Peeping Tom (1960)

 

   On the special features of the DVD for this film, there is a documentary entitled "A Very British Psycho," and there is almost no better way to sum up this film than by saying just that. Peeping Tom was the last big film made by renowned and celebrated English director Michael Powell, who was most famous for visually stunning classics like Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, and The Thief of Bagdad. All those films by Powell mentioned plus several others are featured as a part of the prestigious Criterion Collection, including Peeping Tom. Peeping Tom is one of the best psychological character studies in film, not just horror films, but all film. The title character is an antisocial photographer who struggles with his voyeuristic urges and ends up killing several models of the course of the film, but does so while filming them. This film was very shocking when it was first released and it definitely had the potential to turn into a Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer-esque film, in that it could have shown us a merciless sociopathic unfeeling killer. Instead of doing that however Peeping Tom is wonderfully sympathetic of its main character, making the audience feel for him and whatever psychological illness he struggles with. The film also differs from most serial-killer films because the main character does seek out treatment and does seem to progress at points throughout the film, even though (trying not to give any spoilers here) the film does end with a rather tragic tone. The film is very Freudian showing how childhood traumas can cause behaviors or disorders that can last the rest of the child's lifetime. Other notable things about the movie are one: that the cinematography is gorgeous and there are a lot of unique and interesting POV shots, two: the acting is fantastic, and three: Powell cast himself as the main characters cold scientific seemingly inhuman father who photographed the main character's every move when he was a child. A role that Powell actually slightly resembled in real life through the fact that he always carried a camera with him and filmed everything, and that he cast his own son to play the main character as a child. The film received terrible reviews initially and 

its theatrical run in the UK only lasted 2 weeks. Later that year Hitchcock released his similar film Psycho (which of course has become an immortal classic) and he surprised the press by telling them he wouldn't have a special pre-release screening for the film (a film industry standard that is still practiced today even). When asked why he wouldn't have the screening Hitchcock had this to say: "You saw what happened to Mickey's film (referring to Powell), therefore I'm serious when I say there will be no press screening. They may hate my film even more!" Peeping Tom essentially ruined Powell's career for the remainder of his life until shortly before his death the film earned praise by "New-Hollywood" directors like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. The film has regained the praise it missed initially, throughout the years becoming a cult classic as well as universally loved by critics, regarded as both a classic and an art film, and by many one of the greatest films of all time. Though the film can be tense at times (even though no graphic violence is ever shown on camera) it is worth watching all the way through, and I give it a 5/5. Instead of posting the trailer like I normally do, I've decided to include the film's opening scene below. The movie is also featured in Rue Morgue's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See. 

P.S. the screenwriter of the film is a fascinating character himself, being the head of British Secret operations during WWII and developing an unbreakable code used for sending messages between the Allied Forces that led to the downfall of the war and as president Eisenhower was quoted as saying: "It shortened the war by about three months."