AFI described mystery films as "a genre that revolves around the solution of a crime. Steeped in the unpredictability of human nature and wrapped in a tangle of plot twists, mysteries inhabit a world where the secrets are dark and the agendas well hidden. Unlike the open-endedness that characterizes so much of real life, a movie mystery delivers the ultimate satisfaction of a solution in the final reel."

Nominees: Nine movies were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Winners: Vertigo (1958) (# 1), Chinatown (1974) (# 2), Rear Window (1954) (# 3), Laura (1944) (# 4), The Third Man (1949) (# 5), The Maltese Falcon (1941) (# 6), North by Northwest (1959) (# 7), Blue Velvet (1986) (# 8), Dial M For Murder (1954) (# 9), The Usual Suspects (1995) (# 10).

Comments: This category was a strange one - does it include suspense/thriller films as well? What about Sherlock Holmes films? Four Hitchcock films were in the top 10. Other top 10 choices might have been: Rebecca (1940), The Big Sleep (1946), Gaslight (1944), The Conversation (1974), and Se7en (1995). The Sixth Sense (1999) should have been a nominee on this list, and Blue Velvet (1986) was a 'mystery' film, of sorts, but a whole lot more.