I enjoyed Murder! more than I’d expected through the craft on screen. The film is rough around the edges, but it does showcase Hitchcock’s talent for direction. There are some great shots, and incredible uses of blocking and staging sprinkled throughout the film with an attention to detail that makes the mystery worthwhile.
The story is mostly engaging, but isn’t as clever as it wants to be, leading to a lack of surprise when the mystery is finally solved. It’s easy to see that quite a bit of effort went into the production of the film, but it builds upon a misjudgment of where it needed to focus its efforts, making for a somewhat uneven viewing experience. The character work needed as much work as the film’s technical aspects to sell the cohesive experience of the mystery.
Still, Murder! is quite good, and definitely worth a watch if you’re a fan of Hitchcock’s work.
I enjoyed Murder! more than I’d expected through the craft on screen. The film is rough around the edges, but it does showcase Hitchcock’s talent for direction. There are some great shots, and incredible uses of blocking and staging sprinkled throughout the film with an attention to detail that makes the mystery worthwhile.
The story is mostly engaging, but isn’t as clever as it wants to be, leading to a lack of surprise when the mystery is finally solved. It’s easy to see that quite a bit of effort went into the production of the film, but it builds upon a misjudgment of where it needed to focus its efforts, making for a somewhat uneven viewing experience. The character work needed as much work as the film’s technical aspects to sell the cohesive experience of the mystery.
Still, Murder! is quite good, and definitely worth a watch if you’re a fan of Hitchcock’s work.
