“Frenzy” was the penultimate film made by the legendary Alfred Hitchock in his long career and the first film he made in his native England in more than 20 years. Ever since he ended up in Hollywood in the early 1940s, Hitchcock has rarely returned to the UK (at least when it comes to filming), but the thriller about a serial killer who robs London and strangles young ladies with a tie still can’t fit into the same sentence as his best films from the forties, fifties and even the sixties. The stylistic “Frenzy” seems rather old-fashioned, like a typical thriller like the one they shot twenty years ago, and it’s obvious that Hitchock didn’t try too hard to adapt to trends and follow the spirit of the times. Although with this film Hithcock returned to some darker themes compared to several previous films after which many wrote him off, this was still quite unconvincing and lifeless compared to similar genre films that had already begun to be made.
The story of this film is supposedly based on a real case and here we follow a serial killer who strangles women with ties. As is not uncommon with Hitchock, we quickly learn that The Necktie Killer is a guy named Barry Foster (Robert Rusk), but much of the film follows the story from the perspective of Richard Blaney (Jon Finch), a former war hero who lost his job. and among the victims will be his ex-wife. Due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, Blaney will become the main suspect in the murders, and despite the fact that Hitchock is still unsurpassed when it comes to cameras, framing and visuals, as he inserted a thimble of his standard black humor, yet “Frenzy” remained rather vague.
I have quite unconvincing characters left, especially the character of the killer himself who is completely lifeless and his behavior is completely illogical even though we have him in probably the best scene of the whole movie when he gets stuck in a potato truck trying to get rid of evidence of his guilt. It’s also interesting how “Frenzy” was Hitchcock’s first nudity film (excluding the legendary scene from “Psyche” in which nothing is actually seen), and in many scenes he seems to throw references to some of his previous films. Unlike the American phase when he usually had big stars and famous actors in practically all the films in the main roles, this time the cast consists of not overly famous British actors. Although “Frenzy” is considered by some today to be Hitchcock’s last masterpiece, I still prefer the better films he has made before. Rating 7/10.
MORE MOVIE REVIEWS: HOW TO BUILD A GIRL (2019, GBR) Movie review, plot, trailer