麻豆约拍

Alfred Hitchcock made the world love cinema… and fear taking a shower!

1. He invented a new visual language

Known for using a style where his cameras mimicked a person’s point of view, Hitchcock made voyeurs of his audiences. His films offered an intimate gaze into the strangest, and sometimes darkest places. To create this ‘Hitchcockian’ style, Hitchcock embraced new film technologies and techniques. He also called on the great composers, thinkers and artists of the day to help realise his vision – he even got surrealist artist Salvador Dali to design a dream sequence for him. Hitchcock gave us cutting-edge cinema that everyone wanted to watch.

2. He captured the ideas of his age

Many of Hitchcock’s best films were adaptations of writing by some of the 20th century’s best storytellers. They include Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train. The director also tapped into many of the concerns and ideas of his times. Spellbound, for example, explores psychoanalysis, while Rear Window tackles the claustrophobia of city life, in thrilling fashion.

3. He invented horror films

The shower scene in Psycho is not only one of cinema's most memorable moments – anyone who has watched it can’t quite enjoy their next wash – but it directly inspired the horror films that followed. The 1960 film’s clever plot, which soothes viewers before shocking them, inspired many films we’ve watched from behind the sofa since. Its commercial success proved that audiences were prepared to pay for a fright night.