Film Review: Rear Window (P.G.), (U.S.A. 1954) (Director: Alfred Hitchcock), Saturday 20.10.2012 13:15, The Filmhouse Screen Three, Edinburgh

My favorite Hitchcock film. Photographer played by James Stewart is recuperating in his flat after an accident, and is tended to by his girlfriend Grace Kelly. His flat looks onto the rear of another block of flats. The film revolves around the relationship between the photographer and his girlfriend & the allure and thrill of voyeurism. The film also has much to do about the dangers of assumptions and how deal with concerns raised by peeping. As more and more clues build and the photographer's suspicions appear to have weight, the tension builds in a satisfying way. There is a neat twist of an ending to the film, the various residents of the viewed flats are revealed to be other than what had been assumed  by the photographer. Meaning the only one he was right about was the murderer. It feels difficult to explain quite why this Hitchcock film I place above all others including Vertigo and Psycho, though if you have not seen it, I obviously highly recommend. 

Rating: 10/10.

Film Review: Psycho (15), (U.S.A. 1960) (Director: Alfred Hitchcock), Saturday 13.10.2012 18:00, The Filmhouse Screen One, Edinburgh

What can be said about Psycho, one of the most known films there is. Again it is one of my favorite Hitchcock films. It is the score that I find most impressive, which I had forgotten is unsettling and foreboding from the off. Without the final two scenes where Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is being discussed by the authorities who have apprehended him and a psychologist is offering insight from having 'spoken with Norman's mother', I don't think the film would have worked quite so well.

A line I had not picked up upon on previous viewing was 'a mother is always a boy's best friend'. This is spoken by Norman in response to a question from Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) about whether he ever gets lonely and occurs not long after Marion arrives at the Bates Motel. This suggests still viewing his self as a 'boy', and detachment, as gives a universal statement as opposed to talking about his own mother. The performance by Anthony Perkins is subtle and finely balanced and it is understandable (though regrettable) as to why this hung over the rest of his career.

Rating: 10/10.  

Film Review: Strangers On A Train (P.G.), (U.S.A. 1951) (Director: Alfred Hitchcock), Sunday 07.10.2012 18:00, The Filmhouse Screen Two, Edinburgh

I went to see this as it was one of my preferred Hitchcock films. The plot revolves around a tennis player and  a fan who have a chance encounter. The conversation they have comes to them discussing people they would each like out of their lives. The proposition is offered up by the creepy and slightly camp fan Bruno Antony (Played by Robert Walker), as being the perfect crime as for each of them there is no motive in regard to the person they kill. Bruno then takes the liberty of assuming they had come to an agreement in regard to the matter, acts to remove the annoyance from the tennis player Guy Haines (Played by Farley Granger), and then harasses for Guy to fulfill his side of the arrangement.

The film was not as good as I had remembered. The performance from Robert Walker, although very impressive, felt overpowering within the film. Also I had forgotten the clearly sped up footage of the fairground ride at the end, which leads to the conclusion feeling compromised. The film is still very good and I feel serves as a warning about the potential dangers of casual conversation with someone you don't know.  

Rating: 08/10.

Film Review: Frenzy (18), (U.K. 1972) (Director: Alfred Hitchcock), Saturday 08.09.2012 18:15, The Filmhouse Screen Two, Edinburgh

Of the twenty Hitchcock films that I have seen, this is easily one of my favorites, therefore I took up the opportunity to see it on the 'big screen'. It is not a film that I find to hold particular menace or suspense. It is a very working class London film in the tone and manner of some of its central characters. The central crimes are referred to as the neck-tie murders, though as always the perpetrator becomes rash and sloppy. There is an opportunity for the perpetrator to frame a 'mate' who is being wrongly suspected.

This film, as a Hitchcock film appeals to me because there are; scenes of very restrained British humour, the criminal is an appropriate mix of sleaze and superficial-charm, other characters are slippery, Bernard Cribbins as the pub landlord is quick to get his dander up and the central victim/wrongly accused is the archetypal wrongly judged decent chap, in the wrong place at the wrong time, just trying to get by.

The film in terms of quality of film-making is not a match for the likes of psycho, vertigo, north by northwest or strangers on a train, though it it has a grubby charm that none of his finest films possess. It is hard to take the piece seriously, though is a fun telling of a yarn.

Rating: 08/10.