Frenzy (1972)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Josh M

  
  Frenzy is the most underrated Hitchcock masterpiece, and works on every level of suspense, cinematic brilliance, sparkling British humor and perverse misanthropy. It was the elderly and ailing maestro's return to his home town of London after more than 30 years in Hollywood.… More
  Frenzy is the most underrated Hitchcock masterpiece, and works on every level of suspense, cinematic brilliance, sparkling British humor and perverse misanthropy. It was the elderly and ailing maestro's return to his home town of London after more than 30 years in Hollywood. Still the film feels authentically British, features no major movie stars, but some superb theater actors of the 70's. Frenzy has few sympathetic characters and has been accused of misogyny. The males (including the innocent protagonist) are mostly blind, selfish pigs and its women (with one exception) are far more sympathetic, brave and interesting. On the down side, the film does indeed recycle many of Hitch's favorite themes and techniques, and if you've see a lot of the master's oeuvre, you may feel you're seeing more of the same. To me, this is a pure distillation of everything he does well and wants to say as an artist (he died only a few years later and made only one more unsucessful film, Family Plot). It's not a happy message, since this world is full of selfish self aborbed people who allow evil to happen through their indifference. Plus, this story is much more coherent than some of Hitch's more acclaimed later flicks, like The Birds, probably because his collaborator is the great thriller playwright Anthony Shaffer (Sleuth).It's the story of a 'necktie' rapist serial killer, the fruit broker Rusk (Barry Foster) and his innocent unemplyed loser friend Blaney (Jon Finch aka Polanski's Macbeth) who is set up to take the heat for the crime. The Scotland Yard inspector (Alec McCowan) is led by the nose by the charming and slick Rusk, who has targeted the women in Blaney's life so his trusting mate can take the rap. The targets (among many others) are Blaney's kind and capable ex-wife and his trusting barmaid girlfriend. To defend Hitch of the accusation of misogyny, the rapes and killings are not at all titillating. There is only one crime that is graphically depicted and it is horrifying and respectful of the victim's humanity. Not as virutosic as the Psycho shower scene, though similar, it's an excellent, harrowing piece of cinema. Even more affecting is the second crime, which isn't shown. Just as the victim is lured by Rusk into his pad, the camera pulls away, down two flights of stairs, out into the street on a huge crane, where life goes on indifferently outside. No music. It's perhaps the most tragic and affecting shot in all of Hitchock and makes me want to cry.Another highlight is the potato truck scene, where the killer has dumped a body and is trying to remove from her rigor mortis hands an incriminating piece of evidence, It's done with extreme close ups and hand held shots and is hilarious, gross and tragic.The comedy in the film is mostly delightful It includes Hitch's ultimate rejection of gourmet cooking and pretention, as the Scotland Yard cop's wife tries to spice up their bland marriage with inedible gourmet food, which looks repulsive. The poor man just wants bangers and mash. The misogynist rap can possibly be laid here, though the wife seems much more perceptive than her husband about the actual murderer. The film shows a grungy and desaturated colored London full of rotting fruit and depressing locations. Though much of it is set in Covent Garden, it's the Covent Garden of the early 70's, not the tourist trap of today, a crowded place of rotting produce and sweaty Londoners. In any case, I would rate this in the top 10 of Hitchcock, and if you're a fan and haven't seen it, do so.

• Bruce B

  
  One of the great Hitchcock films, and it doesn't take long for him to make his guess appearance in this one. A innocent man is being blamed for the necktie murders in London, and his friend is the real killer. Film comes with many a twist and turns that will even now after all… More
  One of the great Hitchcock films, and it doesn't take long for him to make his guess appearance in this one. A innocent man is being blamed for the necktie murders in London, and his friend is the real killer. Film comes with many a twist and turns that will even now after all these years keep you on the edge of your seat. 5 stars 3-10-12

• Graham J

  
  Hitchcock's most brutal and explicit film, this is his late masterpiece.

• Anthony L

  
  An odd choice of film to make if you ask me and he'd already directed similar films to a much higher standard. The humour in some scenes does make up for a lot of the bad but for me this doesn't resemble anything of the director who's films I adore. The story is weak… More
  An odd choice of film to make if you ask me and he'd already directed similar films to a much higher standard. The humour in some scenes does make up for a lot of the bad but for me this doesn't resemble anything of the director who's films I adore. The story is weak and the script is pretty awful too. One of the awful lines in the film that shocked me the most went along the lines of this: A Lawyer says to a barmaid while discussing the serial killer - 'He rapes his victims before murdering them, so every cloud has a silver lining eh love' - to which she is seen to go coy and giggles a lot. I suppose it is quite reminiscent of the awful TV from back then (although it wasn't all awful, it just dated very quickly). Best forgotten in my opinion.

• Tim S

  
  Brilliantly-crafted, dark, and morbid thriller. It's one of those great classic thrillers where all of the information is given right up front and making us wait to see how it all plays out. Superb performances across the board, as well as some obvious fantastic direction. Not… More
  Brilliantly-crafted, dark, and morbid thriller. It's one of those great classic thrillers where all of the information is given right up front and making us wait to see how it all plays out. Superb performances across the board, as well as some obvious fantastic direction. Not only is it shocking and often violent (especially for Hitchcock), but it's also ironic and extremely funny. That doesn't always work, but in this case, it works incredibly well. A fantastic piece of work by one of the great masters.

• AJ V

  
  HItchcock's most horrific movie of all. It's no Psyho, but it's still a good movie, it's very updated and 70s. I enjoyed it, and if you're a Hitchcock fan you should check it out.

• Drew S

  
  Frenzy is notable in Hitchcock's oeuvre solely because it's his only movie where you see titty. The sexual violence on display here is pretty shocking; though rape is something that Hitchcock has often implied in his work, nothing he's done has compared to the visual… More
  Frenzy is notable in Hitchcock's oeuvre solely because it's his only movie where you see titty. The sexual violence on display here is pretty shocking; though rape is something that Hitchcock has often implied in his work, nothing he's done has compared to the visual reality of it. That said, the mystery isn't all that compelling, there's nothing special about his composition, and it's difficult to get behind the characters. The performances are solid, and it's refreshing to see him cast people who aren't the epitome of Hollywood beauty. His villain just doesn't seem up to snuff here and you never see much of a reason to care about the angry, dull protagonist. Definitely worth watching as a turn for the different in HItch's filmography - though it is surprisingly long for such a shallow film, it remains captivating on a basic human level. This might make an interesting exploration into cinema's role as a moral guardian or cathartic outlet (seeing dark, evil things perpetrated on screen assuages our own need to approach them in real life), especially since this was exceptionally racy for 1972. Even as one of his weaker movies, it still acquits itself pretty well.

• Conner R

  
  I think it’s actually a step back for Hitchcock. Instead of doing something close to his style, it seems like he was trying to replicate his admirers. A lot of it just comes off as silly because it’s just too gory for what you’re used to seeing from him and honestly it’s kind… More
  I think it’s actually a step back for Hitchcock. Instead of doing something close to his style, it seems like he was trying to replicate his admirers. A lot of it just comes off as silly because it’s just too gory for what you’re used to seeing from him and honestly it’s kind of low. What Hitchcock always does well is psychological horror/thrillers, this would’ve been a far better film if he had just stuck with that. It’s also highly predictable, which is really a blow to Hitchcock’s storytelling.

• Arash X

  
  More convincing & less stupid than some of Hitch's other movies but still nothing special

• Chris W

  
  This is a fairly gruesome, explicit latter-day Hitchcock film that's definitely worth watching. It comes off as a welcome surprise in terms of content compared to previous works, and I really liked that. The blacker than black(and British) humor makes it all the more better on… More
  This is a fairly gruesome, explicit latter-day Hitchcock film that's definitely worth watching. It comes off as a welcome surprise in terms of content compared to previous works, and I really liked that. The blacker than black(and British) humor makes it all the more better on top of that.

• Lady D

  
  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 Whitelaw… More
  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 Whitelaw etc. The plot, I should imaginewas quite sinister in it's day and still makes really good viewing now.

• jay n

  
  Any Hitchcock is worth seeing and this one has its good points but there is an ugliness to it that detracts.

• Pierluigi P

  
  The darkest side of the genius was fully flourished in this rambunctious, violent, brutal and yet bizarrely amusing thriller. the last great Hitchcock film.

• Ken S

  
  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

• Cassandra M

  
  "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… More
  "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 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.

• Lafe F

  
  An edgy Hitchcock thriller with an engaging plot and tense scenes. I'll never forget the classic reverse-tracking shot which leads out out of the apartment building onto the street.

• Luke B

  
  Not exactly up to Hitchcock's best. He returns to Britain, only to make something that resembles an overlong TV movie. The performances are hardly special and the story is also very simplistic. Very brave though to reveal killers identity halfway through.

• Matthew Y

  
  After two mega-hits (Psycho & The Birds) and his own TV Show few could have predicted the downward spiral Hitchcock's career would take in his final years. After his own ended and three straight box-office failures Hitchcock, due to numerous frustrations with American… More
  After two mega-hits (Psycho & The Birds) and his own TV Show few could have predicted the downward spiral Hitchcock's career would take in his final years. After his own ended and three straight box-office failures Hitchcock, due to numerous frustrations with American producers, went back to Britain and made his swan song Frenzy (although he would make one more forgettable film Family Plot). The film is about a Jack the Ripper-esc murderer who strangles women with neckties. To use and overused phrase the film is classic Hitchcock and the last loving memory we have of one of the greatest, most important and influential filmmakers of all-time. Rest in Peace Albert, and thank you.

• George M

  
  Masterful!

• Greg A

  
  Possibly containing one of the to watch scenes ever to grace my film-going eyes, this film kept me gripped from start to finish. I LOVE IT!

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