StudioCanal

A focus puller at a film studio supplements his wages by taking glamour photographs in a seedy studio above a newsagent, while also harbouring a dark secret.

This new 4K of Michael Powell’s iconic 1960 serial killer movie has been taken from a restoration by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive. There’s grain that’s expected and acceptable for a movie of this age; most of the work seems to have been done on removing artefacts and overall cleaning.

Written by Leo Marks, it’s hard to imagine now just how ground-breaking and controversial the movie was on its release. A proto slasher movie, we follow Mark Lewis (a sinister Carl Boehm) as he films his victims at their moment of death. Anna Massey, Moira Shearer and Maxine Audley all provide solid support in this unnerving and atypical Powell movie.

This new release includes a booklet with an introduction from Martin Scorsese, new writing and the original press book. There’s a feature by horror expert Sir Christopher Frayling, a look at the legacy of the movie, an audio commentary and restoration featurette.

Verdict: A prestige upgrade for a horror classic, preserved as a quality release. 10/10 

Nick Joy