Peeping Tom - 5 stars out of 10

Peeping Tom - 5 stars out of 10

"Peeping Tom" has some shocking content for a 1960's film.  You can really sense director Michael Powell pushing the boundaries of content with the eroticism and violence contained in this film.  Unfortunately for him, this film destroyed his career even though it has been appreciated by later generations of film fans.  The story carries a sense of mystery from beginning to end, prodding at the question of what creates so much terror on the victims' faces.  The film's creepy factor comes entirely from the main character, played by Carl Boehm, who meanders around staring in windows and watching movies of his murder victims in his bedroom.  The use of point of view angles, particularly making it appear that we are looking through a camera, is reminiscent of Hitchcock and creatively allows us to see the world through the murderer's eyes.  While the film is Hitchcockian in concept, it doesn't always reach that masterful level of execution.  The pacing of the film tends to drag and there is a lot of wasted potential on the blind mother.  Also, horror films do not tend to attract the most famous actors, but Hitchcock would have done a much better job of casting these supporting roles.  The leads bring their roles to life, but the rest of the cast is forgettable as soon as the film ends.  Still, the scene where Anna Massey first sees one of the murder films is chilling as her emotions evolve from confusion to shock to terror and the film has a dark, twisted ending that you will never forget.