212: Peeping Tom (1960)

SPEAKER_06 0:04

There are in fact boobs on Google, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hackerslash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. Is it safe to be alone with you, I wonder? Perhaps it'd be more fun if it weren't. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Totally killer, pun intended.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with the perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly Space Guy Mac.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Don't be a silly boy, there's nothing to be afraid of.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

The gore lover Alexis set the mood for me, Mark. And the cowardly creeper Ryan. I don't trust a man who walks quietly. This week we're checking out a 1960 British psychological horror film considered to be one of the first ever slashers. But before we get down to business, we have some follow-up.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

I'm not gonna sing the song, but you know we have some follow-up. We recently reviewed, well, when I say we, I mean everyone except for me, reviewed a movie called X that came out this year in 2022. Um, we asked our listeners what they thought. 91% of them gave it a slash, and 9% gave it a hack.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

Literally not surprising. Mac will fall in the 9%, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Give me a chance. I haven't watched it yet.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

I think Mac would appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Well, we have some comments. One of our Twitter followers, Jay, commented, I genuinely think this movie was made for me. It was the best time I've had at a theater since seeing Midsumar. Amazing cast, editing, kills, music. I loved every second of this, and on a rewatch, it's even better. This is my favorite of the year so far. Without my answer, is obvious.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

I love hearing about a moment when you feel like a theatrical experience was designed just for you. And I love the comparison, especially to Midsumar. For me, like Midsommar was like really long and intense, and this didn't feel or it rather it didn't invoke those same feelings in me. I think they're two very, very different movies. However, I love that the thing for you that they have in common is how incredible of an experience you had enjoying it for the first time.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Now we have some comments from our patrons. First one, Brittany. Finally watched this movie. X is 100% a huge slash. I love the sexy raunchiness. It worked here. The best part by far were the visuals and the transitions. This was a fresh, new way to incorporate jump scares, and I appreciate the attention to detail. It was different, fun, and completely suited the off-beat nature of the film. I actually did find myself empathizing with the old folks, despite the fact that they are evil and unhinged. It made me sad that we as humans eventually can become such frail, depleted versions of ourselves. It was a little too real at times. Overall, great kills, great story. So original and shocking. This was a blast.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

I mean, I do feel bad for that old woman who wanted to have sex so bad and her husband is afraid of having a heart attack. That's some pressure. Okay, Mac.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Wait, did you did you just call me old?

SPEAKER_02 3:04

No, I'm more content that you haven't seen it yet and we're just saying all this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

It's it's okay. I'll probably I'll try to forget.

SPEAKER_06 3:10

I don't think you're gonna watch this, to be honest. I also don't think you're gonna watch. And most importantly, it doesn't matter. You truly cannot ever expect what's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Well, uh, you know, it's an overall experience kind of thing, right? So then Oh yeah. Yeah, so we'll we'll see. If I have the time to watch it and I can squeeze it into my day, you know I'm gonna try.

SPEAKER_05 3:28

You don't have to lie because people can hear you. It's like we know you're not.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Well, we'll we'll see what the future brings. And our last patron comment comes from Matt. Ryan, this is for you. This movie is definitely campy.

SPEAKER_06 3:40

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

It is scary, funny, shocking, intense, playful, thought provoking. I think under the guise of a slasher, we know not to take it seriously, and I think that's what makes it work. It also doesn't lose the intensity and fear the other parts of the movie have to offer. My favorite visual is small, and I am going off the memory of opening night, but it's either Britney Snow or Mia Goth. But when they walk outside the house, we get that typical Pam Texas chainsaw shot everyone uses, but Ty West has the girl walk forward to the camera instead of up the back. I thought, wow, Ty is already subverting so much on a screenplay level, but X has layers to unpack visually as well. I dragged my three friends to see this, by the way, and they actually all liked it a little more than I did.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Okay, there's nothing better than first a enjoying the movie and then also finding all these layers that you can appreciate within that, but then to evangelize and drag your friends. That is how we're gonna initiate more mainstream audiences, right? When you feel so passionately about something that you bring your friends in.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

I think that's probably the most important part of horror is involving the sense of community. And speaking of community, we have a hacker slash hotline submission.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Hey Hackerslash crew, this is your old friend Rob calling because this is we've reached a landmark. This is exciting. Finally, I've listened to an episode on Hacker Slash, and I have zero notes. Nothing to complain about, if you can believe that. And I can always find something to complain about. But I did it if you guys did it. Congratulations to you. You all nailed it with the episode on X. The movie is a complete slash, and you all got it right. Wasn't worried about Chris. The movie's too well made for her to hack it. I knew that wasn't gonna happen. Alexis, I felt sure she was gonna be on the right side of history on that movie because she's a gore-loving little freak, and there's plenty of that in there for her. It was the other two. Paris and Ryan. They were my concerns, as per usual. But Paris, I know you love a hot cast. It's very important to you. And there were some hot people in this movie. There were also a couple of really unhot people doing really unhot things. So I was a little worried, but you did the right thing, you got over the hump. I'm proud of you for making the right call. Ryan, I know the animal report had to be rough for you on this movie, but you looked past that. You did the right thing, good for you. Still not sure you understand what camp is, but we'll work on it. It's okay. At this point, it's just endearing. It does occur to me, though, it can still be taken away. Max, I swear to God, if you ruin this for me, I'm gonna be so mad at you. Alright. Keep doing what you're doing, guys. Love the show. Talk to you later.

SPEAKER_03 6:10

Aw, this is so heartfelt, Rob. You know us so well. More than people who see me every day.

SPEAKER_06 6:17

Yeah, I just want to say I'm glad that you didn't hate us this time, Rob. We really do our best to make you happy here at Hackerslash. And this was an interesting movie that we all got to come together on. I don't think Mac's gonna watch it, so he won't be letting you down. So here we go. This is a win.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Again, just see what the future brings. I don't know, maybe I will, maybe I won't. We're gonna find out together.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

I don't think you will. If you're gonna hack and keep it to yourself.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

That's right. I'll try not to ruin it. I'll try my very best. Now, finally, we have a new patron. Thank you, Kane, for becoming one of our patrons. We all know that patrons, they're honestly the best part of being on a podcast because right now we're doing this live stream and it's so much fun being able to jump into the chat and see the gifts that everyone's posting. Anyway, once again, thank you. And that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Four months before American audiences were shocked by Alfred Hitchcock's psycho, audiences in the UK were treated to their own brand of horror. Now the film was both critically and socially mauled, however, and the controversies surrounding it both cause it to be pulled from British cinemas after a five-day theatrical run and nearly destroyed its director's career. Over time, though, it began to garner appreciation for the influence it has had on horror and cinema at large, including its placement of the audience in the killer's POV, the use of a sympathetic killer, and being the first mainstream British movie to depict female nudity. The film ultimately became part of the Criterion collection and has been lauded as a must-see film. This week, we're talking about Peeping Tom. Who's seen this one before?

SPEAKER_00 7:42

It's the first for me.

SPEAKER_06 7:43

I've never seen or heard of this thing before. I I can't think of many reasons why anyone would have seen this other than a parent that's really into horror back in the day and studying horror from back in the day. Those are basically the two scenarios where I think this comes up.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

I'm more so surprised that I haven't seen this movie before, particularly because movies from the 1960s and earlier is exactly the kind of movies that I'd always watch with my sisters growing up outside of horror films. So Bring Me No Flowers, Bringing A Baby, a lot of the Hitchcock era films, etc. A lot of those really strike this nostalgic emotional chord for me. And I'm really shocked that I never saw this, especially growing up loving Psycho, knowing that they came out at such a similar time.

SPEAKER_06 8:29

Well, you're the enthusiast, so I think you're exactly the person that that I would expect to see it, if anyone.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Yeah, and I think, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna blame this on access. I remember, for example, watching Black Christmas, and it was under the title of A Stranger in the House. So I thought maybe, maybe Peeping Tom is something that I have seen, but it was released under a different title or something like that. I'm gonna attribute the fact that I've never seen this to the fact that my siblings could never find this when they were younger, and that's probably why. I actually, you know, after watching this movie, reached out to them like, yo, have have you guys seen this? Uh have you heard of this? They sure that they had some difficulty finding this when they were younger, and we're all really excited to see now that it's available on Tubi. But what were you all expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_03 9:14

I was expecting something very similar, vibes-wise, set-wise, to rear window. And especially from the 60s, I don't know, with the name Peeping Tom, it was either someone watching someone kill people, or someone peeping, then killing people. I don't know, some sort of actual peeping tom in this movie.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

Jeepers, creepers, where'd you get those peeping toms? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:40

Yeah, I think the connotation with peeping tom is peering through people's windows, right? And that's definitely what I was expecting. Um, similar thing to Alexis, I was expecting a bit of rear window vibes, especially based on the time period, but also just kind of taking a backseat and creeping through people's lives. Like, I thought we were gonna get a really creepy sneaking around in the shadows kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

100% based off the title, thought it was gonna be about a peeping Tom, which gave me, like you said, rear window vibes, like somebody who's peeping into other people's lives and creepily, of course. But other than that, the fact that it was on Tubi, the fact that it was from 1960, I thought it was gonna be kind of slow, kind of boring, not a lot of violence, maybe kind of very restrained. That's what I had in my mind going into it.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Yeah, I gotta start really fighting and combating this idea of Tubi that I have in my head because man, there are some really great movies that are on Tubi. There are movies that are on there and available now that were on major streaming platforms before, and things that honestly I'm surprised are available for free, obviously with ads. But one of the things going into this, knowing how influential this movie was on horror, right? Like thinking about the fact that we have an opening scene that puts the audience in the killer's POV, thinking about how iconic that is and how often we see that now within the genre, I expected greatness from this, but I also expected for this to be something that was really dialogue driven. I expected there to be little to no gore, but I also expected a really solid score that would really contribute to this feeling of tension and suspense. When I consider my expectations, I expected to feel the way I felt watching the movie Midnight Lace. And I'm sure no one here has seen it, but if you haven't, please go watch it. It's a movie starring Doris Day, where she walks around in a park and she hears a really creepy, high-pitched voice saying, I'm going to kill you, Mrs. Preston. And then she starts getting these mysterious phone calls, and that movie triggered my lifelong anxiety. Fuck phone calls, because that movie just did it for me. But I will say this: watching this one, there is nothing to me like the experience of watching an old classic movie. We got the brass instruments, we have the old uh old school production company artwork that kicks into it. This movie was just about everything that I expected, and then some in terms of like feeling like a nice cozy blanket.

SPEAKER_06 12:12

Yeah, this movie lets you know what era it's from in the very first moment, because every movie from this era starts with one loud note from an instrument. I don't know why. Sometimes it's an eyeball opening. In this instance, it was, but it's always something about a loud note. It kind of lets you know it's beginning or something like that. I think this movie does feel like you're watching a classic movie. You have to know what you're watching when you're going into it. You, you know, we you can't be expecting something that's more modern when you're turning this movie on. I don't know if it felt like a blanket of comfort for me, but it feels like something. It feels like it's a movie from the era that it's from.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

That's so true. When I sat down and started watching this, I was I was kind of concerned, right? I thought like I'm probably not gonna really be that into it. But the longer you're in it, it just feels like the movies of its era. Even though you know it's horror, even though you know it's it's kind of you know weird and it's creepy and there's murder involved, it just for some reason reminds me of musicals, like the entire time I'm waiting for a song and dance to just break out, which thankfully we don't really get. So that's major props to them for not doing that. But no, it's it's it's strange when you're watching it. It has like a feel-good feeling to it, maybe because it's got like that that 1940s through 1960s kind of like color going on. Um, I'm not I'm not sure, but I wasn't I wasn't, you know, feeling a lot of fear when I'm watching it. I did feel some tension when I'm watching it. Um, but mostly like I was just sitting there thinking, I can't believe I haven't seen this. This this feels like a movie that somebody would have told me, kind of like psycho that, like, hey, you need to watch this movie before you really get into horror.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

I get that, especially with Pauline in a certain scene. I feel like it's it teeters on whether it's about to be a musical. I was like, please do not do this because I will turn this shit off. Actually, I wouldn't turn it off. I keep watching it and I come to the podcast prepared for my opinions. But I think as soon as I turned this on, I was like, oh yeah, 1960. But then as I watched this movie, it didn't feel like that to me. It kind of just felt maybe very home-y, but it also I think just surprised me about how invested I was in this movie, seeing as these aren't the typical movies I watch. And I was very invested, I was very interested, and I was following these characters, and I was interested in the dynamics of the characters, and I think the characters are really what surprised me and how rich they were, and how rich this story was. I thought was perfect.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Absolutely. I can 100% agree with that. One of the cool things about Psycho is looking at how it paints a sympathetic killer, and there are some measures of 100%, yeah, I get it. Like Norman Bates is someone who is semi-charming at at the outset, right? He's someone who seems modest and and meager, and when you reveal everything that lays beneath the surface, it's kind of shocking. Whereas this, we make no effort to hide who this person is. And really, his story is told through the whole movie. So I think one of the things that surprised me was a not only how not sinister they intended for this killer to feel, but also going to the added effort to really just flesh out his entire perspective on things. At some points, I sat back and was like, man, this is actually kind of sad.

SPEAKER_06 15:38

It does have a very interesting bit of like a mental health angle to it, especially for this time in the world where maybe no one even knew what the words mental health meant. It does make you feel something for the killer. And there's a, you know, a lot of his history is shown and like the life that he's had and what he's experienced. And it definitely feels different for this era. Very, very different. It feels like something that it feels like a storyline that would happen in the 2000s more than back in the day.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

The the story is also what surprised me. The story and and the antagonist, because I think we imagined it's going to be very surface level, that they weren't gonna get in too deep. But I think they set it up in a way that would actually work if you were to make this movie or make uh a movie based off of the story today. I think it would work really well. They give him a good amount of motivation that makes sense. They really build a picture right there in front of you of why this person is doing what they're doing. And sure, you feel a little empathy with with the antagonists as we as we go through the movie. I mean, not too much, but you do feel some. You get to wonder like what would have happened if things went differently for this person. But the the actor's ability to portray the character as incredibly creepy was very surprising to me because I did not think that somebody back then would be able to capture this kind of feeling the way that he he was able to.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Which is really surprising. I think that speaks to the quality of his performance. And I think obviously Michael Powell's his career suffered after this movie, and there's a lot of controversy surrounding some of the techniques or approaches that he uh chose when making this movie, but because of how intense that performance is, because of how intense the performance is from some of the women in this movie, there wasn't a moment that I was singularly scared ever, but this movie absolutely does play with this idea of like what is fear and how do you feel it? What does fear look like? And I thought that some of the moments of death approaching some of these characters felt really, really tense.

SPEAKER_06 17:36

Yeah, I would say that's the thing that is most creepy in this movie is thinking about what you would feel like if you were in the scenario of some of these women specifically, and what those moments may be like, but it's certainly not scary in a traditional horror movie sense.

SPEAKER_03 17:55

Yeah, especially for an antagonist who doesn't look creepy really. I mean, he gets creepier towards the end, but when you look at this person, it's just, you know, someone who's not intimidating.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

I would offer that's part of what makes it even more tense, though. Because this killer is just your average-looking guy. He's kind of handsome, he's kind of so desirable, right? This is kind of what we think of when you consider back on like Ted Bundy and why he had no problem meeting people and charming people, right? The real monsters are the ones who are your next door neighbors and seemingly apparent, perfectly average person. And I I think that's part of what contributes to that creepiness. And I think what I love about this is how he tried to fight through some of this creepiness and how you see a human being mixed in there without it ever creating a situation where I was just absolutely rooting on his side. The way I would root for Michael Myers, for example.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

It's not scary, obviously, but I did see some really great moments where they build tension in ways that we don't expect. I think watching it with a 2022 viewpoint, you see women in situations with this person and the entire time you're thinking, like, get out. Oh my gosh, like you need to get out of there right now, something bad's gonna happen to you. Whether or not it does, it doesn't even matter. Like, I'm curious back then if if people had the same thoughts, if they had that same reaction internally. Because now I think we're conditioned. Anytime somebody's introverted on film, they're suspect all of a sudden. So anytime somebody's soft spoken or kind of withdrawn, we're like, Oh, you better get out of there because they're gonna flip, they're gonna lose it, they're gonna kill you. Um, but we've also been conditioned to like think extreme extroverts are also creepy and killy. So it seems no one's safe from suspicion.

SPEAKER_06 19:35

It seems to me that back in the day our awareness of the vibes are off here was like lower. Like we were a lot less anxious about stuff, I think, pe people as a whole. And so I feel like women weren't as weirded out by stuff because a lot of stuff that happens in this movie, you you think, don't you think you should leave? And why did you come back? And what are you doing? And why are you bringing cake upstairs with a candle in it? But uh it's a different time.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

And this is in the very early years of the Vietnam War. And we think about how scarred our society was the further we got into the Vietnam War, and how that event really influenced so much of the tone of a lot of our movies. I think it really speaks a lot to aggression. Obviously, you know, this gets compared a lot to Psycho. I feel like this is a very different movie, and I know I get it, old classic movie, sympathetic killer, etc. But I absolutely feel like I haven't seen another movie quite like this.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

I would agree, and its plot and its storyline are simplistic enough where it could be twisted into like say, hey, this reminded me of something else. But truly deep down, I feel like I've never seen a movie like this.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

It gave me vibes closer to Dexter in terms of humanizing some of the characters, and it was able in its time to portray people going through reactions of fear in a very different way than I think you would get in other films. I love I love what they did with the story. Like you said, Alexis, it's just bare bones enough to where it would easily work in a movie that you would make today and probably be very successful. So, in terms of originality, I think it deserves some full points, especially for its time.

SPEAKER_06 21:17

I think this is one of those movies that's incredibly difficult to judge originality at this point in the world. I mean, we're talking 60 plus years later, so it's really, really hard. But I think just knowing the time that this came out, it it has to be given points for originality. I think I'd be thrown into the fire if I didn't give it points.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

I thought the ending was original as well. It's different how you know you have an antagonist and you think so negatively, but something can happen and a series of events can happen, one so negative, and then it kind of being sort of positive in a way. And I just like that twist within the last like 20 minutes of the movie, maybe even less. I think it's a good ending. I have no qualms about the ending.

SPEAKER_06 22:02

I feel like the ending was interesting enough. I I don't know what I was expecting. I think this movie was one that I didn't spend most of my time trying to figure out what was going to happen. So I was just like happy enough during the end.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

I think it was a very satisfactory ending. I think we resolve some major you know crises through the movie. We also resolve some character development as well. We get to a point with our antagonist where we kind of see them grow to a point, realize they're not capable of more, and then they're dealt with in a way that I think was very appropriate.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

100%. There is absolutely no other way that I could see this movie realistically ending that would be satisfying, and I'm very pleased with the direction that it took. I'm also pleased in retrospect with some of the uh subtle implications of the ending, and then also looking at how it started a very prominent movement within horror, but we'll unpack that in the spoiler section. Obviously, we are getting ahead of ourselves right now, but let's go ahead and make our way towards our ratings. As we ponder what we're gonna rate Peeping Tom from 1960, Alexis, how many people died in this film?

SPEAKER_03 23:08

I'm happy that there were four deaths in this movie, which is a lot for this day. Yeah, I was gonna say, which is a lot.

SPEAKER_06 23:14

And what about the animal report? The animal report was all good to go. No hurting animals in the 60s.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

Fantastic. At least not in this movie. Not in this one. Well, let's go ahead and get into our ratings then. Peeping Tom from 1960. Was it a hack or a slash?

SPEAKER_03 23:28

I'm gonna have to give this movie a slash. I usually save it till the end, but I'm just gonna go ahead and not, you know, spoil anything, not lead anyone on. But this movie is so simplistic with its set, with its acting. The characters have a lot more going on, but it's very here are like, you know, five main characters, two main ones really. But the way they put it all together and the richness of the color, and I don't know what it is about this movie that makes me want to keep watching it again and picking up on different things, probably about this set. Maybe some of the one-liners that you know a doctor is saying or the sergeant is saying, you know, picking up on all these little things. I would love to watch this movie again. And I'm very surprised because typically movies this old I don't appreciate, but the more I've been watching them, especially on the podcast, the more I've been able to appreciate them. So thank you for putting this into the lineup. I'm glad I got to watch this. So it's definitely a slash.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

I'm gonna join in here next and say this movie is a slash. It's a it was a very surprising slash for me. I going into this did not expect much, but I think the story that we get, we've mentioned previously, is surprisingly good. It's a it's a it's it's like a nice structure. It's one that you could run with. This could be easily a 10-part miniseries on HBO made in 2022, and you would probably enjoy it. But the characters we get, they're odd because I think we expect to be very surface level, but with our antagonist, we get kind of deep. We see some change, we see some realizations, not having to even use words necessarily to get there, and it's enjoyable to see the characters kind of struggle with what's going on inside themselves and what's going you know going on around them as well. Um, I I think the set was surprising as well. I didn't expect a lot about the set. It was I thought it was gonna seem like a like a stage play, but on camera. But it it wasn't. I think it went further. We had some really great locations, we had some distinct feelings. There's there's an area, there's a certain set piece. Uh it's a dark room and it's beautiful. I love everything about it. It's really hard to capture the feeling of a dark room because you have to light it in order to shoot it, and I think they did a really good job kind of balancing, you know, being realistic, but also letting you see people because that's kind of important to a movie. So overall, I'm happy I watched it. I was very surprised by the fact that I was happy I watched it. I think it's a good watch. I don't know that it's as good as Psycho, because Psycho's got a special place in my heart. I think it's just such a classic that it's not that good, but it's like right underneath that.

SPEAKER_06 26:02

Well, I'm gonna be honest here. I don't think I have the most popular opinion on this movie, and I'm gonna do what I often do in these scenarios, which is uh do a bit of defending myself, okay? I can appreciate things that are from a different time. I can appreciate a vintage feeling, I like the old James Bond movies, you know, from the same time that feel similar in some ways. And I really appreciate the story of this movie. I think what we get out of like a killer is really different and really unique, but I can't slash this. I'm sorry. I just think I think just because it's old doesn't mean I have to appreciate it. And there is some beauty to this movie. I think it's filmed in a lovely way, but I cannot ever get over the feeling of how unreal movies this old feel to me. How I feel like I can't relate to a character. And I know it has a special place in cinema, okay? There are people here named Chris that will appreciate all the things that have their special place in the timeline of horror. But for me, if the movie seven is not a horror movie, this is also not a horror movie, okay? I'm it just it it just isn't to me. It's a drama, it's a story that's interesting, and he does kill people, but that's not a horror movie for me, and I'm sorry, but I'm just a real human and this is what I feel. And hopefully our listeners can understand that that's what the point of this podcast is, because I love some old things and I don't love all old things, and this is one of the old things that unfortunately I have to hack. You love old people, not old movies. I love old people. I love some old movies, old cars, old cars, old furniture, old music, lots of stuff. But I can't just like it because it's old. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 27:53

Okay, so you don't have to like it because it's old, obviously. Yep, I get it. And I'm not gonna pretend I'm surprised by that response at all, Ryan. Like this doesn't track in terms of thinking about like the older movies that we've covered. Thinking about House of Wax, thinking about Rear Window, thinking about any number of things, like the birds. Obviously, you have your feelings on these older movies, and this wasn't enough to tip the scale for you. This is so perfectly sculpted to be in my neck of the woods, my nooks and crannies of my cinematic heart. I love this movie so much, and I'm not gonna say it's better than Psycho, but I am gonna say it's as good as Psycho. I am gonna say that it's as good in a completely different way, and I think they're two sides of the same coin. I am so disappointed in myself for not watching this because A, what we have is really stunning cinematography. We have a level of sinister behavior that is meshed so well with naivety, with compassion, with suffering, and the incredible complexity of not everything is just right and wrong. There's a lot of things in this movie that are absolutely wrong, but people aren't always exactly the brand of monster you expect them to be. And that's what I love about this movie. I I have loved so much learning about this movie. I have, you know, heard about it referenced so many times in my life, and I'm I'm so pleased to finally be at this moment to get to experience it because it's not just enough to have a great story. It's not just enough to have great cinematography, but it's every specific choice that was made and how those choices translate to the experience of watching this movie that make it such a stellar slash for me. And I am completely on board with how it has influenced slasher films. Now, with that, Peeping Tom from 1960, which you can check out for free right now on Tubi, has gotten three slashes in one hack. So go check it out, then join us in the second half so we can get into the nitty-gritty together. See you in a bit.

SPEAKER_06 30:11

So one day, you're out taking doe picks to blow up your Instagram feed, and all of a sudden, you feel a pair of eyes on you. You turn around and you see this creepy, peeping tongue. A literal, or a virtually jealous content like too close for comfort. What do you do? Run, scream, fight back. The dipod is the world's first self-defense for cameras or smartphones. It's perfect for like anyone who wants to feel safe while taking pictures or videos. With its extendable tripod legs, concealing these sharpened blades, you can literally defend yourself from creeper papers and escape the horrors of content creation. Don't be a victim, man. Get yourself a diepod today.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Welcome back, folks. You are now entering the spoiler zone for Peeping Tom, which has earned three slashes and one hack. Now we have a lot to get to here, but before we get into the specifics of our ratings, we have the matter of gore to attend to. Alexis, what's the gore score for this movie?

SPEAKER_03 31:24

There is low, but there should be something below low, which is non-existent, which would be this movie for sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

I did comment on it while watching it. It's like, wow, they get to a point where they should show, I don't know, it's like some blood, and instead there's just a drizzle of blood from a mouth. Just a little, just a little jewel mark of some blood. Where really there should be like blood spurting.

SPEAKER_06 31:42

Which really I'm okay with, I'll be honest. I would have liked to see an effort towards gore. Even just a smidge.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

Yeah, but this movie was already controversial. And that imagine if they, you know, did that. It'd be crazy.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

That's true. They would have been blocked from ever releasing it.

SPEAKER_03 31:59

Would it be crazy? I don't know. The fact that we're talking about this, so I just want to bring it up anyway, is because when I was looking up this movie, doing my notes, doing some of the stuff for the characters for y'all, and an info sheet. Well, I came across this titties all over the images, all over. And I was like very confused because I started watching this movie and there were no tits. So I was so confused. I was like, I'm pretty sure I'm watching the wrong version. And I went on Amazon, I was like, no, this is the right version. So this film was heavily cut by the BFCC before its release. The murders of Vivian and Dora were toned down, shots of nudity were deleted, the suicide of the killer shortened, and scenes featuring the spike were really edited. Even some of the dialogue was cut, which kind of explains the abrupt ending to the conversation between the policeman and the car. So although some cuts were restored in later video, the DVD releases much of the edited footage and is now considered lost footage. So I'd love to see the lost footage, I'll be honest with you, because there's tits on Google of this movie. And I was like, oh my gosh, we're gonna get beautiful people, beautiful boobs, and Paris is gonna definitely slash this. There are in fact boobs on Google, that's for sure. I meant when you Google this movie and you go to images, you see them.

SPEAKER_06 33:22

Uh thank you for that note. I'll be sure to check on that later. I think it's interesting to me that a lot of stuff was cut from this, and I wonder what it would be like. Is it longer before the cuts, or do they extend some stuff just to fill in those spaces? I don't know. It's a very interesting thing when we've lost part of a movie that's the way they meant for it to be made.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

It seems like kind of a waste, you know. You go through all that effort of getting someone like nude on a set in the in in 1960, and then like it just ends up gone by the time we watch it now. So it's like they they kind of struggled for for nothing in the end.

SPEAKER_06 33:58

It got a blash of boob, but it was also just odd because it like now that you've said stuff was cut, it makes sense because there's an odd cut from a fully clothed woman to not a clothed woman, and you're like, how did that happen? And so maybe there was more to that story, and we lost it, you know.

SPEAKER_03 34:14

I should have hacked this just for that reason. Just kidding. You know, you were given the opportunity and you chose the wrong answer. And you know, we always pick our favorite death. This would be the part where we do that, and there's four of them. Hopefully, we all won't pick the same one, but I'd still love to hear y'all's.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

There's two ways that I could have gone on this one. There's only a couple kills, but there's like two that stood out to me. One is gonna be the opening kill, and number two is of course the final kill. So I have a feeling that you guys don't agree with me here. So I feel pretty safe.

SPEAKER_03 34:44

And and the final kill is the worst, so you could just like Okay, so that's my favorite. Why? I literally forgot there was one. You told me there was one. I had to go back and watch it.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

When I'm thinking the final kill, I'm not talking about kill number three, I'm talking about the suicide. Oh, okay. Is that what you guys thought I was gonna talk about?

SPEAKER_03 35:04

I don't know why I thought that one didn't exist for some reason.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

So it's it's my favorite for a few reasons. Like, one, he chooses to do this to himself as a way out, but two, he experiences what he's been forcing other people to experience and like makes himself. He like accepts it, like I need to do this, and he's just like, ah, I feel fear, like I'm afraid, and then like still does it, still sticks that thing into his neck. And he's watching himself in the mirror the whole time, which we learn is a thing that he was doing the whole time when we didn't even know, apparently. I just love the fact that we get to see the killer like go through the motion and and end it in a way that was kind of sad but also kind of well deserved.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

Was that the ultimate scene he was trying to film?

SPEAKER_00 35:46

It is a question of like whether that was inevitable in his mind.

SPEAKER_02 35:49

I think in some ways it was, because I don't think he would have ever been completely satiated, even though he seemed to have his first glimpse of like what life could look like outside of the compulsive studies that he, you know, really I wouldn't say signed himself up for, but has like been conditioned to continue because of his childhood. I don't think there was ever gonna be a different type of ending for Mark. But that wasn't my favorite kill. Because my favorite kill was also getting into what I consider to be the best scenes in the movie, which was Vivian. It was this complete like lulling her into a false sense of security, the trust that she had in him, the comfort and the dialogue that she shares of how she doesn't find him intimidating, she doesn't find him uncomfortable, she feels safe in front of the camera because of him. And to have that duality, to have this level of comfort, and then to see how he approaches her and starts to scare her, I absolutely fucking love that. And then to obviously learn later that her body was uh really just shoved into a trunk and sitting there the entire time while everybody was filming, that is maniacal. You also have those details, you know, the night before where he's trying to make plans and she asks if he's gonna be free, and he said, I hope I'm free tomorrow night. And you're realizing it's not because you're gonna be booked and busy, it's because you know the body's gonna be found. I just fucking love everything surrounding that death.

SPEAKER_06 37:26

I think if I have to pick something, that would also be my favorite, but I'll be honest, I don't really have a favorite. They they were all lacking what I wanted out of them, which is any sign that someone actually died.

SPEAKER_03 37:40

I agree with that. Usually I am on that side, but for this one, I take away from a lot, possibly.

SPEAKER_06 37:46

Also, Chris, I thought, maybe because I already knew what would happen at the end of this movie, that maybe when he said, I don't know if I'll be here tomorrow night, uh, that he knew he wouldn't be there, literally at all on earth. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 37:59

So, Chris, my favorite kill is also Vivian, and I just love this drawn out. It's essentially cat and mouse, but the mouse don't know anything yet. And the mouse is just having its cheese and hanging out, and there's just this play that's going on, and I'm like, what are these boxes doing? And it's just so interesting. And then him filming everyone's reaction. I was like, Well, this guy is out there, he's really trying to get this film right.

SPEAKER_02 38:29

It is absolutely shocking and abhorrent, and honestly, you know, it's like you're right, the mouse is there, it's eating its cheese, it's paling around with this other mouse, not realizing that that mouse is really a cat in mouse costume. It's fucking wild. Like the level of safety there again is just so intense. And I really love that moment because it gave me this energy of Viva Las Vegas and thinking about uh some of the great song and dance numbers that we get there. We get some of my favorite music in the whole movie in that scene. It was such a dynamic moment. But let me also just say this tripods as a weapon is something that I have often thought about having worked for so long in videography, specifically with those types of tripods where like they're kind of like a pointed edge, so you can stick them into the ground and they're not gonna go anywhere, and you have to really stake down. When I was in the Navy, we had a massive one that I often carried around, and I got really good at going down stairwells with it and balancing it perfectly within like the crook of my neck and my shoulder, uh, so I could use my hands for other things and trying to hold on to the guardrail. And I would always look at it as it's like hanging off of my shoulder, and it had these feet on it that were completely flat, so you could use them on like a hard surface. And I always thought, how easily could you kill someone with this? Not realizing the entire time that the killer in Peeping Tom uses a tripod. Like, you know that he I knew that there was a camera involved. Nowhere along the line did I know that it was specifically a fucking tripod leg that was used for this. I felt so seen when I saw this movie.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

I loved that it wasn't just he happens to have a camera and then he like hits him over the head or something. I love that it wasn't just I like to have the camera like I'm gonna record them dying and it's not really related. Like he had to be in their face. He had to be so involved in the exact moment. I that's what made it seem so far ahead of its time to me, because this is something that I feel like they would explore in in a recent film, and something that like had just come out, they'd be like, oh my god, like he had to be like up in their face and like see them seeing themselves die. That's not something that you would imagine in the in like 1960. They're like, Yeah, let's make our killer do that.

SPEAKER_06 40:41

So I think that tripod is one of the coolest parts of this movie. It's insane the way it just kind of pops out. It's got a very interesting, I don't know, is it got a bit uh a switchblade technology to it? It's really cool. It's not, however, my favorite thing that I saw in this movie. My favorite visual moment of this movie is when he is showing the first film to Helen, and they're kind of like setting up, and she's sitting on the left, and there's an intense red lighting on her, and he's on the right of the projector, and he's in a blue light. And that was one of those moments where I was like, wow, this is ahead of its time in its use of coloring and lighting it, and the way these two people are in opposite parts of the story and they're coming together. I just thought that was really interesting. That was something that caught my eye very early, and there were plenty of other times where lighting was used in lovely ways in this movie. It is beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Oh my god, it's so good, Ryan. And just that entire moment when he's showing her these films and he's walking into his own past, there's this moment where he has like some rim lighting against his left, his left or view of his right uh shoulder, and it's just a red light, and he's just gently rubbing the camera. It is one of my favorite shots from this movie because everything that happens in that fucking dark room, that projection room, it's just so stunning. But to go off of that, I really want to take a moment to talk about the POV that we get, right? We think about John Carpenter's Halloween, we think about Bob Clark's Black Christmas, we think about killers and a some form of a steady cam. And we see their POV of them kind of walking and approaching a location. And in this, we see the crosshairs of a viewfinder. And in this, we see an entire uh street. We see him filming a woman that he's about to pick up, and it's no coincidence that she's a sex worker. It adds another level to voyeurism. It's really, really intentional, and I love that. But to specifically go into, and this is obviously when with Dora's killed, we see her through the viewfinder, and she is just feeling like, all right, I do this however many times a day. There's nothing about this man that is threatening. There's nothing about this man that makes me feel like I'm in danger. But the more he watches her and the closer he gets to her, and we see the light bouncing off of her face because of that mirror from the flash mechanism, we see that bouncing off of her face, and we see the slow transformation of her face as she realizes he's not stopping, he's coming towards me. This tripod leg, right, is like super pointy.

SPEAKER_06 43:28

Is it slow realization or is it an extremely long time that she stares into the camera with a face of fear? Because it felt like 10 minutes of okay, she's scared.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

I saw a look of concern, confusion, and then true horror as he's actually getting closer to her. And then obviously her eyes close, and it's not the best looking kill by any means, but I love seeing all of that through the viewfinder.

SPEAKER_06 43:57

I do think the viewfinder was very interesting. Very interesting touch and not overwhelming in its use.

SPEAKER_03 44:03

Yes, and not very shaky either. I appreciate the steadiness of his hands. That's right. A real professional. A real professional. And that's what she said. I appreciate a man who walks quietly and who has steady hands. Steadiness, maybe not a good quality. Maybe not ever what someone has appreciated. Oh, I'll never be steady. I drink too many energy drinks.

SPEAKER_00 44:25

My favorite visual element of this movie. I mean, you guys have, you know, you've covered the lighting, and I think the lighting really kind of helps make this movie. But I don't know why I loved the dark room. I loved the fact that it did seem actually dark, but of course it was well lit enough for us to see. I think now you would just have a dark room and you would shoot it with like red lighting and you would say, Oh, they're in a dark room. I get it, right? Back then, that probably wouldn't have translated super well because they spent so much time in that room, and there's also like a projector setup. And having that whole setup that he has to like kind of stumble through sometimes, or that other characters have to stumble through to get out of, I like that those things were deliberately dark, and I like that other parts were easily seen. I think they did a really great balance there because they could have it just bright red and you would never be able to like stomach looking that for 25 minutes, or they could have it really well lit and you would know that like, oh, it's not a dark room, or but they're trying to convince it as you know, convince us that it is, but I like that they were able to strike a balance because dark rooms are inherently scary. If you spent any time in a dark room, you just know that it's freaky and you just want to leave. I don't enjoy being in them when it's actually dark in there. I don't know about you folks, but they just they weird me out. It feels like someone's going to murder you in there.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

I don't have any experience in a dark room, and I'm good to not have any. I loved the depth that this set has, and also when our main character is being followed by the police, you can see the policeman all the way in the distance through an arch, and I just love that. So the way they use this small space was incredible.

SPEAKER_00 45:56

I think I mean, replying to this comment, you know, about voyeurism, that's kind of the point of this movie, right? That we're we're exposing this need to watch and to be exposed to other people's lives. Um, but we're the ones watching a movie about that. So we are enjoying a sense of voyeurism at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

Which I think speaks to why people felt so uncomfortable watching this.

SPEAKER_06 46:20

Yeah, I think this movie should have been renamed to Voyeurist Mark or something. He's not a peeping tom, he's a voyeurist. It's a very different thing in in our world now, at least. I feel like it was then too. Even the definition that they give of like a peeping tom towards the end, it just doesn't feel like a peeping tom. It feels just like voyeurism.

SPEAKER_03 46:39

Yeah, I definitely got that vibe. And I don't know if you call this voyeurism or what sort of term again this would be called, but favorite scene definitely has to be when the old man is in the like convenience store or whatever. I don't think it's convenience store, it's like a bookstore, bookstore in quotes. And he takes a centerfold, and I've never seen someone's eyes pop out of their heads so much. And I was like, man, what is this guy looking at? Um, and then the kid walks in. So the play on those two I thought was pretty interesting for this movie who had some nuances of comedy in it.

SPEAKER_02 47:14

Again, a very intentional choice because look at how it frames this juxtaposition of a man walking into a location to get views and he's bashful about it, he's hiding it, and then a little girl comes in to buy candy right behind him. What is that really saying? And looking at the fact that it was specifically a little girl that he chose and thinking about like the innocence of women or how we objectify them, right? Like in looking at this movie, there is a woman who has complete agency over her career, and she makes the choice to model in the way that she wants to. But then looking at how this movie frames that moment, I thought was super interesting because it's like, okay, Michael Powell, what are you trying to say here? It's not like you just pick some random kid to come in and buy candy.

SPEAKER_06 48:02

Listen, I just need to say, since we're talking about her, the moment where Millie is like, oh, I almost ended up last night, like that last night too. I was out with my fiance, and but we ran into my boyfriend. That was such a funny line. Her character is so charming in this movie. And honestly, I felt like she was one of the people that should have gotten through. I feel like she shouldn't have gotten killed because she's like the real one. I don't know. I was sad to see her go. She was very, very charming.

SPEAKER_00 48:30

So my favorite scene, I guess I'm obsessing about the dark room, but my favorite scene was our beautiful red-headed goddess here going into the dark room alone. And towards the end here, we get the sound of like dripping water, and it cuts to Mark. You know, we cut to the detective. So we're like building this tension ever with every cut. And when she realizes what she's watching, she likes like this her facial expression just changes, and it's amazing where she gets really distressed when she realizes like what's happening on screen, what Mark was actually shooting video of. And she just stumbles in there like she's done several times before, not realizing the entire time that like this dude was suspect and her mom was right, and now it's all like all coming to fruition. But I think the the sound of the of the tapping, like the dripping water in the background, the cutting to Mark, cutting back to her, cutting to detective, cutting back to her. It like had this really great tempo that that built us up.

SPEAKER_02 49:25

Okay, I'm gonna see that favorite scene and raise you another favorite scene that also takes place in that dark room, and that is this really interesting moment when Mark gets home and realizes that Helen's mother, Mrs. Stevens, is in there and he shines this light. And oh my gosh, the understanding that this woman is blind and is following her own intuition and reaches out to him for the safety of her daughter, unafraid and not completely understanding what it is about him that's off, but knowing that he needs help. I absolutely loved the presence that she gave there. But specifically, we get to this point where you know he's pulling out the camera and she's wondering what the fuck is going on, and it's so interesting to know that he still had that rubber foot on the tripod. And he gets to the point where he takes it and he starts to take it off, but the look of fear and horror that was on her as he was grappling with this, do I kill her? Do I not? Because I need I I need to do this so I don't have to kill Helen. Like he doesn't ever want to photograph her, he doesn't ever want her to be in front of the camera, he doesn't want to find her face that way. But the fact that her mother was blind, completely imagining what he must have been doing, because not seeing it can be scarier in some ways than seeing it and not knowing what lays ahead of you. I absolutely loved.

SPEAKER_06 50:55

It was also maybe an interesting moment where part of the thing he does is make people watch their own death, but she can't watch her own death. You know, maybe that doesn't feed him in the same way where he wants to do it in that way. I think the other thing that I really enjoyed in that scene is her cane having a little blade on the end of it in the exact same way as this tripod, like, gotcha. You think you got me, but here's my weapon.

SPEAKER_00 51:20

It's almost like you recognized an immunity in her, and he couldn't proceed because she's immune to everything that he's interested in, and uh it she's almost like an eagle at that point that she has that kind of a weapon.

SPEAKER_02 51:32

She is, but then I think there's also the element of her not necessarily being immune because she does feel fear. She feels fear differently, and she can't see the face of death, so she doesn't know what death looks like, but yet she still experiences fear.

SPEAKER_06 51:47

So I think as far as like characters go, the mom offered a an interesting perspective because we could all see kind of the offness about him, and she could as well. But then we have like Helen who's just hanging around. First off, the way that she comes upstairs and just I don't know, is a candle in a slice of cake not a weird thing, just like on a random day. Like, here's a candle in your cake.

SPEAKER_00 52:11

It's her birthday.

SPEAKER_06 52:12

It's her birthday.

SPEAKER_03 52:13

Yeah, why are you being like, hey, why aren't you celebrating my birthday? Also, they're probably setup of this house. Everything's so close, too. So just back off a little bit, Helen. Like, give some dudes some room.

SPEAKER_06 52:24

It was all a little weird. It felt like they were more in an apartment building than a home, and you know, she didn't know who her landlord is. Like, I don't know. It was just all a bit weird. But the way Helen wasn't alarmed by the creepiness of Mark really stressed me out in this movie. Like, this isn't okay. And at first she starts watching this film and she's like, what are you showing me? Like, what is this? Never seen anyone be so creeped out by a lizard, but why was that not her sign to run? And listen, you can say that she didn't need to run, but she was lucky. She she did need to run. And I don't know. The characters here I think are interesting, but again, I I just ran into this issue where I can't relate to what these characters are doing because it feels so far from me.

SPEAKER_02 53:06

I I mean they do feel far because there's no way with the amount of violence or aggression that even our parents have seen in their lifetime and the world that we've grown up in and been conditioned to exist in, there's no way that we can personally relate to any of this, right? But there is this childlike innocence about her that I find really, really fascinating. And I think the element of this is looking at two generations of women, one who's talking about her intuition and thinking, like, hey, I didn't have faith in this doctor, and if I had listened to my gut, I wouldn't have let him operate on me and caused me to lose my sight. But then we also see this element of her daughter who sees the best in people. Like, I don't know how much of it is truly just her being completely negligent, right? Because she shuts down homeboy downstairs pretty often. But it's like she sees something special in Mark and she sees the best in him and probably thinks not that she can fix him, but subconsciously is ignoring every red flag she sees because she sees a kindness in him and a pureness in him. And I think he gets to for the first time, instead of you know, her looking into the mirror and of of distortion and looking at the face of death, he's looking at the face of who he could have been. He's looking at the face of what life could look like outside of the context of the study of fear. And I think that's a really interesting dynamic, specifically with her mom saying, I don't want you two together unless until you get help. She's not even saying don't ever talk to my daughter again. It's just until you get help, you are troubled. What's troubling you? And I love that.

SPEAKER_06 54:48

Which again, it it does feel so far ahead of its time to say, like, hey, you need some help. Like we we didn't have that happening in the world or in movies, it feels like during the I say as a person who clearly wasn't alive during these times.

SPEAKER_03 55:02

But with portrayed, I'm assuming. Yeah, yeah. I don't I'd agree with that, especially seeing this antagonist Russell with his feelings and what he's going on and his struggles throughout this movie. And Chris, you mentioned that he ends up becoming a sympathetic character. I think when you end with a suicide, it that's exactly what they were going for. It wasn't the suicide though, it was like him just like in the beginning, I was like, all right, creepy dude. And then at the end, I was like, wow, he's been through all of this stuff, and with especially in the rich backstory of his parents and everything. And just having that, I just felt sympathetic.

SPEAKER_06 55:39

You know, it has to be said, his father is the real monster. We didn't get to see him on camera, but he's truly the killer in this movie. Uh hell yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:46

We didn't see like a lot of him, I think.

SPEAKER_06 55:48

Saw his legs. We saw him on film, right? So, I mean, he's dead in the movie, is my point. He's the real monster, though.

SPEAKER_00 55:55

This movie made me question the people involved with it because I feel like now we take this kind of stuff for granted, but I don't think that was something that was commonly depicted 62 years ago. The idea that people with conditions like his, like, they have to have something that originates from trauma. And that's something now, again, I think that's pretty common for us all to understand, but I don't think we saw that a lot in film. Even in 70s and 80s movies, especially horror movies. We didn't get this idea that like these killers have a past too, and it's not just like they were nerds or people didn't like them, and so they revolted. It's like he went through trauma with his father, he went through trauma with losing his mother, he went through a lot of stuff, and he kind of understands that it's had an impact on him, but he can't help but be what he is. And I think when he's given that challenge from Helen, that's where he truly struggles because he's had this plan in his mind, you know, this is what I'm going to do, and I need to do this stuff. But like, is there a way out? Can I actually like improve myself? Can I can I get fixed? Can I become unbroken? And I think he just like hits that point where he realizes, like, I can't, it's it's too far gone. I have to complete this. There's no other way for me to get out of that. And it's just a it's such a surprising character arc to see from a 1962 movie.

SPEAKER_02 57:12

Yeah. I think one of the things that this reminds me of as you describe that, Mac, we talk about the character in Get Out, who it manages to snap out of this existence of being a passenger in his own life and existence, right? He regains consciousness of his body and then realizes what's ahead of him, and then he shoots himself. And in those moments, obviously, like Mark is not the hero of this story, he's the anti-hero. But I do think it's really interesting that as we got closer and closer and closer to the end of this movie, he makes very specific choices to not hurt Helen. And he's fighting with this darkness inside of him that is like, stay in the shadows. If I can't see you, you're safe. And then, yes, you're right, he he knows that there's no other end to this, there's no other conclusion to this. And I am in no way saying that Mark's a great guy. I'm not saying that he should have escaped this movie unscathed. I said earlier, I think this the ending to this movie is the only good ending you could have because I think it does service to Mark the victim and Mark the offender. You know what I mean? I feel like this struck a really good balance there.

SPEAKER_00 58:20

And it's it's helpful to have Helen and Mrs. Stevens kind of like frame his change as well because they're both very strong characters and they're both very strong women in their own ways. And I love the way that Mrs. Stevens reacts to him. Like she has this like somewhat disdain, but also amazing sarcasm and cynicism to her that I just absolutely appreciate. I feel like she would be somebody who would bust your chops all day long, and that and that's just a lot of fun. And Helen, I think Helen seems like she's really naive on a surface level, but I think at the same time, Helen is probably aware of how naive she seems and just doesn't care.

SPEAKER_03 58:55

Um, are you kidding me? When he was watching those people in the window, like that lady take off her pantyhose or put them on or something like that. She was like, oh, huh, come in, let's go. Like, I don't know. I don't think she's completely naive.

SPEAKER_06 59:07

So I get to do this real fun thing here where I have to talk about the best part of this movie, and you guys have to talk about the worst, which I'm excited to hear. My best part is gonna be the scene leading up to Vivian's death because she is so excited to be in front of the camera. Have a little bit of like back and forth with them kind of switching and her doing her whole warm-up thing. Oddly enough, I enjoyed her dance number, which uh doesn't seem like something I normally would, and him kind of setting up and her preparing all at the same time. She's preparing for something very different from him. It was just a dynamic and a scene that I really enjoyed because it brought a certain energy to this movie that I was missing at some points. It's almost like if the characters are gonna be so unrelatable for me, they might as well go way over the top and do a whole freaking dance number. And she was killing it, so why not?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:00

I think a worst part, it is kind of hard to come up with, but I'm gonna pick when Mark becomes like completely enamored by the second model because she's flawed in a way, she's imperfect, and he wouldn't only be able to photograph that and to capture that. And it's just the reason it's not a favorite part of the movie for me, the reason it's my least favorite, if you will, is because it's not explored any more than that. Like we see him get his his photos off, and then that's it. It doesn't go anywhere from there. And and I wish we had a little bit more time for it to make more of a difference in the film.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:36

I already gave credit to the lack of gore in this. So I'm gonna say I really wish there was a little bit more because I am the gore lover. You know, just maybe a pool of blood that you see after the fact. Maybe I could take that. I mean, it could look super fake. I don't care what it looks like, but a little bit more would have been, I feel more scary, but in like a crazy way. Like I would have seen our antagonists in a way different light.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:02

Just something. Something more than a red light.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:05

I agree. Just a pool of ketchup, really.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:08

It really could be the fakest thing I've ever seen. Just one little spurt.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:11

I don't know. We'd probably be complaining about the really trash gore if it was like some cheap stuff. So I get it, but yes, a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:17

I'm having trouble finding a thing about this movie that I particularly disliked, and I'll I'll have to just give my obligatory worst part to that opening kill. I know I talked about with, you know, looking at her death through the viewfinder. I mean, the fact that it was as slow as it was turned you off, right? Right? Like that's something that it happened so early in the film, and I think it's a moment to really hook people or turn people away. And I think this movie had potential to keep more people. How do we pace it a little bit better? I think that is just about all that I can say about this movie because it is otherwise for me flawless. Looking at this hold on, don't give me this look, Ryan. Flawless? This is a movie from 1960. Looking at the suspense that it had to build, looking at its cinematography, looking at the atmosphere, and looking at the layers of its storytelling, a hundred percent. I don't think they could have made this movie better in 1960.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:14

You know, I will give you that there is nothing offensively bad about this movie. And that's why I knew I would be the only hack today because it's not bad. So you do have a point. I'll concede this loss.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:25

That's fine. And I will say this I've already recommended this movie to so many people, and I will absolutely be watching this again, and I can't wait to do a mommy issue, daddy issue, double feature of Psycho and Peeping Tom.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:39

I'd have mommy dearest in there because that movie terrified me as a kid.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:43

They are, I mean, really, the the mother and father of Slashers.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:48

Completely agree. Um, I obviously will be watching this again.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:51

I'd rewatch it. I think it's I think it's worth that for sure.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:53

I obviously will not be re-watching this. I don't see how this would come up again. Although I will say, if it was on, I wouldn't be mad. It is it is definitely something you could have playing in the background.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:04

Oh, regardless of whether or not you plan to revisit it, I do think there's so much that we have left to learn about this movie. So let's see what Mac has in store for us for fact or fiction.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:14

We're gonna keep it short and sweet, just like Alexis. So, number one, young Mark was originally going to be played by an uncredited child actor. But after the director was heavily pleased by preliminary shots, the childhood footage was expanded to be longer and include Mark's mother and father.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:29

I'm gonna say that's a fact. I want to go fiction. It seems odd that they didn't have a lot of plan for it.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:34

It is fiction. But the director played Mark's father. The director's real life son played young Mark, and the son's mother played Mark's mother. Critics found the use of his real son in the childhood footage offensive and borderline abusive. It was like a whole ordeal.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:50

Yeah, I feel like this was not the time of child actors.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:52

And to use your own child and like put a lizard on them. I don't know what they would-lizards are cool.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:56

People are really freaked out by lizards in the 60s.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:59

Later on, though, his his son actually was like, I don't know, he didn't get it. He didn't understand what the big deal was, he didn't have any kind of issue with it, so that's good.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:05

He was just chilling.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:06

That's right. Hanging out with a lizard. Number two, the director wanted Mark's lair, I mean studio, to feel more authentic. So he asked his cameramen to bring in their own cameras they had collected.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:17

Um, fiction. It seems like it could be a fact because anyone who's into cameras or photography r tends to collect them. It is a compulsive thing to do, I would say.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:27

This one's a fiction, but he did include his own first camera, a hand-operated bell and howl IMO.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:34

So kind of fact he brought his own. He brought his own.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:37

He just didn't tell all his cameramen to bring theirs, but I'm sure they all had their own as well. And number three, Carl Bohm, the Austrian German actor whose accent is never explained in the film, states he related to his character Mark because his father was a famous conductor. Music, not choo-choos.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:52

Fiction. One of these has to be fiction. We're getting there. I don't know. You can never know with Mac.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:57

I will go fact. Because conductors seem like they would be horrible fathers.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:02

I don't know about being a horrible father. Maybe just because they're well known, you have this whole like pressure on top of you. This one is a fact, though. The previous two were fiction, so the the first two you did get fictions. You just got them wrong, I think. But yeah, that's what it was. It's okay. But yeah, I mean, that is probably a lot of pressure to have your your parents be like a really well-known person, and then like you're expected to perform at that high level. And I think he did a great job here. So I just want to know why they didn't explain the fact that he has an accent. Like just say, like, oh, I spent summers in Germany or something.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:29

His accent was not a problem for me, and not something that I really even picked up on very much at all. It didn't sound like uh excessively German. Wasn't this also in the UK?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:40

It was so it was in the UK, so yeah, it's fine either way.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:42

Everybody has accents.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:43

There you go, why not? And that's been factor fiction.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:45

Well, there you have it, folks. Peeping Tom has earned three slashes and one hack. Now we've certainly had a robust discussion here, but it doesn't end here by any means. We have so much more to say and we want to know what you think. Do you think this movie could have ended any other way? Were you bothered by his accent? Did you think he was a sympathetic killer? Let us know. You can join in on the conversation for free by hanging out with us in our Discord. Go ahead and click the link in our show notes to sign up.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:11

And if you've enjoyed listening to this episode, you can consider becoming one of our patrons. Visit patreon.com slash hacker slash to enjoy more of the show with early access, extended episodes, bonus content, and live shows like the one we're recording literally right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:25

We'll see you next time, folks. And remember, instinct's a wonderful thing. Bye.