Cop who liberated the Death Camps goes into meltdown........

Rating: 10/10 (5 June 2015)

Not a "Horror Flick" as far as I'm concerned,but a Hitchcockian exercise in delving beneath the surface of a routine Cop story. Much the same as "Psycho" in many respects then. Clearly Mr Scorsese has studied The Master's oeuvre and come up with a smart tribute hiding behind the schlock - horror label and the trappings of slasher - flickdom. It is 1954.Traumatised cop Mr L.de Caprio is called to what used to be known in less sensitive times as an Insane Asylum when a patient goes missing. He has his own agenda as he believes the arsonist who killed his family may be detained there. With his partner he starts making investigations that lead him to believe some kind of "Reds under the beds" conspiracy has taken place. The Superintendent,Mr.B.Kingsley,is less than helpful,adding credence to the cop's suspicions. A convoluted plot ensues whereby - aided by liberal use of flashback - Mr de Caprio is drawn more and more deeply into the mystery of the missing patient and its wider significance for him. Twist follows twist until the ultimate turn at the end which is open to various interpretations. After about 15 minutes a vague memory was nagging at me and eventually I recalled that I had read "Shutter Island" in novel form two or three years ago and it says much for Mr Scorcese's skill that I still found the ending brilliantly ambivalent. Mr de Caprio plays the deeply troubled detective quite brilliantly. He is a man who has seen things no person should have to see,both in wartime and peacetime.Just how much more can he take?