“Do I look like a sex murderer to you? Can you imagine me creeping around London, strangling all those women with ties? That’s ridiculous… For a start, I only own two.”
Alfred Hitchcock was a master of horror and suspense – he was, of course the Director of such horror masterpieces as “The Birds” and “Psycho!”
“Psycho” is, of course, best known for the most shocking and graphic murder ever captured on film up to that time – the infamous shower scene…notorious for depicting violence which had never been seen to that point in movies…although almost nothing is shown!
After a decade of diminishing box office success, Hitchcock came back with a vengeance when he made his most graphic film ever in the early 70’s – a vicious thriller that is worthy of a look!
After the iconic “Psycho” and the terrifying film “The Birds”, Hitchcock made a couple of films that didn’t connect with audiences, so in 1971 he decided to come back – with a vicious vengeance!
Frenzy
The plot is simple: London is terrorized by a vicious sex killer known as the “neck tie murderer”.
Following the brutal slaying of his ex-wife, down-on-his-luck Richard Blaney is suspected by the police of being the killer. He goes on the run, determined to prove his innocence.
“Frenzy” was the first Hitchcock film to feature nudity – remember, there was no real nudity in “Psycho”‘s shower scene – and several of the attack scenes in “Frenzy” were evocative of his “Psycho” period – he was a Director taking full advantage of the more relaxed film ratings of the time…
The film and its source book (“Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square”) were inspired by the real-life unsolved crimes of the serial killer known as “Jack the Stripper”.
Unlike the movie, the real killings (which terrified London in the early 1960s) mirrored elements of “Jack the Ripper”, in that the killer attacked prostitutes and that the killings mysteriously stopped at some point, with the killer never caught…
Legendary Alfred Hitchcock Cameo!
Alfred Hitchcock became well known for his cameo appearances in every movie he directed…for example, here he is in the crowd after the first body is discovered in ” Frenzy.”
Alfred Hitchcock originally planned to do his cameo as the body floating in the river. A dummy was even constructed to do the shot!
The plans were changed and a female body, a victim of the Necktie Murderer, was used instead. Hitchcock instead became one of the members of the crowd who are listening to the speaker on the river bank. The dummy of Hitchcock was used in the typically humorous trailer hosted by Hitchcock himself.
Here it is!
Nice job, Hitch! Of course, there are so many classic Hitchcock thrillers like “Strangers On A Train” and “Rear Window”…time to rediscover the master of suspense!
Categories: 70's Cinema, Academy Awards, Action Films, Awards, Books / Media, British Cinema, Foreign Films, Grindhouse, Horror films, London, Movies, Obscure Movies, Revenge Movies, Talent/Celebrities, Uncategorized
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