Expected more

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I'm not an expert on Dario Argento, having only seen a few of his films, but I do know that his fans generally feel his most recent movies are not up to his older films. From this film (and after earlier seeing his Dracula film), I think I can see why that is the case. As you probably have concluded from the title, this movie is aimed at being a tip of the hat to Alfred Hitchcock, and it does indeed have a number of references to several Hitchcock movies. And the movie does have three scenes (an outdoor scene taking place in the rain at night, a bathtub sequence, and the climatic sequence) that do have a taste of the suspense style Hitchcock was known for. Yet even in those three scenes, the movie doesn't have the impact found in Hitchcock's (as well as Argento's) best films. The movie has three big problems. First, it's really cheaply made. Even though the story didn't require stuff like special effects, the movie has a real tacky look. The second problem is that the movie is really slow for the first two-thirds. Padding abounds. The third problem is that the central protagonist is not very sympathetic. In fact, he's kind of annoying. I could list a number of other problems with the movie, like what the point of that long opening scene was, but that would be redundant. To sum up, this is disappointing stuff for Argento and/or Hitchcock fans. About the kindest thing that can be said about the movie is that it isn't as bad as Argento's "Dracula".

Argento has obviously seen better days, but there are still traces of his genius in this slow-moving TV movie about a kid obsessed with the films of Hitchcock who thinks a neighbor living across from him may have been murdered by someone he knows. The murder itself is about the only gory moment in the movie, which will come as a disappointment to lovers of past Argento splatter classics like CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, TENEBRAE, DEEP RED, SUSPIRIA, THE PHANTOM and OPERA. The film pays homage to STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, PSYCHO, VERTIGO, DIAL M FOR MURDER and REAR WINDOW. Badly acted, and the stilted English spoken by the actors in an Italian setting makes it hard to watch at times. The killer's identity comes as no surprise in the end.

After the rich old lady who owns the apartment opposite is brutally murdered, Hitchcock obsessed film student Giulio (Elio Germano) comes to suspect that the dead woman's beautiful daughter Sasha (Elisabetta Rocchetti) has formed a murderous pact with casual friend Federica (Chiara Conti), basing their plans on an idea from an old Alfred Hitchcock movie. As Giulio attempts to prove his theory, he injures his leg, and is forced to watch from his window as his girlfriend takes over his investigation...A made-for-TV tribute from one master of suspense to another, 'Do You Like Hitchcock?' sees Italian auteur Dario Argento taking key plot devices from Hitchcock's classics Strangers on a Train and Rear Window, plus elements from several of the director's other movies, and weaving his own tale of murder and mystery around them. The result is a fairly predictable effort, particularly for those familiar with either director's work, but amongst all of the expected Hitchcockian twists and turns, and typically Argentoesque visuals, there are still several moments of originality and brilliance, including a tense scene in which our hero—who has just fractured his leg—desperately attempts to escape on his moped from a pursuer, and another great moment which sees Guilio attacked in his bathroom whilst his mother and her boyfriend struggle to gain entry to his apartment.Admittedly, the film does suffer a little from terrible dubbing, an unnecessarily over-dramatic Pino Donaggio score, and a rather silly ending (Guilio's sudden realisation that it is his voyeuristic nature that causes him so much trouble), and its made-for-TV status does mean that there is little in the way of gore, but although 'Do You Like Hitchcock?' is likely to be considered a minor entry in Argento's impressive filmography by most fans, it is undeniably fun viewing for anyone who appreciates the director's work—and that of his chubby-cheeked predecessor.

Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005) 1/2 (out of 4) I certainly do like Hitchcock but Dario Argento's latest film is a complete and utter disaster. Argento has been called the Italian Hitchcock since his first film and this movie tries to pay homage but it falls apart on every level. The film tries to mix elements of Rear Window, Dial M For Murder and Strangers on a Train but it comes off more as an insult than anything else. A nerdy film student likes to spy on his neighbors when he discovers a young girl and her mother fighting. The next day he sees this girl in a video store discussing the plot of Strangers on a Train with another girl. A few days pass and the girl's mother is brutally murdered making the film student believe that we've got a Hitchcock copycat going on. If it wasn't for some nice film buff discussions and some great posters of various Hitchcock films then this would be even worse than the horrid Phantom of the Opera that Argento released several years back. I was pulling my hair out watching this film because it has to feature the dumbest characters in giallo history. Much like American horror films, Argento has cast this thing with young actors but what makes matters worse is that none of them can act. The dubbing is atrocious and the story seems more like a Hardy Boys mystery than an actual Argento story. It's funny this thing was made for Italian television because it features more nudity and sexuality than any other Argento film I've seen. I had really high hopes for this film but it turns out to be probably my biggest disappointment of the year.