Movie Thread

[Tricycle Rider]

I remember seeing it years ago but don't remember much about it. There have been some great court based movies over the years : 12 Angry Men, Judgement at Nuremberg, The Verdict among others. Anatomy of A Murder is one that the critics raved about that I don't think I have seen. Will have to check that one out.

There have been plenty of marketing gimmicks in movies over the years including not letting the audience out of the cinema until the movie was over ! The B Grade movie director William Castle was up to all sorts of tricks and was known as a bit of a huckster. Alfred Hitchcock liked to have some fun with the audiences as well before movies were released. Then you have the old chestnut at the beginning of movies : "This is based on a true story," often very loosely and sometimes not at all. Sometimes that can work especially if the crime was a well known one. Can increase the tension a little if the film is well made. Might watch Witness For The Prosecution again eventually !

Except for Anatomy of a Murder I had seen all those courtroom dramas you had mentioned, can't remember much because it was quite some time ago. I'll have to revisit them and watch Anatomy of a Murder as well at some point - so many movies, so little time.

Speaking of so many movies I went on a slasher flick binge earlier today, I watched both Black Christmas remakes, plus Silent Night (2012), which I guess is a remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), which I haven't seen.

The first remake of Black Christmas (2006) was the typical dumb gorefest, as you had mentioned, but I did really like the Christmas lights and decorations. The colors were very vivid, well, at least until the power went out and the characters had to run around with flashlights. I was kinda bummed about that.

The second remake from 2019 was pretty feminist and PC overall, think one of the reviewers at IMDb had said it was a gender studies class masquerading as a horror film. I was okay with that, but once the movie took a turn into the supernatural I just had to groan. It would have been fine as it was had it not done that, the supernatural crap just felt like a gimmick because they didn't know where else to go with the story. Also, despite the rather high bodycount the murders were never truly shown, in an effort to keep a PG-13 rating not even blood was realistically depicted. That's kind of interesting for a slasher flick.

Anyhoo, neither remake had the feel of the original Black Christmas, they should have just left well enough alone.

And lastly Silent Night - The Xmas lights were not nearly as festive in this movie, there was gore galore, and some of the methods of murder were truly gruesome. I don't mind a little blood and guts here and there as long as it's understood that it's meant in a humorous way in a horror film, but in this flick I wasn't even chuckling. It was just unnecessarily painful looking. So yeah, this one I didn't need to see, if at least there had been some pretty lights and (fake) snow.

 

[movingtarget]

Except for Anatomy of a Murder I had seen all those courtroom dramas you had mentioned, can't remember much because it was quite some time ago. I'll have to revisit them and watch Anatomy of a Murder as well at some point - so many movies, so little time.

Speaking of so many movies I went on a slasher flick binge earlier today, I watched both Black Christmas remakes, plus Silent Night (2012), which I guess is a remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), which I haven't seen.

The first remake of Black Christmas (2006) was the typical dumb gorefest, as you had mentioned, but I did really like the Christmas lights and decorations. The colors were very vivid, well, at least until the power went out and the characters had to run around with flashlights. I was kinda bummed about that.

The second remake from 2019 was pretty feminist and PC overall, think one of the reviewers at IMDb had said it was a gender studies class masquerading as a horror film. I was okay with that, but once the movie took a turn into the supernatural I just had to groan. It would have been fine as it was had it not done that, the supernatural crap just felt like a gimmick because they didn't know where else to go with the story. Also, despite the rather high bodycount the murders were never truly shown, in an effort to keep a PG-13 rating not even blood was realistically depicted. That's kind of interesting for a slasher flick.

Anyhoo, neither remake had the feel of the original Black Christmas, they should have just left well enough alone.

And lastly Silent Night - The Xmas lights were not nearly as festive in this movie, there was gore galore, and some of the methods of murder were truly gruesome. I don't mind a little blood and guts here and there as long as it's understood that it's meant in a humorous way in a horror film, but in this flick I wasn't even chuckling. It was just unnecessarily painful looking. So yeah, this one I didn't have to see.

No doubt the Christmas lights were the high point of the 2006 movie. Bit of poetic justice at the finish which made me smirk. The other remake not showing the murders is I guess in line withe feminist principles when women are mostly the victims. But of course you get the other extreme with women being out for revenge and doing some carving of their own ! No shortage of those movies either. Not sure if I have seen Silent Night Deadly Night. Doesn't ring a bell but I have heard of it by reputation. interesting that feminists are pushing for a lack of violence in crime novels as well now. I think someone even started publishing such books, don't know how well they sell. I remember in the 80s some company one was releasing Christian versions of mainstream movies with no sex scenes, no swearing etc.......not sure how they got around copyright and all that.

 

[Laplaz]

Watched Mommy (2014). Fantastic movie. There are some minor flaws but that's not important because the rest of it and the ending are so powerful that you forget about those. By the way, the director Xavier Dolan was only 25 when the movie was released.
Highly recommendable!

 

[movingtarget]

Watched The Turin Horse (2012) made by the Hungarian director Bela Tarr. Superbly shot in black and white, minimal dialogue and lots of long, static takes similar to Tarkovsky movies which almost makes some of the images look like paintings. Slow and repetitive including the spare music score and the last ten minutes are powerful. Nothing is explained. One of those films that let you interpret what is happening. The repetition and slow pace will be too much for a lot of people and the movie is quite long. Haven't seen a film quite like it. For those with patience and broad tastes.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Watched The Turin Horse (2012) made by the Hungarian director Bela Tarr. Superbly shot in black and white, minimal dialogue and lots of long, static takes similar to Tarkovsky movies which almost makes some of the images look like paintings. Slow and repetitive including the spare music score and the last ten minutes are powerful. Nothing is explained. One of those films that let you interpret what is happening. The repetition and slow pace will be too much for a lot of people and the movie is quite long. Haven't seen a film quite like it. For those with patience and broad tastes.

I'll have to give it a try, it sounds like that one other movie you had mentioned some time ago. The lots of staring into space one.

I watched Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) yesterday, oof, it was bad. Apparently there was quite a bit of controversy when it was released, parents were boycotting and protesting because they thought the movie sullied the image of Santa. Consequently the movie was pulled from theaters only about a week later.

Nowadays the movie is considered a cult classic, it's probably more so due to the controversy rather than the content. The acting and dialogue were awful, clearly the budget was poor because the sets were woeful (one set was a toy store, so at least it was fun seeing some of the old toys from the 80s), the plot at least made halfway sense, but that's only when comparing it to other slasher flicks.

How this movie spawned a whole franchise is a mystery, where do studios find the financing for such crap? It's mind boggling how many bad movies are cranked out each year.

 

[movingtarget]

I'll have to give it a try, it sounds like that one other movie you had mentioned some time ago. The lots of staring into space one.

I watched Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) yesterday, oof, it was bad. Apparently there was quite a bit of controversy when it was released, parents were boycotting and protesting because they thought the movie sullied the image of Santa. Consequently the movie was pulled from theaters only about a week later.

Nowadays the movie is considered a cult classic, it's probably more so due to the controversy rather than the content. The acting and dialogue were awful, clearly the budget was poor because the sets were woeful (one set was a toy store, so at least it was fun seeing some of the old toys from the 80s), the plot at least made halfway sense, but that's only when comparing it to other slasher flicks.

How this movie spawned a whole franchise is a mystery, where do studios find the financing for such crap? It's mind boggling how many bad movies are cranked out each year.

Those types of horror movies did pretty well at the box office cause they were cheap to make. So they kept making them and making them worse usually. I will have to watch it for curiousity sake.

 

[movingtarget]

I'll have to give it a try, it sounds like that one other movie you had mentioned some time ago. The lots of staring into space one.

I watched Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) yesterday, oof, it was bad. Apparently there was quite a bit of controversy when it was released, parents were boycotting and protesting because they thought the movie sullied the image of Santa. Consequently the movie was pulled from theaters only about a week later.

Nowadays the movie is considered a cult classic, it's probably more so due to the controversy rather than the content. The acting and dialogue were awful, clearly the budget was poor because the sets were woeful (one set was a toy store, so at least it was fun seeing some of the old toys from the 80s), the plot at least made halfway sense, but that's only when comparing it to other slasher flicks.

How this movie spawned a whole franchise is a mystery, where do studios find the financing for such crap? It's mind boggling how many bad movies are cranked out each year.

I watched the wrong one, I watched Silent Night Bloody Night (1973) which was appalling but it had a few decent actors who obviously needed the money ! Not that the budget looked like it was much apart from maybe free meals and hotel expenses ! This one also had sequels God forbid ! By the time I am finished with the Christmas horror movies I might be a bit psycho myself..................23% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes was much too generous.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I watched the wrong one, I watched Silent Night Bloody Night (1973) which was appalling but it had a few decent actors who obviously needed the money ! Not that the budget looked like it was much apart from maybe free meals and hotel expenses ! This one also had sequels God forbid ! By the time I am finished with the Christmas horror movies I might be a bit psycho myself..................23% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes was much too generous.

There's a Silent Night Bloody Night? Crikes, I haven't even heard of that one. Looks like I've been spared, well, maybe. I may just be masochistic enough to watch it at some point.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I watched an Elia Kazan doubleheader yesterday, Kazan was/is a controversial figure in Hollywood because he told the House Committee on Un-American Activities what they wanted to hear during the Red Scare era. Consequently several people had been blacklisted, but all that aside he was still a very good director. Well, most of the time anyway.

The Last Tycoon (1976) - Despite its star power (I thought Tony Curtis and Jeanne Moreau had the most amusing roles) this one was a stinker. The first part about the power struggles between producers, directors, actors, and writers was very interesting, but then things veered into possibly the dullest and most drawn out romance I had ever seen. I'll just quote the producer Sam Spiegel because he summarizes the whole mess quite accurately:

"The greatest young actor in America today is Robert De Niro, the greatest living director is Elia Kazan, and I may be the greatest producer of all time. How the hell could we make such a bad *** movie?"

On the Waterfront (1954) - This Kazan movie, on the other hand, is very good. It almost has the original Rocky feel to it in that the scenery and storyline is rather rough, but it ends up being a feelgood film. Brando is amazing, and the rest of the cast is good as well. Definitely a must-see for cinephiles.

 

[movingtarget]

I watched an Elia Kazan doubleheader yesterday, Kazan was/is a controversial figure in Hollywood because he told the House Committee on Un-American Activities what they wanted to hear during the Red Scare era. Consequently several people had been blacklisted, but all that aside he was still a very good director. Well, most of the time anyway.

The Last Tycoon (1976) - Despite its star power (I thought Tony Curtis and Jeanne Moreau had the most amusing roles) this one was a stinker. The first part about the power struggles between producers, directors, actors, and writers was very interesting, but then things veered into possibly the dullest and most drawn out romance I had ever seen. I'll just quote the producer Sam Spiegel because he summarizes the whole mess quite accurately:

"The greatest young actor in America today is Robert De Niro, the greatest living director is Elia Kazan, and I may be the greatest producer of all time. How the hell could we make such a bad *** movie?"

On the Waterfront (1954) - This Kazan movie, on the other hand, is very good. It almost has the original Rocky feel to it in that the scenery and storyline is rather rough, but it ends up being a feelgood film. Brando is amazing, and the rest of the cast is good as well. Definitely a must-see for cinephiles.

i never liked snitches especially when they ruined careers. I still like some of his movies as I don't believe in so called cancel culture. I did enjoy watching him receive his lifetime achievment award from the Academy and seeing Nick Nolte and a few others like Ed Harris remain seated while everyone else gave him a standing ovation. Not sure what Ricky Gervais might have done with that moment !

On The Waterfront was very good but I only saw a little of The Last Tycoon, a couple of people told me it was rubbish. I think the novel it was based on by F Scott Fitzgerald was unfinished so maybe the screenplay was a mess ?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

i never liked snitches especially when they ruined careers. I still like some of his movies as I don't believe in so called cancel culture. I did enjoy watching him receive his lifetime achievment award from the Academy and seeing Nick Nolte and a few others like Ed Harris remain seated while everyone else gave him a standing ovation. Not sure what Ricky Gervais might have done with that moment !

On The Waterfront was very good but I only saw a little of The Last Tycoon, a couple of people told me it was rubbish. I think the novel it was based on by F Scott Fitzgerald was unfinished so maybe the screenplay was a mess ?

Yes, Fitzgerald never finished the novel, so they were just kinda filling in the blanks while making The Last Tycoon. So, yep, that didn't work out too well.

I don't mind snitches as long as their snitching is justified - such as in reporting a rape or murder or some such heinous act. But what Kazan did was not justified, he helped ruin careers solely because people were infected with the Red Scare hysteria at the time. Speaking of which, I had read that Arthur Miller had issues with an idea that had been pitched by the filmmakers about the On the Waterfront script - instead of focusing on union corruption the filmmakers wanted to blame communists instead. I'm not even sure how that would have worked, thankfully they stuck to the union corruption plot.

Well anyway, I'm about to tackle Silent Night Bloody Night (it's streaming for free on Tubi right now), wish me luck. I'm hoping for at least some cheerful lights and lots of snow.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Silent Night Bloody Night (1970) - Curses! I got neither cheerful lights nor lots of snow, all I got was some sorry looking xmas decorations and a rendition of Silent Night over the radio. Hmpf!

This slasher was filmed in 1970 but wasn't actually released till a couple of years later, this may contribute to its lack of slickness and to its extremely low budget. (Don't think holiday slashers were all that popular back then.) I didn't mind the graininess and very low lighting, what I did mind was the poor sound. It was like listening to a record player where the needle hasn't been cleaned in a while.

Some of the actors were part of Warhol's tribe, maybe that is why their acting abilities were a bit on the questionable side. I did recognize Patrick O'Neal from other (better) movies though, so there's that.

I can't say it's the worst movie I've ever seen, but I've certainly seen better xmas slashers.

 

[movingtarget]

Silent Night Bloody Night (1970) - Curses! I got neither cheerful lights nor lots of snow, all I got was some sorry looking xmas decorations and a rendition of Silent Night over the radio. Hmpf!

This slasher was filmed in 1970 but wasn't actually released till a couple of years later, this may contribute to its lack of slickness and to its extremely low budget. (Don't think holiday slashers were all that popular back then.) I didn't mind the graininess and very low lighting, what I did mind was the poor sound. It was like listening to a record player where the needle hasn't been cleaned in a while.

Some of the actors were part of Warhol's tribe, maybe that is why their acting abilities were a bit on the questionable side. I did recognize Patrick O'Neal from other (better) movies though, so there's that.

I can't say it's the worst movie I've ever seen, but I've certainly seen better xmas slashers.

Yes the low budget was on display. Patrick O'Neal and Mary Woronov must have badly needed money. The meeting was comical.........reminded me of some my old office team meetings............

 

[movingtarget]

Stigmata (1999). Hasn't aged well. I thought it was quite good when it was first released but on second viewing it's pretty average but with some well staged set pieces. Visually it was quite good. A more than decent cast and the acting was pretty good but it needed a better script. Lots of these possession, church corruption movies are very similar.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Hostile Witness (1969) - One reviewer had said it was like a 90-minute episode of Perry Mason, this is probably accurate. The movie wasn't terribly interesting, but I did notice Ray Milland looks a bit like James Stewart.

More than anything what as a Yank I found interesting was the layout of the English courtroom, American courtrooms are pretty straightforward and boring. But the English have furniture all over the place, and it was like who are all these people? And instead of sitting, how come the witnesses have to stand when giving testimony? Wouldn't some testimonies get rather lengthy?

Anyway, I'll have to google an explanation of the design of English courtrooms, so the movie wasn't a complete waste of time.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Stigmata (1999). Hasn't aged well. I thought it was quite good when it was first released but on second viewing it's pretty average but with some well staged set pieces. Visually it was quite good. A more than decent cast and the acting was pretty good but it needed a better script. Lots of these possession, church corruption movies are very similar.

I haven't seen this one, but there's this one French movie I can't remember the name of where they kidnap a girl and then skin her alive and put her through all kinds of pain, all in a scientific effort to see if she would go through some kind of an ecstatic state and to see if there is an afterlife. It's truly gross and unnecessary, and the ending was left wide open.

I'm not sure why I thought of that, I'll have to google the name of that movie. I'm guessing you might have seen it.

EDIT - Just found the name of the movie, it's called Martyrs (2008).

 

[movingtarget]

I haven't seen this one, but there's this one French movie I can't remember the name of where they kidnap a girl and then skin her alive and put her through all kinds of pain, all in a scientific effort to see if she would go through some kind of an ecstatic state and to see if there is an afterlife. It's truly gross and unnecessary, and the ending was left wide open.

I'm not sure why I thought of that, I'll have to google the name of that movie. I'm guessing you might have seen it.

EDIT - Just found the name of the movie, it's called Martyrs (2008).

Don't think I saw it but it's supposed to be pretty extreme and has a nasty reputation like some so called other torture porn movies. The market was flooded with such movies after Hostel became a hit. The Hostel movies were pretty dire but the first one had a few good moments in between the tedious torture scenes.

 

[movingtarget]

Hostile Witness (1969) - One reviewer had said it was like a 90-minute episode of Perry Mason, this is probably accurate. The movie wasn't terribly interesting, but I did notice Ray Milland looks a bit like James Stewart.

More than anything what as a Yank I found interesting was the layout of the English courtroom, American courtrooms are pretty straightforward and boring. But the English have furniture all over the place, and it was like who are all these people? And instead of sitting, how come the witnesses have to stand when giving testimony? Wouldn't some testimonies get rather lengthy?

Anyway, I'll have to google an explanation of the design of English courtrooms, so the movie wasn't a complete waste of time.

Ray Milland was in some good movies and yes there is some resemblance to Stewart.

 

[movingtarget]

Seven Psychopaths (2013) a black comedy that probably needed to be 15 minutes shorter to have more impact but it was witty and a bit crazy. Great cast with nice performances by just about everyone including Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson and plenty of bloodletting !

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Watched a doubleheader of Jimmy Stewart yesterday...

Vertigo (1958) - If it weren't for the gorgeous scenery and stunning cinematography I would have given up about halfway through, nothing bores me more than some long and dragged out romance. Thankfully things started twisting and turning once the lead characters got their little romantic dance over with, if I had to rewatch Vertigo I would just fast-forward through those parts.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) - Having watched Perry Mason and virtually the entire Law and Order franchise (and eventually getting bored with the latter), I can honestly say I never got bored watching Anatomy of a Murder. It was fun seeing a young-ish George C. Scott with dark hair, though he did look a bit wax-like. Gotta blame the makeup department for that, though.

What I found most amusing was the judge character (played by Joseph Nye Welch), turns out Welch had been a real-life attorney during the Army v. McCarthy hearings. And the whole case is based on a real one, if anyone cares to know more look up Justice John D. Voelker. One mustn't overlook Duke Ellington's excellent score either, he also had a cameo in this movie.

So yeah, while over 2.5 hours long this movie is definitely a keeper!

 

[movingtarget]

Watched a doubleheader of Jimmy Stewart yesterday...

Vertigo (1958) - If it weren't for the gorgeous scenery and stunning cinematography I would have given up about halfway through, nothing bores me more than some long and dragged out romance. Thankfully things started twisting and turning once the lead characters got their little romantic dance over with, if I had to rewatch Vertigo I would just fast-forward through those parts.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) - Having watched Perry Mason and virtually the entire Law and Order franchise (and eventually getting bored with the latter), I can honestly say I never got bored watching Anatomy of a Murder. It was fun seeing a young-ish George C. Scott with dark hair, though he did look a bit wax-like. Gotta blame the makeup department for that, though.

What I found most amusing was the judge character (played by Joseph Nye Welch), turns out Welch had been a real-life attorney during the Army v. McCarthy hearings. And the whole case is based on a real one, if anyone cares to know more look up Justice John D. Voelker. One mustn't overlook Duke Ellington's excellent score either, he also had a cameo in this movie.

So yeah, while over 2.5 hours long this movie is definitely a keeper!

Yes will have to see Anatomy of A Murder. The music score is highly regarded. As for Vertigo at the moment it's the critics choice as the greatest film ever made superseding Citizen Kane. I thought both films were very good but greatest of all time is a stretch. I wasn't bored by Vertigo and many think it's Hitchcock's masterpiece but I prefer Psycho, Shadow Of A Doubt and a few others. It was just a different type of Hitchcock movie. Stewart was very good as he often is.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Yes will have to see Anatomy of A Murder. The music score is highly regarded. As for Vertigo at the moment it's the critics choice as the greatest film ever made superseding Citizen Kane. I thought both films were very good but greatest of all time is a stretch. I wasn't bored by Vertigo and many think it's Hitchcock's masterpiece but I prefer Psycho, Shadow Of A Doubt and a few others. It was just a different type of Hitchcock movie. Stewart was very good as he often is.

There are still some Hitchcock movies I have on my viewing list, I'll have to add Shadow of a Doubt and rewatch Psycho. In the meantime I watched Rear Window (1954) - what I liked about this movie the most was the set. It reminded me of that really interesting looking real-life apartment in NYC where Boys in the Band (1970) had been shot. Turns out Rear Window had been filmed in an elaborately constructed set at Studio 18, some of Star Trek had been filmed there years later. Could have fooled me though, I thought the whole Rear Window apartment complex and courtyard were real.

Anyway, the movie was okay, while not the biggest fan of Grace Kelly (seems Hitchcock liked his leading ladies to appear all prim and proper [heh, can't relate]), I thought Stewart was a bit of a *** to her. But the story was fairly entertaining and intense, especially the last part where Raymond Burr was about to visit with Stewart. I would rewatch the movie just for the set alone.

Here's a question for you and other fellow movie buffs - there's this one movie I saw many years ago where a husband tries to bump off his wife, he hires someone who is supposed to enter through a window from a scaffolding. The wife sees him and screams, and the killer ends up falling off the scaffolding. And that is all I can remember... it almost sounds like Dial M for Murder, but that's not it. So I'm going nuts trying to find this movie.

 

[movingtarget]

There are still some Hitchcock movies I have on my viewing list, I'll have to add Shadow of a Doubt and rewatch Psycho. In the meantime I watched Rear Window (1954) - what I liked about this movie the most was the set. It reminded me of that really interesting looking real-life apartment in NYC where Boys in the Band (1970) had been shot. Turns out Rear Window had been filmed in an elaborately constructed set at Studio 18, some of Star Trek had been filmed there years later. Could have fooled me though, I thought the whole Rear Window apartment complex and courtyard were real.

Anyway, the movie was okay, while not the biggest fan of Grace Kelly (seems Hitchcock liked his leading ladies to appear all prim and proper [heh, can't relate]), I thought Stewart was a bit of a *** to her. But the story was fairly entertaining and intense, especially the last part where Raymond Burr was about to visit with Stewart. I would rewatch the movie just for the set alone.

Here's a question for you and other fellow movie buffs - there's this one movie I saw many years ago where a husband tries to bump off his wife, he hires someone who is supposed to enter through a window from a scaffolding. The wife sees him and screams, and the killer ends up falling off the scaffolding. And that is all I can remember... it almost sounds like Dial M for Murder, but that's not it. So I'm going nuts trying to find this movie.

Can't remember that movie, doesn't ring a bell.

Rear Window I thought was a little overrated. Many critics regard it as one of Hitchcock's best. No doubt Hitchcock was on a roll from the 50s to the early 60s, the movies in that period were some of his best. Even in the 40s he made plenty of good ones. Yes the set design on Rear Window was impressive, same with Psycho.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Can't remember that movie, doesn't ring a bell.

Rear Window I thought was a little overrated. Many critics regard it as one of Hitchcock's best. No doubt Hitchcock was on a roll from the 50s to the early 60s, the movies in that period were some of his best. Even in the 40s he made plenty of good ones. Yes the set design on Rear Window was impressive, same with Psycho.

This might be sacrilege to say, but I'm now avoiding all of Hitchcock that is described as a romantic thriller. (Unfortunately that's quite a few movies.) I just expect these prolonged shots of the leading lady where I'm supposed to be admiring her ethereal beauty, I get bored. So I'm sticking to movies that are described as straight up murder.

The movie I'm talking about I saw as a kid, think I saw it back when I lived in Germany. So maybe it was just some German TV thriller, my search continues.

 

[movingtarget]

This might be sacrilege to say, but I'm now avoiding all of Hitchcock that is described as a romantic thriller. (Unfortunately that's quite a few movies.) I just expect these prolonged shots of the leading lady where I'm supposed to be admiring her ethereal beauty, I get bored. So I'm sticking to movies that are described as straight up murder.

The movie I'm talking about I saw as a kid, think I saw it back when I lived in Germany. So maybe it was just some German TV thriller, my search continues.

There was nothing romantic about Psycho, Frenzy, Rope and Shadow of A Doubt. The 39 Steps was probably my favourite early Hitchcock movie, no romance but some witty dialogue. Hitchcock's ice cold blond period came much later !