Notice: SSI.php was unable to load a session! This may cause problems with logout and other functions - please make sure SSI.php is included before *anything* else in all your scripts! in /home/chucky/public_html/community/SSI.php on line 170
Login or Register to rate and discuss movies   Member Benefits  Find Movies
Latest Updates
Movie Database
Character Battles
Random Musings
Forum Discussions
Contact Us
0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z
PEEPING TOM
1960 / Horror, Thriller
 Movie Trailer
 Preview Clip
 Discussions
 Extra Content
6.0 / 10
Rate This Movie
Add To Watchlist
Podcast Request
Directed by Michael Powell
Written by Leo Marks
Starring Karlheinz Böhm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley and Brenda Bruce

A young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.

The following tags are associated with this movie: Serial Killer
Peeping Tom (1960)
Review by Michael Mahoney

6 / 10
Often considered a proto-slasher, Peeping Tom is a horror classic that I've wanted to see for a really long time, but I have to admit to being disappointed after having finally accomplished that goal.

It's not as though the movie's bad, though. Peeping Tom is a very solid psychoanalytic look into a crazed killer, from the killer's perspective (think movies like The Couch or The Strangler, both of which came out a few years later). I just didn't find much of the movie enjoyable, and more so, found the stilted and almost inhuman conversations more awkward than anything.

While the film got terribly skewered upon it's original release, from a modern-day standpoint, it's hard to see almost anything in Peeping Tom that comes across as too obscene or ghastly. In fact, there's almost no on-screen murders, and while there's passing nudity, again, we're talking very tame, muted stuff. What some critics saw in this movie back then, I don't know, but I don't see it now.

German actor Karlheinz Böhm did fantastic as the main character, a seemingly-mild but quite demented, socially-awkward killer. There's a decent amount of character building in regards to his father and what made him into the man he is, but I definitely get the sense that more was left unsaid than what was discovered. His love interest, played by Anna Massey, was good also, but I didn't fully understand her character (why she was so insistent on staying around Mark even after she discovered his homicidal activities was beyond me), and her blind mother, played by Maxine Audley, confused me more.

One thing I'll say as far as surprises go, I honestly didn't know until I started the movie up that Peeping Tom was in color, and not only that, but it looked pretty good. I've sometimes heard this compared to Psycho, and I guess I just mentally imagined this as a black-and-white film, but no, it's in gorgeous color, which was nice. I just wish there was more in it worth seeing in color.

For what Peeping Tom is, I think the movie's decent, and to a certain extent, I can understand it's inclusion in many proto-slasher lists, but I honestly didn't enjoy the movie near as much as I was hoping for, and given all that I've heard about it, I was hoping for a bit more violence and less awkward conversations. Still worth a watch, if only because it's one of the more-commonly referenced British horror films, but it's not one I can imagine keeping in my rotation.
Other Serial Killer movies that you may enjoy


The Silence of the Lambs (1991)


The Devil's Candy (2015)


Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)


The Exorcist III (1990)
More releases from 1960 for you to check out


The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)




This site contains language and images which may not be suitable for persons under the age of 18.
All promotional art & images used on this site are copyrighted by their respective owners.