2. Peeping Tom
While the controversy surrounding this film effectively killed his career, Michael Powell had to wait over a decade for a critical reappraisal. Now regarded as a classic horror, it still maintains the power to shock. Max Lewis (Carl Boehm) spends his days as a reclusive film photographer, his nights committing brutal murders and filming the act. By carrying a camera with him at all times, under the guise of filming for a documentary, his passions are free to pass unchecked. Seemingly fascinated by the look of fear on his victims' (who are exclusively women) faces, his motive stems from his being the guinea pig to his psychiatrist father's studies on fear and the nervous system. Not that this makes Max any less of a monster; his repressed sexuality and milieu of soft-porn hint at a misogyny that never quite leaves the frame. What makes the film so noteworthy is how it presents the crimes from the killer's perspective; a technique almost taken for granted today. The camera closes in on his victims and drags the audience in with it. While often compared to 'Psycho' (released only months apart and sharing traits in their leading men), 'Peeping Tom' offers one of cinema's most memorable, if macabre, voyeurs.