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Frenzy poster

Film · 1972

Frenzy

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock · starring Jon Finch, Barry Foster and Barbara Leigh-Hunt

  • 1 h 56 min
  • Thriller
  • UK
  • Released in the UK 25 May 1972
  • 8.7 AverageMovieNCo
  • 8.6 Users2 votes
  • 8.8 Critics4 reviews
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Synopsis

'Frenzy' is set in London in the early 1970s. The film begins with the discovery of a corpse of a naked woman on the Thames River in broad daylight. She has a tie knotted in her throat and there are indications that she has been raped and killed. A sex criminal known as the The necktie Muderer is on the loose and has the police completely blocked and bewildered as several murders of these characteristics have already occurred and no one has a valid answer. The protagonist of the film Richard Blaney, played by Jon Finch, is fired from the bar where he used to work since his boss accuses him of having stolen liquors from the establishment. Later he goes to dinner with his ex-wife, Brenda Blaney, at a restaurant where they have a big discussion. The next day, Richard goes to his ex-wife's office to find his lifeless body strangled. This will make the police believe that he is the murderer and imprison him. During the movie Blaney will try to prove that he has not done anything wrong.

The film is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Anthony Shaffer based on the novel 'Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square' by Arthur La Bern. The star Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Anna Massey and Alec McCowen among others.

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Availability checked on 8 November 2026.

The essentials

Runtime
116 min1 hour and 56 minutes
Budget
€2mUniversal Pictures
How long is Frenzy?
1 hour and 56 minutes (116 minutes).
When was Frenzy released in the UK?
It was released in the UK on 25 May 1972.
Who directed Frenzy?
Alfred Hitchcock.
Who is in Frenzy?
It stars Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Barbara Leigh-Hunt and Anna Massey.
Where can I watch Frenzy?
In the UK it is available to rent on Prime Video.
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Cast

Full cast (11)
Director
Alfred Hitchcock
Producers
Alfred Hitchcock

Videos and trailers

See the video
Trailer 'Frenzy' 2:5615 February 2020

Photos and posters

All 13 photos

Reviews

All 4 reviews
8.6 2 votes

What the critics say average 8.8 from 4 outlets

  • 10 Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert This is the kind of thriller Hitchcock was making in the 1940s, filled with macabre details, incongruous humor, and the desperation of a man convicted of a crime he didn't commit. Read
  • 10 New York TimesVincent Canby Watching Frenzy is like riding a roller coaster in total darkness. You can never be quite sure when you're going to start a terrifying new descent or take a sudden turn to the left or right. The… Read
  • 6.0 EmpireDavid Parkinson Hitchcock's penultimate film deals with many of his previous themes with typical grim comedy and insight into a psychopathic killer's mind. Read

Soundtrack

See the song
  1. PoemArranged, Ron Goodwin Spotify

Trivia

All 7 facts

  • +18

    This is the only Alfred Hitchcock movie to carry an "18" certificate in the U.K., or receive an "X" rating after the "X" age restriction was moved from sixteen to eighteen in 1971.

  • Schedule

    Alfred Hitchcock's shooting schedule allowed filming to begin at 8 a.m. and finish at 6 p.m. every day while on-location in Covent Garden in London. One day during filming, Hitchcock was in the middle of finishing a take when a union representative showed up to inform him that it was 6:15 p.m., and that they had to stop filming. Hitchcock became furious and threatened to walk off the set, and film this movie back in Hollywood. After that, no more union representatives were allowed on the set.

  • Michael Caine

    The role of Robert Rusk was originally offered to Michael Caine. He thought the character was disgusting, and said "I don't want to be associated with the part." After Caine declined the role, he later mentioned in his memoirs how Alfred Hitchcock completely ignored him when they met in a hotel a few years later.

  • Too Much

    A close-up of Mrs Blaney's (Barbara Leigh-Hunt's) salivating tongue after she is strangled was cut by Alfred Hitchcock at the urging of Universal Pictures.

  • Cameo

    Alfred Hitchcock originally planned to do his cameo as the body floating in the river. A dummy was even constructed to do the shot. The plans were changed, and a female body, a victim of The Necktie Murderer, was used instead. Hitchcock instead became one of the members of the crowd who are listening to the speaker on the river bank. The dummy of Hitchcock was used in the typically humorous trailer hosted by Hitchock.

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