Peeping Tom (1960)

A young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.

Director:

Michael Powell

Writers:

Leo Marks (original story), Leo Marks (screenplay)

Stars:

Karlheinz Böhm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Karlheinz Böhm	...	Mark Lewis (as Carl Boehm)
Moira Shearer	...	Vivian
Anna Massey	...	Helen Stephens
Maxine Audley	...	Mrs. Stephens
Brenda Bruce	...	Dora
Miles Malleson	...	Elderly Gentleman Customer
Esmond Knight	...	Arthur Baden
Martin Miller	...	Dr. Rosen
Michael Goodliffe	...	Don Jarvis
Jack Watson	...	Chief Insp. Gregg
Shirley Anne Field	...	Pauline Shields (as Shirley Ann Field)
Pamela Green	...	Milly

Storyline

Mark Lewis, works as a focus puller in a British film studio. On his off hours, he supplies a local porno shop with cheesecake photos and also dabbles in filmmaking. A lonely, unfriendly, sexually repressed fellow, Mark is obsessed with the effects of fear and how they are registered on the face and behavior of the frightened. This obsession dates from the time when, as a child, he served as the subject of some cold-blooded experiments in terror conducted by his own scientist father. As a grown man, Mark becomes a compulsive murderer who kills women and records their contorted features and dying gasps on film. His ongoing project is a documentary on fear. With 16mm camera in hand, he accompanies a prostitute to her room and stabs her with a blade concealed in his tripod, all the while photographing her contorted face in the throes of terror and death. Alone in his room, he surrounds himself with the sights and sounds of terror: taped screams, black-and-white "home movies" of convulsed...

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | filmmaking | british horror | psychopathic killer | serial murderer | 

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Taglines:

Den stærkeste kriminal-gyser De nogensinde har set [Denmark]

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Face of Fear

Filming Locations:

29 Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP135,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$24,640

Company Credits

Production Co:

Michael Powell (Theatre)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 86 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriter Leo Marks was a leading cryptographer for Britain during World War II.

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Goofs

During the opening sequence we can see a shot of Mark's camera, showing that it is somewhat concealed in his coat, at chest level or lower. In the subsequent "first person" shots of the prostitute (supposedly showing what's being seen through the camera's viewfinder) it seems to have moved to eye level.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Mark approaches the prostitute, covertly filming her]
Dora: It'll be two quid

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Alternate Versions

The film proved to be problematic for the BBFC who demanded around 7 mins of cuts. Among these were reductions to the murder scenes, closeups of the spike on Mark's camera, all shots of nude girls in photo albums and on colour slides, closeups of a woman's disfigured face, shots of Milly lying on the bed, and dialogue during the conversation between the police officers in the car. Later video and DVD releases contain much of the footage, suggesting that not all of the cuts were made, although the original uncut print now appears to be lost forever.

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Connections

Referenced in Inside the Tower (2015)

User Reviews

The British 'Psycho'

It's difficult to imagine the effect that this film had on critics and audiences when first shown as in the 90's we have become desensitized by the violence and cruelty of slasher movies.

Yet even today this film is deeply disturbing. The lead character is portrayed in a sympathetic light, thanks to a stunning performance from Carl Boem. He is a victim of a cruel and abusive father, desperate to escape the curse that has been handed down to him. There are some memorable scenes: the home movie showing him and his father (played by Michael Powell and his own son), the shot of the beautiful model turning round and showing her hare lip and the projection of one of the murders to the blind mother, with part of the frame projecting onto the murderer.

This is a deeply unnerving film but brilliantly made. Go see.