Frenzy (1972)

 Alfred Hitchcock's "Frenzy"


Alfred Hitchcock's 1972 film "Frenzy" was the penultimate of his career and perhaps the most Hitchcockian of his final films. It was a return to suspense, a return to the 'wrong man accused' plot device, and it was a return to London. Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in 1939 and only made two films outside of Hollywood from that point until 1970. However, with his penultimate film, he returned to the city he started making films in and returned to form one final time. 

The film centers on a man who gets accused of being the 'necktie killer.' This killer has been going around London killing women with his neckties. The film is perhaps Hitchcock's most explicit film of his filmography. It not only shows very intimate scenes of rape and murder, but nudity as well. Due to the nature of some of the darker scenes, Alfred's daughter Patricia felt the film was too disturbing for her children to view for many years.

When going into this film, I felt bittersweet in saying goodbye to Hitchcock. The film was very much a final thematic goodbye to his illustrious career. However, I felt 1963's "The Birds" was a more appropriate ending for the master of suspense. Not to say that "Frenzy" was a bad film by any means. It was an enjoyable and dark suspense thriller. However, given the nature of films that were being produced in 1972, it was far from anything revelatory. That being said, it was a nice little goodbye to the master of suspense, Sir Alfred Hitchcock.




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