Throughout his career, Dario Argento has been accused of stealing the cinematic chops of Alfred Hitchcock; his latest film, Do You Like Hitchcock?, is in many ways a playful rebuttal to those critics.  Though the film opens with a flashback scene that features a very Bernard Hermann-esque score of tense, stabbing strings, it quickly returns to the present and centers on a voyeuristic film student who has probably seen too many Hitchcock films for his own good.  When his beautiful neighbor’s mother is murdered, he begins to believe that the neighbor and her new friend are enacting a twisted scene lifted straight from Strangers on a Train.

For an Argento film, Do You Like Hitchcock? has a very low body count.  Fans expecting the giallo trappings that Argento is known for are sure to be disappointed.  Despite its suspenseful premise, this film is a bit of a romp compared against Inferno, Suspiria, and Deep Red.   However, it should be kept in mind that Do You Like Hitchcock? was originally intended as the pilot episode of an Italian television series and, as such, its relatively light tone is probably due to the demands placed on a televised production.

Over the course of the movie, Argento makes several blatant references to Hitchcock’s films, but he lets these elements sit next to his own stylistic peculiarities.  Unfortunately, the film’s final moments are a bit of a let down; one of the main characters begins to behave witlessly and the film’s final montage of scenes bludgeons the viewer with a point that has been obvious all along.

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