Frenzy (1972)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Arthur La Bern (novel)
Anthony Shaffer (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 June 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Just an ordinary necktie used with a deadly new twist. [Australia Theatrical]

Plot:

A serial killer is murdering London women with a necktie. The police have a suspect... but he's the wrong man.

Plot Keywords:

Necktie | London | Police | Serial Killer | Murder

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Jon Finch	...	Richard Ian 'Dick' Blaney
Barry Foster	...	Robert 'Bob' Rusk
Barbara Leigh-Hunt	...	Brenda Margaret Blaney
Anna Massey	...	Barbara Jane 'Babs' Milligan
Alec McCowen	...	Chief Inspector Oxford
Vivien Merchant	...	Mrs. Oxford
Billie Whitelaw	...	Hetty Porter
Clive Swift	...	Johnny Porter
Bernard Cribbins	...	Felix Forsythe
Michael Bates	...	Sergeant Spearman
Jean Marsh	...	Monica Barling
John Boxer	...	Sir George
Madge Ryan	...	Mrs. Davison
George Tovey	...	Neville Salt
Elsie Randolph	...	Gladys

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Finland:K-15 (2001) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1972) | Spain:13 | Iceland:16 | Brazil:12 | USA:R (certificate no. 23143) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Italy:VM14 | Norway:16 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | West Germany:16 | UK:18 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

119 Oxford Street, London, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

This is the only Hitchcock film ever to carry an '18' certificate in the UK, or receive an 'X' rating after the 'X' age restriction was moved from 16 to 18 in 1971.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Rusk is leaving Mrs. Blaney's office, he takes another bite of the apple (previously shown as mostly green but ripening into red) and sets it on the desk with the green side facing the camera. At the door, as he turns to see if he's forgotten anything, the closeup shows the apple with the red side facing towards the camera when it should be facing away from it.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Inspector Oxford: Mr. Rusk - you're not wearing your tie.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dizengoff 99 (1979)

Hitchcock's Final Masterpiece

Hitchcock had been in a bit of an artistic slump when, after some thirty years, he returned to England for this, his next to last film--and the result was his final masterpiece.

Scripted with ghoulish humor by Anthony Schaffer, FRENZY opens with a ceremony on the banks of the Thames in which Londoners inaugurate legislation to rid the river of pollutants... only to have the corpse of a naked woman wash ashore in the midst of their celebrations. She has been strangled with a tie--the latest victim of a serial killer who savagely rapes and then murders his victims by twisting his necktie around their throats. With the city in a panic and Scotland Yard desperate to catch the killer, suspicion falls on a down-on-his-luck bartender named Richard Blaney. Trouble is, he isn't the killer.

In a sense, FRENZY has a strangely Dickensian flavor. It is a film that by and large seems to happen in public places: pubs, parks, offices, hotels, and most particularly Covent Garden with its constant hustle and bustle that serves to conceal horrors that occur inches away from the safety of the crowds. Indeed, the city seems almost a "master character" in the film, constantly pressing in upon the humans that inhabit it.

Fans of the British comedy series "Keeping Up Appearances" will recognize Clive Swift in a minor role, but for the most part the cast consists of unknowns--but while they lack name recognition they certainly do not lack for talent, playing with a realism that seems completely unstudied. Leading man Jon Finch (Richard Blaney) is perfectly cast as the attractive but disreputable suspect on the run, and he is equaled by his chum Barry Foster (Robert Rusk.) A special mention must also be made of the two female leads, Anna Massey and Barbara Leigh-Hunt--not to mention the host of supporting characters who bring the entire panorama of the great city to life.

In his earlier films, Hitchcock generally preferred to work by inference, implying danger and violence rather than openly showing it on the screen. PSYCHO broke the mold, and with FRENZY Hitchcock presents a sequence that many believe equals the notorious "shower scene:" a horrific rape and slow strangulation that leaves the viewer simply stunned. But having given us this horror, Hitchcock ups it with a scene in which we see no violence at all: just a camera shot that glides away from an apartment door, down the stairs, through the hall, and out into the busy street... as we shudder with the knowledge that the woman who just entered that apartment door is now being horrifically raped and murdered.

Hitchcock made one more film, a comic wink with twists of suspense starring Karen Black, Bruce Dern, and Barbara Harris called FAMILY PLOT--and it is an enjoyable film in its own right. But it is FRENZY that is the final jewel in the Hitchcock crown, a film to rank among his best. The DVD presentation includes a number of extras--including numerous interviews with the cast--that Hitchcock fans will find fascinating. All in all, FRENZY is fearsome, wickedly funny, and strongly recommended... but not for the faint of heart!

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer