I'm going to make a bold statement and say that to this day, few directors have been able to portray the same level of nail-biting suspense and sheer horror as Alfred Hitchcock. His films frighten the audience not through goriness, although the infamous shower scene in
Psycho was pretty gruesome, but through their effects on the audience's psyche. For example, in
Psycho after Norman Bates has found the corpse of Marion Crane, he wraps up the body in the shower curtain and, along with all her possessions, places it in the trunk of his car and sinks it in the swamp. Bates watches anxiously as the car slowly descends the murky water, and, for a heart-stopping moment, bobs up again, threatening not to go under. The audience, now just as nervous as Bates, becomes horrified in this moment too - and have subconsiously aligned their feelings with him, even though he is clearly creepy and a now criminal for disposing the body.
Rear Window is another favourite of mine - the premise is genius and so simple. James Stewart plays a photographer who has broken both his legs and spends his days recovering looking through the rear window of his apartment into the windows (and lives) of his neighbours, each serving as a window or reflection in to some aspect of his own life. With the help of Grace Kelly as his glamorous girlfriend and Thelma Ritter as his nurse, he uncovers a murder mystery in one of the apartments. The plot is so brilliantly executed, and it provides suspense in a way that I have never before experienced through film. In an aside note, Grace Kelly's wardrobe is absolutely stunning, and everyone would probably agree that she is pretty well out of Stewart's league in this one.
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| Psycho |
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| Rear Window |
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| Vertigo |
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| The Birds |
