Review of Family Plot (1976) by Sean F — 09 Jun 2004

"Family Plot" is not as bad as you may have heard, but there's not a whole lot of any note going on either. It's certainly no match for most of Alfred Hitchcock's enormous filmography.

This was the Master of Suspense's swan song, and it was evident that it was time for him to hang it up. Rather than rely on his usually detailed storyboards, Hitchcock let his actors improvise on the set.

What results is the feeling the director just didn't care all that much. Look at a scene that would have been wrought with suspense and drama in one of his earlier films. Our heroes Blanche and Lumley (Barbara Harris and Bruce Dern) find themselves driving with no brakes on a steep mountain slope.

Harris' outrageous comedic posturing - including hampering Dern's driving, ridiculous vocal panic, and practically sitting upside-down at one point - turns the scene into non-comedic farce. The rest of the acting/improvising is adequate, with only Harris - the previously mentioned scene aside - providing any note of fun and interest.

I had a big problem with the music, too. John Williams' score so blatantly echoes Bernard Herrmann's score from "Psycho" that it becomes distracting. The overall result is nothing more than a below average Hitchcock film.

Too bad he let his actors take away his directorial reins. What may have resulted was an actual Hitchcock film.