by GeniustoBurn

Created on: November 07, 2009

This film opens with two old chums murdering one of their friends. What happens next is a mixture of black comedy and taut thriller.

The two young men are devotees of a radical way of thinking, learned from their old lecturer Rupert, played by James Stewart. He has a theory that murder is an acceptable way of getting rid of people - "Think of the problems it would solve: unemployment, poverty, standing in line for theatre tickets..." His students have taken this to heart, and firmly believe that they are superior beings, quite able to make decisions about which inferior men should be allowed to live and die.

I started watching this film with a sinking sick feeling - the callous murder of a friend for the sake of excitement and the obvious regret of one of the two perpetrators.... it made extremely uncomfortable viewing. Guests arrive and unknowingly chat about the "late" David, never guessing that he is not merely delayed but lying hidden in the room. But with trademark gallows humour, Hitchcock slips in lines that made me smirk, then giggle, then laugh out loud. I'd guess that he relished the idea of prim and proper audiences being disgusted with the character's actions, and then being somewhat disgusted with themselves for seeing the funny side. You'll laugh, but you'll feel dirty.

Although the main event of the film occurs in the first minute, the following 79 are nerve-janglingly tense. Hitchcock uses a seemingly continuous tracking shot, which adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere in which the suspense doesn't let up for a moment. I found the tension almost unbearable as the soundtrack combined rapid fire questioning, awkward piano music and a clicking metronome. The apartment is lit up with flashing neon from the city below, adding to the sensory overload in a deceptively simple setting.

This film combines creepy laughs with some quite serious points about morality and society. The killers in this film are of the opinion that "Good and evil, right and wrong were invented for the ordinary average man, the inferior man, because he needs them." Ever heard this in a discussion about religion?

It is said that Hitchcock films murder scenes as if they are love scenes and love scenes as if they are murders. If that is true, there is some top-notch flirting around the subject of how this murder MIGHT have been committed. As one character cries, it truly is "Cat and mouse! Cat and mouse! But who's the cat and who's the mouse?"

Utterly mesmerising.

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