The Rosary Murders is a 1987 American mystery crime film directed by Fred Walton, and starring Donald Sutherland, Charles Durning, Belinda Bauer, and Josef Sommer.

In a Roman Catholic parish in Detroit, a series of murders begins in rapid succession: first, Father James Lord is killed on Ash Wednesday by an unknown assailant who unplugs the respirator in his hospital room.

Shortly after, Sister Ann Peschal informs her superior, Father Robert Koesler, that she intends to leave the convent, as she has fallen in love with a man and wishes to marry him.

Pat Lennon, a journalist for the local newspaper, is appointed to cover the murders, and strikes up a friendship with Koesler, who himself has experience working with the city's Catholic press.

Koesler is unnerved when a man who claims to be the killer visits his confessional and blames the church for his teenage daughter's death three years prior.

Next, Koesler visits the Javison home but receives no response upon knocking on the door; he climbs through a window into Katherine's bedroom, which has remained unchanged since her death.

She initially communicates with a notepad, before relenting and speaking aloud: She informs Koesler that Katherine confided in her that she and her father had an incestuous relationship.

In the Los Angeles Times, film critic Kevin Thomas wrote:The Rosary Murders is an instance of good writing matched by firm, understated direction and some splendid playing from a large cast.