Film

Pretty Maids All in a Row

Name: Pretty Maids All in a Row
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Released: 1971
Cast: Rock Hudson, Angie Dickinson, Telly Savalas, John David Carson, Roddy McDowall

Serial killer

A 1971 thriller-comedy about a serial killer loose at a California high school, filtered through the leering perspective of its era. Rock Hudson plays a smooth teacher navigating scandal while students die. It's genuinely tawdry, confused about its own tone, and fascinatingly wrong—a film that reveals more about early-70s attitudes than it intends to.

TMDb rating

3.0

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Vertigo1958

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Chinatown1974

A noir detective story layered with corruption, abuse of power, and moral compromise. Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway deliver iconic performances. The ending redefines what a thriller can say about the world.

But It's bleak and cynical. The mood is suffocating rather than exhilarating, and justice doesn't come looking for anyone.

The Killing1956

Kubrick's debut about a racetrack heist, told in fragmented, interlocking timelines. Tense, clever, and shot with noir precision. Shows how a crime film can be structured like a machine.

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Pretty Maids All in a Row

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

M1931

Both films center on a killer at large in a community and explore what ordinary people become when murder disrupts their world. But where Pretty Maids is confused and salacious, M is clear-eyed and tragic.

Fritz Lang's German masterpiece about a child killer hunted through Berlin. It invented the serial killer thriller and remains perfect. The killer is human and pitiable; the mob is more terrifying. Sound and fury distilled.

But It's a 1931 German film with subtitles. The pacing is deliberate. If you need modern editing, you'll feel it's slow. And it's merciless about human nature.

Klute1971

The same year as Pretty Maids, but infinitely more serious. Jane Fonda gives an Oscar-winning performance as a woman caught between a cop and a killer. A genuine psychological thriller about power and vulnerability.

But It's slow and introspective. If you want plot momentum, you'll feel it dragging. Some scenes are deliberately awkward and uncomfortable.

Dressed to Kill1980

De Palma's slick, perverse riff on Psycho and Vertigo. Angie Dickinson (from our film) stars in a thriller that gleefully exploits the male gaze while examining it. Technically brilliant and genuinely twisted.

But It's misogynistic by design, which some will find repellent rather than thought-provoking. The plot is more Hitchcock pastiche than original statement.

The Killers1964

Siegel's sharp adaptation of a Hemingway story, starring Lee Marvin and John Cassavetes. A methodical thriller about contract killers that's lean, efficient, and genuinely tense. No wasted moments.

But It's austere and withholding. There's no warmth here, and the violence is sudden rather than spectacular. Not everyone wants that.

In Cold Blood1967

Capote's true-crime narrative adapted with documentary precision. A haunting account of real killers and their victims. Robert Blake and Scott Wilson are chilling. Understated but devastating.

But It's methodical and slow-burn. The horror comes from accumulation and inevitability, not shock. Some find it exhausting rather than gripping.

The Grifters1990

A con-artist thriller with Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, and Annette Bening. Sleek, amoral, and darkly funny. The script snaps, the cinematography glitters, and no one onscreen has a conscience.

But It's cynical and detached. The characters are manipulative, and the film doesn't invite you to care deeply about any of them. That coldness isn't for everyone.

Peeping Tom1960

Powell's controversial masterpiece about a serial killer who films his murders. It's the ancestor of every film about cinema and violence. Genuinely unsettling and made with real artistry.

But Extremely dark, formally experimental, and deeply disturbing. It was banned for years. If you found Pretty Maids queasy, this will destroy you.

Last Year at Marienbad1961

Both films are sexually charged and built on deception, but where Pretty Maids leers and stumbles, Marienbad seduces through ambiguity and formal elegance. Same impulses, opposite execution.

Robbe-Grillet's avant-garde puzzle about memory, desire, and seduction at a luxury hotel. Hypnotic, formally beautiful, and genuinely mysterious. Alain Resnais made the film that breaks every rule.

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The Conversation1974

Both films are preoccupied with voyeurism and who watches whom, but The Conversation turns that into a tragedy about conscience. Pretty Maids never asks the hard questions; this one can't stop asking them.

Coppola's paranoid surveillance thriller with Gene Hackman as a wiretapper pulled into a conspiracy. It's about complicity, powerlessness, and how listening to others corrodes you. Tense, intimate, and morally devastating.

But The plot is secondary to mood. Conversations loop. Nothing resolves in the way you expect. If you want action or catharsis, you'll feel robbed.