Hitchcock were rather grim, with his films making very few waves or receiving little critical success. By the mid-60s, with both Marnie (1964) and Torn Curtain (1966) proving rather unpopular with critics and audiences alike, Hitch turned his attentions to a film as dark as Psycho in its narrative, but far more experimental in its technical aspects. Kaleidoscope (which the director also considered calling Frenzy -- not to be confused with his 1972 film of the same name though!) was to bring the story of a serial rapist and killer to the screen. Envisioned as an almost prelude to Hitch's earlier film Shadow of a Doubt (1946, which was also his favourite project) this would have been an extremely dark film that was shot entirely from the killer's perspective. Conceiving the murderer as a vulnerable but attractive young man (who was also a closeted homosexual) the director believed that the 'everyman' image of his antagonist might prove a prospect too frightening for audiences! Whilst Kaleidoscope appeared to be a thoroughly planned project, MCA Studios who were backing the production decided to pull out on the basis of the fact that the protagonist was too ugly! This proved a major gripe with Hitchcock for the rest of his life, however MCA's decision was probably influenced more by the high risk nature of the project and the potentially financial loss that could come with the director's new style (including the use of hand-held cameras and natural light, mimicking the European wave of