Doug Wilson

Hitchcock's Spellbound

Watched Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound last night. It is worth watching because it has some nice ideas and a fairly good story about a mental institution, psycho analysis and repressed guilt. Unfortunately I thought it was far from his best. In many ways this is a very generic 40's film that feels very dated now. Some of the story drags and the music - unlike say Psycho which is iconic - is again generic and dull. After watching the film I read an interview with Hitchcock and he echoed some these things himself. Apparently he had a producer who had some influence on the film and therefore it is not pure Hitchcock. A Salvador Dali dream sequence is a nice touch although it is not quite as cool as it sounds. Cinematograpy wise there were some nice moments. When the leading couple share their first kiss he cuts away to a long corridor of doors opening before fading back to the kiss. It was a nice metaphor opening up the sub-conscious mind and memory that kick-starts happenings in the story. Also later on in a plot twist moment (I'll leave out spoilers) the leading lady is in a crisis and panic, suddenly you see some classic Hitchcockian shots and cinematography. It really stood out in this moment and then he is put back on a leash.

Overall score: 60%