Best mystery movie questions of all time

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Dirty Harry picture

Question: Is Callahan holding the binoculars upside down when he is peering down on the apartments looking for Scorpio? He is on the rooftop with the Jesus Saves Sign. They look upside down to me. (00:38:39)

Answer: Yes the binoculars are upside down.

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Heathers picture

Question: In the scene in the girl's locker room, after Heather Chandler's death, why does Veronica get into a shower with her clothes on?

Answer: I think it's one of those "This can't be happening, I must be dreaming" moments. Same as when a character pinches themselves in order to wake up, or they tell someone to pinch them. Veronica can hardly believe what she and JD did.

Answer: Most likely it's an act of contrition, symbolically attempting to "wash away" her sin.

raywest

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The 10th Kingdom picture

Question: After the dog and Prince Wendell have been switched, why does the Queen even care about having the dog (who is really Prince)? She doesn't know that Tony can talk to him, so as far as she knows, no one can understand the dog at all. Why would she be concerned?

Answer: Because if Wendell and the switched dog somehow came in contact with each other then they would switch back. She does not want to risk this happening.

Scrappy

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Final Destination 3 picture

Question: I saw the answer to the whole Frankie death scene, but there's still something I don't get. If Wendy and Kevin had stayed in his truck, wouldn't they have died, and messed up Death's list?

M0vi3

Chosen answer: They would've died, but Death "knew" they wouldn't have stayed in the car. If they had stayed, Death would change his death.

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The Vanishing picture

Question: Why is there someone (looks like a policeman) lying in the road when Jeff's girlfriend, Diane, vanishes from the service station? (00:22:00 - 00:24:00)

Answer: He is a crew member lying in the road directly behind the brown G.R.S. Dye Works semi-truck (presumably trying to remain hidden from the camera's view), and we even see his right hand waving off the traffic ahead of him (00:22:05).

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The Sixth Sense picture

Question: Through most of the film Malcolm is dead. All the other ghosts still have scars from how they died but why doesn't Malcolm have his mark which should be a bullet wound?

Answer: Because as Cole tells us in the middle of the movie, "They only see what they want to see." The movie shows us Malcolm as he perceives himself. He can't actually put on an overcoat, or change clothes. He sees what he expects to see. He goes outside in the cold to visit Cole, so he sees himself wearing an overcoat. He doesn't know he is dead - he doesn't see his wound. To preserve this misdirection throughout the movie, we are shown Malcolm as he sees himself.

Actually, we do see Malcolm and Cole sees him. The entry wound in his abdomen is tiny, and the large, obvious exit wound is on Malcolm's back, which we never see.

C Classic

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The Gathering picture

Question: Why did Argyle want to kill Michael? I can understand wanting to kill those who harmed him but Michael was an innocent boy.

Answer: She said in the movie, "He must see himself as a child in Michael. He wants to get rid of him to erase his past."

Answer: While Argyle shows a strange affinity for Michael, his primary goal is still revenge on the entire town. Innocent or not, Michael is connected to those who tortured him.

BaconIsMyBFF

How could Michael have anything to do with those men that he killed? He's just a kid.

How is he connected?

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Rosemary's Baby picture

Question: When Rosemary gets into the Castavets right at the end, she walks past a man, and then the man says something. She then replies "Be quiet, you're still in [some location]" What was that about...?

Hamster

Chosen answer: Roman Castavet is trying to get Rosemary's attention, and she says "Be quiet, you're in Dubrovnik, I can't hear you". That was in reference to the fact that Roman and Minnie were supposed to have gone to Majorca or Dubrovnik after she found out that Roman was supposedly dying (which was just a lie Rosemary was told so she wouldn't suspect them when her baby was taken). Roman and Minnie got in a cab and pretended to go to the airport, but never left town.

LuMaria 1

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Saw V picture

Question: I was wondering why the man and woman in the last trap didn't use the woman from the bathtub to give the pints of blood? They could have carried her into the room because the door stayed open for about forty seconds.

Michelle Ferris

Chosen answer: Assuming the woman in the bathtub was able to be moved safely the amount of blood gained from her, while still being helpful, would probably not be enough to save the final two survivors from self harm. Without the heart pumping blood you would only get the blood that was in her arm at the moment. You would have to lift her or raise her so gravity would get other blood moving to get enough. Which the final two possibly could have done, but stress of the situation clouded their judgement.

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Sleepy Hollow picture

Question: When going to kill the Killians, how did the Horseman know that Thomas was hiding under the floor? Thomas stayed completely still and didn't make a sound.

Answer: It would seem the Horseman possesses a supernatural instinct.

Phaneron

Answer: The horseman saw that the mother was close to where he was hiding.

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Who's Harry Crumb? picture

Question: When Harry finds Eliot tied up, he removes the tape and tells him that the kidnappers have been caught. Why did Eliot confess to being the actual mastermind behind the kidnapping? Harry had no idea it was Eliot behind it all so he could have gotten away with it if he didn't say anything.

Answer: Eliot mistakenly believed that Harry had figured out what his part was in the kidnapping, and, exasperated by Harry's dumb luck, Eliot stupidly confessed. He was then arrested.

raywest

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Candyman picture

Question: What did Candyman mean when he told Helen it was always her? Why was he so interested in Helen?

Answer: When Helen goes back and sees the mural of his murder, the camera lingers on a woman in the picture that looks like her. This is the woman Candyman was in love with before he was killed. The implication is either she was reincarnated as Helen, or Helen reminded him of her, hence his interest in her.

dewinela

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Silver Bullet picture

Question: Reverend Lowe says that he's been killing people because of the sins they committed but why did he kill Brady? He never committed a sin.

Answer: Firstly, Reverend Lowe is deluding himself by saying he only kills people because of their sins. He is in fact wracked with guilt over his actions and has at least one vivid nightmare about this. Secondly, in the Christian faith all humans are considered sinners so this gives Reverend Lowe a justification for his beliefs. Anyone he kills would be a sinner in his eyes, including Brady.

BaconIsMyBFF

I think the first part is more accurate. It really has nothing to do with the idea of original sin or everyone being a sinner since he states he only punishes the evil, corrupt, and immoral. He tells Marty he'd never hurt an innocent child. He just really has no control of his Wolf side and is lying to himself about why he kills.

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Swimming Pool picture

Question: Could someone please explain the end to me? Why was Julie a different person at the end when she was in her father's office?

Linda Rauda

Chosen answer: Julie was not the publisher's daughter. Julia, who we see at the end, is the real daughter - given that Sarah doesn't seem very surprised to see Julia at the end (and the reaction of the secretary proves she's known to everyone), the most likely explanation is that the entire sequence in France is in fact the content of Sarah's book, and never really happened.

Jon Sandys

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Answer: To add slightly to the other answer, evidently some of the blood in the scene had to be digitally removed for the film to secure a PG-13 rating, which explains why we don't see any actual spray/gush. But we are to assume that a drop managed to splash onto her shoe when he slit his throat.

TedStixon

Answer: The rationale is that blood can travel quite far from an artery and her shoe therefore got the droplet on it even from the doorway - however it does seem to me that the filmic portrayal is lacking, since you don't actually see any instance of spray. Rian Johnson' script says "Blood gushes." What we see in the scene is that it is trickling down his cut - a bit.

Sammo

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The Commuter picture

Question: Why does the weather and road/ground change so much (dry, rain storm, wet, snow) in the beginning of the movie from the kitchen to the train station?

Answer: The opening credit scene (waking up, in the kitchen, the drive, being on the train, and walking through the terminal) is montage where each cut represents another day in Michael's life. It's meant to show the monotony of his life through the whole year (or even years) and how he follows the same routine everyday.

Bishop73

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Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls picture

Question: Greenwall says that the warrior must stand on the tower for five days. Wouldn't he die of dehydration?

Answer: Not if somebody climbed up and gave him some water to drink.

Answer: As someone else said, somebody could give him water. The test might be more about staying in one place and denying himself the daily activities and pleasures of life - not having access to his usual amount of water and food.

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La Confidential picture

Question: What is Lynn's connection to the Nite Owl killings?

Answer: She doesn't really have one - not directly, anyway. The only link is that Susan Lefferts died at the Night Owl, and Bud saw Lynn with Lefferts when he was buying the alcohol for the party. Lefferts had the bandage on her nose at the time, which sparked Bud's curiosity and prompted him to seek out Lynn after Lefferts was murdered.

Tailkinker

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The Bone Collector picture

Question: There is a LOT of changes if you compare the film to the book, and most of them I understand, since you always have to make some changes. But why did they change such things as characters names and genders?

Answer: The film makers changed the name of Amelia Sachs because it sounded too much like 'sex'. I have not been able to discover for certain why they made Thom into a woman, but possibly this had to do with Thom's homosexuality. It could be viewed as controversial that Rhyme's nurse is a gay man, and could possibly also bring Rhyme's own sexuality into question. To make the nurse female would avoid all such issues.

Twotall

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Ace Ventura: Pet Detective picture

Question: How exactly does an escaped male mental patient who's posing as a woman a) work as a police officer without having violent mood swings most of the time, b) acquire money for breast implants and c) avoid a single physical examination that would have exposed his penis?

Answer: Just because someone has been institutionalized doesn't mean they have mood swings. If this was a manic episode (which it appears to be) there wouldn't be any swings at all. Just manic all the time. It wouldn't last forever, but its different for everyone. As for the money, plastic surgery can be financed! and we don't know if s/he had money stashed away beforehand. And for the last question, I just don't know. Not very likely, but some people get through lots of physical testing that shouldn't. Possibly documents were forged? Just speculation on my part.

Kimberly Mason

Answer: The money came from her pro football career, She stole an identity to become a police officer.

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