Frenzy (1972)

Rumour has it that Michael Caine turned down the role of the sexual killer in this film, stating that he didn’t want to be associated with that sort of a character. Which is funny, because I didn’t find that out until after I’d seen the film, and thought to myself that the maniac in question looked a lot like Michael Caine. Hitchcock’s penultimate film has divided critics down the years; it’s without doubt one of his most controversial pieces, and the particular scene in it that garners it an 18 certificate is no easy watch. There’s also some troubling attitudes early on towards the matter of rape; one man at a bar commenting on the murders upon hearing of the prior sexual assault laughs and states ‘every cloud.’ This is no normal Hitchcock affair. I have to say I was rather impressed by Frenzy. It gives backstory to the man framed for several sexual assaults/murders, as well as the killer himself; but most impressively, adds a highly amusing backstory to the detective in charge of the case, consisting of him discussing the case with his wife during her over zealous dinners that she likes to cook- much to the detectives chagrin. There are some excellent tracking shots throughout Frenzy; the opening of the film is a beautiful swooping long-shot of London’s various attractions before falling on the scene of the first body being found, and there’s another menacing tracking shot away from the murderer’s apartment after he’s closed the door behind him having brought a victim in. There is also a superb hold your breath sequence on the back of a potato truck in which the killer jumps on to retrieve a piece of evidence that could incriminate him that he’s left on a body he’s just thrown on the truck, a move that ultimately comes back to trouble him. Frenzy isn’t Hitchcock at his most impressive or surprising, but this is a director making a film that shows all the traits of someone whose been down this well trodden path a while now, and although he may have used up all his shocks over the years, was still well capable of pushing the boundaries and producing great entertainment. 7.4/10