Featured Audience Ratings

• Jeff "

  
  Over the years, there have been so many films to be hailed as the precursor to the Slasher film. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho has had a profound influence on the genre, creating many imitators such as Black Christmas and Halloween to name a few. Michael Powell's Peeping Tom was… More
  Over the years, there have been so many films to be hailed as the precursor to the Slasher film. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho has had a profound influence on the genre, creating many imitators such as Black Christmas and Halloween to name a few. Michael Powell's Peeping Tom was highly controversial at the time of its release, prompting an end to his career in cinema. This is a stellar work of filmmaking and it was the first film to feature the murders in the killer's POV (as referenced in Scream 4). This is a stunning piece of cinema that not only is a classic of horror, but is also a classic of cinema. This film suggests only what the mind can't see, and in turn makes it much more unrelenting on the viewer. Peeping Tom is the perfect example of a film that uses atmosphere and suspense to create the mood and tone of the film, which is a technique that would be used in the early Slashers of the 1970's. Peeping Tom was a film that truly was ahead of its time, and it seems pretty tame nowadays, but back then, this was a film that caused a stir, but with that said, it revolutionized horror thrillers forever and added a much needed dimension to the genre. This film took risks and pushed the envelope and over the years, you can clearly see how this film influenced a genre. Like Psycho, this remains a benchmark of horror filmmaking, and in turn reinvented the rules. Karlheinz Böhm's performance is stunning as Mark Lewis, the killer who has an appetite for beautiful women who kills them on camera in a voyeuristic style. This is a brilliant film that genre fans will surely enjoy. Peeping Tom is often overlooked as it was certainly eclipsed by Psycho, which was released the same year, and wasn't as vilified as this film. In terms of a horror picture, Peeping Tom succeeds on many levels, and is a unique and standout film that revolutionized the genre forever. Michael Powell has crafted a fine picture using atmosphere, thrills and suspense and leaves your imagination to fill in the blanks, which is far more terrifying.

• Jack H

  
  'Peeping Tom' follows Mark Lewis, an introverted voyeur living in his father's large London property. To help make ends meet, Mark lets part of the house out, one of his tenants being Helen Stephens, a sweet young woman who befriends him out of pity. Throughout the film… More
  'Peeping Tom' follows Mark Lewis, an introverted voyeur living in his father's large London property. To help make ends meet, Mark lets part of the house out, one of his tenants being Helen Stephens, a sweet young woman who befriends him out of pity. Throughout the film Mark struggles to conceal his voyeuristic, murderous habit. Unfortunately, poor acting from almost the entire cast sorely date 'Peeping Tom', I didn't believe in any of the characters. Like many films of the era, the acting issue is pervasive; there are both wooden and overacted performances. However, thanks to Carl Boehm's generally competent performance, Mark Lewis is the only interesting, somewhat credible character, but even he is guilty of being badly stilted in places. The film's premise does indeed concern mature themes, however the backlash it faced in 1960 seems rather amazing today. Clearly, the film is going to date, it's 52 years old, but so is 'Psycho', and that fares far, far better today. To think this film was given an '18' certificate as recently as 2001 is nothing short of baffling. The film doesn't even begin to disturb, to say it lacks a visceral edge is to understate, I have never seen a film lose its punch so completely. The BBFC have since given the film a '15' certificate, however I think a '12' rating is more appropriate. The only thing that's noteworthy about this film is its historical audacity. This film was addressing themes that didn't become mainstream until the 70s, a time of rapidly changing opinions on sex and violence. If it had been released 15 years later and not championed by Martin Scorsese and various critics, it may well have faded in obscurity. 'Peeping Tom' is full of terrible acting, stripped of credibility and largely devoid of tension; the film has undeservedly become a critics' darling.

• Cameron S

  
  52 years later this film still feels as if it could of been made today. 'Peeping Tom' is a lurid look at scoptophilia (through both its lead character and the audience) and the psycholagy of a killer. With, for the time, brave direction (ending Michael Powell's career)… More
  52 years later this film still feels as if it could of been made today. 'Peeping Tom' is a lurid look at scoptophilia (through both its lead character and the audience) and the psycholagy of a killer. With, for the time, brave direction (ending Michael Powell's career) and a slow build of tension heading towards a dramatic climax, 'Peeping Tom' is a crime thriller that is as dark as it was the day it was released.

• Universal D

  
  Sordid walk on the bad side of town as a criminally tortured child grows up to be ... er, unwholesome, to put it one way. A decidedly British film, the perp adds terror by way of a slight German accent he's trying to hide, awakening nightmares of both Nazis and Freud. This work… More
  Sordid walk on the bad side of town as a criminally tortured child grows up to be ... er, unwholesome, to put it one way. A decidedly British film, the perp adds terror by way of a slight German accent he's trying to hide, awakening nightmares of both Nazis and Freud. This work ruined the director in Britain when released.

• Cynthia S

  
  Unusual, and interesting. This movie was indeed far ahead of its time, and it is a good character study of a wacko with a film camera. It is sluggish at times, but it definitley was quirky enough to keep me interested.

• Scott G

  
  The poster has a 80s look which shows that it might use oldern 80s characters, which can be a problem as it might run slower, but it has a crystal clear storyline, and the acting is actually okay.

• Emil K

  
  Stylistically this is wonderful film to watch. Director Michael Powell who made also the great Red Shoes with Emeric Pressburger uses colours with exactly the same kind of intensity as he did in his earlier near masterpiece. Peeping Tom may sound routine stuff on paper, but Powell is… More
  Stylistically this is wonderful film to watch. Director Michael Powell who made also the great Red Shoes with Emeric Pressburger uses colours with exactly the same kind of intensity as he did in his earlier near masterpiece. Peeping Tom may sound routine stuff on paper, but Powell is talented enough to make this something lot more compelling and interesting than just another slasher-film that many suggests that is. It is one of those films that mixes humour and horror without losing the balance with the film.

• Graham J

  
  The first five minutes blew me away.

• Sophie B

  
  Really good for it's time I was interested throughout and although we knew he as the killer, we were interested in finding out what happened to him. It was obvious he'd come to a sticky end. Good performances however Mark is supposed to be English with English parents and… More
  Really good for it's time I was interested throughout and although we knew he as the killer, we were interested in finding out what happened to him. It was obvious he'd come to a sticky end. Good performances however Mark is supposed to be English with English parents and brought up in England yet somehow he has a slight German accent... In a way it makes him seem even more disjointed from reality and a weirdo. I'm sad that the director suffered so much for this film, it's brilliant and he should have been celebrated.

• Matthew R

  
  Probably one of the most innovative, most chilling and most realistic investigations into the world of fear and the complexities of the mind. The film that ruined Michael Powell's career in the UK, is one of the most fascinating films ever to cross in front of my eyes.

• Melvin W

  
  1960 was the most important year for horror. In 1960, two ahead of their time psychological thriller/horror films and two of the most important films of all time were released. Psycho was one and Peeping Tom was the other. The concept of Peeping Tom is great and the payoff at the end… More
  1960 was the most important year for horror. In 1960, two ahead of their time psychological thriller/horror films and two of the most important films of all time were released. Psycho was one and Peeping Tom was the other. The concept of Peeping Tom is great and the payoff at the end is very cool. At the time, however, it was a shock to see the last scene of this movie. The movie showed topics and events that weren't supposed to be shown and sadly led to the end of Michael Powells career. At least he was able to make an important and highly influential film for the horror genre.

• Daniel M

  
  When looking back on his long career in an interview with The Onion, Robert Altman said that "you tend to love your least successful children the most", saying that he felt more affection for Popeye than for anything critics and audiences embraced, such as Short Cuts or… More
  When looking back on his long career in an interview with The Onion, Robert Altman said that "you tend to love your least successful children the most", saying that he felt more affection for Popeye than for anything critics and audiences embraced, such as Short Cuts or Nashville. One wonders whether Michael Powell would have taken the same view of Peeping Tom, the film which all but destroyed him as a filmmaker. But unlike Popeye, which produces reactions ranging from 'utter rubbish' to 'guilty pleasure', there can be no doubt that Peeping Tom is a blistering masterpiece. You will struggle to find a more audacious, bold, striking and shocking piece of British cinema, at least until the rulebook was re-written by A Clockwork Orange. Coming at the beginning of a decade which would be defined by rebellion against any and every convention, Peeping Tom blazed the trail, stepping into the darkness with a red-hot torch at the cost of setting its own coat-tails on fire. Considering that Peeping Tom and Psycho were released within months of each other, you would expect audiences to have flocked to both releases, and for both to become regarded by critics as among the best works of 1960. Aside from their similarities in terms of story and characters, there was very little to separate the prestige of Alfred Hitchcock from that of Michael Powell. While the former was more recognisable in public and was in his commercial prime, the latter had captured audience imaginations during the war years through his work with Emeric Pressburger. Sadly for Powell, who was a close friend of Hitchcock's, joint adulation was not to be. While Psycho enjoyed huge box-office success and garnered four Oscar nominations, Peeping Tom was greeted with outright hatred in the British press and quickly disappeared from screens. For the next twenty years the film was seen as an untouchable bête noire, a half-whispered rumour of a once-great man gone mad. It was not until 1979, when Martin Scorsese was asked to remake it, that Peeping Tom began its long rise from the critical sewers to take its place among the all-time greats. It would be tempting to blame Peeping Tom's demise on the perceived small-mindedness of 1960s audiences, something seemingly reinforced by the ridiculous reviews which branded it as "evil", "vulgar" and "repellent". But watching the film even 50 years later, you can understand why even the most open-minded people in any age would be shocked by it. On this occasion it is not so much a case of finger-pointing at audiences, as applauding the dangerous (and self-deprecating) vision of a director. Peeping Tom was made at a time when cinema was still very much focussed around the life and trials of the rich and famous: a time when films were star vehicles with often shamefully predictable plots, consisting of little more than talking, smoking, dancing and kissing (though not always in that order). When Hollywood attempted to tackle difficult subjects, or to interpose itself among the less fortunate, it did so in a way which was often deeply patronising (in the case of My Fair Lady) or which smoothed over any rough edges in a way which made the finished product seem dishonest. The problem wasn't simply that the subject of Peeping Tom was a million miles from the ballet of The Red Shoes or the pilots of A Matter of Life and Death. It was more the way in which prostitutes, sleazy models and above all a serial killer were presented in a way which was not only realistic, but empathetic. The film eschews melodramatic convention, contrasting the showy, frothy acting of the film star (played by Shirley Anne Field) with the considered, naturalistic and more believable performance of Carl Boehm. Proof of this is to be found in the murder of Moira Shearer's character; Powell allows her to perform a flamboyant dance routine, as happens in The Red Shoes, before her dancing days are cut short with a tripod leg and a piercing scream. As Scorsese observed, Peeping Tom is like the darker, shiftier cousin of 8 1/2. Both are self-reflexive films about filmmaking and the role of the director, and both feature said director coming in front of the camera (Powell appears in the black-and-white sections as Mark's manipulative father). For Federico Fellini, cinema was inherently a force for good, a place of magic in which the director was a creative genius with noble intentions. But for Powell, in an act of brutal self-deprecation, cinema was a dangerous weapon in the hands of an insane voyeur, who would exploit, manipulate and even kill, just to get the perfect shot. In complete contrast to the fairy tale quality of his earlier work, there is very little in Peeping Tom in the way of childlike magic. Film is presented as a medium characterised by darkness and strange noises; Mark's dark room is like a haunted house or Frankenstein's lab, only instead of slamming doors and creaking floorboards, we have the flicking of metal switches and the drip-drip-drip of silver nitrate. Camera and projector hum and whirr like some sinister insect, waiting for the right moment to pounce and claim its victim. Having likened filmmaking to murder, Powell then turns the camera on us to show that we are as much a part of this as the director. The film is a breath-taking examination of voyeurism, arguing that the very act of watching a film is voyeuristic. When we pay good money to sit in the dark for two hours, we are devoting our time to watching others who are oblivious to our presence and have no means of defence. We see their lives play out in such detail that we become unwittingly obsessed by them; our psychological relationship is of the same morbid fascination which prompts Mark to make his documentary. As with Blue Velvet more than twenty years later, this revelation of our role in Peeping Tom produces a reaction combining repulsion and mesmerism; we are shocked, or offended, we cannot look away. But rather than shock us cheaply by showing the murders in graphic detail, Powell leaves the real terror of what is occurring entirely in our minds. Towards the end of the film, Anna Massey discovers the footage of Mark's victims; she watches, being frightened and repulsed - but she keeps watching. The camera tracks her reactions in a long panning shot, which tell us all we need to know about what is happening. But even taken outside of all its commentary, Peeping Tom is still terrifying as a pure, full-on horror movie. Carl Boehm's performance is extraordinary, helping to create an immensely compelling character who feels more three-dimensional than Norman Bates. The psychological trauma which Mark suffers could be lazy shorthand, but instead he comes across as a lonely, fractured young man who struggles with himself, something reinforced by the distant, broken quality of his slight Austrian accent. The film explores the relationship between love and fear, with Mark wavering between the two as he is caught between the need to complete his documentary and the affections bestowed on him by Helen. We feel so close to Mark that when his doom approaches, we are willing to ignore or forgive his gruesome actions if it would save or redeem him. This is the final savage trick of Peeping Tom which reinforces our position as voyeurs; not only are we drawn to gaze, we impose emotion on people's actions so that even the truly terrifying can seem tragic. Peeping Tom is a barnstorming masterpiece which ranks alongside The Red Shoes as Powell's finest achievement. Its psychological complexity and cerebral treatment of its themes are perfectly complimented by Powell's direction, and the whole project is enhanced by Otto Heller's luridly beautiful visuals. It is still as fresh, shocking and truly terrifying as it was over 50 years ago, and in its level of emotional engagement - say it quietly - it's a better film than Psycho. In short, it is compelling, chilling and nothing less than essential viewing.

• Coxxie M

  
  happy burst-day, Helen.

• Veronique K

  
  "peeping tom" is a story dedicated to a man who has a knack to shot women with portable camera then kills them just to capture their twisted facial expressions in the paramount of their fear. then you watch along, you've found this pervert has a sadistic dad who likes… More
  "peeping tom" is a story dedicated to a man who has a knack to shot women with portable camera then kills them just to capture their twisted facial expressions in the paramount of their fear. then you watch along, you've found this pervert has a sadistic dad who likes to frighten his son just to obtain samples for his experiements for the study of children's psychology, and this father is also deviant enough to give his son a portable camera as birthday gift after ruining his childhood. (so he has to wreck the sanity of his adultlife by transforming him into a worse pervert than himself?) frankly, "peeping tom" is not so hitchcockian as people tend to associate it with psycho or rear wndow. if you wish to roughly categorize it that way by its obvious appliance of voyeurism and phallic violence against women, you may just get yourself a blunt and vague blueprint. just remember, hitchcock didn't invent voyeurism or phallic violence on women in cinema, he's just the master who applies the best ways to render them. instead, peeping tom is more like a forefather of 80s "sex, lies and videotape" which is also about voyeurism despite it doesn't have any reference about violence against women (at least not physically, more like visceral violence to ravish your mind, and have intercourse with your brain mediated by camera). then why i relate peeping tom to sex, lies and videotape? they seem to be in completely different genres? (even farther than hitchcockian thrillers..),..here's how i view peeping tom: just imagine the camera is a mediated form of lovemaking, and he needs to shoot those women just to record their scared look before death. thus he's raping them with his camera, and he uses a sharp hidden object to kill them off (penetration, surrogate phallis?) after trifling with them, he cannot help it because it's how he acquires his orgasm. (plainly, it's just like a guy just has to come during an intercourse..) he avoids shooting his neighbor girl who's so warm and friendly with him because he doesn't wish to ruin this spot of innocence in his life. (in other words, he doesn't wish her to be the price of his orgasm) it's the only form of lovemaking this dude learns from the father who has been practically ravishing the boy throughout the childhood, and our protagonist is basically castrated. to compensate the boy, the dad gives him a camera as a surrogate phallis to console him. (it's like dad saying to you, sorry i took away your manhood, now i give you a brandnew dick as a token of my fatherly love for you..leastly you could feel how it's like to be man again with your camera). in the end, he has to penetrate himself into death because in one way or another, he has to experience the course of self-pleasure once to feel complete in his life. (coming to himself, i guess)...lol. as for why it has parallels with sex, lies and videotape...because the men in both movies are all impotent by deliberate self-choices (childhood abuse from father; post-relationship trauma)..the only way these two men choose to satisfy their libido is through their camera, and both of them transcend the experience of filmmaking into a substitute way of intercourse, but the only difference is peeping tom prefers to release (come); james spader favors to withdraw before consummation. (not to come). therefore, the former feels an exhilaration to do more but the later senses a feel of overwhelming burden without relief. but somehow, it's different from hitchcock's rear window or psycho, rear window is about voyeurism for sure, but james stewart watches those neighbors with telescope because he uses their circumstances to distract himself from his own condition or they reflect a certain truth of his life which he wants to keep silent from his depressingly perfect girlfriend (grace kelly).also, rear window is a metaphor of cinema, aren't we all sitting in front of television or theater to have fun in others' private affairs?..and in psycho, there's indeed a scene of norman bates peeping marion and he trembles in a suspicious gesture of self-pleasure. but the voyeurism here is a way to entince onanistic sex rather than a substitute form of lovemaking. so peeping tom is NOT HITCHCOKIAN even it's indeed about voyeurism, but it creates a new form of turning voyeurism into an absolute replacement of real sex, and somehow 80s sex, lies and videotape has inherited this line. pardon if my analysis reads like a dirty joke (it may be, ha)..it's just my way to view it with my "telescope" (rear window pun). (ps) if peeping tom was made in 1930s..peter lorre would be the actor who plays it, now fritz lang's m just comes into my mind. Don't you think it would be a fine choice to cast peter lorre as the peeping tom? Huh?

• AJ V

  
  This is a great psychological thriller/ horror movie, and I liked it. It's kinda weird and kinky, but in a good way. It's really cool, and I highly recommend it.

• Lady D

  
  "A Misunderstood Masterpiece" is how this film has been described, well it is one of Britain's most controversial films for it's time of course, it is perhaps a little dark and edgy with very dramatic music and atmosphere, however, it would seem strange to call a… More
  "A Misunderstood Masterpiece" is how this film has been described, well it is one of Britain's most controversial films for it's time of course, it is perhaps a little dark and edgy with very dramatic music and atmosphere, however, it would seem strange to call a film like this controversial in today's standards. Watchable, but expectations were set a little high.

• Tim S

  
  I cannot believe this film was made in 1960. Well, I guess I can, but it's so modern in terms of storytelling and technique that I'm amazed that it's actually 50 years old. This film is superbly well-crafted, well-written, well-edited and wonderfully shot to eerie… More
  I cannot believe this film was made in 1960. Well, I guess I can, but it's so modern in terms of storytelling and technique that I'm amazed that it's actually 50 years old. This film is superbly well-crafted, well-written, well-edited and wonderfully shot to eerie effect. I'll definitely be re-watching this. Actually this one could serve film students very well on story structure, dialogue, editing and composition techniques and approaches. An absolutely marvelous piece of early British cinema.

• Randy T

  
  Mild by today's standards but caused quite a stir in 1960. Peeping Tom is now a little dated but still fantastically bizarre and frightening.

• Emily A

  
  Peeping Tom is the first film wherein the placement of the camera put the audience in the killer's shoes and implicates them in the murders on film. This technique has really become part of the horror cannon and used many times since then, most prominently in Halloween. This is a… More
  Peeping Tom is the first film wherein the placement of the camera put the audience in the killer's shoes and implicates them in the murders on film. This technique has really become part of the horror cannon and used many times since then, most prominently in Halloween. This is a really interesting film because it draws very explicitly a connection between voyeurism and.. theft I guess? Violence? Never before has the camera been so predatory onscreen. Usually in horror films the murder weapon (usually a big long knife) stands in as a symbol of the killer's manhood, but here the camera and Mark's weapon are one and the same. While watching this film, it's funny to spot all the conventions present that reference and are referenced by other films. Watching the film reels with a blind woman was really reminiscent of Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon researching his kills, and the whistling killer is reminiscent of Peter Lorre's methods in M. This really goes to show you how intertextual film is.

• Cassandra M

  
  Michael Powell, the distinguished English director, probably contributed to his own demise from the film industry with "Peeping Tom", a movie that proved to be well ahead of its times and a masterpiece by this man who gave so much to enhance the industry in Great Britain. In… More
  Michael Powell, the distinguished English director, probably contributed to his own demise from the film industry with "Peeping Tom", a movie that proved to be well ahead of its times and a masterpiece by this man who gave so much to enhance the industry in Great Britain. In fact, it's a shame this was almost the last film he directed before going on to a kind of exile in Australia. "Peeping Tom" is an exercise in voyeurism Mr. Powell, and his screen writer, Leo Marks, created to prove to what extent how one is capable of watching things one shouldn't watch. At the same time, Mr. Powell created a psychological essay about what makes Mark Lewis, the central character of the film, act the way he acted. Mark has been scarred for life thanks to what his own father did to him during a period of his growing years that formed his character into the reclusive man who feels at home doing the despicable crimes he commits. One of the strengths of the film is the amazing portrayal of Mark Lewis by the German actor, Carl Boehm, who made a superb contribution to the movie. Mr. Boehm is perfect because by just looking at him, one would never guess what's inside his soul, or what motivates him to kill and record his crimes. Mr. Powell brought together an amazing cast that shines in the film. Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxime Audley, Brenda Bruce, Bartlett Mullins, are among the most prominent players one sees in the film. The newly restored copy we saw as part of the retrospective shown at the Walter Reade this year has been enhanced in ways one didn't think would be possible and it's a tribute to the great director, who should have been proud of how today's audiences are reacting when they discover his movies that seem will live forever. It's ironic that Mr. Powell didn't get the recognition he deserved during his lifetime.

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