Film Club Review – Dial M for Murder

This will be the first of my film club reviews. For more information on what they’re all about, read my page about them.

Dial M for Murder

Of course everyone knows that Hitchcock is the master of suspense, and I always enjoy a good Hitchcock film, yet there are still many of his I haven’t seen yet, Dial M being one of them. Dial M is the story of a wife who is in love with a man other than her husband. She thinks her husband doesn’t know about her affair, but of course he does and he plots to murder her in order to get her inheritance.

This is a solid thriller mystery which keeps pulling you along the whole way through with a great plot. What Hitchcock does here which is truly brilliant is the way in which he finds the perfect balance of what the audience understands is going on and what they don’t. When Tony lays out his plan to his accomplish, we as the audience know every detail of what is about to take place. But when the plan starts unraveling and Tony must improvise, we as the audience are never quite sure of what he’s doing and what his end game is, keeping us wondering throughout. Similarly, the inspector who is also plotting his own traps does things which we know have a purpose but can’t quite see yet.

This is a great piece of film-making by one of the best there is. It is still missing that certain something which would elevate it to one of the great movies for me, like Rear Window or North by Northwest had, but it is a strong testament to Hitchcock’s genius and a great example of what a great suspense film should be.
9/10