Alfred Hitchcock zeigt Don't Look Behind You (1962–1965) watch online HD

In the college town of Woodside, pre-med student Daphne (Vera Miles) narrowly escapes a maniac who has been strangling and mutilating young women near the campus and her boyfriend, a Psychology professor (Jeffrey Hunter), as a few ideas about the killings. He's certain the murders are the work of a faculty member and that the fiend will attack Daphne again; he also knows these kinds of crimes come in waves because blood-lust is catching. The police won't listen to him but he's right on all counts.

John "Hangover Square" Brahm directed the atmospheric yarn from a Barre Lyndon story and makes the most of Universal Studio's spooky back lot forest. Nightmare-inducing images are evoked through dialog; mention is made of the strangler's wicked post-mortem way with a knife. Co-starring Dick "Bewitched" Sargent and Madge "Batman" Kennedy.

Why is it so many lovely young women walk through creepy woods at night, when I turn on my TV. You think they'd know better. But then I'm glad they do since it's really a great hook. Here it's the fetching Vera Miles traipsing through one of the creepiest woods on record. And guess what—she gets menaced by something sinister. What a surprise! The next fifty minutes is figuring out who's in the woods with her and why.

Sounds like a great episode, but I'm sorry to say it's not. The script is a real awkward stretch, while Jeffrey Hunter telegraphs by overacting egregiously. And since he's really central, the entry collapses with him. Too bad that marvelous actress Miles has to stand around and look interested; plus, why would she trust Hunter who's obviously a lunatic if not the killer. Too bad a really evil studio forest is largely wasted, including the dark imaginings of Gothic director John Brahm. Meanwhile, I'm telling the girls to stick to city streets. Uh oh, maybe that's not a good idea, after all.

Having been a fan of Hitchcock since childhood, I look forward to seeing The Alfred Hitchcock Hour at each opportunity. "Don't Look Behind You" is one of the few times that I've been disappointed. Mere moments into this episode, the dialog becomes tiresome, and instantly telegraphs the plot of the story.

A college student (Daphne - Vera Miles) is walking through an eerie wood one night, on her way to a gathering of friends at the house of a professor.

Along her way she becomes frightened by the sound of someone (or some thing) following her. She arrives safely but upset, and is chastised repeatedly by her friends for having taken such a dangerous route. Turns out there's a strangler on the loose, and she's just his type. *** If she or her friends say "walking through the wood" once, they say it 20 times.*** Her fiancé' (Harold - Jeffrey Hunter) then enters, immediately reinforcing the notion that "walking through the wood" was a terribly dangerous idea.

They enjoy a few cocktails, some ridiculous dialog is exchanged, a creepy pianist strikes Daphne's fancy; and as the party winds down, Harold *** who is instantly our prime suspect *** offers to walk Daphne home. Of course they almost immediately hear a woman's screams; and Harold scares away the crazed strangler managing to save a young woman's life.

As an interlude Dave (Dick Sargent without benefit of magic this time), is introduced as a secondary love interest of Daphne's and proceeds to act creepy as well.

Harold *** Who it turns out is a psychology student - Who would'a thunk it? *** becomes fascinated by the strangler, and theorizes that Daphne was his actual target. He insists that Daphne act as bait for the strangler; and later, after she scares away a prowler from her bedroom window, she reluctantly agrees. Long story short, it's the pianist, whom Harold shoots when he comes after Daphne in the woods.

The pianist survives the bullet wound, and is hauled off to a nut-house, where Weird Harold goes to visit him, removing any doubt that Harold himself is nuttier than a fruit cake. There's some more ridiculous dialog. Daphne has a visit with Dave, then goes to see Harold *** who by this time has fully succumbed to the "infection" of insanity *** flipping his lid, trying to strangle her, only to be stopped by Dave.

We end our story by watching Harold be dragged screaming into the asylum in a straight-jacket, while the pianist intones; "I told you, you'd be back!"

As I've said, I like Hitchcock; but this would be sub-par work for far lesser writer/directors, for Hitchcock it's an atrocity.

Here is a spoiler free review of a very well done episode.

It works almost perfectly except for almost getting a bit silly near the end in the staging of a fight sequence. Otherwise this is top drawer stuff. It re-teams the writer and director of the first and best remake of Hitchcock's first silent film hit THE LODGER. Both of them do good work here with moody and dramatic--not overdone melodrama--writing and photography. There are several memorable images and must rank among the best work director Brahm did for the Hithcock hour episodes. The whole show has a brooding and haunting quality.

The musings on the morbid obsessive psychology of killers is quite effective and the casting and acting of Jeffrey Hunter and Dick Saegent really work. The whole point to a story like this is to present all the possible suspects, among those, in another rare thing, is frequent Hitchcock TV director Alf Kejllen as the piano player. He is also very good. All these possible heroes or villains are well written and performed. We see what's creepy and what's sympathetic in each of them as they all try for the love of the leading lady and make us wonder, is this the killer?

The score to the episode by Lyn Murray is excellent and uses the source music of the piano the creepy effect especially at the end. Hunter gets a rare chance here to show his dark side as an actor and does so to good effect. Warren, the director of photography, really does excellent feature-level quality photography capturing blacks but still the glints in peoples eyes.

The show moves quickly and features Hithcock and lovely assistant in a wraparound about magic.

Well done episode regardless of the other interesting and usual aspects and credits of its cast and creators, which to me adds even more interest and quality to it.

One of the top episodes of the series of its type.

***MAJOR SPOILERS*** There's this crazed lunatic running around the collage campus town of Woodside murdering young women and later preforming wield ritual like blood human sacrifices with their bodies. It's collage psychology professors Harold's,Jeffrey Hunter,learned opinion that this killer is a member of the collage staff who's obsessed with killing and using the victim bodies in empowering himself with their ascending souls or sprites. The almost certifiable,for a padded cell a the local mental institution, Harold soon goes so far in finding who this killer that he has his fiancée Daphne, Vera Miles, used as bait in order to get him out into the open and have him captured by the police men with the white suites as well as,in becoming the hero on campus, himself.

Daphne who despite her misgivings goes along with Harold in walking through the woods to entice the mysterious killer to attack her with Harold ready to spring into action as soon as he makes his move on her. This almost backfires on both Daphne & Harold when the killer who turned out to be piano player and song writer Edwin, Alf Kjellin, came charging out of the woods and almost ended up strangled her. It was Harold who gunned Edwin down, only wounding him, that prevented Daphne from being murdered by him.

***MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS*** Just when you and Daphne thought it was safe to take a walk in the woods at night were shocked to find out that it was non other then the hero on campus Harold who's behind all these killings. Harold who was so immersed in finding out what makes murderers tick had turned into one of them himself! And even more weirder his mind became so warped that he felt that the only way he can show his love for Daphne is by both murdering and dismembering her! We also found out after the truth came out about Harold's strange behavior that he in fact manipulated or hypnotized poor and weak Edwin to commit the murders by putting him into some kind of zombie like state of mind and commanding him,from afar,to commit them!

In the end Harold got exactly what he deserved a lifetime stay at the institution for the criminally insane where he can spend all his free time, which is about 40 to 50 years, in studying his favorite subject himself! And maybe finally find out why people become vicious serial murderers in realizing that by someone becoming so interested in them he, like Harold, can very easily become one themselves!