Peeping Tom 1960

     Mark Lewis was the subject of experiments in the psychology of terror conducted by his scientist father.  Mark now works as an assistant cameraman for a London film studio.  Also, he is working on his own documentary film and he takes photos of women for a local shop.  Mark has a lot of physiological problems because of his unusual childhood.  He starts to kill women and he films the process.  Later, he reviews and edits the films in his home darkroom.  He tries to film the police investigations of the crimes too. 

     The creep factor of this film is very high and it’s slightly dated.  You wonder how this is going to end for Mark and his neighbor Helen Stephens and her blind mother.  Sometimes he seems OK so you don’t know in what situations he will begin to snap.  3* (This movie is OK) 

101 min, Drama directed by Michael Powell with Karlheinz Bohm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer, Maxine Audley, Brenda Bruce, Miles Malleson, Esmond Knight, Martin Miller, Michael Goodliffe, Jack Watson, Pamela Green.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, 96% critic 86% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*.

Special Note:  This film was so reviled on the first release that it was pulled from theaters and the director’s career ended.  Director Michael Powell and writer Emric Pressburger made many films together in the 1949’s and 1950’s.  This list includes The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus and Stairway to Heaven.  Martin Scorsese studied their films to learn about directing.