is a wheelchair-bound photographer spying on his neighbours.
  4. A. Roman Polanski — Polanski directed the Oscar-winning screenplay by Robert Towne.
  5. B. “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” — The film’s iconic closing line, spoken to Jake Gittes.
  6. B. Albert Finney — Finney portrayed Poirot in Sidney Lumet’s 1974 adaptation.
  7. C. Clue (or Cluedo) — The film adapts the classic whodunit board game and features multiple endings.
  8. B. Keyser Söze — Spacey’s Verbal Kint is revealed as the criminal mastermind Keyser Söze.
  9. A. Seven (Se7en) — Fincher’s film follows detectives tracking a killer motivated by the seven deadly sins.
  10. A. James Ellroy — The film adapts Ellroy’s novel about 1950s LAPD corruption.
  11. A. “I see dead people.” — Cole Sear’s chilling line to his psychologist, played by Bruce Willis.
  12. B. Reverse chronology — The story unfolds backwards from Leonard Shelby’s perspective.
  13. A. The Zodiac Killer — Fincher’s film depicts the real unsolved San Francisco case from the 1960s–70s.
  14. A. David Fincher — Fincher directed the 2014 adaptation starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.
  15. A. Daniel Craig — Craig plays the Southern detective Benoit Blanc investigating the Thrombey family.
  16. A. Acrophobia (fear of heights) — Scottie’s vertigo is central to the film’s plot and climax.
  17. A. Laura Hunt — The film follows a detective’s obsession after the apparent murder of Laura Hunt.
  18. A. Hugh Jackman — Jackman plays Keller Dover, the desperate father searching for his missing daughter.
  19. A. Farley Granger — Granger portrays the blackmailed tennis player Guy Haines.
  20. A. Manderley — The grand estate in the Daphne du Maurier adaptation burns at the film’s conclusion.

How did you score? Share your results in the comments below and challenge your friends to crack these mystery movie cases!