A shocking , unnerving and controversial film at the time , that caused real controversy , being no apt for the easily nauseated or sickened ; in fact it was extremely panned by critics . It deals with a psychopath called Mark Lewis , Karlheinz Bhom , who lures women before his film camera , then he records their feared faces . Meanwhile , two police inspectors , Jack Watson and Nígel Davenport , are investigating the weird events .

Disturbing subject matter about a psychopatic cameraman who uses his camera to record women's agonies , it is rendered breathtakingly by a great director , the British Michael Powell who performs briefly the part of Mark's abusive daddy , as he is shown on home movies harassing and tormenting the little boy ; furthermore , including a brilliant cinematography by Otto Heller. This is a splendid , thrilling , and gripping as well as adult entertainment, no recommended for nervous or squeamish . A classy of its kind but ultimately not for everyone . Powell is usually associated to great and colorful films , but here he made one of the most terrifying and frightening contributions to the cinema of the macabre since WWII. The killings themselves are horrifyingly tense , causing panic and fear . Karl Bohm gives a nice acting as the ruthless psychopath young photographing his terrified victims at his hand , he couldn't be bettered as the horrible and cruel psycho. Support cast is frankly excellent, such as : Anna Massey, Maxine Audley as her mother , Moira Shearer , Shirley Anne Field , Keith Baxter , Michael Goodliffe , Brenda Bruce , Esmond Knight , Miles Malleson , Martin Miller , Nigel Davenport, Jack Watson, among others.

The motion picture was originally made by Michael Powell , but it was so vilified by reviewers and officials alike , that he didn't work in Great Britain for a very long time. As the original uncut version was not realised until 1970 . Michael started working at various jobs in the English studios of Denham and Pinewood on a series of quota quickies . Later on , he made all kinds of genres with penchant for Dramas , Musical and WWII films . As he directed : The tales of Hoffman , The red shoes , The elusive Pimpernel , Pursuit of Graf Spee , The small black room , Black narcisus , Contraband , The thief of Bagdad , Edge of the world , I know where I am going , Night ambush , The lion has wings , Spy in black , The forty-ninth parallel , One of our aircrafts is missing, Life and death of Colonel Blimp , Canterbury tale . Many of them are considered masterpieces, and being produced under banner his production company : The Archers , along with Emeric Pressburger . Powell was rediscovered in the late 1960s and early 70s by Martín Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola . In fact , Powell worked as Senior in Coppola's Zoetrope Studios and he married Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker. He died of cancer in 1990.

I've watched Michael Powell['s PEEPING TOM a couple of times on TV but I've yet to give my Criterion DVD a spin. Certainly one of the most original, challenging and bleakest films ever made and to have come from a British film-maker, albeit an iconoclastic one, makes the achievement all the more remarkable. While I do think that comparisons to its contemporary PSYCHO (1960) are a bit tenuous, it has to be said that both films can be thought of as belonging to the horror genre – in fact, PEEPING TOM was the third British "slasher" movie in a row, following HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM (1959) and CIRCUS OF HORRORS (1960) - but can also lay claim to being a very dark sort of black comedy. Besides, both films feature dysfunctional, immature, adult male protagonists haunted by a terrible upbringing which vents itself in a series of murders. Furthermore, while both films have been harshly reviled by critics when first released, in time, they have had their reputations make a complete about face and nowadays are numbered among their respective directors' unassailable masterpieces!

In general, I am NOT a fan of suspense films involving sick and twisted people who are serial killers. Life just seems too short to me to spend my time watching these disturbing films. It's because of this that I avoided watching this film for so long. I knew it was about an evil man who loved filming himself killing young woman AND I knew the original version of the film had been banned since it was so controversial and disturbing--so I KNEW it was not for me. Then, for some odd reason, I watched just a bit of the film and found I was hooked. While it was a rather yucky topic, the film itself didn't seem overly sensationalistic or make me feel embarrassed or "dirty" for having watched it. Instead, it was a thought-provoking and exceptionally well-made film that, while NOT appropriate for the kids, is fine far for adults and even older teens to watch.

The biggest stand-out of the film is the writing. The script is exceptionally well-crafted and intelligently written. You gain real insight into the killer plus the movie takes some genuinely surprising twists and turns. I really appreciate a movie that doesn't telegraph all its moves. Additionally, the direction is superb and it's a shame that the negative public outcry from this film helped to kill the director's career. And finally, I really liked the acting. Not having "big name" stars in the film might have been due to having a lower budget, but it also really helped to make the film seem more real. Apart from Moira Shearer (not a household name in America),the others were all small-time actors. In particular, Karlheinz Böhm ("Karl Boehm") was great as the killer. His slight German accent and halting style was super-effective and very believable. Too bad he isn't that well-known--he really could act! Overall, I would recommend this film to most anyone except little kids and people who have no interest in crime films or psychological thrillers. The film is intense but tasteful and well-constructed,...as well as truly unique. In fact, for the type of film it was, I much prefer this film to Hitchcock's super famous film, PSYCHO. It was simply more believable and subtle.