PEEPING TOM

Review: During the day, Mark Lewis works as a focus-puller in a London film studio. At night he carefully screens and edits the footage. He also seeks victims for his gruesome obsession with filming the look of pure, unadulterated fear. This is caused by the events in his own childhood.
Director: Michael Powell
Actors: Karlheinz Bohm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer, Maxine Audley, Brenda Bruce, Miles Malleson, Esmond Knight, Martin Miller, Michael Goodliffe, Jack Watson, Shirley Anne Field and Pamela Green
Year: 1960
Genre: Classics, Drama, Horror and Thriller
Conclusion: 5/5
This is Michael Powell’s first solo project after 20 years of collaboration with Emeric Pressburger. It was this film that was pulled from British cinemas after just five days of opening. At the time this film came out it was badly received by critics but it is only in recent years where it has been recognized. It was director Martin Scorsese who was instrumental in getting the film restored and re-released in the late 1970’s. Before the film was restored and re-released it had completely disappeared from distribution. After this film Michael Powell found that his reputation was irreparably damaged. This was Moira Shearer’s third collaboration with director Michael Powell after The Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). The film was heavily cut by the BBFC before release. Just some of the changes that were made were the murders of Vivian and Dora which were toned down, shots of nudity were deleted, the suicide of the killer was shortened, and scenes featuring the spike were also edited. Some dialogue was also cut. Although some of the cuts were restored in later video and DVD releases much of the edited footage is now considered lost forever.