Sunday, June 26, 2011

Peeping Tom

In 1960, two movies with themes of voyeurism and eroticism were released: Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom. The results were different; Psycho advanced Hitchcock's career while Peeping Tom destroyed Powell's.

Both movies have a similar lead character: a young man, insecure because of the controlling nature of a now deceased parent, murders as a means of coping with life. Really freaky stuff.

The similarities between Psycho and Peeping Tom end when discussing the murders. The murders in Psycho are bloody but subdued. Those in Peeping Tom are bound to spook you since they're shown through the killer's eyes. That, and a heightened sense of perversion for what happens after the murders.

Oh man, Peeping Tom is really freaky. Definitely not for the easily spooked. It's really for those who weren't scared by Psycho. Am I one of those people? Nuh uh, but I was very spooked by Peeping Tom.

My Rating: *****

3 comments:

  1. This is a film that really gives me the creeps, it's really that perverted and twisted. The point of view indeed makes it more unbearable than others.

    I don't know why i've always singled this out as such since I love all crime films and watch far too many of them. Peepers and cannibals creep me out.

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  2. Peeping Tom is amazing, and definitely worthy of all the praise it now gets.

    However, I am surprised that no one has seemed to pick up on the fact that it plays out more as a morbid love story than anything.

    Still, a wonderful film.

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  3. Nice post, Anna.

    I watched this last night, having read your review, and realising I had been meaning to see this for some time and put it off. I didn't put it together that Michael Powell also directed The Red Shoes, and I have learnt since that his directing career was destroyed following this film. Crazy!

    I thought it was very good. The murders were chilling, and Mark's sick, perverted antics sure were creepy. I thought some of the acting was a bit mediocre and I couldn't help but wonder why the women weren't more frightened by his very obvious peculiarities. Still, it's an effective horror film, and one with quite strong themes about the voyeurism of the film audience. Don't we watch horror films to see people's dying expressions of terror? The difference is, Mark's films were real.

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