After a serial killer strangles several women with a necktie, London police identify a suspect—but he claims vehemently to be the wrong man.
Jon Finch
Richard Ian Blaney
Barry Foster
Robert Rusk
Barbara Leigh-Hunt
Brenda Margaret Blaney
Anna Massey
Barbara Jane 'Babs' Milligan
Alec McCowen
Chief Inspector Tim 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
Elsie Randolph
Gladys
Gerald Sim
Mr. Usher the Solicitor in Pub
John Boxer
Sir George
George Tovey
Neville Salt
Jimmy Gardner
Hotel Porter
Noel Johnson
Doctor in Pub
Rita Webb
Mrs Rusk
Alfred Hitchcock
Spectator at Opening Rally
Madge Ryan
Mrs. Davison
Gerry Cowper
Spectator at Opening Rally
Michael Bilton
Trial Jury Foreman
Jill Goldston
Woman in Crowd (uncredited)
Director
Alfred Hitchcock
Author
Arthur La Bern
Screenplay
Anthony Shaffer
August 30, 2020
8
Chillingly humorous Hitchcock piece of work.
It's always great to take a revisit to Frenzy some years after your last viewing, to re-evaluate it post haste. As a proud Englishman it gives me great pleasure to see the Master back in England capturing the English time frame of London perfectly, for the film works because we really get the vibe of the place and believe in the characters who frequent the area, Hitch delivers this no problem at all.
The story stands up as genuine thriller material, some crazy fruit loop is strangling women with neck ties and the police are trailing the wrong man...Sound familiar? Well yes it is, but Hitch being Hitch, he manages to bring dashes of humour to go with the tense taut terror unfolding on the screen.
The cast do fine here, and I do believe that the fact that none of the actors are top draw names actually helps the film bring out an uneasy feel, here the interesting fleshing of the characters is one of Hitchcock's great strengths in this particular piece. The villain of the piece stands up as one of the best because he could easily be your best mate, someone you readily turn to in times of need, yet strip away that facade and you get the savage murdering rapist that Hitchcock takes great delight in assaulting our eyes with.
Lovely...Lovely...LOVELY....LOVELY !
Although its rating on the IMDb movie site hovers around 7.5 I have always been led to believe that Frenzy wasn't all that well thought of, with tales of America refusing to embrace the film because of the London sensibility, and tired old arguments about the great man being past his peak etc. I have no idea if any of those statements are true? But what I personally know is that Frenzy is a very good film that has me squirming and laughing in equal measure. So with that it may just be shy of being a Hitchcock classic, but still it stands up as better than what most other thriller directors could ever have hoped to have achieved back in that era. 8/10
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$3,500,000.00
Revenue:
$12,600,000.00