- A crime film, is a film that involves various aspects of crime and the criminal justice system.
- Films focused on the Mafia are a typical example of crime films.
- Films dealing with crime and its detection are often based on plays rather than novels. Agatha Christie's stage play Witness for the Prosecution was adapted for the big screen by director Billy Wilder in 1957. The film is a classic example of a "courtroom drama". In a courtroom drama, a charge is brought against one of the main characters, who says that they are innocent.
- Often, the private investigator storms into the courtroom at the very last minute in order to bring a new and crucial piece of information to the attention of the court.
- When a courtroom drama is filmed, the traditional device employed by screenwriters and directors is the frequent use of flashbacks, in which the crime and everything that led up to it is narrated and reconstructed from different angles.
Crime thrillers - thrillers in which crime plays a large part. Examples include Seven, Witness, Memories of Murder and Running Scared.
Crime horrors - horror films in which crime plays a major part. Examples include the Saw films, From Hell and the Hannibal Lecter film series
Crime comedies - crime and comedy films. Examples include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, In Bruges and Mafia!.
Film noir - a genre popular in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, often fall into the crime genre. Neo-noir films refer to more modern films influenced by film noir such as Sin City.
Mob films - are films which focus on characters who are involved seriously with the Mafia or Gangs. Examples, Goodfellas, The Godfather, Public Enemies, Once Upon a Time in America, Road to Perdition, White Heat, Bugsy, Carlito's Way, Pulp Fiction, Manhattan Melodrama, Angels with Dirty Faces, Little Caesar (film), Mean Streets, Get Carter, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Donnie Brasco, Gangs Of New York, The Untouchables, The Public Enemy, Layer Cake, Casino, Miller's Crossing, Scarface (1932), Reservoir Dogs, Bonnie & Clyde, Pusher trilogy and The Departed.
Yakuza films - a Japanese variant of the mob film, dating back to the 1940s Examples,
Akira Kurosawa's Drunken Angel (1948), Battles Without Honor and Humanity and Ichi the Killer.
Martial arts action - martial arts action films in which the protagonist is usually a policeman trained in martial arts fighting. Criminals often engage in acrobatics and stunts to increase the action. Examples include Jackie chan's Police Story, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Flash Point, Kiss of the Dragon, and Rush Hour Series.
Heroic bloodshed - a sub genre of Hong Kong action cinema revolving around stylized action sequences and dramatic themes such as brotherhood, duty, honour, redemption and violence, often featuring triads. Examples include The Killer and Hard Boiled.
Heist films - these films deal with a group of criminals attempting to perform a theft or robbery. Examples include The Killing, Oceans 11, Dog Day Afternoon, The Sting and Reservoir Dogs.
Police procedural films - often with a surprise twist ending. Examples: He Walked By Night (1948), Stray Dog (1949), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Madigan (1968), Klute and The French Connection (both from 1971), The Usual Suspects (1995), Lone Star (1996), and Blood Work (2002).
Detective films - professional private detectives hired to solve a crime, usually a murder or missing persons case. Examples: The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Big Sleep (1946), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Harper (1966), The Long Goodbye (1973), Chinatown (1974), Twilight (1998).
Legal dramas - are not usually concerned with the actual crime so much as the trial in the aftermath. Examples include Awaara, 12 Angry Men and A Time To Kill.
Prison films - are films that follow the life of the protagonists in prison. Examples include The Shawshank Redemption and Escape from Alcatraz.
Hood films - are films dealing with African-American urban issues and culture. Examples include Menace II Society and Boyz n the Hood.
Poliziotteschi - a type of crime film made in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s. Typically these films are very gritty and violent. Examples include Violent Naples and High Crime.
Mumbai underworld films - an Indian variant of gangster films, revolving around crime in the slums of Mumbai, often involving the Indian mafia.
Snuff films - a sub genre that depicts the actual death or murder of a person or people, without the aid of special effects.
True crime - films are based on real events, though details may be altered for the purposes of storytelling. Examples include Bonnie & Clyde, Dog Day Afternoon, Goodfellas, Public Enemies.
The sub genres that we are mostly interested in are: Crime gangster, Crime thriller, Crime horror and True crime.
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