Tag: thriller
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction – The Manchurian Candidate
One of the great political thrillers. The Manchurian Candidate isn’t a horror film, but it find it just as unnerving and gut wrenching as something like Psycho or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The Manchurian Candidate is so serious I actually think it’s more satirical than I expected it to be. For example when you…
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction – Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy
*Providing a warning that this film does contain sexual violence* Alfred Hitchcock’s penultimate film is a mix of all his favorite things. There’s murder, sex, black humor and a man on the run. With so little time left in his career and his life, Hitchcock decides to play around with the things we’ve become accustomed…
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction – Riot in Cell Block 11
Opening with a pseudo-newsreel documenting prison riots across the USA, you would expect Riot in Cell Block 11 to be quite preachy. In fact it’s rather nuanced for a film from the early 1950s. Don Siegel would become known for cynical loners, but here he presents a film with a message. The crux of the…
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction – Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope
Rope is easily my second favorite Hitchcock film. Like Psycho it possesses an unease throughout its runtime. Unlike Psycho, which the unease is due to all the information you don’t have, Rope has no mystery. The murder opens the film. We witness the sociopathic activity of a dinner party in which Brandon and Phillip invite…
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction- Saboteur
Saboteur remains a solid middle tier Hitchcock thriller. I actually enjoy it more than Foreign Correspondent which was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars 2 years prior. It treads the line between strongly serious and 40s Hollywood schmaltz. Saboteur has a few really nifty suspenseful sequences. The opening titles set the tone with the…
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction – Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho
Psycho is my favorite film that Alfred Hitchcock directed. It was the first film of his I ever saw. It’s pretty much his most well known feature. It’s one of a few masterpieces that he had during his career alongside Rebecca, Rear Window, Vertigo and North by Northwest. I have always been of the mind…
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction – Topaz
In order to watch Topaz, you have to go into it with different expectations. It’s not the usual Hitchcock we’re familiar with. It’s not a splashy thriller like Notorious or Saboteur. There’s no Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ingrid Bergman or Grace Kelly. No Saul Bass titles or Bernard Herrmann score. There’s no individual getting swept…
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction – Inferno (1953)
Inferno is a nifty blend of film noir and survival adventure. Robert Ryan plays a wealthy man who’s left to die in the desert by his wife and her lover. Although we wonder why these people have done this to the man, we learn pretty quickly that he’s been an awful man and husband. There’s…
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
The 1934 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much really gives birth to the Alfred Hitchcock we are all familiar with. He gets this new era of his career started with a very brisk and economical thriller that sets the stage for his eventual superstar career. A couple vacationing with their daughter find themselves…
-
DeaconsDen Classic Reaction – Dial M for Murder
Dial M for Murder is one of my ten favorite films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Don’t quote me on that, because I’m quite sure it will change. I love this one and I know it’s not too often very high for most. A common complaint is the Dial M for Murder is very talky. That…
DeaconsDen 