Film critic David Thomson called “The Birds” Alfred Hitchcock’s “last unflawed film.” And because of that infamous criticism, most Hitchcock fans will look no further than it in his career.
In fact, neither did the general public around the time Hitchcock’s 1972 “Frenzy” was released. The director had experimented with political thrillers that alienated audiences and only just unified critics, and “Frenzy” was his return to form in the murder genre.
But Hitchcock was an Old Hollywood staple; a master of his time who struggled to find his footing in a new generation of filmmakers. “Frenzy” was lewd enough to warrant an R-rating, but if the movie was ultimately a lot like something he could’ve made in the ’40s, would you waste your time with it if you had just seen something like, say, “A Clockwork Orange” or “The Godfather?”
The difference is however, “Frenzy” holds up remarkably well. It’s still the filmmaker displaying technical perfection that is unrivaled in any age. It’s gripping, complex, darkly funny and deliciously twisted on a level that matches, if not surpasses, some of his more famous films.
The Hitchcockian elements are obvious from the beginning. An innocent man with a short temper, Richard Blaney (Jon Finch), is wrongly accused of being London’s “necktie murderer.” The actual serial killer is Blaney’s friend Robert Rusk (Barry Foster), but his latest victim is Blaney’s ex-wife, which gives Blaney a motive.
Ultimately, “Frenzy” is a film about frustration. It expertly plays with our expectations of normality and perversion and how those factors can get us into sticky situations. Hitchcock again conveys this through an expertly constructed crime narrative that leaves few loose ends and gripping clues in plain sight for maximum suspense. His Blaney is a short tempered man who gets frustrated easily, and such a personality leads others to think he’s capable of something as unspeakable as rape and murder. Conversely, the actual killer is sexually frustrated but expresses it in different means.
There’s even the hilarious inclusion of a Scotland Yard agent, Chief Inspector Oxford (Alec McCowan), who is frustrated at his wife’s increasingly fancy, absurd and unappetizing meals. It’s ironically funny, but it still keeps us sick to our stomachs and immersed in the suspense.
Shots during rapes and murders like the one in which Hitchcock endlessly pulls his camera back down a flight of stairs are so immense, and yet these shots seem obvious because he’s done them a thousand times before. He still has us slinking back in our seats, but the modern ’70s flavors give it a hint of added sadism, such as when Rusk goes back over one of his corpses to find a treasured and identifiable lapel pin in the back of a moving delivery truck.
Hitch works his story into a corner near film’s end, but it’s got a simple and quick finale that makes any loose strands feel insignificant.
“Frenzy” is one of Hitchcock’s best films, despite the era it belongs to.
Sounds like an awesome movie. Can’t believe I never heard of it. It’s going to the top of my list of must see films.
Being that these are Alfred Hitchcock’s last two films, FRENZY and FAMILY PLOT certainly seem like a dihctoomous pair. The very British, very dark and yet wry FRENZY followed by the very American and very light FAMILY PLOT seem like a curious pair of films to end this director’s brilliant career. I think perhaps they represent in an allegorical sense the full circle of Alfred Hitchcock’s compendium of work from his native Britain to his adopted United States. 1972 s FRENZY is a thriller that harkens back to the type of films he was directing in the 40 s that combine his unique morbidity with incongruous humor and the element of the wrong man being accused of something he did not commit. However, the viewer (at least from my point of view) has no strong central character to identify with. Our protagonist Richard Blaney, played by Jon Finch, is a bit of an indifferent and somewhat grating sort of fellow who lacks both wit and charm gaining little sympathy from just about anyone. The true antagonist, the real Necktie Murderer and sociopath Robert Rusk, played with great charm and menace by Barry Foster, is very charismatic and demonstrates cunning intellect and perseverance throughout the film. At one pivotal and suspenseful macabre scene in the film Hitchcock actually has the audience identifying with the killer. The films macabre elements are counterbalanced by Chief Inspector Oxford (Alec McCowen) who must undergo pseudo gourmet meals, which are gastronomically hideous contrivances, served by his wife (Vivien Merchant). FRENZY is a very British treat from Alfred Hitchcock returning to his roots one last time. 1976 s FAMILY PLOT was Hitchcock’s final film. In an interview with Frane7ois Truffaut, Hitchcock stated that in today’s films you no longer had to close the picture with a kiss. The audience no longer needed it or expected it. The romanticism of the motion picture was dead. If not for the performances of Barbara Harris as a phony psychic and Bruce Dern as her taxi driving-detective-boyfriend this film would have indeed lacked any hint of romanticism. In a complex plot that involves the location of a missing heir, the lives of Harris and Dern become intertwined with the villainous pair of this piece (William Devane and Karen Black). Ultimately the film seems more akin to ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS than to Hitchcock’s previous films. Yet it seems our beloved Alfred Hitchcock left us with just a hint of romanticism via the wacky on-again-off-again relationship of Harris and Dern throughout this film. The last frame of the film, and Alfred Hitchcock’s final cinematic shot of his long career, has Barbara Harris winking out at the audience. Many critics at the time were dismayed by that wink as being hackneyed and cliche9d but in retrospect I think Hitchcock was just saying that he had a good run and it had all been fun. Godspeed Alfred.