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Peeping Tom (1960) – Episode 89 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“I’m told by a friend that you have some views for sale.” Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Whitney Collazo, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and listener guest host Shawn Parks – as they become the voyeurs watching the voyeur murderer turning his victims into voyeurs of their own deaths in Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 89 – Peeping Tom (1960)

A young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.

IMDb

Peeping Tom elicited outrage from most film critics at its release, 4-5 months before the release of Hitchcock’s Psycho. Shawn, our listener guest host for this episode, picked Peeping Tom after he’d seen it referred to as a proto-slasher and also finds the juxtaposition of the artist as the obsessed killer interesting. Whitney loves the colors and shot construction right from the opening scene. As usual, Jeff points out some cast members who have appeared in other Decades of Horror episodes. Chad is impressed with the script and the multiple layers it contains.

While you might feel like you need a shower after viewing Peeping Tom, your Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Grue-Crew highly recommend it. As of this writing, Peeping Tom is a bit scarce in the US on physical media – a Criterion issue DVD of Peeping Tom is out-of-print while a UK-released (Region 0) Blu-ray is still available – but the film is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

Chad, Whitney, and Jeff give a big Grue-Crew thank you to Shawn Parks! His film pick, research, and passion for the subject made this episode a joy! Be sure to check out Shawn on his own podcast, Talk Horror to Me.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. The next episode in their very flexible schedule, chosen by their next super-secret guest host, will be Son of Kong (1933).

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

To each of you from each of us, “Thank you so much for listening!

Jeff Mohr
Jeff lives smack dab in the middle of the cornfields of Iowa and is a long-time horror fan. His first remembered encounters with the genre were The Wizard of Oz, Tarzan gorilla chases, and watching the first broadcast of The Twilight Zone episode, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." While he now qualifies as an old fart, he strives to be an Old Boy. Paraphrasing Robert Bloch, he has the heart of a small boy. He keeps it in a jar on his desk. Jeff has written for Horrornews.net and SQ Horror Magazine. He currently writes for Gruesome Magazine and is a co-host of the Decades of Horror podcasts - The Classic Era, 1970s, and 1980s - and the Gruesome Magazine Podcast.