Lists
- ranked 78 in BFI 100
- ranked 92 in TV Cream's Top 100 Films
- ranked 239 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- ranked 258 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 291 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of Guardian 1,000 films to see before you die
- one of Richard Corliss's Top 25 Horror Films
Strange to think that this psychosexual thriller about a murderous deviant was, at the time, extreme: today there is much worse on TV, let alone the worst torture-porn cinema. If the psychology of it all seems a little simplistic -- Mark (Carl Boehm) came by his obsessions with film and fear from his father, who abused him on camera as a child -- it's a remarkably sympathetic portrayal of a monster. Boehm is brilliant and Powell shoots it all with lurid colours and film-noir shadows.