L'arme à l'oeil

Hitchcock could have come close to the last half hour: look at his Frenzy, made seven or eight years before this for a peek at how similarly he looks in parts of this.

In fact the movie is only a notch below that film, better in some ways, much worse in others. The first two thirds being only standard thriller stuff that any decent director might have churned out. However once Sutherland reaches the island, his character takes on a kind of Frankenstein quality: the monster we thought we have been watching takes on a sudden pathos that you seldom get with run of the mill thrillers.

And for that matter, even in most Hitchcocks. Sutherland was a perfect choice for the role, and Nelligan is his equal. Very well cast these two.

The last minute of the film, without giving anything away slips a little.

It should have had that lopped off.

But that is a very minor quibble.

Also it is a very rare chance to catch one of Miklos Roszas scores. Rosza always could be picked out from any other, and he is more or less just going through the notes here, a long way from his best, but even Roszas worst were better than a lot of composers bests.

And compared to most of the thrillers of the eighties and nineties, this is a bloody masterpiece.