‘Frenzy’: the Alfred Hitchcock movie Quentin Tarantino called “a piece of crap”
Encouraged by the success and cult attraction of his 1992 directional debut, Reservoir Dogs, celebrated filmmaker Quentin Tarantino proceeded through the ‘90s and beyond to bring us some of the most alluring cinema since the medium’s birth. His distinctive script-writing style and directional innovation make for a familiar experience in each film.
This is not to say his work is banal and derivative of former filmmaking legends – quite the opposite. Rather, the nine movies Tarantino has blessed us with so far have followed a distinct trend soaked in dark comedy, sensationalised violence and a reel of recurring A-listers who bring top-flight entertainment to any story, from 1800s vengeance epics to satirical studies of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
So, why is Tarantino so good at what he does? It all started in his youth. Long before his rise to fame, Tarantino worked at a Video Archives rental store in Manhattan Beach. The store has now been closed, but Tarantino rebuilt it in his basement to continue the hobby.
As you can see, Tarantino has been a lifelong film buff; alongside his writing, directing and production work, he hosts a popular podcast with his longtime friend and collaborator Roger Avary. Beyond these heated discussions, Tarantino has also authored Cinema Speculation, which arrived in the autumn of 2022 as an overspill for his unquenchable thirst for cinematic exploration and critique.
As a master of the art, Tarantino is justified and comfortable in giving his candid take on classic movies. Just as often as he praises the giants on whose shoulders he stands, Tarantino unleashes fierce criticism on some of the all-time greats.
The Pulp Fiction filmmaker dedicated an entire chapter of Cinema Speculation to Brian De Palma’s 1972 psychological thriller Sisters. In the section, he compares De Palma to a selection of eminent filmmakers past and present; among the comparative tangents was one about the early master of thriller, Alfred Hitchcock.
“While De Palma liked making thrillers (for a little while, at least), I doubt he loved watching them,” Tarantino wrote. “Hitchcockian thrillers were, for him, a means to an end. That’s why when he was forced to return to the genre in the mid-eighties, they were so lacklustre. Ultimately he resented having to make them and was bored with the form. Hitchcock’s Frenzy might be a piece of crap, but I doubt Alfred was bored making it.”
Hitchcock was revered for his pioneering work in the realm of gripping thrillers and horror movies. His impressive oeuvre includes classics such as The Birds, Vertigo, Psycho and Strangers on a Train. Frenzy, released in 1972 as Hitchcock’s penultimate cinematic offering, by no means attained the same critical appeal as some of the above-mentioned classics but is broadly considered a worthy cinematic contribution.
In his appraisal of Frenzy, Tarantino appears to at least respect Hitchcock for enjoying what he loved. However, this isn’t the first time he’s criticised the late British filmmaker. In another interview with Bret Easton Ellis for The New York Times, Tarantino revealed that he has issues with Hitchcock’s 1959 movie, North by Northwest.
“People discover North by Northwest at 22 and think it’s wonderful when actually it’s a very mediocre movie,” Tarantino opined. “I’ve always felt that Hitchcock’s acolytes took his cinematic and story ideas further. I love Brian De Palma’s Hitchcock movies. I love Richard Franklin’s and Curtis Hanson’s Hitchcock meditations. I prefer those to actual Hitchcock.”
“The 1950s held him down, Hitchcock couldn’t do what he, left to his own devices, would’ve wanted to do,” he added. “By the time he could do it in the late ’60s and the early ’70s, he was a little too old.”
Watch the trailer for Frenzy below.
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