A serial killer of women is on the loose in London. No one knows who it is except that he calls himself The Avenger (though he may as well be Jack the Ripper, as that’s the thinly veiled inspiration here, as adapted from the novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes). Total mystery. The police have nothing. People are scared at night. The Avenger couldn’t be that nice-looking, quiet young man presently staying in the home of a good family, could it? No way. He looks so normal. It’s impossible. Right?
That kind of tension is what Alfred Hitchcock’s second film is about. As long as you ignore the weak, studio-imposed ending, this is a strong thriller made in high style for the silent screen. The lighting has an Expressionist edge, shadows rule and star Ivor Novello has several moments of iconic glowering as our questionable young lodger. Like the killer (and like Hitchcock, for that matter), he has a thing for blondes. He sees one, he goes out of his mind in that way that only works in silent movies. Hitchcock cozies up to this weirdness like it’s a feather pillow. He’s comfortable with lunatics and sexual madness, people in trouble and everything turned upside-down. The Lodger is so full of it that Hitchcock himself thought of it as the highlight of his work in the 1920s British film industry.
Like all of Hitchcock’s best, it’s aged well. Unsure about silent-era movies? Give this one a try.