Peeping Tom (1960)

Posted By: brian@brianschell.com July 8, 2022

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

This film had a very poor reception at its release, and that makes no sense to us as modern viewers. It looks great, is intriguing, suspenseful, and well acted. Considered the first “slasher” film, though it’s very low on gore. This one is highly recommended.

Synopsis

A man wearing a hidden camera takes pictures of a woman on the street. She wants 2 Quid for her services. She leads him up to her place, while he films the whole thing. We get it all from the camera’s point of view. She starts to undress until he approaches her and she starts screaming… Credits roll as we watch the footage from the camera play back on a screen.

We resume the next day, with the camera filming the aftermath and the police carrying out the woman’s body. Mark goes to work afterward. He works in a newsstand, but the proprietor also sells dirty pictures on the side. The customer does not want to be on their mailing list, but laughs at the envelope marked “educational books.”

Mark then goes to a photo shoot to take pictures of models in skimpy clothes. One of the models today has a disfigured lip and doesn’t want her face photographed, but Mark is really interested in that.

Elsewhere, Helen Stephens is having a birthday party, and they find Mark peeping in through the window. He lives upstairs from them. She runs out and greets him, inviting him in to the party. Mark seems painfully shy and runs upstairs. He then watches the dead body footage from this morning.

A little later, Helen brings him up a piece of cake. She knows he’s a photographer and wants to see his films. Obviously, he can’t show her what he’s just been watching, but he shows her his cameras and darkroom equipment. He shows her old home footage that his father took, and it’s quite strange all by itself. Helen is freaked out by Mark’s weird childhood. Mark’s father was a sort of scientist who was fascinated with filming reactions to fear.

Mark goes to his day job, working in Hollywood as a cameraman. Vivian works on the same film, and she waits after work that night to meet up with him for a “special” film. She dances, and he arranges the set with a blue suitcase. He wants her to look frightened on film, and she wants to know her motivation. He gives it to her…

Back at the house, Helen is getting a little infatuated with Mark, but her blind mother doesn’t approve. “I never trust a man who walks quietly.” Mark gets her a birthday present. Helen mentions that she’s a writer of children’s book, and she’s just done a book on a magic camera, which Mark finds interesting. He agrees to take photos for her book.

On set the next day, the director details what the star needs to do in today’s scene. Uh-Oh. When they open the blue suitcase, they find Vivian’s body.

The police detectives ride in the cab and talk about the case of the woman in the pre-credit sequence. They arrive at the studio to examine Vivian’s body; the expression of fear is identical to the first girl. They question everyone, and it’s soon Mark’s turn.

Mark tries to film the investigators, and he nearly gets caught in the act.

That night, Mark takes Helen out for dinner. Helen’s alcoholic mother is blind, but she can usually sense when Mark’s around; he gives her the creeps. Helen talks him into leaving his camera at home, and it’s harder than he expects. He never leaves the house without his camera, but this time, he does it and they both have a good time.

Later that night, Mark finds Helen’s mother in his photo lab. He shows her his film of Vivian. She’s blind, so she can’t actually see anything. The film didn’t turn out right so he says he needs another one, right now. He starts filming her, but stops before he kills her. She may be weirder than he is. She tells him that all this filming isn’t healthy and that he needs help. She forbids him from seeing Helen again.

The next day, on set, everyone is back at work getting ready for the movie. The actress is a bit… high strung and it goes badly. There’s a psychiatrist on set that day to help with the trauma, and Mark asks if the man knew his father. He did, it was scoptophilia, the need to be a peeping Tom. The old man gives Tom a card and says it can be cured. The psychiatrist mentions the conversation to the detective.

That evening, Mark goes to his “porn job” and he’s followed by the police. Mark spots the cop and knows he’s been followed– he films the detective on the street. He then sets about his work with Millie and then leaves.

Helen stops by to drop her book off at Mark’s place and wanders into his film room. There’s a film still in the projector, and she turns it on. It’s one of his death films, and she sees it all. “It’s just a film isn’t it?” She asks, but he says, “No. I killed her. You are safe as long as I can’t see you’re frightened,” he explains.

Just then the man at the newsagent’s shop calls the police. He just found Millie, his porn model, murdered. The detective puts two and two together and heads to Mark’s place. Meanwhile, Mark explains his childhood to Helen and then films the police as they arrive. “I’ve been waiting for this for such a long time!”

He photographs himself dying the same way he did all the girls.

Commentary

One of the best part of this film is the retro tech. The old radios, tape players, what passed as a speaker phone, and lots more. This is a really cool display of technology from the late 50s and 1960.

It’s very suspenseful and looks great. Kevin mentioned that it was very Hitchcockian, and I have to agree. The scene with Vivian, for example, goes on for a long time, and you know something bad is gonna happen, but it really takes its good time getting there. It’s often compared to “Psycho” which came out the same year. Unfortunately, this one spent so many years being banned that it’s notes widely known.

This is generally considered the first slasher movie, and it really is. There’s no blood, no real nudity, and no bad language. I have no idea why this was banned for so many decades. It’s actually really good. Note: On further research, I found that the original film had been heavily edited before public release, and this edited version is the only one still available today.