Family Plot

The director’s cameo in Family Plot perfectly captured the qualities of the film itself, which really contains only a shadow of Hitchcock’s genius. Other than the usual sexuality (with signs of masochism) and food, the master’s final film involves matters relating to death and the afterlife. At the same time, Hitchcock makes it clear that he considers spiritualism to be a load of nonsense whose purpose is to extract money from gullible people. Even the last scene, when there is finally something that looks like a demonstration of supernatural abilities, cannot avoid calling those abilities into question, and because there is no other character on hand, the conspiratorial wink belongs to the audience. Though probably not intended as such, it is a very stylish farewell. In terms of quality, Family Plot is not that far behind other late-period Hitchcock films: there are two or three scenes that you will want to see again, actors without charisma (who, furthermore, portray absolutely unbelievable characters) and a surfeit of words that often tell us what we don’t need to know. As unsatisfying value added, there is a soporific exposition and the strange feeling that Hitchcock would also like to leave all of those annoying, puzzled people behind as quickly as possible. 60% (19/07/2013)

Though Hitchcock’s final opus lacks the master filmmaker’s style (it seems rather more run-of-the-mill), it is still more entertaining than most genre-related films of the 1970s. Primarily, the fresh and intelligent screenplay and relaxed atmosphere make it perfect entertainment for a Sunday spent relaxing in front of the television. I went into Family Plot with a bit of scepticism and ended up being pleasantly surprised. Don’t think of it as a Hitch film and you’ll be nicely entertained. (11/04/2002)