My favorite Hitchcock films. {Classic Movie May}

When I was younger, I loved getting scared. I searched Goodwill regularly for ghost stories and Goosebumps books and devoured them though they scared me half to death. {Thanks to a particularly creepy picture book called Tailypo, for years I was terrified to fall asleep with any of my limbs hanging over the edge of my bed. True story. :)}

Now, not so much. I love roller coasters and such, but I avoid scary movies and books like the plague. I'm a scaredy-cat. :) The last scary book I read was House, by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker, and though I finished it, I couldn't read it before I went to bed.

I adore Hitchcock films, though. I can't handle scary, but I can handle creepy and suspenseful. And that's what Hitchcock is all about. Here are my favorites...

 

1. Strangers on a Train

 

 

I suppose this isn't one of Hitchcock's most famous films, but I just really, really love it. :) It's exciting and creepy and thrilling. Robert Walker as Bruno creeps me out so much that I've never been able to watch him in anything else and like him (even The Clock with Judy Garland!). And the carousel scene is one of the most stunning black and white scenes I've ever seen.

 

2. Spellbound

This was the first Hitchcock film I ever watched, so I've always had a special attachment to it. But it really is a good movie. It's less gruesomeness and murder and more psychological mystery. The last few minutes are edge-of-your-seat thrilling, and Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman are always good. I think the romance between their characters here is really sweet.

3. Rear Window

The moral here: don't spy on your neighbors! I personally think things would have been a lot easier for Jimmy Stewart if he had chosen a different hobby. Like knitting. :) This one has a great creep factor...is Stewart's character imagining things or did his neighbor really kill his wife? Lars Thorwald is just about as creepy as Bruno from Strangers on a Train...even his name is awful sounding. :)

4. Psycho

 

 

I think this is the second scariest film of Hitchcock's. I've only seen it once, and it was not exactly what I was expecting it to be. It was better (and scarier :). Of course I had heard all about Psycho, but I had never seen a picture of Norman Bates, and he looked nothing like I expected! Anyway...you'll probably never take another shower without thinking of this movie.

5. Notorious

 

 

I originally had Suspicion listed for this one. But I recently rewatched Notorious and decided that it should make my favorites list. :) It was much better than I remembered it being. Ingrid Bergman's character, the daughter of a Nazi spy, is asked by the US government to infiltrate a group of Nazis living in Brazil. She's falling in love with the US agent she's working with (Cary Grant), but has to pretend to love one of the Nazis in order to find out what they're up to. It's very good, and while this one is less of a thriller and more of an espionage story (and a love story :), there are definitely some edge-of-your-seat moments.

P.S. In case you're wondering, I think the creepiest Hitchcock film is The Birds. I'm already not a bird person, and that one made me even more suspicious of them!

What are your favorite Alfred Hitchcock films?

Until next time,