James Quinn

Having seen and been entranced by the original Hitchcock film, I was perhaps prepared to fault this version simply on that score. But in fact, this new version fails utterly. Mr. Wheatley may be a competent director, but his actors cannot complete with the likes of Olivier, Fontaine, Anderson, and Sanders. This new version is at once too crowded with spectators, yet not at all in competition with the far fewer characters which made the original so powerful. Further, the lushly mysterious and threatening atmosphere created by Hitchcock far outstrips the more mundane if more contemporary air of this new version. I could (and have) watched the original more times than I can count. I would not be at all interested in viewing this one more than once.