Frenzy (1972, GBR) C-116m. *** D: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster, Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Alfred Hitchcock. Good, not great Hitchcock (his next-to-last film) about a killer on the loose in London and unemployed Finch, who is falsely accused of his murders. Interesting, well-told story with some unusually adult elements for Hitchcock (although still miles from being as potent as those in PSYCHO). Kept from soaring by the distinct lack of an identifiable protagonist and leisurely pace, which Hitch slackens again and again for comic reasons. Script by Anthony Shaffer, based on the novel Goodbye Picadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern. Good (if not completely fitting, too boisterous) score by Ron Goodwin.


© Ron Altman