FRENZY
- FILM REVIEWS
Read
the reviewers of NYT analysing the film as it was released in the
70s.
THE PSYCHO (1960)
A macabre story of a young man a
hotel owner who kills his mother at the age of 13 for her extra-marital
affair, preserves her body, and then kills any young woman who enters
his hotel. The ending is even more grotesque, the young man becoming
a full-blown image of his mother, talking and behaving as her. The
film is best remembered for the shower murder scene of actress Janet
Leigh, for this was the first time that a bathroom scene had been
used to show a chilling murder. The main actress is killed quite early
in the film, and it is her sister and brother who discover the facts.
The viewer is repeatedly misled as to the identity of the killer,
or who the real protagonist of the film is. This film was not pure
horror, and Hitchcock saw a comical side to it. Uses a lot of sound
effects, especially the shrieking violins during the shower murder.
The film deserves a watch just for the way the story has been told.
Read our review of the psycho
shower scene.
THE BIRDS (1963)
A young couple, recently fallen in love,
visit a small California island where the formerly docile birds become
aggressive and start preying on humans. No amount of defense proves
enough, and the entire community is made to flee in the end. No formal
explanation is given for the odd behavior of the birds. Hitchcock plays
on the fear factor again, using birds as a symbol. One reviewer at CNN
thinks that there is a sexual connection in the film, the lead actress
being shown as a lusty playgirl and after the main actor, and the whole
film is about putting it down. No matter what, the scenes of masses
of birds attacking adults and children with no stopping is the main
draw of the film. Extremely watchable.