Frenzy
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
- crime
- thriller
- horror
The story
London is terrorized by a vicious sex killer known as The Necktie Murderer. Following the brutal slaying of his ex-wife, down-on-his-luck Richard Blaney is suspected by the police of being the killer. He goes on the run, determined to prove his innocence.
What it’s like
Grey Thames light, wet cobbles and the sour clutter of Covent Garden market give this its look: a cool, damp London that feels grimy and faintly comic at once. Hitchcock's camera stays patient, with long, unhurried takes that let an ordinary room or a delivery truck's cab sit in the frame until the dread arrives on its own. The score is light and brassy in places, which sets up an unsettling clash with the violence. Its mood is sardonic and anxious, a dark joke with a cold centre, and it suits a grey weekday evening or a late-night watch when you want tension with some wry bite. The pacing is deliberate, and its people are a wrongly accused, sour-tempered man and a pompous, fumbling policeman, both pulled into a sordid chase. The intensity is significant: strangulation and sexual violence are shown and implied, with brief nudity and some brutal moments, though much of the horror lands through suggestion and cutaways rather than sustained gore. It is not gentle. It suits people who enjoy classic suspense, dark humour and a mid-century British crime film with a cynical edge.
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