Murder and the Movies

“[Thomson’s] analysis of death in Hitchcock movies is gorgeous. His restlessness is palpable. There is an anxiety in this brief, hurried book that suits these political and medical times.”—Lisa Schwarzbaum, New York Times Book Review

“It is a pleasure to follow David Thomson through a century’s harvest of movies featuring what Raymond Chandler called the ‘simple art of murder,’ and other kinds of violent death. . . . He successfully throws revealing light on the ways that representations of that hideous crime have captivated and spellbound its movie audiences.”—Lars Ole Sauerberg, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Book Reviews

“Thomson’s dive into dependency of movies on murder leads to a surprisingly quiet tone, a conversation of lowered voices: a sense of film enacting some fated, circular history.”—Greil Marcus

“Thomson, one of the world’s leading film critics and historians, in his polished, recognizable style (dancing writing, provocative gestures, first person participation), has produced a slim, smart, readable volume on murder, movies, and society.”—Jonathan Kirshner, author of Hollywood’s Last Golden Age

“Completely unpredictable, always surprising, always deeply engaging, and always very entertaining. You never know where Thomson may take you. You just know that wherever he does take you will be a wonderful place he will let you discover for yourself.”—Richard Burt, University of Florida