Review

Finch organises an escape from a hospital, and with Chief Inspector Oxford also having his doubts as to who the real “necktie killer” is, closes in for a final confrontation. Can Finch prove his innocence, does he really care, or can Chief Inspector Oxford crack the case before the body count mounts further. A thoroughly engrossing movie ensues.

Well, after the financial firestorm that was Psycho, I guess it was only natural that Hitchcock, looking for another hit, would return to the serial killer subgenre at some stage. What is immediately surprising is that he approached the task via the British film industry and not the North American. Hitch may have been trying to put those uppity Italians in their place by playing in their backyard, or of course he might just have decided he needed some time in his homeland.

Hitch opens his movie with a political rally on the banks of the Thames somewhere in London. Maybe one of the Brit readers could let us know exactly where that is, not that it’s overly important. Anyway, a politician, unnamed and equally unimportant, is on about Government plans to clean up the river, remove toxins from the water, and stopping industry discharging influents into England’s most famous waterway. Hey, at least it’s not apt to burst into flames like the Hudson, though there might be a certain romantic allure there for sociopaths. Our erstwhile politician is interrupted by the discovery of a woman’s body floating to shore. We quickly learn that she is the latest victim of the “necktie murderer” currently terrorising the city. Unfortunately we don’t find out whether or not the necktie around the body’s neck is in fact the club tie of one onlooker. Yes, a groan-inducing moment early in the flick, and heaven help us it seems the script writer had decided that Frenzy needed some light relief; unfortunately it’s of the English public school variety, so don’t expect too much in the way of chuckles during the course of the movie. The interplay between the fry-up loving Chief Inspector Oxford and his great chefs of Europe-inspired wife is the highlight here.

Clearly Hitchcock is going with a message during his opening scene – political speech about pollution juxtaposed against the dead body – but since we aren’t a “critical” site we can pass that back to the keeper for the navel-gazers to evaluate. The point I took from the opening scene was Hitchcock letting us in on the fact that there is a serial killer on the loose, he/she strangles his/her victims, and the current body is the latest in a series. Pretty efficient storytelling without the necessity of wasted scenes filling us in on what the situation is.

From there on till the end of the movie, Hitch does the Hitchcock thing and leaves his audience in awe of his ability to frame, pace, and otherwise kick a major in any way possible while directing a movie.

Hitchcock resets the Bates motel in London to good effect

I just wanted to mention a few things that caught my eye while I was mesmerised by Frenzy, rather than listing the 101 things that Hitchcock invariably gets right with each and every movie.

Look out for the scene where the receptionist goes back to the dating agency after lunch. We know that her boss has been murdered over her frugal lunch but of course the receptionist doesn’t. Hitchcock simply frames the front door after the receptionist has gone in and leaves it all happening in front of a static camera. The audience waits for the scream we know is coming, chicks and dead bodies after all, but Hitch prolongs the scene till you are left wondering what the heck is going on. We do eventually get the scream, and the excellent inclusion of two female office workers walking past who briefly look up before continuing to go get whatever amount extras got paid for working on this movie. A brief breakdown on what Hitchcock achieves here. The audience is aware of the murder, the receptionist isn’t, hence the tension as we wait for the inevitable discovery. The scene is stretched out for a very simple reason: the receptionist would have put her coat and bag away and checked her desk before seeing if her boss wanted something – a minor point, but one a lot of Directors would have missed. Hitchcock nails this scene and just about every other one in the movie, the dude is simply on fire here.

The murder of the dating agency proprietress is perhaps one of the most intense and shocking scenes I have ever seen in a movie. Hitchcock goes in close, loads on the claustrophobia, and simply rubs the audience’s nose in what is surprisingly a pretty brutal scene. Forget Eli Roth, Hitchcock doesn’t need gore to get under his audience’s defences here. Hitchcock wonderfully underlines the fact that we are dealing with a serial killer with a few roos loose in the top paddock – “Lovely, Lovely, LOVELY” – and uses dialogue to really get the chill factor happening. Of course, “lovely” does morph into “love me”, though that might just be my interpretation. The nutter here makes Norman Bates appear pretty balanced to be honest. Hitchcock keeps the violence down to this one scene; though there are a number of additional bodies, all subsequent fatalities happen off screen. Sorry to disappoint the gorehounds reading.

Those looking for a serial killer movie in the mode of Silence of the Lambs may be disappointed with Frenzy. Sure, we have a police investigation and a Detective able to determine that they have imprisoned the wrong man, but there’s none of the forensic developments that later movies in the subgenre thrive on. Basically you have a typical Hitchcock movie going down here, man falsely accused, audience aware of the real perpetrator, and things set up for a climactic confrontation. It’s how we get to the resolution that makes the journey worthwhile

So I did drop a point from the rating, and this was due wholly and solely to the sexist nature of Frenzy. The movie hasn’t matured like a fine wine in terms of how it views women. Frenzy is the sort of film that drops into the pub for a dozen beers after work before driving home, undoubtedly in a ute, to give the missus a bit of biff for her nagging about food on the table for the kids and the like. A scriptwriter who decided to include a line about how there is a silver lining in a rape and murder situation is more apt to be out of work in the modern age than having one of the great Directors filming his latest opus. Of course, the movie will get the feminist Nazis upset, so that’s the bright side of the oink, kids.

Jon Finch (Dick Blaney) takes top billing here and turns in a character who is completely unlikable. Not entirely sure what Hitch was aiming for because it’s clear who the antagonist is pretty much from the first act, but whichever way you cut it, Finch doesn’t present a character you overly care about. Barry Foster (Bob Rusk) is excellent as the psycho and nails one of the more chilling villains in modern movie history. Barbara Leigh (Brenda Blaney) does what she can with a role that was never going to be fleshed out. Anna Massey (Babs Milligan) doesn’t set the world on fire, but is doing the business. Alec McCowen (Chief Inspector Oxford) sort of does the light relief. And finally Vivien Merchant (Mrs Oxford) will have you exclaiming WTF. Hey, I was there for the psycho killer, Hitch delivered on that requirement like a Trojan.

In terms of T&A, guys get a quick boob shot, but it’s not a hallmark moment. Gals get that staunch British upper lip. Hey, it’s a sign of the times.

Ron Goodwin provided the score but to be honest I was more intent on Hitchcock’s visuals so didn’t take note of it.

Once again a Hitchcock movie held me spellbound from the opening scene to the closing credits. Not entirely sure how the dude does it, but he managed to keep my attention even though I knew who the psycho was, and where the movie was headed. There’s some curve through the opening act but from there it’s a pretty straight run to the resolution. A couple of developments did have me wondering post movie: why develop the character of Finch as needing a slight bit of anger management and then not working with the audience being unsure if he was the killer? And the resolution itself had plenty of room for an ironic twist that doesn’t happen. Overall, however, I still boogied on down to Hitchcock’s beat in Frenzy and loved every moment of it.

Hitchcock got roundly abused from all quarters back in 1972 for his murder/rape scene, which admittedly is pretty graphic and full of impact. Even by today’s gorenographic standards Hitchcock has delivered one of the most chilling scenes in cinema history, and deserves high praise for the frenetic construction and claustrophobic nature of what is seen. Surprisingly the scene is actually watered down from the source novel and Anthony Shaffer’s script – there’s no letter opener involvement for example – which is a departure from Hitch’s normal take no prisoners stance. Frenzy is worth watching for this scene alone, then turn around and tell me the likes of Rob Zombie, Eli Roth et al know the first things about making movies that seek to batter the audience.

Full recommendation for Hitchcock’s Frenzy; if you like Psycho then you are going to love this movie. Hitch once again blazes a path through filmmaking to show what can be done when a master is behind the camera. You get a seriously deranged killer, a Director with his movie roped and branded, and one hell of a good plotline. Go grab yourself a copy today, you will not be disappointed.