Hitchcockian films are those made by various filmmakers, with the styles and themes similar to those of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

Characteristics

Elements considered Hitchcockian include: *Climactic plot twist. *The cool platinum blonde. *The presence of a domineering mother in someone's life. *An innocent man accused. *Restricting the action to a single setting to increase tension (e.g. '' Lifeboat'', '' Rear Window''). *Characters who switch sides and/or who cannot be trusted. *Tension building through suspense to the point where the audience enjoys seeing the character in a life-threatening situation (e.g. ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

''). *Average people thrust into strange or dangerous situations (e.g., '' Psycho'', ''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film, produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to ...

'', '' The Man Who Knew Too Much''). *Bumbling or incompetent authority figures, particularly police officers. *Use of darkness to symbolize impending doom (dark clothing, shadows, smoke, etc.) *Strong visual use of famous landmarks ( Statue of Liberty,

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore ( Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dako ...

Forth Rail Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Penin ...

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documen ...

, Piccadilly Circus, etc.) *Mistaken identity (e.g. ''

'', '' Frenzy''). *The use of a staircase as a motif for impending danger or suspense. *Use of a MacGuffin

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief ...

. *Referring to crime for mystery rather than presenting it explicitly (e.g. ''

Dial M for Murder ''Dial M for Murder'' is a 1954 American crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, Anthony Dawson, and John Williams. Both the screenplay and the successful stage play on which it was b ...

''). *Train scenes.

Notable examples

Some films, or films with scenes, considered Hitchcockian include: *'' Gaslight'' (1944) *'' Niagara'' (1953) *''

23 Paces to Baker Street ''23 Paces to Baker Street'' is a 1956 American DeLuxe Color mystery thriller film directed by Henry Hathaway. It was released by 20th Century Fox and filmed in Cinemascope on location in London. The screenplay by Nigel Balchin was based on the ...

'' (1956) *'' Witness for the Prosecution'' (1957) *'' Midnight Lace'' (1960) *'' Cape Fear'' (1962) *'' Charade'' (1963) *'' From Russia with Love'' (1963) *'' The Prize'' (1963) *''

Arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

'' (1966) *''

Blowup ''Blowup'' (sometimes styled as ''Blow-up'' or ''Blow Up'') is a 1966 mystery drama thriller film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and produced by Carlo Ponti. It was Antonioni's first entirely English-language film, and stars David Hemmings ...

'' (1966) *''

Wait Until Dark ''Wait Until Dark'' is a play by Frederick Knott, first performed on Broadway in 1966 and often revived since then. A film version was released in 1967, and the play was published in the same year. Synopsis Susy Hendrix is a blind Greenwich ...

'' (1967) *'' Duel'' (1971) *'' Play Misty for Me'' (1971) *''

The Last of Sheila ''The Last of Sheila'' is a 1973 American whodunnit mystery film directed by Herbert Ross and written by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim. It starred Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Coburn, Joan Hackett, James Mason, Ian McShane, and Ra ...

'' (1973) *''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

'' (1975) *'' Obsession'' (1976) *''

Last Embrace ''Last Embrace'' is a 1979 American neo-noir thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme. Very loosely based on the novel ''The 13th Man'' by Murray Teigh Bloom, it stars Roy Scheider and Janet Margolin, telling the story of a woman who takes the ...

'' (1979) *'' Blue Velvet'' (1986) *'' Fatal Attraction'' (1987) *''

Arachnophobia Arachnophobia is a specific phobia brought about by the irrational fear of spiders and other arachnids such as scorpions. Signs and symptoms People with arachnophobia tend to feel uneasy in any area they believe could harbour spiders or that h ...

'' (1990) *'' Misery'' (1990) *'' Cape Fear'' (1991) *''

Basic Instinct ''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wealth ...

'' (1992) *''

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film ''La Jetée'', starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in sup ...

'' (1995) *'' Bound'' (1996) *'' Double Jeopardy'' (1999) *'' What Lies Beneath'' (2000) *'' Mulholland Drive'' (2001) *'' Panic Room'' (2002) *''

Phone Booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...

'' (2002) *'' Disturbia'' (2007) *'' Side Effects'' (2013) *'' Stoker'' (2013) *'' Not Safe for Work'' (2014) *'' Crimson Peak'' (2015) *'' The Gift'' (2015) *'' Don't Breathe'' (2016) *''

Nocturnal Animals ''Nocturnal Animals'' is a 2016 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written, produced, and directed by Tom Ford in his second feature, based on the 1993 novel '' Tony and Susan'' by Austin Wright. The film stars Amy Adams, Jake Gylle ...

'' (2016) *'' A Kind of Murder'' (2016) *''

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

'' (2016) *''

Gerald's Game ''Gerald's Game'' is a 1992 suspense novel by American writer Stephen King. The story is about a woman whose husband dies of a heart attack while she is handcuffed to a bed, and, following the subsequent realization that she is trapped with litt ...

'' (2017) *'' A Simple Favor'' (2018)

Filmmakers

The following is a list of filmmakers who have directed multiple Hitchcockian films: * Dario Argento * Park Chan-wook *

Henri-Georges Clouzot Henri-Georges Clouzot (; 20 November 1907 – 12 January 1977) was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his work in the thriller film genre, having directed ''The Wages of Fear'' and '' Les Diaboliques'', ...

Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...

Films by country

Australia

*''

Roadgames ''Roadgames'' (stylized as ''Road Games'') is a 1981 Australian thriller film directed by Richard Franklin and starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film follows a truck driver travelling across Australia who, along with the help of a ...

'' (1981) *''

Crosstalk In electronics, crosstalk is any phenomenon by which a signal transmitted on one circuit or channel of a transmission system creates an undesired effect in another circuit or channel. Crosstalk is usually caused by undesired capacitive, ind ...

'' (1982) *'' Coffin Rock'' (2009) *'' Blame'' (2010) *''

Crawl Crawl, The Crawl, or crawling may refer to: Biology * Crawling (human), any of several types of human quadrupedal gait * Limbless locomotion, the movement of limbless animals over the ground * Undulatory locomotion, a type of motion characteriz ...

'' (2011) *'' Bad Blood'' (2017)

France

*'' Les Diaboliques'' (1955) *'' Le Boucher'' (1970) *'' The Vanishing'' (1988) *'' Love Crime'' (2010) *''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' (2016) *'' Personal Shopper'' (2016)

Germany

*'' Unknown'' (2011)

Spain

*'' Buried'' (2010)

United Kingdom

*'' Peeping Tom'' (1960)Charles Barr, ''Vertigo'' (London: BFI, 2002)

References

Bibliography

External links

Entertainment Weekly's EW.com feature: What, exactly, makes a film "Hitchcockian?"
{{Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock Film and video terminology