Frenzy

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Frenzy

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Frenzy

Alec McCowen, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Barry Foster, Bernard Cribbins

Alfred Hitchcock entered the 1970s with his commercial reputation virtually in tatters, a far cry from his stature at the start of the 1960s. Then, he'd been in the middle of the massively successful ...( read more  read more... )trio of movies, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds, and was a ubiquitous presence on television thanks to his anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents -- but the series ended, and he'd suffered three expensive box-office failures in a row, Marnie, Torn Curtain, and Topaz, in the second half of the 1960s. He redeemed himself with Frenzy, however, which marked his return not only to England for the first time in 20 years but also to the subject matter with which he'd started his career in thrillers back in 1926 -- murder, and a hunt for a serial killer in London. As the latest female victim of the Necktie Murderer is found in the Thames, raped and strangled, we meet Richard Blaney (Jon Finch), a bitter, belligerent ex-Royal Air Force officer who can't seem to find his way in life. He drinks too much and holds grudges too easily, and has an explosive temper, which is very near the surface as he's just lost his job. We also meet his girlfriend, a barmaid (Anna Massey); his ex-wife, a professional matchmaker (Barbara Leigh-Hunt); and his best friend, Covent Garden fruit seller Bob Rusk (Barry Foster). Their connection to the necktie murders will be clear to us in the first 30 minutes of the movie and, not coincidentally, completely misinterpreted by the police, as Chief Inspector Oxford (Alec McCowan) and his men tighten a circle around the wrong man, who rapidly runs out of options and allies. The chase and suspense are classic Hitchcock, favorably recalling a dozen of his earlier movies, from The Lodger and The 39 Steps through Saboteur and Spellbound to Dial M for Murder and North by Northwest, with some new twists and the added energy afforded by the extensive use of actual London locations. There's also a good deal more sex and nudity here than Hitchcock was ever allowed to use in his earlier movies, owing to the relaxation of decency standards that had taken place in the years leading up to this production. The suspense derives from multiple interlocking and overlapping layers of uncertainty -- when will each of the two men, suspect and murderer, slip? (And which will slip first?) When and how will the police realize their mistake, and will it be in time to save the innocent man? Amid the straightforward storytelling and thriller elements, Hitchcock manages to slip in a few bravura cinematic moments, the best of them a pullback shot down a flight of stairs into a busy street as the killer invites his next victim into his home, as well as a scene aboard a truck, with a murderer desperately wrestling with a corpse hidden in a sack of potatoes. Frenzy was adapted from Arthur La Bern's novel Goodbye Picadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by mystery aficionado Anthony Shaffer, but for all of that and its decidedly modern trappings of sex and violence, it bears the indelible stylistic stamp of Alfred Hitchcock.~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Id: 10904928

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Frenzy Recent Reviews
  • 76Majikat
    August 13, 2008
    76Majikat
    Hitchcock was definitely a Director ahead of his time, just imagine the kind of films he would be directing now if he could.

    In Frenzy, Hitchcock builds up the characters before the big part of the story unleashes. A few familer faces, such as Bernard Cribbings, Billie Whitel...( read more)aw etc.

    The plot, I should imaginewas quite sinister in it's day and still makes really good viewing now.
  • pier007
    January 3, 2008
    pier007
    The darkest side of the genius was fully flourished in this rambunctious, violent, brutal and yet bizarrely amusing thriller. the last great Hitchcock film.
  • wellmeetagain
    December 4, 2007
    wellmeetagain
    Hitch's most recent movie worth seeing.
  • kenstachnik
    September 2, 2007
    kenstachnik
    British Giallo...Hitchcock finally being able to show, in delightfully grizzly detail, all of the quirks and fetishes that had laid under the surface in his previous films
  • stopitgoaway
    August 10, 2007
    stopitgoaway
    "Frenzy" was Alfred Hitchcock's next-to-last film. And though it's not a great classic like "Psycho" and "North by Northwest", it's still a very good movie. After making mostly American movies for four decades, Hitchcock returned to his native Britain to make "Frenzy". It's about...( read more) a series of murders that's devastating London. These murders have two things in common: 1) The victims are all women; and 2) they're all raped and then strangled with a neck-tie. When a marriage counselor is murdered this way, the police suspect the woman's ex-husband is the culprit. But actually the husband is innocent, and is forced to hide out from the cops. "Frenzy" has all the usual Hitchcock elements: thrills, suspense, comedy, and Hitchcock's cameo appearence. The two best scenes in the movie are the hilarious moments when the police inspector (who's heading up the investigation of the neck-tie murders) is served two gourmet dinners by his wife. These scenes are very funny. The comic moments is what gives "Frenzy" a edge over Hitchcock's previous film "Topaz". Plus, it's a more entertaining thriller.
  • samanthaseaotter
    December 15, 2009
    samanthaseaotter
    not one of Hitch's best
  • kcddck
    December 4, 2009
    kcddck
    Alfred Hitchock really knows how to build up suspense and he does that very well with this movie. The acting was pretty top notch as I believe that with the script as well. Sometimes it goes a little slow, but he Hitchcock really takes his time to let the scene and the story play...( read more) out and that is were his master of suspense takes its shape. Not my favorite Hitchcock movie, but at least it was good.
  • ElCochran90
    November 13, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Frenzy is different Hitchcock, but it is basically more of a formulaic thriller rather than one of Hitchcock's memorable giants. The screenplay, however, has talent, the character development is decent and the conclusion was smarter than I thought it would be.

    73/100
  • arashxak
    November 12, 2009
    arashxak
    More convincing & less stupid than some of Hitch's other movies but still nothing special
  • ringoestrella258
    October 28, 2009
    ringoestrella258
    A good Hitchcock thriller about a maniac strangling women in London. A good cast and some memorable set-pieces make this one well worth watching.
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