Review of Frenzy (2015) by No O — 20 Apr 2010

Frenzy. One of Hitchcock's last films, this movie is based upon the not so known book Doodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern ( bet you never heard about this book ).

Dick Blaney ( Jon Finch ) is a man who is falsely accused of being the necktie murder, a mysterious killers who rapes and strangles women with ties, because he was seen leaving the building where the corpse of his ex-wife was found strangled with a tie. But the movie also have parts focusing on Bob Rusk ( Barry Foster ), the real necktie murder, specially a scene where he sneaks in a potato truck where he put the corpse of one of his victims to recover something that could incrimminate him, and Inspector Oxford ( Alen McCowen ), specially some comic scenes where he has dinner with his wife who cooks disgusting meals for him.

Sincerelly I thught that this movie lacked some emotion, I mean, I know Hitchcock isn't the kind of guy that puts emotion in his films, but I thought that a film about a man falsely accused of murdering his own ex-wife would have some emotion or desperate by the man's part for being chase by a crime he didn't committed but I didn't feel that. Otherwise the film is very good, the actings are fine but the only one that really captiveted my attention was Alen McCowen as Inpector Oxford. Hitchcock's directing is great as usual and the dialogue was very funny and well-written.

Though being crtitically praised Arthur La Bern, the writer of the source material, claimed to be very disappointed with the film. In the book the first murder is told by the murderer point of view, but the reader is unaware of his identity, that is only revealed later. But Hitchcock loves to tell us who is the guy. Also one scene that could only have improved the film was taken out, its a scene where Blaney, drunk, says to the police in an interrogatory that he has murdered thousands of people, and this makes the police suspects even more of him.

Though I don't feel much enthusiasm about the film I have to admit this deserves a 7,6/10 - Great.