MovieChat Forums > Family Plot (1976) Discussion > Hitchcock's last 5 Movies

Hitchcock's last 5 Movies

posted 17 years ago by suckerdwsp316
31 replies | jump to latest

The Birds was Hitchcock's last classic.

From then it was mostly mixed-

Marnie was terrible. Totally uninteresting, not suspenseful, not exciting, just plain boring.

Torn Curtain was really good though, an underrated hitch flick. In fact it reminded me of The Man Who Knew Too Much in many ways.

Haven't gotten around to seeing Topaz, because I don't want to waste 2 1/2 hours of my life which I think I will if I see it.

Frenzy is Hitchcock's worst film. Thats right- WORST. Wow, overrated would be a complete understatement. It wasn't thrilling or scary at all. So bad, so bad ...

Family Plot was Hitchcock's redemption. I liked this movie despite its flaws. It wasn't a great film, but it was pretty good for a last film. Hitchcock should of worked more with Lehman, he was such a great screenwriter and I just loved the plot (no pun intended!) of this movie.

[–] vertigopersona 13 years ago

I completely disagree about Frenzy. That is truly his last classic, and it's interesting to see him changing with times (i.e. adding more graphic violence and undisguised "adult themes"). It's no Vertigo or Psycho but it's very, very good.

[–] im2cool4 13 years ago

to the op you named his last 6 not 5. While these 5 are not his best movies, they are actually very good movies.

Last 5:

Marnie-7.5/10 Great score, pretty good acting; i liked the story as well
Torn Curtain 6/10- not that bad. Some parts are kind of boring.
Topaz- Have not seen it yet for your same reasons
Frenzy 7.0/10- I really liked this movie interesting to see what Hitchcock did with his first rated R film.
Family Plot 7/10- Very underrated, this was a pretty good movie. I enjoyed the comedy and in some of the scenes the suspense was top notch.

The Dude: Jesus.
Jesus Quintana: You said it, man. Nobody *beep* with the Jesus.

[–] boogles 12 years ago

Here is my take on hitch's last 5 films :-

Marnie - Flawed, yes. Hedren probably hadn't developed as an actress to be able to cope with the part of 'Marnie'. There is an interesting story in there, but not well executed. It is more appreciated nowadays than when it was released. No classic though.

Torn Curtain - Dull. A complete waste of Andrews and Newman. The 'Cold War' theme dates it badly. There is little zest to the storyline or any of Hitchcock's dark humour. Only the neck snapping incident makes it of noteworthiness(showing how difficult it is to murder someone).

Topaz - Haven't seen it yet.

Frenzy - Superb. I would go so far as putting it into my Top 10 Hitchcock films. After a series of commercial failures(and I don't think that the critics were too kind to Marnie, Topaz and Torn Curtain) he made a magnificent comeback. Great that he wasn't so bound by the censors. The unmade 'Kaleidoscope' film obviously influenced this. A creepy villain as well. Good that some of Hitch's dark humour was brought back into this. A great film from 1972. Having to mix it with The Godfather, Sleuth and Cabaret.

Family Plot - Pretty good. Okay, coming after 'Frenzy', I can see why some people would be disappointed. It is a more lighthearted caper(think 'To Catch a Thief', 'The Trouble With Harry'), but despite a few flaws it has its own quirky charm. The kidnapping scenes are quite sinister in their own way. I do think that this film worked a lot better than some of Hitch's more lighthearted capers - like 'The Trouble With Harry'. A good final film from him.

[–] IAmGoatboy 11 years ago

Personally I think Torn Curtain, Frenzy and Family Plot were all classics. It was just Marnie and Topaz that I wasn't too keen on.

[–] greenbudgie 10 years ago

I liked 'Family Plot' most of all regarding Hitchcock's last 5 movies. I'm glad that he went out on this one rather any of the other films in this section of his career. Lehman gives a lot of interesting information on the 'North By Northwest' DVD documentary. Him and Hitchcock were a good storytelling partnership.

Of the other four films 'Marnie' is the one that I have a distaste for. 'Torn Curtain' is too long. But some good moments in that film.

[–] philipshepp 8 years ago

I like Marnie, it's a bit long and Tippi Hedren is not much of an actress, but on the whole I enjoy it. Torn Curtain is dull with a couple of decent moments. Topaz is even worse, dull and looks like it was made for TV with one nice shot in the whole film that reminds you its actually a Hitchcock. Frenzy I really enjoy, good story, funny, and entertaining. Family Plot is a fun film, not amazing but not a terrible film to go out on.