The best Hitchcock ever?

This is actually one of his worst. If you think this is #2, which do you consider his best?


My life has major plot holes.

After viewing this for the second and last time, this is definitely my least favorite Hitchcock movie, out of over 30 that I've seen. It has no style at all. He was simply too old to make a good movie at this point.


My life has major plot holes.

I could say that this is my second favorite Hitchcock movie, but that my first favorite would be "anything else".

For the record, I think Hitchcock's best movie is "Vertigo". My favorite is "North by Northwest".

It's much better than its rumour but "Family Plot" is not Hitchcock at his greatest, far from it. It doesn't even have any memorable set-pieces or the cast Hitch wanted (that said I like the cast as I am a fan of Dern, Devane, Black, Harris, Lauter and Helmond).

I think those of you who are disliking "Frenzy" are being too hard on the film. It's reputation has faded, but one thing you must remember is that when "Frenzy" came out in 1972, nobody had great hopes for it. Hitchcock was considered in decline and out of it. "Marnie," "Torn Curtain" and "Topaz" were all considered failures by the critics, and Hitchcock, who used to make a movie a year, had been stretching them out two, three years apart now.

Then, one by one, the major critics jumped in about how great "Frenzy" was : "Return of Alfred the Great," "The Return of the Master," "Hitchcock's Comeback," etc. The "Newsweek" reviewer said: "this is one of Hitchcock's very best."

In short, Hitchcock had a MAJOR comeback with "Frenzy," and now that you can just pop it in the DVD player with no fanfare, you'd do well to remember the hoopla.

I don't think it is one of his very best, but I give "Frenzy" extra points for returning Hitchcock to relevance. All the major magazines and newspapers listed "Frenzy" as one of the year's ten best films. You can't take that away from Hitch.

Do I like it personally? Yes, very much. The central rape-murder is, to me, historic in Hitchcock's cinema. Unlike the "fun" scream murders in "Psycho," this one is cruel and lingering and almost impossible to watch. Hitch was turning the thriller inside out and showing us the ugly reality of a psychopathic rape murder. Hitchcock wanted us to know the pain and horror of the victim.

The "potato truck sequence" is great, too. All those shots, all that editing, the stylistic use of the wheelbarrow and the potatoes and the tiepin.

Also, Bob Rusk is the fourth and final of Hitchcock's great psychopaths. Hitchcock had done one psycho a decade: Uncle Charlie in "Shadow of a Doubt" (40's), Bruno in "Strangers on a Train" (50's), Norman in "Psycho" (60's), and now Bob Rusk, the most brutal and realistically sick of them all. And yet such a cheery Covent Garden charmer.

Weaknesses? Too much talk. A weak "hero" in Jon Finch. Overall, a cheapness and "patness."

But the style, thematic power, and suspense of "Frenzy" -- Hitchcock's return to England after 22 years -- makes it a special film in his canon. I'd rank it just below his masterpieces. A very, very good film -- and a historic comeback.

Frenzy's great-but family plot--just make sure you don't eat hamburgers before driving down a mountain---

I also have always liked this film. It is light and very fun to watch. I
like Barbara Harris. She is a hoot. I also loved her in Nashville. Ditto
for Karen Black. My favorite Hitchcock though are in order:

Psycho
Vertigo
The Birds
Rear Window

I have never really seen a Hitch filmed that I did not enjoy. One of the
all time great directors. Probably the greatest!

My favorite Hitchcock movies in order:

(1)North by Northwest
(2)Rope
(3)Rear Window
(4)Psycho
(5)Lifeboat
(6)The Birds
(7)The Trouble with Harry
(8)Strangers on a Train
(9)The Wrong Man

That's based on the ones I have seen. Some I have seen like Rebecca,Notorious, Frenzy, Vertigo, Marne, The Man Who Knew Too Much ....those were ok, and I consider them "one-timers"