Artist Peeping Tom (1960)

Working in tandem with producing partner Emeric Pressburger, British national treasure Michael Powell built his reputation on spectacular Technicolor fantasias like The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. But his career was effectively halted by 1960’s scandalous Peeping Tom, a lurid, self-reflexive thriller about voyeurism that was lambasted by critics, but which has since earned a richly deserved cult following. Released the same year as Psycho, Powell’s unflinching look at a filmmaker (Karlheinz Böhm) who uses his camera to literally assault and kill women is no less shocking and penetrating in its psychological impact.

Updated 01/12/2010