Peeping Tom

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Peeping Tom

1962

1h 49m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

67 Reviews

85%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Loner Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also, he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen (Anna Massey), the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making. She sneaks into Mark's apartment to watch it and is horrified by what she sees -- especially when Mark catches her.

Critics Consensus

Peeping Tom is a chilling, methodical look at the psychology of a killer, and a classic work of voyeuristic cinema.

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Budd Wilkins

Slant Magazine

05/24/2024

Michael Powell’s elegant and disturbing Peeping Tom turns its camera eye on an unhealthy obsession with all things cinematic.

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

01/10/2024

Here voyeurism itself looks outwards and inwards, confounding perpetrator and victim, filmmaker and viewer, camera and phallic weapon, while observing a pathology as metacinematic as it is psychiatric.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

10/27/2023

5/5

The film remains dangerous and brilliant...

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Sarah Boslaugh

TheArtsStl

02/01/2025

8/10

...an astonishing film that doesn’t lose its power upon repeated viewings.

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Sharai Bohannon

A Nightmare On Fierce Street Podcast

12/30/2024

3/5

'Peeping Tom' is an interesting predecessor for many subgenres we know and love. There are moments when the camera work is stunning and the film has so much to unpack that it's worth a few rewatches.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

08/30/2024

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger together created films of unusual conceptual ambition and high style for UK cinema...

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Ivette G.

@Ivettecita May 1

Really enjoyed this strangely compelling movie. Anti

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Jeremy B.

@Cubs_N_Bears1978 Apr 13

Bad. Slasher? I don’t think so.

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nick s

@Nick_S Dec 25

Too shocking for their time, too humdrum for ours. This slow, drawn out thriller has few thrills. However I will take a second look at focus pullers with dinky tripods from now on.

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Ryan A.

@ranthony249 Dec 13

Well ahead of its time.

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Sean R.

@SeanR Aug 26

Interesting movie. I see where slasher tropes started. At times the film looks good but at times everything seems so fake. The characters are all very awkward. But the story and pacing are good. Very middle of the road movie for me.

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Jonathon J

@RT54007015 07/14/2025

Thematically, I found this to be a successful movie - thinking about how fear works, trying to capture absolute terror, the effect of seeing one's own fear. The idea of the camera itself as a murder weapon is also thematically interesting. The finale was quite effective as well. Physically, the murder weapon makes no real sense at all - it's slow and awkward, would only work if the victim stays exactly still. But again, as a metaphor for voyeurism (especially relating to us, the audience) it works.

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Michael Powell

Director

Karlheinz Böhm

Mark Lewis

Moira Shearer

Vivian

Anna Massey

Helen Stephens

Maxine Audley

Mrs. Stephens

Esmond Knight

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Synopsis

Loner Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also, he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen (Anna Massey), the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making. She sneaks into Mark's apartment to watch it and is horrified by what she sees -- especially when Mark catches her.

Director: Michael Powell
Producer: Michael Powell
Screenwriter: Leo Marks
Distributor: Astor Pictures Corporation, 20th Century Fox, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Anglo-Amalgamated Productions
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): May 15, 1962, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $23.0K
Runtime: 1h 49m
Sound Mix: Mono