James Absolon explains how this Pope-themed film, despite its risky premise, works
Alex Pollard reviews Hollywood's biopic of the controversial Margaret Thatcher
The serial killer is one of the oldest and most clichéd ideas in cinema, but oddly enough Peeping Tom (one of the first horror films ever made) still seems as crisp and fresh as ever. It’s a film that on its initial original release was considered so shocking that it effectively ended the brilliant career of national treasure Michael Powell. He created a film miles away from away from his exquisite earlier work like Red Shoes or The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, instead giving us what remains one of the most disquieting films ever made. Now re-released in cinemas, we get to rediscover what all the fuss was about.
What made Peeping Tom so shocking was never (as is all too often the case with horror) a simple matter of gore. Indeed, compared to many films of its time, it is quite restrained as it has less gore then Hammer Horror’s releases or Psycho (a film released in the same year). What makes it so disturbing is the way in which throughout the film we are invited into the warped mind of its protagonist Mark Lewis. Lewis is a cameraman who takes to making a documentary about his own murderous fixations, recording them and inviting the audience to watch the nightmare unfold from his perspective through the camera. This creates what is arguably Powell’s greatest achievement in the film - his criticism of his own audience and of filmmaking in general which forces us to recognise that we are all ourselves voyeurs drawn to the horror and bloodshed of the screen.
It’s something which admittedly has been done many times in the intervening years. (In Michael Haneke's Funny Games or John McNaugton’s brutal Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.) But it has never been executed quite as well and never with the same development of fear, repulsion and maddening fascination. However, what really stands out as the biggest difference between Peeping Tom and its successors is that it remains at all times a terrifying and disturbingly entertaining film, whereas the others are dark and repellent as they rely on your curiosity and fascination to drag you through the unease and despair. Peeping Tom is undoubtedly aided by the simple fact that if it were not for his homicidal tendencies Mark Lewis would actually appear to be a decent if troubled person, giving the film a bitter edge as we feel sorry for the protagonist.
Peeping Tom ranks among the finest British films ever made, intelligent and unsettling, it seems disquietingly modern even if in what would now be considered a period setting. There’s little wonder why it caused such outrage on release, even when its superficially similar American cousin Psycho was met with universal praise. Here is a film released before its time and people weren’t truly prepared for it. Peeping Tom is a dark and twisted tale (Hitchcock pales in comparison) from a time when the general idea of terror was simply Dracula jumping out his coffin.
You must log in to submit a comment.
