LOVELY disc

This review was first posted to Amazon on January 22, 2009: http://www.amazon.com/review/R14R2S88KPBYXA/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm/

I've read a few complaints about the first DVD edition of "Frenzy," most of which were gripes regarding the disc's audiovisual quality. Rest assured, fellow viewer, the A/V of the Hitchcock Collection disc is truly first-rate. This last of Hitchcock's greatest features was beautifully filmed, and it's done justice with a sharp, vibrant picture and limpid Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack.

The excellent dubbed French dialogue track is accompanied by equally fine English and Spanish subs, which hover around or beneath the speaker of the corresponding text. I wish that more subtitles were positioned so! Scene selections consist of the usual titled thumbnail images.

The included documentary featurette, "The Story of 'Frenzy,'" is so involving that it feels like half of its 44-minute duration. Those who haven't yet seen the film are well advised to watch it before viewing this, as it outlines the picture's entire story with memorable clips interspersed with production photographs and charming interviews in which Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Anna Massey and screenwriter Anthony Shaffer relate a wealth of information concerning the movie's story and production. A clip of the movie's opening credits scored with the theme that Henry Mancini composed for it before being dismissed from the project is also included. As the story goes, Hitchcock listened to Mancini's score, yelled, "If I had wanted Bernard Herrmann, I would have hired him!" at him and fired him on the spot, immediately replacing him with Ron Goodwin.

Among the production photographs are many shots of the famous rape and murder scene, the flashback sequence and the potato truck scene, all of which were likely taken for use in storyboards to aid editing in post. Other photos in this gallery include shots from three deleted scenes (one of which serves as the background of the main menu) and quite a lot of photos of Hitchcock on the set.

Anyone who's seen any of the many amusing trailers that Hitchcock participated in knows how much fun they are, and the "Frenzy" trailer is no exception. I shouldn't need to mention that it's included; it would have been criminal to exclude it!

The production notes merely afford the viewer some interesting bits of trivia.

"Frenzy" has been available via numerous VHS editions since I was a kid, and before obtaining this, I always watched it on that format. I haven't seen and therefore can't evaluate the 2001 edition, but rest assured: this is worthy of the film. If the rest of Universal's Hitchcock Collection is as good as this, I'm looking forward to seeing them.