Search - Peeping Tom [Special Edition] [Criterion Collection] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Not For Children, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1960 DVD Release: 11/16/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 41 mins Studio: Criterion Members Wishing: 26 Genres: Thriller, Psychological Thriller

Michael Powell's controversial meditation on violence and voyeurism effectively destroyed his career when it was first released, but later generations have come to regard it as a masterpiece. Karl Heinz Boehm stars as Mark, the son of a psychologist who kept a video journal of the boy's upbringing for research purposes. The constant intrusions profoundly affected the boy, who grew up to be a photographer himself; but his principal subject matter consists of women whom he murders before the camera. He then runs the films of his victims in their final throes so that he can study their reactions to death--a perverse extension of his father's experiments, which tormented Mark to analyze his reactions to raw fear. The British press had long been hostile to the unorthodox films of Powell and his partner Emeric Pressburger; when Peeping Tom came around, they used the film to castigate him as "sick" and tawdry. The passage of time has proven Peeping Tom as profound and accomplished as any of Powell's earlier films, and it ranks with Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958) as a landmark exploration of the links among voyeurism, violence, and male sexual desire. Powell himself plays the evil father in the flashback sequences, and his son Colomba plays Mark as a child. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Karl Heinz Böhm - Mark Lewis
Moira Shearer - Vivian
Anna Massey - Helen Stephens
Maxine Audley - Mrs. Stephens
Shirley Ann Field - Diane Ashley
Esmond Knight - Arthur Baden

Criterion quality shows on =Peeping Tom. The picture quality, for a film that is more than 40 years old, is outstanding. This is no doubt due to two things. First is the restoration work the film has received. Second, and very important to DVD owners, is the fact that Criterion used a new anamorphic transfer based on the restored 35 mm interpositive. The sound, a one-channel monaural track, which is appropriate for the time the film was made, is fine. Criterion is known for using soundtracks that are true to the theatrical experience and since the dialogue is clear and distortion-free, there is little to complain about. Two extras are of particular note. First is a lengthy documentary called "A Very British Psycho," but contrary to the title, this isn't a comparison to Hitchcock's film, but more of an in-depth look at the history of the film through a history of the screenwriter, Leo Marks. It's a fascinating document on the creation of the film and how it wasn't very well received by the critics of the time. Second, the disc has a detailed and very scholarly audio commentary from film theorist Laura Mulvey who discusses, in great detail, the different elements of making this film. It is both a highly technical commentary track, and an informative history lesson on the making of the film, while also delving deep into the theoretical side of this film. Also on the disc is a photo gallery of rare, behind-the-scenes photos with brief explanations. Add in the original theatrical trailer, and this is a fine special edition. This disc gets top honors, both as a movie and for its presentation. It continues a fine tradition from Criterion. ~ Trent Fordham, All Movie Guide