Peeping Tom 4K UHD - Moira Shearer / Carl Boehm / Anna Massey

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Face of Fear")

Directed by Michael Powell
UK 1960

Having brought British cinema into exalted realms of fantasy and imagination, Michael Powell took a dark detour into obsession, voyeurism, and violence with this groundbreaking metacinematic investigation into the mechanics of fear. Armed with his killer camera, photographer and filmmaker Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) unleashes the traumas of his childhood by murdering women and recording their deaths—until he falls for his downstairs neighbor, and finds himself struggling against his dark compulsions. Received with revulsion upon its release only to be reclaimed as a masterpiece, the endlessly analyzed, still-shocking Peeping Tom dares viewers to confront their own relationship to the violence on-screen.

***

A frank exploration of voyeurism and violence, Michael Powell’s extraordinary film is the story of a psychopathic cameraman—his childhood traumas, sexual crises, and murderous revenge as an adult. Reviled by critics upon its initial release for its deeply unsettling subject matter, the film has since been hailed as a masterpiece.

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Theatrical Release: April 7th, 1960

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Review: Criterion - Region FREE - 4K UHD

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Criterion's 4K UHD , available here, includes the Blu-ray: Also released on 4K UHD by Studiocanal in the UK this year: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Criterion Spine #58 - Region FREE - 4K UHD
Runtime	1:42:20.884
Video	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,295,066,630 bytes Feature: 31,105,327,104 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Commentaries: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,295,066,630 bytes Feature: 31,105,327,104 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: 4K Ultra HD disc • Two audio commentaries, one featuring film historian Ian Christie and one featuring film scholar Laura Mulvey Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray • Two audio commentaries, one featuring film historian Ian Christie and one featuring film scholar Laura Mulvey • Introduction by filmmaker Martin Scorsese (2:10) • Interview with editor Thelma Schoonmaker (10:24) • Documentary about the film’s history, featuring interviews with Schoonmaker, Scorsese, and actor Carl Boehm (18:48) • Documentary about screenwriter Leo Marks (50:41) • Program on the film’s restoration (14:56) • Trailer (2:27) PLUS: An essay by author Megan Abbott 4K Ultra HD Release Date: May 14th, 2024 Transparent 4K Ultra HD Case Chapters 17

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective discs.

ADDITION: Criterion (May 2024): Criterion are releasing Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" 4K UHD and Blu-ray. It is stated as being from a "New 4K digital restoration". A text screen informs us: "Restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with STUDIOCANAL.
Funding provided by The Film Foundation and STUDIOCANAL.
Special thanks to Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker for their consultation.
4K scanning: Silver Salt Restoration Limited, London Picture restoration: Cineric, Inc., New York
Audio restoration: BFI National Archive"

The Criterion 4K UHD package has one 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray (which is also available separately) with the film and special features. While we own the 4K UHD disc we cannot resolve the encode yet and therefore cannot obtain screen captures. We hope to add to this review when possible. So, the below captures are from Criterion's 2024 1080P Blu-ray transfer. We compared two DVDs (Criterion's 1999 + Studiocanal's 2007) to Optimum's 2010 Blu-ray, HERE - and to 2024 Criterion Blu-ray captures below. The new 4K restoration (as with January 2024's Studiocanal 4K UHD, available HERE) has far more balanced colors and grain support. Optimum's 2010 Blu-ray was a huge disappointment - heavy with digitization, waxy and no depth. This looks much more film-like and the 2160P image improves another notch on that. Overall, I was immensely impressed with the video appearance. It looked wonderful on my system.

NOTE: 82 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages recently: Dr. Terrors House of Horrors (software uniformly simulated HDR), High Noon (software uniformly simulated HDR), Picnic at Hanging Rock (Criterion) (software uniformly simulated HDR), I Am Cuba (no HDR), The Demoniacs , The Nude Vampire (software uniformly simulated HDR), Nostalghia (no HDR), Werckmeister Harmonies (no HDR), Goin' South (software uniformly simulated HDR), La Haine (software uniformly simulated HDR,) All Ladies Do It (software uniformly simulated HDR), Old Henry (software uniformly simulated HDR), To Die For (software uniformly simulated HDR), Snapshot (software uniformly simulated HDR), Phase IV (software uniformly simulated HDR), Burial Ground (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dark Water (software uniformly simulated HDR), Fear and Desire (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf (no HDR), Paths of Glory (software uniformly simulated HDR), Southern Comfort (software uniformly simulated HDR), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (software uniformly simulated HDR,) The Wages of Fear (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Roaring Twenties (software uniformly simulated HDR), Universal Classic Monsters Limited Edition Collection (software uniformly simulated HDR), Scarlet Street (software uniformly simulated HDR), eXistenZ (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (software uniformly simulated HDR), Conan the Barbarian (software uniformly simulated HDR), Django (no HDR), Lone Star (software uniformly simulated HDR), Suspect Zero (software uniformly simulated HDR), Count Dracula (software uniformly simulated HDR), Full Circle - The Haunting of Julia (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Warriors (software uniformly simulated HDR), Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (software uniformly simulated HDR), Blackhat (software uniformly simulated HDR), Mark of the Devil (software uniformly simulated HDR), Barbarella (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Last Picture Show (software uniformly simulated HDR).

On both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. "Peeping Tom" has cloaked violence against women - never graphic on the screen - but there are shrill screams that require the high-end support achieved by the audio transfer - while remaining authentically flat. The film's music is credited to Brian Easdale who did the beautifully dramatic scores in Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes, Gone to Earth, Battle of the River Plate, and Black Narcissus. It consists of a rather disconcerting, lone, piano performed by Gordon Watson that adds unnerving anticipation to the viewing. It suits the tone effectively and is quite eerie in the uncompressed. Criterion include optional English (SDH) subtitles on their region FREE 4K UHD disc and Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The 4K UHD and Blu-ray disc both offer two audio commentaries, the first featuring film historian Ian Christie (author Arrows of Desire) as found on the 2010 Optimum Blu-ray. He is the go-to guy for details on the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Even being almost 15-years old, the commentary still has excellent value. The second commentary features film scholar Laura Mulvey (author of Death 24x a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image) as heard on Criterion's original 1999 DVD. She discusses when the film was made, it's poor initial reviews; "a critical disaster", Peeping Tom's many layers, Freudian analysis, and the film's rediscovery among many other topics. She narrates a bit but it remains a worthwhile commentary.

The rest of the supplements are relegated to Criterion's Blu-ray. Repeated are Chris Rodley's Channel 4 U.K. 50-minute, 1997, documentary A Very British Psycho as found on the original Criterion DVD. It addresses how and why "Peeping Tom" was made, the uniformly and influential poor reaction from the critics in its day and how it is regarded now. There is quite a bit about writer 'Leo Marks' and has clips from Michael Powell, Carl Boehm, Derek Hill, Alexander Walker, David Robinson, Anna Massey, Pamela Green and others. Also repeated from past digital editions are the 2-minute introduction by director Martin Scorsese, a 10-minute interview with editor Thelma Schoonmaker, Olivier Serrano's 2009, 18-minute, documentary Eye of the Beholder with interviews about Peeping Tom including Scorsese, Böhm, Schoonmaker, Mulvey and Columba Powell the son of Michael Powell (who plays the child in the filmed flashbacks of Peeping Tom.) We get a 1/4 hour program on the film’s restoration with Simon Lund of Cineric - plus a trailer. The package has liner notes with an essay by author Megan Abbott (Dare Me.)

Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" is described as unconventional, groundbreaking, subversive, certainly controversial and unexpected by 1960's critics and audiences familiar with the director's classic work which included collaboration with Emeric Pressburger on masterpieces like The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus with grand use of color, narrative storytelling etc. Easily the greatest creative partnership in the history of British Cinema. Like Hitchcock's Psycho made the same year there are disquieting themes of voyeurism, violence against women, severe mental health issues running parallel to a parental relationship etc. "Peeping Tom" remains such an interesting, if uncomfortable, film in its probing of the viewer's psyche tolerance, what constitutes sexual deviance or abuses of childhood trauma etc. As a point of trivia; the cameras in Mark Lewis' room include director Michael Powell's first film camera, a hand operated Eyemo, made by Bell and Howell, that he won in a competition. A 4K UHD release of "Peeping Tom" certainly ranks highly amongst cinephile must-own packages. Criterion has the vastly improved image, two commentaries, documentary with interviews and more. It has our highest recommendation.

Gary Tooze

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