Frenzy (1972)

Set in London, a serial killer commits a series of rapes and strangulations with a necktie which the newspapers label the necktie murders. When the ex-wife (Barbara Leigh Hunt) of a down and out ex-RAF flyer (Jon Finch) is murdered, he becomes the chief suspect. Based on the novel GOODBYE PICADILLY, FAREWELL LEICESTER SQUARE by Arthur Le Bern and directed by Alfred Hitchcock in his penultimate film. After the critical failures of TORN CURTAIN (1966) and TOPAZ (1969), critics hailed FRENZY as a return to form for Hitchcock and indeed, it's an excellent film with sequences (like the recovery of the pin in the potato truck, the humorous dinner sequences with Alec McCowen and Vivien Merchant) that rank with his best work. The screen had become very permissive in the 1970s and Hitchcock takes advantage of it with nudity and violence, perhaps too much so. Hitchcock lingers over the graphic rape and murder of Hunt's character with what almost seems like glee which gives rise to the accusations of misogyny. Unusual for a Hitchcock film, Finch's innocent man on the run is quite unlikable. He's got a chip on his shoulder, he's rude and ungrateful. All of which makes it more difficult to identify with him (unlike say Robert Donat or Cary Grant in THE 39 STEPS and NORTH BY NORTHWEST). With Barry Foster, Anna Massey, Billie Whitelaw, Jean Marsh, Bernard Cribbins and Elsie Randolph.