History Film / PeepingTom

* UnbuiltTrope: The originator of the SlasherMovie puts the audience entirely in the ''killer'''s POV. The DeathBySex applied to his victims is justified by the circumstances—he wouldn't be able to get so close to normal everyday women. And the FinalGirl doesn't get killed like the rest because the killer is actually in love with her.

Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) is a very disturbed young man with a movie camera. An aspiring filmmaker, he works with a film crew and has a second job as a photographer of erotica. This all serves to feed his obsession with voyeurism and death, which he feeds by making his own private snuff films, killing women and filming their deaths. Mark also owns a boarding house, and after engaging in conversation with the family downstairs he strikes up a friendship with their daughter Helen (Creator/AnnaMassey), eventually entering into a relationship with her. Mark shares some of his home movies with Helen, and opens up to her about the childhood problems created by his father. Turns out he used his son as his subject for an experiment in psychological fears, [[AbusiveParents putting Mark in stressful situations and filming everything with his camera]].

* TheAlcoholic: Helen's mother, who is drinking whiskey every time she appears. In one scene where Helen is going upstairs with Mark, Mrs. Stephens reminds Helen to come back before Mom is too drunk to play cards.

* JobTitle: ''Peeping Tom''

* {{Bowdlerise}}: When it was first released, the censors cut shots of the murders, nudity and Mark’s suicide. Note especially how abruptly the third murder scene, with Mark and a nude Milly, ends.

* MatchCut: From a model pouring a cup of coffee to a guest pouring a drink at Helen's party. Later from Mrs Stephens pouring a glass of whiskey to Mark pouring chemicals in his darkroom.

Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) is a very disturbed young man with a movie camera. An aspiring filmmaker, he works with a film crew and has a second job as a photographer of erotica. This all serves to feed his obsession with voyeurism and death, which he feeds by making his own private snuff films, killing women and filming their deaths. Mark also owns a boarding house, and after engaging in conversation with the family downstairs he strikes up a friendship with their daughter Helen (Creator/AnnaMassey), eventually entering into a relationship with her. Mark shares some of his home movies with Helen, and opens up to her about the childhood problems created by his father. Turns out he used his son as his subject for an experiment in psychological fears, [[AbusiveParents putting him in stressful situations and filming everything with his camera]].

''Peeping Tom'' is a 1960 British PsychologicalHorror film by the legendary director Creator/MichaelPowell. Along with ''Film/{{Psycho}}'', released the same year, it can be seen as a precursor to the SlasherMovie genre. It's also known for the controversy it generated at the time it was made.

No one suspects clean-cut, mild-mannered Mark when a prostitute is found dead in his neighborhood, nor do they suspect him when a second victim is found dead on the set of the film he's working on. Finally a chance comment from a psychiatrist leads the police to suspect Mark. Unable to escape his urges, Mark murders his third victim in circumstances that make it obvious he's the killer. He flees back to his boarding house, only to find that Helen has looked at his films and knows the truth about him. She begs him to turn himself in, but instead [[DrivenToSuicide he commits suicide]], giving his documentary an appropriate ending.

''Peeping Tom'' is a 1960 British PsychologicalThriller film by the legendary director Creator/MichaelPowell. Along with ''Film/{{Psycho}}'', released the same year, it can be seen as a precursor to the SlasherMovie genre. It's also known for the controversy it generated at the time it was made.

''Peeping Tom'' is a 1960 British PsychologicalThriller film by the legendary director Creator/MichaelPowell. The movie can be considered, along with ''Film/{{Psycho}}'', as a precursor of the [[SlasherMovie slasher genre]]. It also triggered a little controversy.

The film was highly controversial. Before it was released, it was heavily edited by British censors, with much of the nudity and violence cut out. It was viciously panned by critics and was a flop with audiences, and it wrecked Powell's career. Eventually it was VindicatedByHistory and now is esteemed as an early classic of the horror genre.

* [[StuffedIntoTheFridge Stuffed Into The Coffin]]: Only because Mark needed to dispose of the body quick.