Out of all the movies Michael Powell made without Emeric Pressberger (admittedly there weren't too many of these) this is easily the most highly regarded and remains one of his best known; however it was enormously controversial on release, doing great damage to Powell's career (although the uninspiring response to Honeymoon and The Queen's Guards wouldn't have helped either).
It remains unsettling even now, taking us into the mind of one of cinema's most cuddly serial killers. Carl Boehm is a poor little photographer and camerman whose daddy was mean to him and who seems lonely and needs a cuddle and has a sweet G rated romance with the girl next door Anna Massey. He also likes to attach a knife to his camera and kill women while filming the act.
It's actually a great idea for an exploitation horror flick - giving plenty of opportunities for murder and a choice lead role, plus an exploration of the role of the spectator in horror movies, subjectivity vs objectivity, etc. Many films are supposed to be ahead of their time - this one definitely is (the screenwriter was Leo Marks).
I can't think of a film or TV series except maybe Dexter and Psycho which went to such pains to make a killer sympathetic: he seems to be a sweet guy, who is capable of controlling his murderous impulses (he doesn't kill Massey or Massey's blind mother), who was abused by his father, he ultimately kills himself as punishment. But yet he still kills a saucy, likeable nude model (Pamela Green, who has some funny lines) and a nice seeming standing (Moira Shearer, who does a silly 60s-ish dance). This is why the movie remains so confronting.
Powell adds some recogniseable auteur touches: imaginative use of colour and camerawork, intense performances, wry comic moments; Powell appears in film footage as Boehm's father; there are also some amusing film in-jokes (eg a penny pinching film executive who seems based on Sir John Davis, a dopey starlet played by a fresh faced and pretty Shirley Ann Field, who is effective).
This isn't perfect by any means - around the two thirds mark the pace seemed to slow, I could have done without the Jewish shrink, and some of the costumes/slang etc appear dated. But it remains fresh and thought provoking in many ways and is worth seeking out.
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