June 2020 marked the 60th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous and arguably most impressive film, Psycho (1960). This psychological-horror film was groundbreaking cinematically and narratively and has endured as one of cinema’s greatest films since its release.
Loosely based on Robert Bloch’s novel of the same name, Psycho has become such an iconic part of cinema and culture more broadly that even the once-a-year cinemagoer is likely to recognize Bernard Hermann’s famous string music and the shower scene. There is another film, however, released two months before Psycho that I think deserves to be just as famous – Michael Powell’s psychological horror-thriller Peeping Tom (1960).
While Psycho was praised by critics and audiences upon its release, despite of and perhaps because of its shocking brutality, the British Peeping Tom essentially destroyed Michael Powell’s career in the UK – unlike Psycho, which made Hitchcock a household name – and was vilified by critics and audiences alike, who dubbed it “more nauseating and depressing than the leper colonies of East Pakistan” (The Express), “essentially vicious” (The Sunday Times), “perverted nonsense” (The Observer) and asserted that it should be flushed “swiftly down the nearest sewer” (The Tribune).
But why? The plots and themes are similar; like Norman in his naïve, soft and non-traditional masculinity, Peeping Tom’s protagonist Mark (Carl Boehm) is also a women killer and a victim of psychological and physical child abuse (although from his father rather than his mother). The film has influenced the likes of George A. Romero and Francis Ford Coppola, has a profound effect on Martin Scorsese, and is now listed 78th in the British Film Institute’s Greatest British films of all time.
So why isn’t Peeping Tom as renowned as Psycho? Let’s investigate.
Looking Back at the 1960s
Up until the 1950s, horror had predominantly been grounded in the classic gothic tradition, infused with the supernatural and fantastical. These films featured clear monstrous antagonists, most notably Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy from Universal’s 1930s horror cycle, and were usually set in foreign locations and in a different time period. After World War II, the fear of communism, the Cold War, space travel, and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation led horror in a new direction.
Horror films were now set in the present day, but they still had recognizable monsters – aliens (Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), It Came from Outer Space (1953)), grotesque creatures (The Blob (1958), Creature of the Black Lagoon (1954), The Abominable Snowman (1957), The Tingler (1959)), and mutated animals as a result of scientific intervention or nuclear attack (Them! (1954), Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959), The Fly (1958)). 1950s horror gradually introduced more human monsters into its filmography, such as Walter (Dick Miller) from Bucket of Blood (1959), but it was still mostly in the realm of the fantastic.
Then came the 1960s. Free love and hippie culture came to dominate the western world, mostly in response to the Vietnam War and the conservative/restrictive attitudes of the 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement gained traction in the US, with peaceful protestors advocating for the rights of the Black community, and the birth control pill gave women more sexual freedom. It is perhaps unsurprising, in retrospect, that the grandfathers of the late 1970s and early 1980s slasher film would be born at the beginning of this era.
British Cinema vs American Cinema
Actually, now that I think about it, that is exactly why Psycho is famous and Peeping Tom less so. The US were significantly more open to something like Psycho, whereas British culture was still fighting to maintain its conservative and traditional lifestyle. American audiences were ready for something new and raw, British audiences weren’t.
I first saw Peeping Tom when I was sixteen. It was on the A-Level Film Studies syllabus as part of our British Crime Cinema module. Having already seen Psycho and being well-versed in horror films, I wasn’t expecting much from Peeping Tom. I was very surprised by what I saw; so surprised that it has stuck with me for years after.
As previously mentioned, Peeping Tom and Psycho are incredibly similar in terms of plot – mild-mannered serial killers who murder women – and themes – Freud, voyeurism and sexuality – but their cinematography is vastly different, resulting in two completely different films despite their similarities. I also believe Peeping Tom to be exceedingly more psychologically complex
Psycho is superior in its tighter narrative and stylish cinematography, but for me, despite its human antagonist, it is precisely that that keeps it in the realm of the fantastic. Yes, the fear and danger of being killed by a stranger is made for perhaps the first time, turning our everyday environment into something of possible terror, but Hitchcock’s stylish way of filmmaking lessens its impact for me.
Peeping Tom – the darker film?
Peeping Tom is filmed entirely in rich colour (in the style of British porno magazines, which was chosen purposely as pornography is an important part of the plot) and it presents the audience with the gritty and grotty realism of East London. It does not hide behind stylish cinematography, which grounds it in reality in a way Psycho‘s cinematography can’t.
While the opening of Psycho is closer to a melodrama, Peeping Tom not only opens with the murder of an East End prostitute, immediately setting the tone and exposing an element of London the British prefer to pretend doesn’t exist because of their conservative repressed sexual culture, but she is murdered from our point-of-view.
The opening is shot through Mark’s camera, making the audience beyond voyeurs because it is almost like we are complicit in this woman’s murder! It is likely that John Carpenter was inspired by this scene, as the opening of Halloween (1978) is very similar. Unlike Psycho, we know Mark is the murderer from the start; while this does take away the mystery element, his relatable non-traditional and soft masculinity makes us sympathise with him, which makes us question ourselves and our perception of other people.
There is so much in these two films I could unpack but let me finish by saying this: Psycho deserves to be as famous as it is. It is truly a cinematic masterpiece, and superior in regards to narrative and style. Peeping Tom, however, deserves more praise and recognition for its gritty British realism style and its psychologically complex explorations, which are far superior to Psycho.
Check out the video below by MUBI which perfectly captures the similarities between the two films.
