Reviews & Ratings for
Do You Like Hitchcock? (TV) More at IMDbPro »Ti piace Hitchcock? (original title)

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Index

36 reviews in total

---

30 out of 44 people found the following review useful:
Don't we LOVE Argento?!, 20 March 2005

Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

One thing concerning this film should be made clear immediately, otherwise several Dario Argento fans will risk being disappointed: "Do you like Hitchcock" is a TV-movie and therefore not as outrageous and/or shocking as we expect Argento films to be! Don't prepare yourself to see another "Opera" or "Tenebre" in which repulsive gore will burst from the screen or demented giallo plot-twists stun you constantly! This is a decent, but overall ethically correct thriller, in which the master's touch is only detected in details and style aspects. This is by no means a bad film and please don't see this warning as sign not to watch it, but I only want to prevent that people will start making comments like "Dario Argento continues to lose his touch" etc... As stated above, "Do you like Hitchcock" is the first in a series of eight films produced by the Italian TV-station Rai Uno that are meant to bring the ultimate tribute to Alfred "Master of Suspense" Hitchcock. His classic titles will serve as pivot elements in newly written thrillers, of which only the pilot film is directed by Dario Argento. This general idea is terrific for a homage, I think, and admirers of classic cinema will certainly enjoy the blend of all these Hichcock highlights in modern settings.

Argento's film largely focuses on two Hitckcock milestones, namely "Strangers on a Train" and "Read Window". Giulio is a young film-student who occasionally watches his gorgeous neighbor girl across the street with binoculars. He witnesses how she and her mother regularly argue and when the mother is found murdered one morning, Giulio becomes obsessed by figuring out who did it. He discovers that the daughter recently made acquaintance with someone at the local videostore. Giulio begins to suspect that the two persons agreed to commit a murder for each other, just as it was the case in Hitchcocks's "Strangers on a Train". It's really nice to see how Argento blends all Hichcock references into one giant tribute. Aside from the two obvious titles, there are multiple other, smaller references towards Hitchock's oeuvre and, at times, you really do need to be a specialist to discover them all. The story is compelling enough to keep you interested and some really tense moments point out that Argento is still – and will always be – a powerful director. For example, there's a sequence in which the hero desperately tries to flee from the scene of a crime on a scooter, but secondary influences, like the rainy weather or technical difficulties, prevent him from getting away. Do not, repeat DO NOT, watch this film in case you're searching for nasty gore! The few murder scenes are, however, rather unsettling (and typically Argento!) but they surely can't live up to most of the director's previous work. "Do you like Hitchcock" is a worthwhile thriller and I personally rated it higher than Dario's last film, "the Card Player".

---

14 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Playful and suspenseful homage to a great director by a great director, 22 August 2006

Author: Bjorn (jbjorns) from Iceland

Giulio is a peeping Tom and lovely Sascha from across the street catches his eye from time to time. At a local video store Giulio sees Sascha and another girl discussing Hitchcock's film Strangers on a Train and Sascha rents it. Later Sascha's mother is killed and Giulio starts thinking about the plot from Strangers on a Train.

From his very first film Argento has been nicknamed "the Italian Hitchcock" and many still refer to him as that. Although he heartily disagrees with that assessment, Argento may have felt obliged to do a direct homage to the old master at some point in his career. With the help of his longtime script collaborator Franco Ferrini, Argento has constructed a very clever "whodunnit" which successfully weaves together elements from Hitchcock's Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, Dial M. for Murder and Vertigo, and possibly a few others. The story is surprisingly airtight considering the many films it's paying homage to. No great loopholes to be found and although you know the old films by heart, Do You Like Hitchcock? still manages to surprise up until the end. It's no doubt great fun for a Hitchcock aficionado to spot all the references, I particularly liked the Vertigo inspired ending.

Some Argento trademarks are present but on the whole it doesn't always look like it's one of his films. It must be taken into consideration that this is an Italian made for TV film and Argento reportedly had to make it in a hurry and it's budget is lower than usual. The actors here are actually pretty decent and the dubbing fares better here than in Argento's The Card Player. No big names here but they do their jobs well enough. The gore is on the light side, only one sequence has some ick factor in it.

With all limitations in mind it's a wonder what Argento managed to accomplish because Do You Like Hitchcock? is overall a suspenseful homage that no doubt Hitchcock himself would have approved of.

---

13 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Entertaining TV-movie by Argento, 1 July 2005

Author: SharkHunter from Sweden

Horror master Dario Argento's tribute to legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock is not nearly as gory or stylish as other Argento-flicks. But why should it be? It's a tribute to Hitchcock and his movies weren't bloody at all. The two movie it tributes the most is "Rear Window" and "Strangers on a Train".

I'm a big fan of both Argento and Hitchcock so I was looking forward to seeing it. I enjoyed it. Not exactly scary but it has some really suspenseful scenes as well as some creepy murder scenes. The dubbing is bad though. If you like Hitchcock and Argento you will probably be entertained by this movie. It isn't as good as movies like "Suspiria" or "Rear Window" though.

---

14 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
What a great producer, 21 March 2005
Author: Rabiddog from Belgium

Me and my girlfriend had the opportunity to watch Ti Piace Hitchcock at the Brussels fantastic film festival last Saturday. He directed this movie for the Italian television (RAI) and in mine opinion with success.The movie was introduced to the crowd by the master of horror himself.

The movie isn't as gory like the seventies eighties Argento movies but it still contains a lot of suspense and the murder scene is in "Argento style". If you are looking for a real gory giallo then you'll better skip it. It's an Argento movie and expectations may be high but it's a television movie and when you are an Argentofan you'll notice.

I'm really looking forward to his next movie.

greets

---

9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Entertaining, if slightly predictable, giallo, 13 January 2007
Author: DVD_Connoisseur from England

Argento's made-for-television "Ti piace Hitchcock?" is an entertaining giallo which pays tribute to the works of the old master.

A "Rear Window" for the noughties, Argento's offering delivers some great moments and there are fleeting glimpses of the genius behind such classics as "Deep Red" and "Tenebrae".

Elio Germano is excellent as the geeky voyeur who's nosiness leads him into no end of trouble. His performance is believable and his character is both likable and sympathetic.

While the violence has been toned down for this production, it's still a very watchable tale.

---

8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
I don't think any fan of Argento or Hitchcock should miss this., 18 April 2006

Author: christopher-underwood from Greenwich - London

Most enjoyable and suspenseful tale, featuring in the main elements of 'Strangers On A Train' and 'Rear Window', but also making reference to many of Hitchcock's movies. Much fun can be had spotting all the amusing/effective references without the ongoing tale being spoiled. There are at least two excellent sequences, one involving a moped and the other a bath, but although the pace may be a little erratic, the dialogue rather strange and the dubbing diabolical, this is as much fun for us as it must have been for Mr Argento. I'm not one of those that will talk of a 'return to form' because I'm just happy to enjoy what I enjoy without harping back, but I don't think any fan of Argento or Hitchcock should miss this.

---

9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Minor but entertaining Argento, 1 July 2005

Author: jangu from Stockholm, Sweden

Make no mistake, this is a made-for-TV movie so don't expect the usual Argento-gore and a lot of stylized violence. If that's what you're looking for, look somewhere else!

It also shows sometimes that he is working in another medium (television), style-wise. But apart from that, this is a playful and lightweight homage to Alfred Hitchcock, that works fairly well within the constrains of the medium.

It has a sympathetic lead in Elio Germano (but the female are more formulaic) and most actors are a lot better that what is common in an Argento-movie. The beginning of the movie is very well set-up when you get a peak into several apartments a la "Rear window". The script is full of references to different Hitchcock-movies, but there are also nods towards Brian dePalma and...Dario Argento himself! There are scenes that seems to have been lifted more or less intact from his other creations like "Deep red", "Opera" and "Inferno". But this is not necessarily a negative thing since all this is mostly woven into the plot with a lot of skill. There is only one murder (but two death scenes), but it is quite violent and the scene leading up to it is very suspenseful. The final 10 minutes are also edge-of-your-seat material.

Also worth mentioning is the nice cinematography by Fasano (especially the shots at night are very nice to look at). And the score by Pino Dinaggio is absolutely top-notch! It's certainly a lot better than the anonymous music he put together for Dario in "Trauma" and might remind you of his work for Brian de Palma.

But some things don't work, for instance the scene where our "hero" breaks his leg. It is too drawn out even though it's suspenseful in the beginning. The pace flags occasionally and is generally erratic. And even if the climax is exciting, I cannot shake of a feeling that it could have been even better with a tighter script. It seems that Argento/Ferrini lost interest somehow in their intriguing little tale of terror. And finally, the usual quibble when it comes to an Argento film...the dubbing is sometimes truly bad, at best it's acceptable. And note that I saw the Italian version! God only knows why italians often prefer to dub instead of using the original sound?!

But all in all, a very decent outing by Mr Argento. It certainly doesn't top "Suspiria", "Inferno", "Deep red" or his other masterpieces (it doesn't even top the underrated "Trauma" which is resembles sometimes), but it is absolutely one of the best things he's done since "Opera".

---

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Moody, But Slightly disappointing Hitchcock-Tribute From Argento, 26 December 2007

Author: Benjamin Gauss from Salzburg, Austria

I had pretty high expectations from this movie as it is a tribute from the great Dario Argento to the great Alfred Hitchcock.Dario Argento is one of the living directors i have the greatest respect for, and one of my personal favorite directors of all-time, and there is probably no true cineaste around to doubt that Alfred Hitchcock is one of THE most influential and greatest directors in the history of motion pictures.

That being said, I was slightly disappointed with "Ti Piace Hitchcock?" aka "Do You Like Hitchcock?" of 2005. Not because it's not nearly as gory and brutal as Argento's ultra-violent masterpieces from the 70s and 80s - I expected it to be mild for Argento standards, since it's a made-for-TV tribute from a genius director, Dario Argento, to another genius director, Alfred Hitchcock, and this doesn't call for the extreme violence of films like Suspiria or Opera. What I did expect, however, was the suspense, that Argento usually delivers, and I was therefore a bit disappointed, as I found all the parts of the movie that were meant to surprise way too predictable. There is a lot of tension, and the movie highly entertains, no doubt about that but the plot-twists are quite lame and it is simply not nearly as suspenseful as we're used to from Argento, especially after he delivered another great and highly suspenseful Giallo, "Non Ho Sonno" aka "Sleepless" in 2001.

The performances are great, Elio Germano delivers a solid leading performances and all three leading actresses - Elisabetta Roncchetti, Christina Brondo and Chiara Conti are both sexy and excellent in their roles, especially Roncchetti is drop-dead gorgeous and delivers a great performance in a great femme-fatale role. The score by Pino Donaggio is very good, but then again it is not nearly as brilliant as the scores by Progressive Rock band Goblin and their genius keyboard-player/composer Claudio Simonetti.

Over-all, the movie delivers suspense, atmosphere and good entertainment. It is just not very good for what it is (or could have been), a Hitchcock-tribute from Argento. Argento fans like myself run risk of being a little disappointed, but it is definitely worth the time.

---

8 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
In a traditional Movie sense, this movie is better than the long awaited "Card Player"., 19 August 2006

Author: ProfundoVic from United States

It Would be ludicrous in a huge way to compare this film to any past Argento works.Dario has sort of erased the formula board a little to start fresh but yet amazingly DYLH is as old fashioned as a thriller/murder mystery can get! All i was expecting from DYLH was a good to average movie with at least some of the argento flair for the visual, knowing this was a Euro made TV Movie if you will.It's a hell of a lot more. Let's get back to basics though, movies must entertain and a connection to the characters always helps, along with a memorable soundtrack if possible. Oh and if it claims to be a thriller it must do just that Thrill!!. I just described my feelings after watching "Do you Love Hitchcock".In a traditional Movie sense, thriller or Giallo, this movie is better than the long awaited "Card Player".Forget what you hear from the alleged Argento experts there are none who could say this and that or compare,just enjoy it thats the general idea! It could have been called "Do you like Bava,Hitchcock and me,Dario Argento"? My answer is a definite yes i do like. Dario uses his cinema style like a weapon of mass destruction and was probably in a real good mood (you can see it in the Extras) DA shows audiences once again why he is a cult success, without all the benefits of huge sums of money for budgets from large Movie studios. Dario, 64,has been at it since the real good Hitchcock times,in the 60's.I want more of this style, much more!!It's pure fun! Bravo Dario! An excellent addition to your great body of work.Long Live Bava ,Hitchcock and shine on Dario!!

---

6 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Solid entertainment, 18 October 2005

Author: Grann-Bach (Grann-Bach@jubii.dk) from Denmark

This is only the second of Dario Argento's films I've seen, but I found it quite enjoyable, and I'll definitely look for other films by him(not something I felt like after watching the other film by him I saw, Creepers). The film is a salute to Argento's idol, Alfred Hitchcock, and contains homages to several of his films. It's about a guy who sees two girls meeting and discussing the plot of Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train briefly, and then someone close to one of the girls die. Has the two girls switched murders, like it happened in the very film they discussed? The plot is a playful mix of Strangers on a Train and Rear Window, with some parts inspired by other Hitchcock masterpieces. The pace is pretty good, though it drags at some points in the film. Like Hitchcock, Argento manages to create some excellent suspense. The gore isn't as shocking or gratuitous as what I understand most of Argento's film contain, but it's good considering that it's a TV-film. There's also a fair bit of nudity. This fact will no doubt deter some possible viewers, and draw others. The acting is fairly good, for the most part, though there are a few scenes where the acting is embarrassing, even by TV-movie standards. The characters are credible and interesting, though a few of them seem written in just to make room for a few twists near the end, and at some points, the characters seemed completely illogical to me(but this may be an issue of cultural differences... this may be typical for Italians, in other words, but I've never seen people act like that). All in all, a fun little film, good for fans of either or both directors, but not really something you'll want to watch more than once or twice. I recommend this to fans of Dario Argento and/or Alfred Hitchcock. Check it out if the plot grabs your attention. Chances are, you won't regret it. I certainly didn't. 7/10

---

---

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Add another review

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	Awards
External reviews	Plot keywords	Main details
Your user reviews	Your vote history