CLASSIC MOVIES: PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971)

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Brief Movie Synopsis [courtesy of Turner Classic Movies]:

A disc jockey is stalked
by a rejected girlfriend.

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REVIEWS:

"Play Misty for Me is not the artistic equal of 'Psycho', but in the business of collecting an audience into the palm of its hand and then squeezing hard, it is supreme. It doesn't depend on a lot of surprises to maintain the suspense. There ARE some surprises, sure, but mostly the film's terror comes from the fact that the strange woman is capable of anything. The movie was Clint Eastwood's debut as a director, and it was a good beginning. .... There is no wasted energy in 'Play Misty for Me.' Everything contributes to the accumulation of terror, until even the ordinary, daytime scenes seem to have unspeakable things lurking beneath them. .... The whole visual style of the movie is strangely threatening. .... Eastwood, in directing himself, shows that he understands his unique movie personality. He is strong but somehow passive, he possesses strength but keeps it coiled inside. And so the movie, by refusing to release any emotion at all until the very end, absolutely wrings us dry. There is no purpose to a suspense thriller, I suppose, except to involve us, scare us, to give us moments of vicarious terror. 'Play Misty for Me' does that with an almost cruel efficiency."

-- Roger Ebert; 1971