A reporter witnesses a murder in a neighbor's apartment but there's no evidence of the crime when the police arrive. This cheesy thriller launched De Palma's quest to become the successor to Alfred Hitchcock. Based on the evidence here, instead of Master of Suspense, he could more aptly be called Master of Incompetence. The script starts off as an amateurish mystery but winds up as an incomprehensible mess featuring an extended delusional sequence. Although he borrows elements from Hitchcock's "Rear Window," "Psycho," and "Spellbound," De Palma doesn't have even a fraction of the master's talent for telling a good story. A decent cast is wasted.
