Murder a la Mod

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Murder a la Mod | image = murderalamodposter.jpg | alt = | caption = Grindhouse poster | director = Brian De Palma | producer = Ken Burrows | writer = Brian De Palma | starring = Andra Akers<br>Margo Norton<br>Jared Martin<br>William Finley | music = John Herbert McDowell | cinematography = Bruce Torbet | editing = Brian De Palma | studio = Aries Documentaries | distributor = Aries Documentaries | released = {{Film date|1968|5|1|New York City}} | runtime = 80 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $25,000<ref name="Keesey">{{cite book |last1=Keesey |first1=Douglas |title=Brian De Palma's Split-Screen: A Life in Film |date=2015 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62846-698-0 |page=27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFg6CQAAQBAJ&q=%2425%2C000 |language=en}}</ref> | gross = }}

'''''Murder a la Mod''''' is a 1968 American film directed by Brian De Palma in his first feature film as a director and writer. An experimental, low-budget murder-mystery, it was shot on black-and-white 16mm film.<ref name="Brackman">{{cite magazine |last1=Brackman |first1=Jacob R. |title=Horror Comedy |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1966/07/23/horror-comedy |magazine=The New Yorker |date=15 July 1966}} {{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="AFI">{{cite web |title=Murder a la Mod |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/18365 |website=AFI Catalog |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=24 January 2022}}</ref> Following its limited theatrical release, the film was rarely seen until its reissue on DVD in 2006.<ref name="Erickson">{{cite web |last1=Erickson |first1=Glenn |title=DVD Savant Review: Murder à la Mod & The Moving Finger |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s2129mod.html |website=DVD Talk |date=9 October 2006}}</ref>

In the film, female model Karen steals money and jewelry from her friend Tracy, with the intention to offer the stolen items to her fiancé Christopher. She is instead murdered, with her murder recorded in a snuff film. Her re-animated corpse seemingly kills Christopher, though it turns out that the second murder was the result of a miscalculation in a prank.

De Palma retrospectively described the film as "a sophisticated thriller patterned after ''Psycho''{{nbsp}}... It has many weaknesses and strengths. It's both good and bad".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gelmis |first1=Joseph |title=The Film Director as Superstar |date=1970 |publisher=Doubleday & Co. |location=New York |pages=24–25 |url=https://archive.org/details/thwefilmdirector0000unse/page/24/mode/2up}}</ref> Later critics have also noted the influence of Michael Powell's ''Peeping Tom''.<ref name="Keesey" />

==Plot summary== In a prologue shown from the point of view of a camera viewfinder, a series of female models in a studio are asked by an off-screen cameraman to undress for a screen test. One model is seemingly stabbed by the unseen man behind the camera.

During an afternoon of shopping in Manhattan's boutiques, Karen, another model, tells her socialite friend Tracy about her fiancé Christopher, a photographer and widower. Tracy visits her bank to withdraw money and jewelry from her safe deposit box, which she places inside a large envelope. Meanwhile, Karen catches sight of Christopher in the street and follows him to his studio, where she discovers he is shooting a sexploitation film featuring a deranged prankster, Otto.

Christopher remorsefully tells Karen that he lied about being a widower, and that he is reluctantly working for the film's producer, Wiley, because he urgently needs money to obtain a divorce from his wife. Karen pleads with Christopher to let her help raise the money. Returning to Tracy's parked car, Karen finds Tracy has gone inside a dress shop, leaving the envelope of valuables under her car seat. Karen impulsively steals the cash from the envelope and hurries back to Christopher's studio, intending to give him the money.

Entering the building, Karen is surprised by Otto, who pretends to stab her with a dummy ice-pick, a prop from Wiley's film, and splashes her with ketchup as a practical joke. After walking inside the studio and cleaning herself up, Karen is then stabbed to death by a genuine assailant wielding a real ice-pick.

The film then shows events from the viewpoints of the three other main characters: Tracy follows Otto, who is wheeling a large trunk apparently containing Karen's corpse to a nearby cemetery; Otto discovers Karen's corpse in the studio and attempts to lure the killer to the cemetery with an empty trunk; while Christopher, who has been spying on Karen and Tracy during their shopping expedition, pursues Otto and Tracy to the cemetery. The killer is revealed to be Christopher, who has secretly filmed his murder of Karen.

After a fight in the cemetery, Christopher and Otto both return separately to the studio. Christopher kills Wiley when he finds him watching the footage of Karen's murder. He then turns and is shocked to see Karen's corpse apparently moving towards him and brandishing an ice-pick, with which she fatally stabs him. Otto, who is then revealed to have been holding up Karen's body as another intended prank, realizes he has mistakenly used the real ice-pick to stab Christopher, and laughs at the irony.

==Cast== * Andra Akers as Tracy * Margo Norton as Karen * Jared Martin as Chris * William Finley as Otto * John Quinn as Mr. Fitzsimmons * Laura Stevenson as Boutique Girl * Jack Harrell as Salesman * Lorenzo Catlett as Policeman * Melanie Mander as Bird * Victoria Halboth as Bird * Ken Burrows as Wiley * Jenny O'Hara as Soap Opera Actress * Philip Proctor as Soap Opera Actor * Jennifer Salt as Bird

==Production== ''Murder a la Mod'' was shot in New York City over 11 days in 1966 on a budget of $25,000. Locations included the First Calvary Cemetery and Paraphernalia, a Madison Avenue boutique.<ref name="Keesey" /><ref name="Brackman" /> It was the only film role for Margo Norton (1946−2020), a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite news |last1=Larkin |first1=Kathy |title=Geared to Youth |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/122604172/ |work=Sunday News |date=5 February 1967 |location=New York|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Obituary: Margaret "Margot" Russel Norton |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/raleigh-nc/margaret-norton-10181041 |website=Dignity Memorial |access-date=1 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250901004000/https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/raleigh-nc/margaret-norton-10181041 |archive-date=1 September 2025}}</ref> William Finley (Otto), a frequent actor in Brian De Palma's films, composed and sang the title song.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smigel |first1=Libby |last2=Minelli |first2=Kelli |title=Rediscovering the Early Works of Brian De Palma through the John Herbert McDowell Papers |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/music/2018/08/rediscovering-the-early-works-of-brian-de-palma-through-the-john-herbert-mcdowell-papers/ |website=In The Muse|publisher=Library of Congress |date=9 August 2018}}</ref>

==Reception== During the film's very limited U.S. theatrical release,{{efn|Although some sources state the film "played for two weeks in New York City only",<ref name="Bouzereau">{{cite book |last1=Bouzereau |first1=Laurent |author1-link=Laurent Bouzereau |title=The DePalma Cut: the films of America's most controversial director |date=1988 |publisher=Dembner Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-942637-04-5 |page=24 |url=https://archive.org/details/depalmacutfilmso00bouz/page/24/mode/1up}}</ref> it did also have brief runs in Los Angeles<ref name="Thomas" /> and Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite news |title=Farce Spices Mystery |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93340151/ |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=10 June 1968 |pages=17|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>}} it was screened with Paul Bartel's short film ''The Secret Cinema''. Kevin Thomas of the ''Los Angeles Times'' said both films were "somewhat sophomoric in tone and crude technically", but "imaginative enough to warrant encouragement to their makers." Thomas felt the first half of ''Murder a la Mod'' was "terrible", but that "de Palma then successfully comes to grips with a ''Rashomon''-like technique in presenting the murder from the points of view of everyone involved."<ref name="Thomas">{{cite news |last1=Kevin |first1=Thomas |title=Two Film 'Exercises' on Cinematheque Screen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93340211/ |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=30 May 1968|authorlink=Kevin Thomas (film critic)|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Vincent Canby of the ''New York Times'' said the film "has a mind and reality of its own. It's completely logical in its use of cinematic tricks — speeded-up action and slow motion, and slapstick humor that is not funny, juxtaposed with mayhem that is. There is a limit as to just how far this sort of playfulness can be carried."<ref name="Canby">{{cite news |last1=Canby |first1=Vincent |author1-link=Vincent Canby |title=Films for Film's Sake |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/05/02/archives/films-for-films-sake.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 2, 1968}}</ref>

''Variety'' pronounced the film "technically proficient" and predicted that "its director could have an industry future", but found that "''Murder a la Mod''{{nbsp}}... ends up being unsatisfying".<ref>{{cite book |title=Variety Film Reviews 1968-1970. Vol.12 |date=1983 |publisher=Garland |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8240-5211-9 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/varietyfilmrevie0000unse/page/n61/mode/1up |chapter=May 1, 1968}}</ref> David Nusair of ''Reel Film Reviews'' called it "De Palma's first (and worst) feature-length endeavor".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reelfilm.com/depalma.htm#murder|title=The Films of Brian De Palma - Reviews by David Nusair|website=reelfilm.com|access-date=April 19, 2019}}</ref>

==Home media== ''Murder a la Mod'' was reissued on DVD by Something Weird Video in 2006.<ref name=Erickson /> It was subsequently included as a bonus feature on Criterion's Blu-ray edition of De Palma's ''Blow Out'' in April 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.criterion.com/films/27561-blow-out |title=Blow Out (1981) - The Criterion Collection |website=Criterion.com |date= |accessdate=2017-03-18}}</ref>{{efn|In ''Blow Out'' (1981), Dennis Franz's character is seen watching ''Murder a la Mod'' on television.}}

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0163114|Murder a la Mod}} * {{AFI film|18365}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|murder-a-la-mod}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder A La Mod}} Category:1968 films Category:1968 black-and-white films Category:1960s mystery thriller films Category:1968 black comedy films Category:1960s crime thriller films Category:1968 directorial debut films Category:1960s avant-garde and experimental films Category:American black-and-white films Category:American black comedy films Category:American crime thriller films Category:Films directed by Brian De Palma Category:Films about pornography Category:Films about film directors and producers Category:1968 English-language films Category:1968 American films Category:Films set in Manhattan Category:Films about pranks Category:Films about modeling Category:Films about snuff films Category:1960s rediscovered films Category:Rediscovered American films Category:English-language black comedy films Category:English-language crime thriller films Category:English-language mystery thriller films