The second in our Classic British Horror Season, from the 1960s.

A British masterpiece, Peeping Tom is a psychological thriller/horror, which explores voyeurism and violence, Michael Powell’s extraordinary film is the story of a lonely psychopathic cameraman—his childhood traumas, sexual crises, and murderous revenge as an adult.

On the surface its a Freudian psychological horror, but beneath it's a film about us in the audience. In his review of the film, Robert Egbert states that, "The movies make us into voyeurs. We sit in the dark, watching other people's lives. It is the bargain the cinema strikes with us, although most films are too well-behaved to mention it."

Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk7B_f5vyXU

*** Plus special guest: Ken Robinson, Psychoanalyst (British Psychoanalytical Society) will lead a discussion after the film screening

The Fall of Michael Powell and the Rise of Peeping Tom

It is sad to say that this complex and disturbing film destroyed Michael Powell's career.  Upon its release it was met with such critcal backlash and controversy over its sympathetic portrayal of the psychologiaclly messed up sexual deviant and serial killer that the distributor pulled it after only a week.  But thank heavens for Martin Scorsese who helped unearth a print in 1979 for the New York film festival where it finally claimed the acknowledgement it deserved.

£4/£3