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Quint’s Watching PEEPING TOM (1960) No, never you! Whatever I photograph I always lose...
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the newest installment of Quint’s Watching.
[I ended my A Movie A Day column in January of 2009, but the passion for discovering previously unseen film is still strong… and the DVD stacks of unseen movies are as tall as they have ever been, so this column will carry the AMAD torch, minus the ridiculous day to day deadline. This column will fluctuate depending on my work-load, sometimes appearing many times a week, sometimes none, but it will be a priority for me nonetheless.]
Today we’re going to discuss 1960’s pre-PSYCHO British stalker flick PEEPING TOM, directed by Michael Powell.
This one has been a long time coming, the legend preceding my purchase of the Criterion disc back in October when I included it in the running for the All Horror AMAD run. I never pulled the title, so it went back onto the “to watch stack,” which is actually a “to watch” DVD shelf, which is about 300 DVDs strong at the moment, not counting the gangster, noir and various other box sets.
I liked getting an idea of what you guys wanted me to cover next, so I think I’ll keep that idea going. You clearly picked PEEPING TOM, so that’s what I went with.
Right off the bat the movie showed me it was a few decades ahead of its time. PEEPING TOM precedes the point of view killer movies (just beating PSYCHO and coming some 14 years before the awesome BLACK CHRISTMAS and 18 years before Carpenter made it a slasher staple with HALLOWEEN), but does it in such a way as to really beat the trend of video/technology horror.
Our main character is Mark Lewis, played by Carl Boehm who kept reminding me of a young Udo Kier. And he’s the bad guy. So already this movie is a bold form of storytelling. Before it became the norm in the ‘70s, this film focused on a character that should be the villain, but instead asks the audience to sympathize with him, see through his eyes.
And there’s the key factor that I was able to hold on to. Put into its correct context this is an amazing movie, but I’m afraid most who visit this film today, especially young horror fans who know all the ins and outs of the genre, will write it off as dull or nothing new.
But like all truly exceptional films, the more distance you get from it the more you should be able to peel back layers and find something new underneath. What this film has to say about voyeurism and how it relates to the cinema-going experience is quite smart, essentially forcing the viewing audience into a position of being accomplice to the murders that Boehm commits.
The basic plot is simple. Our lead was tormented by his father, a scientist who used his son as a guinea pig to test the psychological effects of fear at a young age. Young Mark Lewis is a handsome man, but due to his childhood trauma is now obsessed with fear, especially how one sees fear. So, he ends up killing some women while filming them dying, capturing their terror. There’s another component, some extra device that they see before they die that we aren’t clued in to until the very end.
The complexity of the material comes with how Michael Powell and screenwriter Leo Marks deal with Mark and his obsession.
The critics at the time of release were appalled at how they make the murderer sympathetic, but if you watch the movie they don’t really make him out to be a good guy or bad guy, just a man struggling with the same kind of issues everybody else struggles with, but with Mark there is one filter that is not in place, one switch flipped the wrong way that enables him to act out violently. We’re asked to sympathize with him not because of his acts but because of his humanity.
While Boehm’s line delivery isn’t the best in the world, what he is able to capture is the conflict within this man. He’s an introvert, has no real connection to the world until he meets the girl living in the flat downstairs, an auburn-headed English beauty named Helen, played by Anna Massey (Hitchcock’s FRENZY). He opens up to her in a way he hasn’t been able to with anybody else and you get the feeling that she stands a chance of helping him give up his obsession. As Nicholson said, she makes him want to be a better man.
But his dark side is so ingrained that he just can’t help himself. It’s an itch he can’t ignore for long and he knows this. At one point in the movie you can see him wrestle with the hope of getting better and living a normal life with this woman, but either self-doubt or stark reality makes up his mind and he stays his course, doing his best to keep Anna Massey out of the way of his obsession.
Massey’s character lives with her mum, who is blind, but can sense there’s something off about this strange man. It’s not so much Daredevil like super senses, but maybe an innate distrust built into her character. She also hears him rustling about on the floor above… she has a great line later on in the movie when she confronts Mark saying she’s always wondered what his film room was like, saying she visits it every night. “The blind always live in the rooms they live under.”
Mark’s murders soon start catching up to him and his place of work (as a camera assistant on a London soundstage) comes under scrutiny when he kills a wannabe actress working there as a stand-in. Instead of fretting over it and panicking, Mark instead welcomes it. He has an overall plan that he detailed to the bitter end and only questions diverging from that plan when Anna Massey comes into his life.
I respect this flick a lot and I even like it almost as much as I respect it, which doesn’t always happen with these types of movies, the ones where their reputation arrives months or years before the film actually plays before your eyes. I personally like the still not on DVD TWISTED NERVE more than PEEPING TOM, but I will admit that PEEPING TOM is a more important film in that it started a trend instead of following one.
If you pick up or rent the Criterion disc make sure to watch the documentary on Leo Marks, the screenwriter. It’s fascinating stuff, maybe even more entertaining than the movie. Marks became known as being a code-cracker during WW2 and he brought a lot of that unique knowledge to this screenplay. They underline much of the subtlety of the movie and start the process of peeling back the layers of the film.
Final Thoughts: While not the flashiest film, PEEPING TOM still stands the test of time, especially when you put it into context of release. Not only did this film predate like horror films, but it influenced them. There’s a particular story told in the documentary about Alfred Hitchcock being pressured into doing early press screenings for PSYCHO and he refused, citing “Look what happen to Michael Powell’s film.” The press so shredded it and decried it as despicable trash that they killed it before it had a chance to live. What you do get in this film is a fascinating portrayal of a deeply flawed man, solid performances across the board (I especially love the perfectionist director at the studio where Mark works) and some really pretty early ‘60s color photography. Also keep an eye out for director Michael Powell playing Mark’s abusive father in the family movies.
Here’s what’s on the docket:
I CONFESS (1953)
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN (1969)
HUSH… HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE (1965)
HI, MOM! (1970)
THE BEGUILED (1970)
KOTCH (1971)
THE LOVED ONE (1965)
RABID (1977)
THE ADVENTURE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES’ SMARTER BROTHER (1975)
If I remember right, THE LOVED ONE and RABID were the two most talked about left on the list. What do you think I should jump onto next?
My detour to San Francisco for WonderCon killed the column for last week and I have the double whammy of SXSW and ShoWest in the next 3 weeks, but I’d like to fit at least one more Quint’s Watching column in before South By starts, so let me know what you think and I’ll try to cram the flick in Sunday or Monday.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
Previous Columns:
PUTNEY SWOPE (1969)
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After all, what's Boehm's performance but a continuation of some of the themes started by Fritz Lang with Peter Lorre in M? Still a great, unsettling movie. I'd tell you to go off your current list (except for The Loved One), and check out the new 2-disc Criterion version of Bunuel's The Exterminating Angel. It's more of a mindfuck in 90 minutes than several seasons of Lost, but I won't go any further into spoiler territory than that. Plus, the second disc has a terrific documentary which follows Bunuel's eldest son (who's now approaching 80) as he retraces his father's life through the places he lived (rural Spain, Madrid, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Mexico, back to Paris).
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I was just thinking about this movie earlier, reading the Kathryn Bigelow article (Strange Days, making someone experience/see their own death, metaphor for cinema, etc.)
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plays the abusive dad, the kid is actually Michael Powell's son...
This movie definitely stands the test of time and still feels really intense... -
request
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Its the only Cronenberg movie I haven't seen yet, and I haven't been able to locate it.
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This is one film I've read about from time to time but have never seen. Definitely going to have to check it out. I love dramas that explore the criminal element from the criminal's point of view. It's interesting when the storyteller can make you empathize for a damned soul and do it artfully. My favorite writer of such stories is Jim Thompson, author of THE KILLER INSIDE ME, AFTER DARK MY SWEET, A HELL OF A WOMAN and THE GRIFTERS, among many others. Thompson is also just simply my favorite writer.As for what you might review next, Quint, I'd like to suggest a film not included in the ones posted here. How about any movie by Federico Fellini? I don't recall any of his works being reviewed in AMAD. They're certainly worth a look, if you haven't seen them. You could start with one of his early masterpieces - NIGHTS OF CABIRIA, an absolutely beautiful and unforgettable film. And Criterion has a wonderful restored version of the film. That's my suggestion.
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yes, Rabid next please!
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A masterpiece, so beautifully directed by Powell.
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Beguiled. Easily Clint's worst film. Why bother?
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http://tinyurl.com/abr63p.Good film [V cheap too],If you aren't region free play it through VLC,all the best............
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The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother?
I am intrigued... -
and resubmit for Holmes' Brother...
http://tinyurl.com/djpcdw -
I think that film is Eastwood's most underrated. You can see the influence that Don Siegel had on his later directing style. I watched it with no expectations and really ended up loving it.
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For the poor cineastes out there, you'll find a few of them up on Youtube (The Edge of the World and Gone to Earth). Not the way they were meant to be seen, but still, we don't all get sent dozens of free DVDs in the mail (I don't even think those two ever got released).
I reckon I'll have to give Peeping Tom another watch- it's been far too long. I still much prefer it to Psycho, which (and don't ban me for this) I never quite got the love for. I dig the grainy, b-movie style and Hitch's breaks from convention, but it mostly comes across a bit too much like a William Castle pic to me. The Wrong Man is Hitch's best, IMO.
I vote for Rabid, by the way. Just on the proviso that you post pics from Marilyn Chambers', ahem, earlier movies in the article! -
This pretty much killed Powells career, such a shame as its one of his best. My fave, A Matter of Life & Death (or Stairway to Heaven in the US). Theres a great doco that can be found on youtube about the writer of peeping tom, Leo Marks, he was a codebreaker for the Allies during WW2, apparantly some sort of mad genius. Any movie fan should read Mickey Powells autobiographies: A Life In Movies & Million Dollar Movie...excellent reads!
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I don't think letting us vote for which movie you should watch next is the best idea. We'll always choose the one we've heard of every time, even though that defeats the whole idea of this column (to introduce us to movies most of us haven't).
So if you're not allowed to include those pics of Marilyn, I change my vote to The Illustrated Man, as I've never heard of it. Is it based on the Ray Bradbury story? -
You can find the a fair few Powell/Pressburger films as a box set on amazon, I bought it a couple of years ago, its just called The Powell & Pressburger Collection, I dont think it was too pricey. The films on it are: A matter of life & Death, Red Shoes, Colonel Blimp, A Canterbury Tale, I Know where Im going, 49th parallel, Battle of river Plate, Ill met by Moonlight, Theyre a weird mob, Tales of Hoffman, & Black Narcissus. A good buy. No edge of the world, peeping tom, gone to earth, I had to buy those seperately..doh! Im a major Powell/Pressburger fan in case you couldnt tell.
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I'm pretty sure Black Narcissus and The Thief of Baghdad are up there as well.
Incidentally, I think The Illustrated Man is, too. At least, that's where I watched it. Loosely based on Bradbury. -
thats my vote...classic !
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without Black Narcissus or Tales of Hoffman, which is a bummer as they both were awesome looking movies (although I think Deborah Kerr looks even hotter in The Innocents!). I love these directors/actors box sets. They always come with one random movie that, while not as good as the other ones, tell you more about the director's tastes for just that very reason. They're a Weird Mob is a WEIRD MOVIE, but I'm glad I watched it. You almost get the impression it's less of a movie and more of a travelogue designed to get people to move out to Oz. It's still fun, though.
I wonder if Youtube have just decided to stop deleting movies. It seems that every single hard-to-find movie I put in the search engine comes up. Not that I'm complaining or anything...
And fave Powell movie? That's a hard one. Probably whichever one I saw last! -
"Quint's Watching" just doesn't have that ring to it. Even if you do a movie every three months, "A Movie A Day" just sounds better. It took you a day to watch it, right? Riiiiight?
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I've gotta give Quint his props for always picking the best, most dead-on quotes from every one of these movies time after time.
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although I really don't know too much about the others... But I love me some vintage cronenburg. Peeping Tom was good too, we had to watch it in a film lecture and it was much more intriguing that i was expecting.
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or Rabid.
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And thank you Quint, for writing about something other than that movie that just came out...
Enjoy Rabid, it's a great film. -
The cynic in me thinks that the only reason why Quint is asking us to choose, is because it gives him an excuse to link a bunch of times to Amazon.
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Just casting my vote
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who says that column has to end? and anyway the Daily Show is on like 4 days out of 7 but no one complains. Also technically calling it Movie a Day even if some days are skipped is still correct since it's A MOVIE a DAY, meaning one movie in a day, doesn't say anything like A Movie a Day ever Day is it?
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I saw it like a year ago on TCM. It was ok I remember, pretty crazy. I remember going how did he get these girls, or that crazy room he had to watch them.
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Great Performances and it lays the groundwork for Cronenbergs latter career. The Depalma fillm is benign at best. Everything else besides the Sherlock film is zzzzzzzz.
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I love this movie. Hopefully, this review will get others to check it out. They may not like it, but it at least deserves its due. I grew up with Psycho and Halloween, and this movie was like a revelation. Glad you enjoyed it too.
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You won't know what hit you.
It is probably one of the most challenging films of its time. Funny in the beginning, thought-provoking in the middle, black comedy in the end.
Do it, Quint. -
You kind of right, it does prove a good excuse for a few more Amazon links, but that's not the main purpose. I like people having an idea of what's next and with this new column it's not exactly so strictly structured as AMAD was, so I'm trying a few different things out.But you're right in that people will automatically pick what they know first. That's why I'm not putting all the movies in the queue up. If you notice I didn't put in another movie to take the place of Peeping Tom. If the next film is Rabid, The Loved One or Sherlock it'll be pulled the remaining will be what's left above. I'll do that until I run through the first 10 movies and then I'll pick another 10.But like I said, I'm in a little bit of an experimental period with this new article. Things might change. I just picked up the Forbidden Hollywood v.3 set, for instance, and I'm kind of aching to get to some of those, so maybe they'll go into the queue or maybe I'll just watch a couple of them and throw 'em in here. I'm not sure.As for the title... I agree that AMAD was better, but I really don't like calling a column that's not strictly daily A Movie A Day. Just rubs me the wrong way and in a weird way takes some of what made AMAD so special to me away. If that makes any sense.
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Peeping Tom is one of those movies I have a soft spot for. While it hasn’t aged as well as some of Powell’s other movies (Red Shoes seems to stand the test of time the best, in my opinion) it is without a doubt a masterpiece and an important part of horror film history. It, along with Psycho and some of the late noirs, transformed the villains of horror films from inhuman monsters, raving lunatics and mad scientist who bore little resemblance to people the audience meet and interact with, to very human antagonist who the audience could recognize as people they know, or even see some of themselves in them. Horror became less about evil and total psychopaths and more about psychology and human desires: the horror-of-personality films.
While M was the one that broke this ground first (nice call Aquatarkusman), and other films touched upon these themes earlier than Peeping Tom and Psycho (Shadow of a Doubt for example), it was the films of the 50’s and 60’s that helped usher in this new area of very human monsters (which is one of my favorite periods of horror films). Other movies that helped this trend along include Dmytrik’s The Sniper (made in 1952), Wyler’s the Collector, Aldrich’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Castle’s Homicidal, Noel Black’s Pretty Poison, and Bogdanovich’s Targets.
In my opinion, what ended the horror-or-personality subgenre and ushered in the modern era of horror movies, especially the slasher films, was another great horror movie – The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. That film transformed horror antagonist once more, from a killer whose true nature is hidden behind a mask of being normal and harmless, back to killers who are obviously deranged and dangerous. But where earlier killers were just generic psychopaths with simple explanations for their motivation (usually a bad Freudian explanation), TCM completely disregarded any rational or reason for the families completely warped ways. The killers of the modern era operated without any morality and had no motivation besides the fact that they enjoyed to kill or cause pain. TCM, Black Christmas, Halloween and The Nightmare on Elm Street didn’t offer a psychological explanation for their killers’ deviance, or if they did it was so simple and peripheral that it couldn’t be taken as a complete answer.
On a side not, have you ever seen the Collector Quint. Great horror movie starring General Zod himself; add that to your list if you get a chance.
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..As Die Watching (1993) starring Christopher Atkins. It is a direct-to-video softcore movie, and the only reason I suggest anyone watching it (besides the gratuitous nudity) is to see how the vast difference between an intelligent and thought-provoking film dealing with a potentially offensive subject matter version a bad film who uses the same material in an exploitative and tasteless manner. One film is about a character who is sadistic and misogynistic; the other is a film that is sadistic and misogynistic. I will let you decide which is which.
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A brilliant horror western! I feel that There Will Be Blood mined it and others like it quite a bit.
If I had to recommend anything yet it would be that.
Anyone who hasn't seen Rabid or many other of these movies shouldn't be writing for a film site, I'm sorry. -
Years since I've seen it but out of the 3 or 4 from that list I've seen its the one that's stuck with me the most. And make a point of seeing every film Powell was involved in. If Hitchcock had a rival, it was him.
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Harry saw The Collector six or seven times before he hit the age of five...!
And sorry for being another one of those sniping talkbackers who never give you guys a break, Quint. I know you put genuine care and passion in most of the stuff you write for this site. I'm glad to see you and this column back again!
Also, I've got Twisted Nerve lying around on DVD and you've FINALLY given me an excuse to watch it. -
Slow, but great. Terrific performances.
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Awesome. It's not one a day, but it's better than nothing. I have actually gone out and tried to check out most of the stuff, and keep up with the column. I hardly post, but it's fun to try and keep up.
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Every time you do one of these, I think I'll thank you for it. That's all.
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Awesome pick Quint!
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Be nice to have it back on a weekly basis, if nothing else. I've been watching a bunch of Errol Flynn stuff-Sea Hawk, Dodge City, Captain Blood, etc-that I've either NEVER seen before or haven't in ages. Good stuff!
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They are actually had us watch it at my school of English, since it is considered a masterpiece. A difficult one, maybe, but a masterpiece nonetheless.
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It's one of those campy-fun flicks, albeit well made. It's best to read up on the production itself, before watching. (Side note - a few weeks ago, "Top Chef" filmed a segment at the plantation where "Hush..." was filmed, although no mention was made.) "Peeping Tom" is essential Michael Powell viewing, with Moira Shearer, no less!! (His star of "The Red Shoes.") "Illustrated Man" has a great soundtrack, BTW, purchased it from "Film Score Monthly."
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"El Norte" by Gregory Nava; you won't see more beautiful cinematography and better cinematic examples of magical realism.
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Mar 08, 2009 11:05:40 AM CDT
Rabid? Is The only one you haven't seen? And no one can find it?
by adrian marcato
Far as I know this one was still in print. Amazon doesn't have it available new, but there are marketplace sellers. I found my copy at a place called Kim's Video here in NYC. I thought only Shivers was unavailable in North America (My copy's from Greece). Rabid is not Cronenberg's best, Shivers is much more entertaining. Rabid's realy only plus side is Marylin Chambers with a phallic vagina apendage in her armpit, a result of 'experimental surgery' to save her life after a motorcycle accident. Faster Arm Pussy! Kill! Kill! The Brood is much more intense and refined. But dude, Rabid is like a remarkable example of exploiting a horror movement, and cronenberg never dissapoints.
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I'm kinda partial to me.
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I run into that a lot, between the stuff I rent from Netflix, the stuff I buy, and the stuff I already have sometimes choosing what I wanna watch next can be excruciating.
The meds do not help in this regard. -
...between PEEPING TOM and Michael Mann's MANHUNTER. Anyone else know what I mean?
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I've seen two of the movies on the list: Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother and The Beguiled. Either one would be cool to talk about...I hated the Beguiled but loved Gene Widers movie. But any of those movies would be good to see.
You know, you could make this a weekly thing: Quints Sunday Cinema. Kinda of like the great Sunday Afternoon movies that appeared on the independent stations. But since you want a free flowing experience-I understand.
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it'll be a crappy week without her ushering it in
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I mean by its cinematography, compared with many other early 60s movies i've seen, and not that it's in color and now b&w either, when i watched this at first i thought it was a mid-60s movie compared to how texture like and fluid the camera movements were and kind of different fashions for the late Eisenhower era, it's easier to spot which part a 60s movie came out rather than other decades since that decade changed so rapidly, a movie from 60 and 69 you'd harldy believe were the bookends to a decade.
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It's a wonderful old gothic horror film. I saw it as a small child and it wrecked me. It's not scary by today's terms, but it's still wonderfully creepy and cool. Just the opening scene where Bruce Dern gets killed is worth the price of admission. And the black and white early-60's cinematography is crisp and gorgeous. It's never recognized and lives in the shadow of "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?", but in my book this is the far superior film. Crawford dropped out and was replaced by Olivia de Havilland, but who gives a shit? I'm not a big fan of Crawford or Davis, just a fan of good horror films and you gotta love a movie where a decapitated head rolls down the stairs. Also look out for the death-by-flower pot scene, an all-time favorite of mine. Don't listen to the guy above who wrote it off, I've seen all the movies on this page and a most of them are really weak, Hush Hush is great stuff. Trust me. Good choice on "Peeping Tom" - I forgot, have you seen "The Collector"? If not that should go on your list as Peeping Tom 2, it is a truly daring villain-as- main-character film that still works.
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Good recommendation on "The Collector", my friend. Great minds and all that...
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That turd doesn't deserve a write-up, just a middle finger. Jesus Christ was a dull, uneventful piece of shit.
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Great review and all, I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. As a side note though, you mention Twisted Nerve as being unreleased, but Optimum released it a few years ago in the UK.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000NQRE4Q/imdb-button/ -
lost classic that needs rehabilitating pronto before some turd at Platinum Goons remakes it.
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I've got that actually. Enjoy Matthau's clunky old car w/ the knock in the engine. It's fun.
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Once Again Dickblood shows his true colors.
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So is THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP. Wonderful films from, maybe, the best British director ever.
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Dark comedy way ahead of its time... RABID is watchable, but pretty "blah".
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He was DAMN eventful!
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and we do, generally, vote for whatever we've already heard of. And although I agree this column should introduce people to new films, it's also effective in providing us with an insight into films we're interested in. For example, I'd heard of Peeping Tom before, and thought it sounded good, so I voted for it; and one detailed review later, it's been bumped way up on my to-buy list.
I hear about hundreds of films, this column wouldn't be as interesting to me if it just added more to the list. Eliminating or expediting titles though, that's a great purpose! -
Watch this next and then I, Confess
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I never seen Sherlock. Saw Illustrated Man about 25 years ago and remember liking most of it. Just re-watched Beguiled a few weeks ago. It's weird but good. Also, Hush Hush & Rabid are good. Heck, watch whatever you want. I just hope you do a horror film a week (or more) during October.
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