Day 5: 31 Days of Horror: Strangers on a Train (1951)

When you think of Hitchcock's films, which ones do you usually consider as part of the Horror genre? Most likely only Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963), right? Well, I think that Strangers on a Train should be considered as a Horror movie too. Why? I have one reason and his name is Bruno Antony, who is one of the creepiest characters I've ever watched in a film.

Bruno Antony is a severely chemically imbalanced man. He is intent on killing his own father, but refuses to murder him himself because, naturally, he thinks he'll get caught if he does it. Therefore, he comes up with an insane plan, for which he thinks is the perfect plot for murder: he'll meet a stranger and the stranger will also have someone that he wants to murder, so the two will swap victims and therefore both get away with murder.

Bruno is so convinced that his crazy plan will work that he tries to talk Guy Haines, a pro tennis player he meets on a train, into going along with it after he finds out that Guy is trying to dump his wife, Miriam, and marry another girl, Anne, who comes from a good family. Guy isn't intent on going along with the plan, but Bruno decides to go ahead and murder Miriam anyway. After doing so, he expects Guy to take care of his end of the bargain, but Guy flat out refuses to have any part of it. So, being the crazy man that he is, Bruno decides to stalk, torment, and plant falsified evidence against Guy for the murder of Miriam until Guy murders his father. Bruno's persistence and mad behavior successfully make him into a dangerous lunatic. Will Guy be able to get rid of this lunatic or will he end up in prison for a murder he didn't commit?

Strangers on a Train is an entertaining film, as are the majority of Hitchcock films. It's full of suspense, humor, and creepiness. Robert Walker (Bruno) gives the best performance, but the acting in the whole film is pretty good. It's a great movie, so if you haven't watched it yet, you should check it out.