In 1960, a little movie called Psycho, from some guy named Alfred Hitchcock, shocked the world of cinema forever. It presented a terrifying and disturbing look at one Man’s insanity, something that hadn’t been explored too deeply in many films prior. Hollywood liked to stay away from sensitive subject matter at the time, but Psycho put it right in the forefront.

However, that same year, another film was released across the Atlantic pond, that shocked and assaulted the audience’s expectations. It was called Peeping Tom, from auteur director Michael Powell, and it is every bit as important in the scope of cinema history as Hitchcock’s masterpiece.

Mark Lewis plays Carl Boehm, the titular “tom” and all-around creepy individual. The film makes no effort in hiding the fact that Carl is in fact a killer, right from the beginning. However, his motivations for murder, especially why he chooses to film his victims during their deaths and what causes them all to be so frightened, is kept a mystery until the final minutes of this horror-thriller.

This was my first experience with Peeping Tom, despite being a fan of Powell’s and common filmmaking partner Emeric Pressburger’s other films. It is, in my humble opinion, an absolute classic. I was gripped from the first frame all the way to the final moments. The opening scene alone is a textbook-worthy experience, as we witness a young woman’s murder literally through the lens of the camera Boehm is holding.

I dislike hyperbole, especially when discussing movies, but I honestly feel that Powell’s Peeping Tom is a masterpiece and every bit as important as Hitchcock’s Psycho. It is available on Netflix Watch Instantly, so there is very little excuse to skip one of cinema’s greatest thrillers.