Ian Cooper - Frenzy

Frenzy (1972) was Alfred Hitchcocks penultimate film, and arguably one of his most misunderstood and neglected. Whereas even Psycho (1960) did eventually become respectable indeed, its a good contender for the most admired of the Masters films - Frenzy still remains problematic for many. While Raymond De Foery makes his feelings clear in the title of his book, Alfred Hitchcocks Frenzy: The Last Masterpiece, Hitchcocks controversial biographer Donald Spoto calls the film repulsive and a closed and coldly negative vision of human possibility. Frenzy is perhaps Hitchcocks most nakedly autobiographical film and one which represented both a comeback and farewell to the city of his birth. But it started out as a very different kind of project. This Devils Advocate discusses the evolution of the film, its production, reception, and place in Hitchcocks oeuvre, as well as its status as, the author argues, a key film of sleazy Seventies British cinema.