THE LODGER -A STORY OF THE LONDON FOG (1926)

Cast

Plot

Hitchcock's third feature is basically a variation on the Jack the Ripper story adapted from a novel by Anne Belloc Lowndes. A serial killer is on the loose in London, singling out blonde haired chorus girls and, as the hunt for him hots up, a stranger turns up seeking lodgings at the Bunter family's house. Mysterious he certainly is, but is he the murderer? Menacingly effective camera work, but lighter in tone than his later thrillers. Especially interesting is the way the younger Hitchcock is seen to be fascinated with the darker side of relationships between men and women, whether it's men being harassed by suspicious landladies or women being killed in sexually motivated murders. Hmmmm.