PEEPING TOM (1960)

“Instincts are wonderful things, isn’t it…its pity it can’t be
photographed!”

A brilliant psychological thriller made by British filmmaker Michael Powell where a camera obsessed voyeur- psychopath killer capturing the last moments of his victims on handheld camera. It certainly stands next to any of classic psychological thriller whether it’s Polanski or Master Hitchcock’s best films, including ‘Psycho’ which was released in the same year.

The great thing about the film is Powell’s treatment; its almost told and shot from the point of view of voyeur named Mark who’s suffering from neurological disorder. Keeping Mike always focused as peeping Tom from various spaces, he’s compulsive voyeur who’s watching and filming everything about his subjects even after things were over. You can say that camera is his alter-ego and also an Achilles heel why cops sniff him. The dark past experience of his life was also told through the screening moments on projector where we witness his sadistic biologist father throwing lights or dropping lizards on his child’s bed to experiment reactions of the nervous system to the fear in young child.

The film also bears some interesting characters like the blind women whose sixth sense is more powerful than normal ones. There’re some lighter moments too where an old man hesitates to ask for erotic magazines; perhaps another social voyeur who’s seeking pleasure! It was shot almost in classic vibrant colors by Otto Heller keeping the thrilling atmosphere and tone throughout. The other film I would like to compare is Antonioni’s déjà vu classic ‘Blow Up’.

Director Sam Mandes paid homage to Powell’s this masterpiece in his ‘Road to Perdition’ where Jude Law’s psychopathic character is derived from Mike.

Need I write ‘Must Watch’!