Freakish Feeding Frenzy

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2004)

This is your only spoiler warning...
Here's an oddity of Hitchcock's, a film so absurd that it makes itself scary. There is no music or fabricated element to remind you that this is a movie; yet the plot is fantastic and ridiculous. What's going on here?
If I had to label one flaw alone in this movie, it would have to be Hedren. After Hitchcock came away from Bergman and Kelly, this is an major blundering. Even Novak comes across more interesting. Hedren resembles Costner, a prop for events to happen against, rather than a real person. Reaction versus acting.
The assaults, while their instigation is never explained, rank as one of the 10 most eerie cause & effect scenarios in film. Others include Se7en and Night of the Living Dead. The less is told, the more we interpret. The more we interpret, the more our collective imaginations run. That is the smart way of hiding from the viewer, not concealing violence to avoid sour ratings.
The ending is the true Hitchcock, something I'm certain he's proud of. Spielberg used a similar technique at the end of Close Encounters, but to lesser effect.
Final Analysis = = Midrange Material