Peeping Tom is about a young guy that murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror. That plot has to be one of the most sadistic sounding things I’ve ever heard. A guy films himself murdering women because he wants to see the look on their face when he drains them of life. YIKES! This was 1960! My lord. This is a British movie, which is hilarious because of how they would freak out over slashers in the 80s with the development of the Video Nasties list.
If you are looking for a gore fest, you aren’t going to find it. Peeping Tom relies heavily on suspense and character development. That may turn most slasher fans off, because it is a relatively slow burn. If you think Halloween is boring and slow, first off you’re wrong, it is a masterpiece. Second, you are still wrong and I hate you. Third, Peeping Tom isn’t for you, walk off and watch Scream 76 or something, but avoid Scream 1981 because that movie sucks ass. The acting is pretty solid in this, Karlheinz Bohm plays Mark and he’s a likeable guy with a dark side. You see him progress as a character and get more and more depraved. The killing scenes, while tame by today’s standards, are rather effective and unsettling.
If you aren’t into slow burns, then you should steer clear of this. I found myself checking out a few times and had to pause, and come back to this. My attention span isn’t the greatest and only seems to be less as the years go by. I appreciate this movie for what it did and the balls it had to do what it did in 1960. I think Psycho is the better film, but Peeping Tom should get more attention than it does. I gave this a solid B+, technically good movie but lacking that certain charm that Psycho had.
