Frenzy (1972)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Anthony Shaffer (based on the book by Arthur la Bern)

Cast: Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Alec McCowen

Music: Ron Goodwin

Time: 116 minutes

Bottom-line: Grizzly and violent; far from the trademark Hitchcock

Hitchcock’s penultimate film, Frenzy, is the story of a serial killer/rapist wandering in the streets of London. Known for its infamous strangulation scene, analogous to the shower scene of Psycho, the film stars Jon Finch and Barry Foster in the lead roles, with Alec McCowen, Anna Massey and Barbara Leigh-Hunt in the supporting roles.

Covent Garden, London: The film starts with the corpse of a naked woman being washed up near the Thames; she is found strangled with a neck-tie, which is yet another death in a series of murders, where women are raped and strangled with neckties. Richard Blaney (Finch) is a man who has just lost his job at a local bar. His divorced wife, Brenda (Hunt), runs a matchmaking service. Blaney’s friend is a fruit merchant, Rusk (Foster), who used the matchmaking service, but was later blacklisted for beating up his dates. When Rusk meets Brenda, he rapes her while she prays, and strangles her to death. Suspicion falls on Richard, who is seen outside the building by Brenda’s secretary. It’s not long before Richard’s girlfriend, Barbara (Massey) is also strangled to death. How does Richard prove himself innocent?

 

Massey as Barbara and Finch as Blaney

Frenzy is by far Hitchcock’s most freakishly violent film; even the shower scene of Psycho and the bird attack scene in The Birds take the back seat to the scene here when Rusk rapes and strangles Brenda to death. The close-ups of their faces, the tie, the neck… it’s a painful half a minute to watch, and equally grizzly are the images of the other corpses shown. Hitchcock also reaches a new level of dark humour in the scene where Rusk hides in a delivery truck and digs out a corpse from a potato sack to retrieve his pin, to safeguard his identity. The ending, on the other hand, is tame; it is logical, but given the excitement of the film, I expected something more dramatic.

 

Foster as Rusk

Another thing I hated about the film is the “comic relief” track involving the inspector’s wife, as he discusses the case with her. Her character and the scenes were redundant. The film seems to have a more “colourful” appearance than other Hitchcock films. The cinematography is brilliant, and one notable scene is when the camera pans out of Rusk’s house, down the stairs and on to the street in one long take, which is an indirect morbid indication that he is going to strangle yet another victim. Goodwin’s score is skilfully composed.

 

Hunt as Brenda

Rusk is one of the most sadistic villains that I have seen; I am surprised he hasn’t made it into any of the “top villains” list. Barry Foster had to read about a real-life serial killer to get into character, and what a fine job he has done! Jon Finch’s acting was also pretty good. I liked his character’s entry, where first the corpse of a woman is shown with a tie around her neck, and in the very next scene, we see Blaney putting on a tie of his own!

So, while Frenzy is nothing like the classic Hitchcock of the 50s and early 60s, the film still delivers satisfying chills and thrills. Very offbeat and unconventional, but it’s worth a watch!

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 87%