Frenzy

1972 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Just an ordinary necktie used with a deadly new twist.

After a serial killer strangles several women with a necktie, London police identify a suspect—but he's the wrong man.

Jon Finch Barry Foster Barbara Leigh-Hunt Anna Massey Alec McCowen Vivien Merchant Billie Whitelaw Clive Swift Bernard Cribbins Jean Marsh Elsie Randolph Gerald Sim John Boxer George Tovey Jimmy Gardner Noel Johnson

Country

Language

English

Alternative Titles

Frenesi, 夺命狂凶

crime thriller horror

116 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Patrick Willems ★★★★ 2

Basically an 80s De Palma movie. In other words, classic Hitchcock, but pervier.
Review by CinemaClown ★★★★ 4

The penultimate feature film in the extensive yet illustrious career of Alfred Hitchcock is a highly underrated gem that paints a fascinating portrait of a serial killer and, as a movie, employs all the director's trademarks & styles which over the years have only played an influential role in shaping up the filmmaking manual for Hollywood's modern thrillers.
Set in London, the plot of Frenzy centers around a serial killer who has been terrorizing the city by raping women & strangling them with neck-ties. When the ex-husband of the serial killer's latest victim is suspected by the police for being the killer, he goes on the run to prove his innocence by finding & exposing the neck-tie murderer.
Superbly directed by Hitchcock, Frenzy…
Review by Sarah Jane 🔪 ★★★★½ 11

I love this film. It is my favorite Hitchcock. This is probably my 3rd or 4th watch and I always find something new in it. This time I noticed that Gialli directors must have been influenced by it. I love the fact that scenes just went on forever and many things played out in 'real time'.
Everyone is great in this. Jon Finch is a bit Oliver Reed. It is always good to see Bernard Cribbins on the scene. I can't watch his Doctor Who episodes; they make me all weepy. Speaking of weepy, when Billie Whitelaw appeared on screen I said "too soon".
I feel this film gets the short shrift in some circles. I don't know anyone who mentions this when talking about the great Hitchcock films. I need to start a movement to get this film watched.
Review by Ben Hibburd ★★★½ 9

"Frenzy" at its core, from its script to his usual filmmaking motifs is quintessentially an Alfred Hitchcock film. With the only exception coming from the fact that this film is wrapped in the visual decor more commonly associated with Brian De Palma. And at times throughout the film, it felt like I was watching a De Palma film.
Frenzy, is Hitchcock with the shackles let loose, this is by far his most sleazy, violent and exploitative film he's made, and it stands out in his filmography as a unique piece. As the 1970's ushered in an era of director freedom it's interesting to see what it would've been like if Hitch was at his most prolific during the 70's and…
Review by 🌹 Steve G 🌹 ★★★★ 7

Part of the Alfred Hitchcock Sound Era Films In Chronological Order project.
Sex! Full frontal nudity! Rape! Swearing! Anna Massey's norks! Alfred Hitchcock goes X-rated!
At the start of Frenzy, as Bernard Cribbins and Jon Finch argue about fingering Anna Massey, there is a feeling that Hitchcock's got a bit carried away by the fact that nobody gives a damn about the sodding Hays Code any more and that he can get away with just about as much as he wants.
Once he's got a lot of the swearing and sexual references out of his system, though, Frenzy settles down into a really excellent thriller. Hitchcock's return home shows no less a love for London than his pre-Rebecca films do,…
Review by sydney ★★★★★ 8

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Would y'all think I was a sicko if I told you FRENZY was one of my top 5 favorite Hitchcock films? I hate being emotionally manipulated - my heart strings do not need to be tugged upon, I do not wish to be shocked for shock's sake. Hitchcock was a genius of manipulation, though, and FRENZY is a film where I actually enjoy being pushed around while watching it.
I love how, instead of making a mystery that is solved in the end (because that would have been too easy), he shows us the killer and crime right away and creates suspense by never letting us forget it. What's brilliant about this is that it implicates the viewer in the…

Recent reviews

Review by "Condor" ★★★★½

Mr. Rusk, you're not wearing your tie.
Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate feature film is amongst his finest works. A great mixture of all his usual elements; especially the dark comedy. Frenzy might just be his funniest movie, despite the graphic subject matter. At 72 in 72, Hitchcock showed he could still out-direct these new-Hollywood types.åÊFrenzy is brazenly aggressive. Its Hitchcock entering the X-rated world of 70s thrillers, and its a shame we couldn't get more of this from him.
Review by Groovy Movies ★★★★

Very underrated Hitchcock film.
Review by LeSchpountz ★★★½

My Points: 7.3
My Letter Grade: B+
My Stars: ★★★½
My Rating: Very Good -> This film has something special and that makes it unforgettable.
Average Rating: 7.358
Review by Jarrel Montes ★★★★

This is my first Hitchcock film to watch in its entirety, only seeing clips of his other famous ones but I thought I'd go for a left pick with this one. I have no doubt this will be nothing short of great.
Quite satisfied with this first Hitchcock pick, just a lovely lovely lovely and insane movie that probably got my heart pumping almost throughout the entire film. A horror film to any adult who's afraid of being framed, I know I'm terrified of that. Jon Finch was already well known from Macbeth, so I still saw a little bit of that persona from him in this movie. And Barry played a very scary character that is every mother's nightmare,…
Review by Harrison Wade ★★★★

A surprising degree of realism from Hitchcock, who often simply filmed exteriors on sets or alternated between long shots of stand-ins walking through real places and closer shots of stars in front of rear projection screens. Maybe that's the difference between American and British production as much as a difference of time periods. Either way, the realism here is totally necessary as context for the horror of those slow shots of empty doorways. Everyone is walking through real spaces, mainly on the ground, around stacks and stacks of fruits and vegetables, sacks of potatoes. Workers crisscrossing in depth. And then the uncanny rhyme of the detective, eating, explaining the case to his wife in private.
Review by Ben ★★½

Didn't really do anything for me. It gets nasty at times and there's a very uncomfortable rape about half and hour in, but, there's also alot of stretches of nothing and the movie sorta just stops with no ending.
Review by nichole ★★½

was pretty predictable
Review by MarlonBrandeau ★★★½

Craft is king in Frenzy. It's also one of Hitchcock's most retrospectively funny films.
Review by ruarisfilms

Hitchcock's 'Frenzy' takes place in 1970s London, a setting I need to seek out more as it was one I really liked. The film hits the ground running when a nearly naked woman is washed up on the dirty banks of the river Thames. I say nearly naked as she is wearing nothing but a necktie, which is made quickly apparent as the method of murder. Once the backdrop of the necktie murders is in swing, we are introduced to our protagonist - a divorced alcoholic with a questionable fashion sense. The first act is slow as we learn about the characters and their relationships but once our protagonist is framed for the murder of his ex-wife, we are treated to a classic Hitchcock experience with all the twists and turns you can expect along the way accompanied with amusing British stereotypes.