When Karlheinz Böhm met the British director Michael Powell, the chemistry was right straight away. The successful director had received several awards, including an Oscar nomination and Böhm sensed his big international breakthrough with eyes of fear – Peeping Tom. But Leo Marks’ brilliantly crafted script and the resulting film were too far ahead of their time.
The horror that once outraged cinema audiences is now receiving much praise and the thriller is considered Masterpiece of British cinema. The classic Peeping Tom has recently been available in the best 4K quality for home cinema.
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That’s what the brutal psychological thriller Peeping Tom is about
The inconspicuous Mark works as a cameraman in a studio and is valued by his colleagues, but no one knows him dark secret. As a child he was used by his father for experiments abused in a psychiatric hospital. A horror that still holds him prisoner years later, but as an adult he himself took on the role of perpetrator.
He convinces prostitutes and extras to let him film them. While the women position themselves in front of the camera, he rams into them knife attached to the tripod into the throat. At home he watches the films and is fascinated by the fear of death that he sees in the eyes of his victims. One day he meets his landlady’s daughter (Anna Massey). can touch his heartbut she has no idea about his dark secret.
Peeping Tom destroyed two careers at once
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Peeping Tom in 4K
It wasn’t just Sissi actress Romy Schneider who suffered from her well-behaved image as the celebrated empress of hearts and then mostly played deep, broken character roles. Karlheinz Böhm also decided on one three years after he last slipped into Emperor Franz’s uniform radical image change. By psychopathic woman murderer “He saw a broken character for whom he felt a lot of compassion,” he told Planet Interview in 2003. He was sure that this film would bring him world fame:
So a little later I read the script and was fascinated by this material from the first second. But not only that, I was also sure that this film would herald my world career. I was 100% convinced that this film would make me the next world-famous Hollywood star.
But it turned out quite differently. He goes on to say that he was waiting in the foyer with Michael Powell at the premiere party. Famous guests were also invited Nobility from the royal family and the two men, still confident in their work, were astonished that there had been no applause at the end credits. Worse still, not a single one came to them afterwards, they were not appreciated by anyone been.
For the actor it meant “a total collapse professionally“, internationally and also in Germany. But while Böhm was able to slowly recover from the low blow, there was for Michael Powell hardly has any projects left. The once leading director of British cinema was only able to make a few films and was no longer able to build on his previous successes.
Today the thriller is celebrated
The press, which had mercilessly torn up the film at the time, celebrates it twenty years later as a masterpiece and still to this day. The Guardian set it up in 2010 10th best horror film of all time. Böhm says: “That showed me and proved to me what I hadn’t yet understood at the time, that this film was far, far ahead of its time.”
The brilliant script, the coherent directing and Böhm’s portrayal as a psychopathic serial killer are still convincing today. In the new home cinema edition you can enjoy the film in the best quality, with a comprehensive bonus materiall. These include, among other things, audio commentaries, interviews and a Intro with Martin Scorsesewho ensured that Peeping Tom finally got the attention he deserved.
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