MovieChat Forums > Family Plot (1976) Discussion > Most Underrated Hitchcock Movie Ever.

Most Underrated Hitchcock Movie Ever.


Nuff said.

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Agreed. This film is full of action,humour,mystery and suspense; all key ingredients in a Hitchcock film. Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris,Karen Black and William Devane give great performances. FAMILY PLOT is one of my favourite Hitchcock films and deserves more attention then it gets.

We all go a little mad sometimes...

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Very underrated. I agree with the poster who said it had to do with when it came out. We were just coming off all those disaster flicks that defined the mid 70s.

This is a gem of a film.

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Yes, I love this film. When Bruce Dern investigates a very cold trail for a missing person, the film flows with him and I found very interesting.

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agree

Family Plot 15/20

better than Topaz (13/20) and Frenzy (13/20)


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I LOVE this movie and continue to like it the more I see it.

There are little Hitchcock touches that reference previous movies; ie, the scene where Maloney tells Bruce Dern's character to watch the matches (reminder of the scene in "The Birds" where the man threw the match in the gasoline). Barbara Harris also says to Bruce Dern, "A bird in the hand, Lumley...."; and there's a "Bates Avenue" in the scene where Karen Black returns to the car after checking out Blanch Tyler's address.

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Great movie!

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Agreed. I saw Family Plot upon first release while in college majoring in radio-TV-film production, and had my hands full with all of the critical profs and kiss-butt students when I professed that I liked it.

It is Hitchcock returning successfully to his humorous suspense style that is evident in such films as The 39 Steps and Lady Vanishes, just as Frenzy was a return to his darker, sociopathic antagonists. Both are good finales to a great career.

I happened to see Frenzy at the drive-in, a great place to watch such a film.

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The Eyes of the City are Mine! Mother Pressman / Anguish (1987)

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This and Rope are the two best moves by Hitchcock I've seen, better than Psycho, Frenzy and The Birds IMO. Most people can't seem to handle genre spins.

http://junkieintheattic.wordpress.com

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Nope! Not underrated but easily one of his worst. There is so much cringe worthy stuff in this it's embarrassing. Bruce Dern was pretty much the only good thing here. Plus the scene about the first kidnapping exchange.

- What is the mystery you all seem to talk about? You mean all the important plot points that are revealed well in the first act? And the rest of the movie is the two idiots fumbling around trying to find the dead Mr. Shoebridge. It's pretty clear from then on how the movie is going to end.

- Barabara Harris and her character are so annoying I really really hoped she would die.

- The downhill scene where the "two detectives" have their brakes cut is unbelievable in such that I still can’t believe it was directed by Hitchcock. I wanted to stop watching right there.

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I dunno if 'ever', but underrated. It was made in a transitional period for movie shooting, Hitchcock stuck his old, trusted, style, added some hilarious scenes (like chasing down the hill), and said good-bye to his audience in a light, enjoyable manner. All the 'heavy' stuff of murders and spies gone, this is a light-hearted 'farewell' to the world of movies.
To me, it has - like having borrowed - something Hitchcock didn't do usually: introduce the lightness that a French comedy or crime story of those days often had.
Fully recommended as Evening entertainment, even in repetition!

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the story is so stupid, it sucked most of the fun out of it

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right off it feels odd seeing 1970's cars in a hitchcock movie since you don't identify him with this time period, also the language gets to you hearing expressions as b.s, i think that sort of cheapens the movie. since karen black has such distinctive eyes it was neat idea to put her in sunglasses through the beginning of the movie and then have her remove them, i was surprised to see karen black credited as the lead since others seem to have more screen time and impact in the movie, her voice sounds really frail on the twilight zone radio drama "the bewitchin' pool", it makes one wonder if that was perhaps one of her last roles. hitchcock's cameo in this was really far out, not at all like his previous cameo appearances, apparently he had told an actor that he would but wouldn't be in the movie. as the movie's main couple were speeding out of control down the mountain road it was so stressful how she was clinging on to him at the wheel, at one part the scenery reminded of another hitchcock flick "north by northwest". the couple at the graveyard seemed a bit off as well as how easy the tombstone is falling over.



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one winter mornin chilly outside,
her tucked up forms still couldnt be confined,
long brown hair curl around cap,
zip struggle to hold an ample rack,
her steaming hot self made the ice crack,
right before my eyes she melted snow in her hands,
and like a snowman i didnt stand a chance,
couldnt move as she laughed and reduced me to a pile,
just a couple of pebbles for eyes left on the ground,
watching her walk away from the hot outside.

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