Frenzy

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Frenzy

R,

1972,

1h 56m,

Mystery & Thriller

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Watchlist

89%

47 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

10,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

47 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

London is held in the grip of a serial killer whose modus operandi is to murder his victims by strangling them with a necktie. When short-tempered ex-Royal Air Force officer Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) discovers his ex-wife (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) murdered, Blaney becomes a suspect. Forced to go on the run, Blaney attempts to take refuge with his best friend, fruit merchant Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) ; however, Rusk may, in fact, be the necktie murderer himself.

Critics Consensus

Marking Alfred Hitchcock's return to England and first foray into viscerally explicit carnage, Frenzy finds the master of horror regaining his grip on the audience's pulse -- and making their blood run cold.

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Penelope Gilliatt

The New Yorker

Jan 22, 2024

There is also a sort of sabertoothed gentility that [Hitchcock] greatly relishes, and no one else in the commercial cinema uses savage silence so well.

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Penelope Houston

Sight & Sound

May 13, 2020

Once a Londoner, always a Londoner. Hitchcock's return to home ground, twenty-two years after Stage Fright, is a remarkable performance in most senses of the word.

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TIME Staff

TIME Magazine

May 13, 2020

In case there was any doubt, back in the dim days of Marnie and Topaz, Hitchcock is still in fine form. Frenzy is the dazzling proof.

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Carson Timar

ClapperCast

Oct 5, 2025

Hitchcock struggles without the restrictions of the Hays Code and creates a film that is quite abrasive and confusingly boring.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Sep 19, 2025

3/5

…Anthony Shaffer’s adaptation is very much a pot-boiler, but 'old man's sex suspenser' Frenzy offers some mercurial touches from director Alfred Hitchcock that make the rather grubby story offer an arcane poetry of tatty, early 70’s London attitides….

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Barbara Shulgasser

Common Sense Media

Jun 11, 2025

For a modern audience, Frenzy impresses as another example of expert Hitchockian terror and humor, but it disappoints in many particulars.

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Luke W

Nov 15, 2018

Stupidest movie ever made. So inconsistent. Didn't make common sense. Amateur movie and that's being nice.

Finn G

Sep 23, 2018

Frenzy is an interesting experiment for Hitchcock. But, as strange as it sounds, I feel like this particular work crossed the line of good taste a few times, which puts a damper on the film as a whole. This film isn't particularly original or clever, but it has moments of intrigue.

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Han L

Sep 21, 2018

Deluso, delusissimo. Apparta la regia e l'umorismo nero del film, il resto non mi è piaciuto affatto. Non ho apprezzato gli attori, tantomeno i loro personaggi, eccezion fatta dall'ispettore della polizia. Trama che mi ha annoiato, parecchio direi, e musiche che non ricordo minimamente. Per me è un no, assolutamente no.

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Kylo G

Aug 12, 2018

Although certain things are spelt out for the audience a bit too obviously at times, 'Frenzy' is still a tense affair that's uncharacteristically explicit and morbid for Hitchcock, even with the sprinkling of typical, British humour here and there that helps to lighten things up. The most damning thing is probably the lack of likeable or engaging characters; luckily, the story is interesting and has enough twists and turns to hold your attention. It's not quite as potent as some of the famed director's other works, but it's still an admirable effort.

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Draco W

Jul 26, 2018

Apart from obligatory 70s violence, Frenzy is otherwise a return to classic Hitchcock's thrillers for the better as it has amazing cinematography, great build-up and well utilized suspense. It's one of his best "wrongly accused man on the run" type films which is very realistic in approach and execution while being so well acted across the board. The standouts are Alec McCowen and Vivien Merchant whose hilarious culinary mishaps add a lot of playful humor that serves as a palate cleanser for an otherwise very dark movie. Frenzy surely is one of the director's better and most underrated gems.

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Kylo R

Mar 31, 2018

i loved this great movie

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Alfred Hitchcock

Director

Jon Finch

Richard Ian Blaney

Barry Foster

Robert Rusk

Barbara Leigh-Hunt

Brenda Margaret Blaney

Anna Massey

Barbara Jane "Babs" Milligan

Alec McCowen

Chief Inspector Oxford

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Synopsis

London is held in the grip of a serial killer whose modus operandi is to murder his victims by strangling them with a necktie. When short-tempered ex-Royal Air Force officer Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) discovers his ex-wife (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) murdered, Blaney becomes a suspect. Forced to go on the run, Blaney attempts to take refuge with his best friend, fruit merchant Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) ; however, Rusk may, in fact, be the necktie murderer himself.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Arthur La Bern, Anthony Shaffer
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 1972, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 5, 2016
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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