Wow!

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2002)

Let me start off by saying that I am a young man, so by the time I was born Hitchcock was already dead and most movies were already learning how to capture audiences with explosions and special effects. Therefore, watching any movie made after 1980 was pretty hard for me, I simply didn't grow up in that time. But hearing all the rave about Hitchcock's films, I decided to give it a shot. I went to the video store and saw Rear Window on DVD. I almost balked when I looked at the year it was made and almost put the thing back on the shelf but something made me check it out. I was not disappointed. At first, it seemed slow and boring, not enough thrills for my taste. I was about to turn it off by the time that nurse came back again, but I just made myself watch. Things started to pick up and the rest is history. By the end of the film I was gripping my chair and with my pulse pounding. Talk about suspense! I never knew I could get so worked up over a movie made in the 1950s, it scared me more than most thrillers I have seen since 2000! I also have never seen a film that only used one set, like this one. To top it off, this movie gave me so many thrills and there were no shootings, no gore, and (I don't think) any special effects! I was really shocked. So many exciting moments, like when Grace Kelly and the nurse go to check out what's buried in the garden, when Kelly is caught in the murderer's apartment, and the climax when the murderer learns who is spying on him and goes to pay him a visit. Terrific stuff, all done using mood other things besides endless visual effects and blood! Needless to say, I can now see that some old movies are not as bad as I have thought, in fact they are better, focusing more on characters and stories than their rock soundtracks and computer images. I don't know if I would recommend this to many people my age, but I do suggest they try it. I did, and I loved it. Thanks to this I will be watching many more classic films now. If it seems slow at first, bear with it and wait. You're in for a great movie.