Frenzy [Blu-ray]

Droll and dark Hitchcock suspense film
Frenzy was a homecoming of sorts as it was Hitch's first film shot in the UK since he left during the 40's. I would disagree with those who claim that Frenzy can't stand with Hitch's best work; Hitch's droll and dark sense of humor change what could have been a run of the mill thriller into a minor masterpiece. The best bits in Frenzy are every bit as startling and powerful as those in Rear Window, Vertigo and North by Northwest. Although his wife Alma's heart attack couldn't have informed the pre-production stages of the script and film, it certainly had an impact on the atomsphere captured in the film. There is an underlying darkness here only hinted at before (most explicitly in The Birds, Vertigo and Marnie).
The performances are uniformly excellent. The fact that Hitch chose stage actors and lesser known British film actors for this film gives it a bit more grit and reality than his earlier films. Anthony Schaffer's script plays with the routine cliches of suspense films. A...
The Master's Last Psychological Thriller
For the first time in twenty-plus years, Alfred Hitchcock returned to his native England to make what turned out to be his final psychological thriller FRENZY. Despite a series of only modestly successful films since his 1963 triumph with THE BIRDS, Hitchcock had not lost his touch when he was handed Anthony Shaffer's fine screenplay (based on the Arthur LaBern book "Goodbye Picadilly, Farewell Leicester Square"). And although his approach to sex and violence is more explicit here (thanks to the ease in censorship restrictions that happened only a few years before), Hitchcock still delivers a film quite typical of his work--suspenseful, chilling, and often quite funny in a blackly humorous way.
The film revolves around a series of grisly strangulations of women occurring around London that have the police totally baffled. The killer's choice is a necktie, which pretty much leaves the door wide-open, since almost every man there wears a necktie. We are then introduced to Richard...
Not the Hitchcock of old...but brilliant nonetheless
Hitchcock's second last film is a tightly-written, well-acted suspense thriller featuring a luckless and underachieving hero being framed for murder, a cunning and psychotic villain whose murderous itinerary is detailed, a gritty and realistic directorial style from Hitch, a story set in a working-class milieu that is far apart from the glamorous and exotic settings of his earlier films, and one horrific murder scene in which the depiction of brutality and evil reached a new height for the director. This film is quite a world apart from the elegant, smooth, urbane suspense pictures he made in the 40s and 50s. But with the increasingly jaded audiences in the 70s, the change was probably inevitable. Still, Hitchcock's craftsmanship made FRENZY as exciting and memorable as his more traditional thrillers.
This DVD from MGM/UA presents the film in a new, widescreen video transfer and a Dolby Digital monophonic sound track. The picture looks a bit dark for my liking; unfortunately...
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Family Plot [Blu-ray]

A fun finale
This was Alfred Hitchcock's final film, and he was already in his late seventies when he made it. I think that at this point in his career, after fifty years of movie-making, he KNEW he no longer had to prove himself; his place was already set in history. Therefore, instead of making a film along the lines of Psycho, Vertigo, or Rear Window, he made a fun, lighter film along the lines of To Catch A Theif or The Lady Vanishes. The script of Family Plot was written by the same guy who wrote North By Northwest, which means there is a lot of clever, witty dialogue. The California locations are also a typical Hitchcock touch, and the fun car chase scene in the California hills is a classic. People expecting a SUSPENSE film will be disappointed, but I always felt that the "Master of Suspense" was a misleading title for Hitchcock, because his films are about much more than just suspense. Even so, Family Plot is not a masterpiece, but a treat for Hitchcock buffs. Hitchcock didn't go...
A Small but Exquisite Gem
FAMILY PLOT has earned a place in cinematic history simply because it turned out to be Alfred Hitchcock's last production. While the film was a financial success, like most Hitchcock pictures, it got mixed reviews because many found it too comic in tone and not "suspenseful" enough to have been directed by the Master. It is true that FAMILY PLOT is far from being one of Hitchcock's best films, and it is not the "great" movie one might have expected from this director after the spine-chilling and sordid FRENZY, FAMILY PLOT's immediate predecessor - it is not an ambitious production. However, although the tone of the film is the lightest and funniest of any Hitchcock movie since THE LADY VANISHES in 1939, this does not mean that FAMILY PLOT is free of some disturbing undercurrents which linger in the mind and demand repeated viewings. Like all the characters in the movie, FAMILY PLOT is not what it seems to be. On the surface, we have a light, comic thriller...
Highly Underrated, Classic Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchock's Family Plot is not only his last movie, but highly enjoyable and the final chapter to a career full of brilliant filmmaking.

Barbara Harris shines as Blanche Tyler, a phony psychic who hits it big when one of her wealthy clients offers her $10,000 to track down her dead sister's adopted child who is the last remaining heir to the millions she will pass along. With the help of her boyfriend George (Bruce Dern), the two set out to find the nephew, going by the name Arthur Adamson (played brilliantly by William Devane), who has blossomed into a prominant jeweler, diamond thief, and murderer. Eventually Blanche and George track down Arthur and his girlfriend Fran (Karen Black), but with a chilling conclusion that is pure Hitchcock magic.

The film delights with its strong lead performances and witty dialogue. Although obviously not Hitchcock's best work, the film is solid, and keeps the viewer enthralled throughout.

The DVD contains a...
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Topaz [Blu-ray]

Back from the dead.
The reasessment of Hitchcock's 1960's work continues, begun with the amazing Marnie. (Torn Curtain may be a lost cause, however.) It's fair to say that Topaz benefits from this ongoing reconsideration. It's just a very good movie.

The plot follows an episodic but compelling arc along the trail of French cold-war spy leaks. A number of satisfying (and inter-twining) sub-stories among the large cast are well presented. The parallel infidelities of the Stafford/Robin husband and wife are interesting and key to ultimate plot resolution. Some very nice "set pieces" are included, the tent poles that support Hitchcock movies. I found the location photography to be both realistic and refreshing. The film's main fault, of course, is the absence of a convincing ending. How Hitch believed that the "duel" ending would stand up is beyond me. I'm not sure how Uris ended his book.

Jarre's music is almost laughable, certainly in comparison with the monumental Herrmann. Topaz is...
Had potential. . .
THE MOVIE:

Topaz is one of those movies that when I watch it I keep checking the time to figure out how much longer I have to watch it. The reason is simple. There are some great scenes and there is an okay story but it takes to long to actually get to the story. The movie picks up for me whem Frederick Stafford goes to New York. I think the movie could have included only a little bit of the things that happened before since we are told that there is a defecting russian (Credits). Then have the russian defector tell what he knows. Finally John Forsyth commissions Frederick Stafford in his hotel room and the movie starts like that. I would take other bits here and there out. It could have been a great hour and 45 minute movie! It would have had it's problems but it would be enjoyable. (Many would disagree that so much could be taken out but this is my opinion.) This brings me to ----

THE DVD:

I like that there is an uncut version on the dvd- the problem...
Second-Rate Hitchcock Has Its Moments
Director Alfred Hitchcock's uneven adaptation of Leon Uris' "Topaz" does not rank among his finest efforts. However, the 1969 espionage thriller is not without merit. There are classic Hitchcockian touches scattered amidst a rather overlong story, particularly his imaginative use of sound during the New York segments. Though lacking in star power, the international cast (particularly John Forsythe, Frederick Stafford, Roscoe Lee Browne, John Vernon and Karin Dor) is better than expected. Unfortunately, the film suffers from several lengthy dialogue sequences that bog down the globe-trotting narrative. "Topaz" cries out for more action - and less talk - from the Master of Suspense.
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