In the spirit of Halloween, the next two blog posts will be on the horror or suspense movies on the movie list, and since there were so many Alfred Hitchcock films, I figured that this week, we could watch some of his more frightening ones. The movies that we eventually settled upon, as shown in the featured image were “Rebecca,” “Psycho,” “The Birds,” and “Vertigo.” To preface, I’m a huge Hitchcock fan, and I had already seen a couple of these movies, but I figured they warranted a rewatch or to introduce my roommate the Master of Suspense himself. Next week, we’ll be watching some assorted scary movies that have defined the horror genre, but for now, I will review these four movies.

The biggest surprise on this list was the first movie: “Rebecca.” This movie released in 1940 and stars Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson. I initially went into this viewing not thinking much of what it might be, thinking, “It’s not like this movie won the Best Picture or anything,” but I could not have been more wrong. It details the story of the widower Maxim de Winter and his marriage to a new wife, played by Joan Fontaine, after the tragic drowning of his first wife, Rebecca. While things seem happy between the couple at first, the constant reminders of Rebecca throughout the house and the looming presence of the maid, Mrs. Danvers, become too much for the new bride, and as she unravels the mystery of Rebecca, things become all too complicated. Something that I didn’t even notice while watching and found out now while writing this is that the new bride doesn’t even have a first name! This adds to the feeling that she cannot live up to the expectations of Rebecca. While this definitely isn’t Hitchcock’s most well-known work, it is, in my opinion, one of his best, and one that is a must-watch.

The next movie that we watched was 1960’s “Psycho.” This movie stars Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, John Gavin as Sam Loomis, and Anthony Perkins as the classic horror villain, Norman Bates. Even though you may not have seen this film, you most likely know the generally plot or at least the shower scene, as this movie has become one of Hitchcock’s most famous works. After fleeing from her job and life, Marion Crane finds herself at the sketchy Bates Motel, run by the charming and unassuming Norman Bates. The movie progresses slowly, but soon, you are on the edge of your seat, trying to figure out what’s going on with Norman and, more importantly, what’s going on with his supposedly disabled mother. There are so many twists and turns in this movie, and while it’s definitely an enjoyable and impactful watch, it was not my favorite that we watched this week.

The third movie that we watched this week was “The Birds,” starring Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren, from 1963. This movie, at least to me, is one of the more disturbing Hitchcock films that I have seen, and I’m not even afraid of birds. The general plot is that Melanie Daniels ventures up to Bodega Bay, California to deliver a pair of lovebirds as a birthday gift to Mitch Brenner’s younger sister. Throughout the weekend, what starts off as a series of strange coincidences involving particularly violent birds becomes an all-out war on the town. It’s just a really interesting concept to me, and I find some scenes, like the one at the playground, make me really uneasy. I feel like it was really well done for a plot that seems like it could have turned out badly had it been done by less competent director. Additionally, this was the first color movie that we watched from the list, so that was a crazy change for us! I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone, unless you have a fear of birds.

The fourth and final movie that we watched was “Vertigo.” “Vertigo” is from 1958 and features Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak as the lead actor and actress, respectively. This movie is not necessarily horror, but definitely suspense or mystery, which works just as well for a late-night movie screening. The movie follows the detective work of Stewart’s Scottie Ferguson, a retired police officer who was fired after becoming afraid of heights, and the case he is hired to work on: following the wife of one of his friends. I felt that this movie was almost divided into two parts, where the first half is from the perspective of a rational individual and the second half is from the perspective of a lunatic. The tone shift is just so abrupt, and I have to give props to Stewart for playing pretty much two different characters throughout the film. There’s a pretty big twist in this one, so I’ll try not to spoil it, and I’d definitely recommend this one. However, if you are looking for Hitchcock film that stars Jimmy Stewart as a detective, then I’d probably suggest “Rear Window” over this (We’ll get to that one later).