Vertigo (1958) Rank 4 Reviews

MovieJustice (Dan DeVore)

In the end though both of the lead characters get what they deserve and it's Hitchcock's odd sense of humor that makes the theme of doubles run throughout the movie. Scotty is forced twice to face his fear, Judy is transformed twice at the hands of ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at MovieJustice (Dan DeVore)

Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)

Hitchcock's twisty, suspenseful tale is far more involving and memorable than most recent Hollywood thrillers. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)

Boulder Weekly (Thomas Delapa)

A rich, resonant meditation of male romantic obsession ... Not only does Hitchcock demonstrate a total mastery of cinematic point-of-view, but he turns what might have been mere melodrama into film poetry. Perhaps his greatest film. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Boulder Weekly (Thomas Delapa)

Seth Bookey

*Vertigo* is another movie that was lovingly restored recently and made the rounds recently. *Vertigo*, it turns out, is a movie that is easily seen and not heard. Hearing it is practically a formality, because the real joy is in the viewing. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Seth Bookey

Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)

And then things go wrong and Madeleine kills herself, leaving John torn apart by the thought he might have saved her if it hadn't been for his damn acrophobia again... Believe me, this is barely the tip of the iceberg. Vertigo keeps getting more ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)

IndependentCritics.com (Jacob Hall)

Vertigo" is one of Hitchcock's best films. Combining elements of suspense, romance, and horror, it is one of the best thrillers of all time. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at IndependentCritics.com (Jacob Hall)

Joel B. Kirk

The movie was adapted by Samuel A. Taylor and Alec Coppel from the novel d'Entre les Morts by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac.The final script was entirely written by Samuel Taylor from notes by Hitchcock. However, a number of elements survive from ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Joel B. Kirk

DVD Journal

Vertigo may or may not be Alfred Hitchcock's best film (depending on who you're talking to), but it's probably his richest - the one that keeps calling us back for further analysis, the one hardest to release from our minds after the end credits. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at DVD Journal

Dimspace Haiku Movie Reviews

People aren't always who they seem to be. In some cases, though, they ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Dimspace Haiku Movie Reviews

Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)

Vertigo was made in Technicolor and VistaVision, two totally outdated modes that are difficult to restore. These guys not only succeeded, but they redid the sound and the music as well, and in Digital Stereo. By some miracle, they found a stereo ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)

The Fresh Films Review (Fredrik Fevang)

Alfred Hitchcock's mesmerizing Vertigo opens as a fairly down-beat mystery drama and progressively paces up, narratively as well as thematically, to a grand finale. In between the master of suspense manages to implement a narrative that functions on ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at The Fresh Films Review (Fredrik Fevang)

David Macdonald's Movie Reviews

Vertigo, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is one of the greatest of all Hollywood films, and contains numerous pleasures and oddities, unparalleled in the classic Hollywood tradition. The biggest peculiarity, at least in my opinion, is that this is not a ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at David Macdonald's Movie Reviews

eFilmCritic

Vertigo is still an astonishing film, almost forty years after its initial release. Many critics regard this as Hitchcock's greatest film, even more memorable than Psycho. Whatever privileged position this film is given in the great director's huge ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at eFilmCritic

Dragan Antulov

VERTIGO represents Hitchcock at his best a great artist who is willing to experiment while being faithful to his trademark style in the same time. Result of his efforts is the film with multiple layers that could satisfy both those who worship ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Dragan Antulov

Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)

The thing to remember about Vertigo, of course, is that there's a lot of music beyond the title sequence, the "Scene d'Amour," and the final two disastrous falls. Much of the score simmers behind the suspenseful character action in the film. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)

digitallyOBSESSED.com (Jon Danziger)

The contrarian in me can find a raft of reasons to run down this movie, and its place in the Hitchcock canon-it's not as elegantly constructed as Rear Window. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at digitallyOBSESSED.com (Jon Danziger)

Ted Prigge

When "Vertigo" initially came out in the 50s, it was criticized for many of the same things I said in the first paragraph. Manipulative. Stupid. Not enough suspense. But a couple years later, people finally GOT the film, and now it's a classic. This ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Ted Prigge

TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

The most-discussed work of the master; despairingly sardonic and demanding of multiple viewings. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

ToxicUniverse.com (Jeremiah Kipp)

The most disturbing aspect of Vertigo is the lengths to which Scottie goes changing the real into the ideal, ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (Jeremiah Kipp)

Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

Brilliant slow moving psychological drama about a man obsessed by a strange love for an ice queen blonde, who suffers from a mental breakdown, a bad guilt trip and is seemingly possessed by the dark side of his mind. It's Alfred Hitchcock at his most ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

New York Times (Janet Maslin)

...the sheer daring with which the director [Hitchcock], in this film, defies both logic and audience expectations, working in a much riskier and more passionate style than the coolly controlled one that became his trademark. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at New York Times (Janet Maslin)

Sean Lee

We squirm nervously as we watch Scottie desperately try to re-create Madeleine through Judy in Hitchcock's Vertigo. There is something discomforting about the futility of trying to extract a dead lover from a stranger. While Scottie's actions can be ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Sean Lee

New York Times (Janet Maslin)

With less playfulness and much more overt libido than other Hitchcock classics, Vertigo was always anomalous. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at New York Times (Janet Maslin)

Deseret News, Salt Lake City

"Vertigo" is an incredibly mesmerizing movie experience. And the script spins what has to be one of the most convoluted tales ever filmed - so much so that it defies adequate description without giving away too many of its odd twists and turns. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City

eFilmCritic.com (M. P. Bartley)

James Stewart is Scotty, a detective who has recently retired. He's quit because he's afflicted with agoraphobia, a condition that gives him dizzying attacks of vertigo. One such attack almost cost him his life, so he's happily retiring to the quiet ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at eFilmCritic.com (M. P. Bartley)

BBC Films

"Vertigo" is an enjoyably duplicitous film, full of artificiality in both the film-making (lots of back projection) and the story (things not being what we thought), in other words: pure Hitchcock. Added to this is composer Bernard Herrmann's ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at BBC Films

PreViewed DVD

What Vertigo also represents for me is the best use of color in the history of film. Hitchcock uses reds, greens, blues, violets, and grays so effectively, the vivid colors of the film become almost a character unto themselves. The scenes in Novak's ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at PreViewed DVD

Orbital Reviews

John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) is a promising young lawyer in San Francisco who trained to be a police officer, but during a chase he learns he has acrophobia, or fear of heights, causing him to experience vertigo. His condition causes the ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Orbital Reviews

filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)

Awesome and brilliant, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo was recently restored, and its power is immense. Jimmy Stewart never did finer work, and Hitchcock's masterpiece, though its meaning may be lost on many, reveals a man at his most obsessed -- an apt ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)

Ciné-club de Caen (Jean-Luc Lacuve)

Un ancien ami de collÃ¨ge, Gavin Elster, directeur d'une entreprise de construction navale appartenant Ã sa femme Madeleine lui propose alors une mission dÃ©licate : suivre madeleine, qui est hantÃ©e, possÃ©dÃ©e par une mystÃ©rieuse crÃ©ature et se ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Ciné-club de Caen (Jean-Luc Lacuve)

Ian Low

In the pantheon of film making, there are undoubtable classics that stand out as monumental artifacts of this art form. Some of these remain the standards where new films are measured against and even imitated upon. Citizen Kane, Casablanca and Lawrence ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Ian Low

DVD Times (Mike Sutton)

Vertigo is the masterwork of a great director at the very peak of his talent. If I could come up with any more superlatives then I would shower them upon this film because it's one of the most beautiful, moving, provocative and emotionally insightful. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at DVD Times (Mike Sutton)

Home Theater and Sound (Wes Marshall)

On the off chance that you may not have seen the film, I'll stop the synopsis there. Vertigo is one of Alfred Hitchcock's masterworks, a tale with plot twists and turns that keep you wondering what's happening during the first half of the film. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Home Theater and Sound (Wes Marshall)

Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

An ex-detective suffering from acrophobia is asked by a friend to tail his wife, who he believes may be possessed by the spirit of a woman who committed suicide. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

moviediva

Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, Vertigo, was dismissed as glossy claptrap in many contemporary reviews. It has outlived its critics by becoming a fixture on many lists of the greatest films of all time. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at moviediva

not coming to a theater near you (Rumsey Taylor)

Vertigo's opening sequence displays a female face in obsessive close-up. The view pans across her lips, and up to her eye. The scene is an idolization of the female form, mirroring the sexist regard that distinguishes the film's male protagonist. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at not coming to a theater near you (Rumsey Taylor)

Houston Chronicle

Police detective John "Scottie"Ferguson (Stewart) is on disability retirement because he's terrified of heights. He's asked by a fellow he knows only slightly to shadow his wife, Madeleine (Novak), whom he suspects of being a suicide risk. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Houston Chronicle

Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)

Restorations of film classics seem to be all the rage these days, and each new release also kicks off a new round of hype, fanfare, and remembrances. But this time, it's Hitchcock's sublime Vertigo, certainly one of the director's greatest, if not ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)

DVDwolf (Rob Paul)

In today's modern thriller realm this film becomes rather hit and miss, and perhaps a little stodgy...but one watching of Stewart's performance should have most audiences captured. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at DVDwolf (Rob Paul)

Mark O'Hara

Why does Alfred Hitchcock's picture 'Vertigo' endure as such an important piece, more than forty years after it was made? Universal recently committed more than $1 million for its restoration, a process that gives modern moviegoers outstanding ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Mark O'Hara

Max Scheinin

Today I saw what I, and many others consider Alfred Hitchcock's greatest masterpiece, his crown jewel, the haunting and nearly transcendent Vertigo for the third time. Though upon previous viewings I had seen the movie's brilliance, and thought it an ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Max Scheinin

DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)

We meet Scotty Ferguson (James Stewart) as he is bounding across the rooftops of San Francisco in the hopes of catching a crook. It so happens that the crook gets away, but Scotty nearly falls to his death, but is assisted by another officer. In an ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)

DVD Net (Paul Dossett)

When you're talking Hitchcock, there's a few films that everybody namechecks. Psycho. North by Northwest. The Birds. And, of course, Vertigo. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at DVD Net (Paul Dossett)

Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)

Vertigo, like its main character, is a film that's fine at ground level, but struggles with heights. It least that's how it seemed when I saw Alfred Hitchcockâ��s 1958 masterpiece after hearing so much about its greatness. Vertigo is a fine film. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)

Horror DVDs Review

Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is without question one of the greatest of the director's films. A love story, a mystery and a tale of lost love - Vertigo is all these things and much more. Staring James Stewart and the beautiful Kim Novak Vertigo weaves a ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Horror DVDs Review

Steve Rhodes

Restoration is a difficult process depending on many factors. Here the result is less than perfect, which is not meant as a criticism. The interior sequences are bursting with rich and highly textured colors, but the exterior ones still seem a bit ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Steve Rhodes

Gone Movie review

Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) is a policeman who has left the force after developing a fear of heights while chasing bad guys across the rooftops of San Francisco. He is hired by college chum Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) to trail his mysterious blonde ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Gone Movie review

The MacGuffin (Ken Mogg)

Such plots found their way into several Hollywood movies, and Humphrey Bogart appeared in at least two of them. In Curtis Bernhardtâ��s Conflict (1945), he plays a wife-murderer whom psychiatrist Sydney Greenstreet tries to scare into a confession by ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at The MacGuffin (Ken Mogg)

Christian Spotlight on the Movies

Initially dismissed by critics, later praised as one of Hitchcock's best films, Vertigo has an eerie feel throughout (enhanced by special effects and by Berhard Herrmann's ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Christian Spotlight on the Movies

Moviegnome.com

John Ferguson (James Stewart) is a retired detective who has acrophobia, or the fear of heights. He is reluctant, but agrees to follow Madeline (Kim Novak), who is an old friend's wife. It seems that she is being possessed by a dead relative and is in ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Moviegnome.com

ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

Seeing the newly-restored, 70 mm print of Vertigo in a theater is an experience that no fan of Hitchcock, or of cinema in general, should miss. Especially for those (like me) whose sole exposure to the film has been through faded, deteriorating video ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

Expanded Cinemah

Dammi la mano. Con questa prima frase incomincia il percorso di Scottie nella perfetta struttura narrativa di Vertigo (titolo originale e concretamente piÃ¹ vicino alle intenzioni del film), mentre appeso alla grondaia di un palazzo, rischia di morire ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Expanded Cinemah

CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Alberto Cassani)

John "Scottie" Ferguson Ã¨ un ex ispettore di polizia 'pensionato' anticipatamente per via delle vertigini di cui soffre. Un vecchio amico gli offre l'incarico di sorvegliare la sua bellissima moglie Madeleine, il cui strano comportamento fa temere ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Alberto Cassani)

Urban Cinefile (Urban Cinefile Critics)

Once seen, never forgotten. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Urban Cinefile (Urban Cinefile Critics)

CineScene.com (Devin Rambo)

Early in the film, after James Stewart fishes Kim Novak out of San Francisco Bay, we see her as she wakes up in his bed and finds her clothes hung up around the room to dry. They exchange a meaningful look: he has seen her unclothed, while she was ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at CineScene.com (Devin Rambo)

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

This cry from a wounded heart comes at the end of Alfred Hitchcock's ``Vertigo,'' and by the time it comes we are completely in sympathy. A man has fallen in love with a woman who does not exist, and now he cries out harshly against the real woman who ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

Edinburgh U Film Society (Keith H. Brown)

Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) is a detective who develops acrophobia (fear of heights) after watching a man fall to his death during a police chase. Upon quitting his job he is contacted by an old friend who offers him an unusual job - to follow his ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Edinburgh U Film Society (Keith H. Brown)

DVD Breakdown

Vertigo has proven to be a tremendous inspiration to budding filmmakers: its use of imagery and the different techniques to accomplish these images have been very influential. It's also the one Hitchcock movie where his personal obsessions most ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at DVD Breakdown

John Locke

Alfred Hitchcock took a certain prankster's liberty with his work, most notably, delighting the audience and, no doubt, himself with his unpredictable and amusing cameos. While aware of this, we still insist on separate Hitchcocks, the pleasingly wicked ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at John Locke

SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review

Alfred Hitchcock was one of the great cinematic masters of the 20th Century. He had emerged as a director of a number of excellent thrillers during the 1930s and 40s. But it was in the 1950s and the point he moved into colour that Hitchcock ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review

Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)

Vertigo is sustained by a dreamlike atmosphere which perfectly captures the entranced state of its central characters. Stewart plays a retired detective with a painful past he cannot escape. Having allowed a patrolman to fall to his death during a chase, ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)

The Greatest Films (Tim Dirks)

It is an intense psychological study of a desperate, insecure man's twisted psyche (necrophilia) and loss of equilibrium. It follows the troubled man's obsessive search to end his vertigo (and deaths that result from his 'falling in love' affliction) ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at The Greatest Films (Tim Dirks)

Kevin Patterson

As the film begins, we are introduced to expolice detective John "Scotty" Ferguson (Stewart), who has quit the force after an incident in which another officer was killed in a highaltitude chase due to Scotty's fear of heights and resulting inability to ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Kevin Patterson

Time Out

Brilliant but despicably cynical view of human obsession and the tendency of those in love to try to manipulate each other. Stewart is excellent as the neurotic detective employed by an old pal to trail his wandering wife, only to fall for her himself ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Time Out

Dave Cowen

VERTIGO tells the tale of John Ferguson (JAMES STEWART), known as Scottie to his aquaintances, an ex-cop who during a chase over the rooftops witnessed a fellow officer plummet to his doom. This has had a tremendous impact on Scottie, now suffering ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Dave Cowen

ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

This restoration of Vertigo serves two crucial purposes. First, it allows all those who have loved the film over the years to once again (or perhaps for the first time) view the motion picture in its full glory. Secondly, and more ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

The Digital Bits

Vertigo is a film classic that stands slightly above most other films of its kind. It is, after all, the most acclaimed film from the cannon of one of the most acclaimed film directors... Mr. Alfred Hitchcock. As such, it deserved a little special ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at The Digital Bits

Box Office Magazine

Ex-police detective James Stewart is asked by a friend to shadow his wife (Kim Novak), who is described as a suicidal neurotic obsessed with the idea that she is possessed by the spirit of her great-grandmother who went insane and took her own life. ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Box Office Magazine

Crazy for Cinema

It took me awhile to actually sit through VERTIGO. The ads never really appealed to me. I had no idea what the film was supposed to be about except Jimmy Stewart's fear of heights. I recently had the chance to see the restored version and I have to say ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Crazy for Cinema

Attack of the 50 Foot DVD!

Vertigo is considered by many to be Alfred Hitchcock's best movie. I haven't seen all of Hitchcock's movies, so I can't weigh in on the matter, but I can say that Vertigo, especially since its restoration, is one of the best films in American cinema ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Attack of the 50 Foot DVD!

San Francisco Examiner (Walter Addiego)

Alfred Hitchcock chose the title "Vertigo," but he could well have borrowed from an old song and called the movie "Love Is Strange." The strangeness here includes: obsession, possession (ghostly variety), deception, desperation, manipulation, ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Walter Addiego)

Boxoffice Magazine

With this masterfully conceived spine-tingler, Alfred Hitchcock once again affirms his standing as movieland's king of the suspense drama, and with the potent marquee combination of Kim Novak and James Stewart the film should be one of the year's top ...read the complete Vertigo movie review at Boxoffice Magazine

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