Yesterday I watched Hitchcock's Vertigo. It's an excellent murder mystery from 1958 starring James Steward (John Ferguson) and Kim Novak (Madeline Elster) in the leading roles. An old friend asks detective Ferguson to investigate the disturbing wanderings of his wife Madeline. Apparently, she is possessed by her great grand-mother who took her own life about 100 years earlier. The pace of the film is quite slow at times, but the atmosphere and tension are the key elements. The camera work and settings are amazing for its time and Vertigo is filmed in glorious technicolour. The movie reminded me of spending my Thursdays watching B-rated movies with Søren Dideriksen and Lasse Skjalm in the underground cinema Slagtehal 3 in Aarhus. It is now clear to me where top-directors like Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and (to much less extent) Shinya Tsukamoto got their inspiration from. Anyone who enjoyed watching Vertigo and Psycho should check out more recent films like Argento's Non Ho Sonno (Sleepless) and Tsukamoto's thriller Vital.

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