I started watching Peeping Tom with a certain amount of scepticism, I know it was an early sixties movie and had been controversial in its time, but what is controversial now is not what is controversial in the sixties. But having watched the film, god it is easy to see where the controversy arouse. Not only does this man kill for the pleasure, but he makes his own victims watch as they die. It is horrific really.
Carl Boehm plays mild mannered Mark Lewis who is the killer and peeping tom of the movie. He acts very well and I was shocked that the character was played by a foreign actor, Boehm himself was born in Austria, and I felt that the Germanic accent that was used could of been a slight wink at WWII. That was the only thing about WWII I felt could be deduced, and I thought I had better get it out there.
The story itself was very much like a modern day slasher film, but the main difference is that we know exactly who the killer is from the start. This, I feel, makes us sympathise with the character, we learn he was regularly tested as a child for the affects of fear, and this makes us feel Mark's venerability.
The film never seemed to engage me, and I never got so into it that I wanted to know what happened, but I can see how it could appeal, especially at the time of release. I will give this film a 4 out of 10 as it interested me on some level, but it didn't have that brilliant factor.
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