Antonius Block I've always liked 'Frenzy', Hitchcock's second to last movie, filmed when he was 73. The London pub and market scenes in Covent Garden always grab me from the start, and I love the dialogue between Jon Finch and both Anna Massey and Barry Foster. Finch plays a down-on-his-luck barman who's just been "given the push" (fired) from his job for drinking too much, Massey is his feisty co-worker, and Foster his charming and kind friend who tries to help him. Hanging over London is the "Necktie Murderer", as we see in the early shots of a nude woman floating in the Thames. When Finch pays a visit to his ex-wife (Barbara Leigh-Hunt), things take a downward turn, but I won't say anything further.There are several excellent shots worth noting. The one where Hitchcock slowly backs the camera down the stairwell and back out into the street, after the killer and his next victim are entering his apartment, is brilliant. The fumbling around in the moving potato truck, leading to breaking fingers where rigor mortis has set in has a gruesome and morbidly absurd feel to it. I also love the small moment when at the trial, Hitchcock places the camera outside the courtroom, and lets us hear snippets of the judge's pronouncement when the door opens. The film feels eminently British which I enjoyed, and distinctly Hitchcock, as he slips in some droll humor in the form of a detective (Alex McCowen) and his wife (Vivien Merchant), who cooks him unappetizing French haute cuisine while he craves traditional British fare. For the first time, Hitchcock also uses brief nudity in a few scenes mostly to heighten the garish and horrifying murders, and maybe to please his inner voyeur. There are moments which made me smile (a margarita being too exotic a drink comes to mind), and others which made me cringe (a gentleman saying to a barmaid that being raped before being strangled is akin to every cloud having a silver lining, and her smiling about it). The middle portion of the film is not quite as strong as I remembered it, but overall, a solid thriller, and underrated in Hitchcock's oeuvre.

christopher-underwood I've always liked this film and I remember sticking up for it back in the day when many people were very sniffy about it. Having said that, looking at it after a gap of many years, I have to say it is very odd. Anthony Shaffer is the screenwriter and it has to be down to him that all the cast seem to behave in such a wooden way. Such is the caliber of personnel, that it should only be Jon Finch who gives a decent performance, raises a question. Shaffer also wrote Wicker Man and whilst I realise I risk being shot down in flames that is in many ways an odd film too. I've always thought that the seeming mismatch of dialogue and characters was the very thing that gave it that slightly unworldly feel. And I think its the same with Frenzy. The magnificent and colourful recreations of Covent Garden Market, as a fruit and veg market aside, there is an awkwardness, a coldness and detachment that has to be intentional because it makes it so unnerving to watch. The first killing is prolonged and ugly, preceded by a most difficult rape scene and although the second killing is fabulously understated, there is that near necrophiliac scene in the potato lorry. The film does not flow as magically as some of the earlier pictures but there are some majestic moments and although there is a little humour and almost giallo like moments, this is not really like any other Hitch films - or anybody else's.

zkonedog Sometimes, a movie is made that focuses on the wrong things for its type. "Frenzy" is exactly that type of movie.For a basic plot summary, "Frenzy" is set in England where a mysterious "Necktie Murderer" continues to claim victim after victim (strangling them with a necktie). Minor Spoiler: Very quickly into the movie, we learn that one man is truly the vicious murderer, while another is being wrongly pursued for the killings. This sets up the drama as the rest of the movie unfolds.The trouble with "Frenzy" is that it seems like the film was Hitch's way of entering "the modern era" of filmmaking. After being criticized for his mostly boring Cold War "thrillers" like "Topaz" & "Torn Curtain", Hitch sets "Frenzy" in "today" and ups the ante in the violence department (this is also the only Hitchcock film in which nudity is present).Sadly, while making that jarring transition, Hitch seemed to have left behind some of the terrific suspense and storytelling in his earlier film. For "Frenzy" to work, it needed to be a taut, tense, psychological treatise on the mind of a serial killer. Instead, Hitch turns it into a rather procedural piece that sometimes even borders on predictability. The only real character insights given are done so in Hitch's trademark comedic tongue-in-cheek way.Thus, while decent enough to hold one's interest, "Frenzy" falls under the "disappointment" category for this viewer. Worth a watch from Hitch nuts, but otherwise can easily be skipped in favor of other fare.

Dalbert Pringle (Movie quote) - "Now, do I look like that sort of a bloke??" OK. Here's my slant on things - For starters - "Frenzy" was certainly no "Psycho". Nope - Not even by a long-shot.And, speaking about "Psycho" - Character Bob Rusk (the fruit & veggies guy in "Frenzy") was certainly no cross-dressing momma's boy like Norman Bates, neither. Nope - He sure wasn't."Frenzy" was released 12 years after the classic, twisted, shocker "Psycho" - And, if you ask me - It was clearly one monstrous step down the ladder when it came to direction by Alfred Hitchcock. This was especially so if the viewer was expecting to see an "in-depth" character study of a deranged serial killer. (I mean - Hello!!?? - There was no character study of this killer here, at all!) And, finally - I can't believe that Hitchcock actually had the low-down gall to substitute the sharp blade of a knife (slice. slice), as the killer's weapon, for (of all things) a frickin' necktie. (choke. choke) Anyway - Because of these 4 serious strikes against "Frenzy", I had no choice but to reduce my rating of it to just 3 measly stars.