Tag: Frenzy

Rapid Response: Torn Curtain

“Torn Curtain” finds Hitchcock dipping his toes into a pool he never has before: politics. It’s one of Hitchcock’s more disappointing films.

I don’t think I ever thought this day would come: the day that I would find an Alfred Hitchcock movie I didn’t like.

They say that Hitchcock’s last perfect film was “The Birds” in 1963, and from then on he struggled with old age and a changing of the guard in Hollywood to more jarring, violent and hyper kinetic films. Although I’m still very keen on “Frenzy,” with something like “Torn Curtain,” how is Hitchcock really supposed to compete when the rest of the world is looking to James Bond for their suspense?

“Torn Curtain” struggles because it finds Hitch trying to adapt to New Hollywood and the surrounding culture, but in completely the wrong way. With “Frenzy,” Hitch would embrace the despicable sexual instincts of his murderers and what they would be realistically likely to do to his blonde-bombshell victims. Here, Hitchcock tried to make his film as tied to the Cold War as the 007 movies, and he dips his toe into a pool he never had before: politics. Continue reading “Rapid Response: Torn Curtain”

Rapid Response: Frenzy

Film critic David Thomson called “The Birds” Alfred Hitchcock’s “last unflawed film.” And because of that infamous criticism, most Hitchcock fans will look no further than it in his career.

In fact, neither did the general public around the time Hitchcock’s 1972 “Frenzy” was released. The director had experimented with political thrillers that alienated audiences and only just unified critics, and “Frenzy” was his return to form in the murder genre.

But Hitchcock was an Old Hollywood staple; a master of his time who struggled to find his footing in a new generation of filmmakers. “Frenzy” was lewd enough to warrant an R-rating, but if the movie was ultimately a lot like something he could’ve made in the ’40s, would you waste your time with it if you had just seen something like, say, “A Clockwork Orange” or “The Godfather?”

The difference is however, “Frenzy” holds up remarkably well. It’s still the filmmaker displaying technical perfection that is unrivaled in any age. It’s gripping, complex, darkly funny and deliciously twisted on a level that matches, if not surpasses, some of his more famous films. Continue reading “Rapid Response: Frenzy”