Good Evening!
Those chilling words still send shivers racing down my spine from the old television show “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”
Ever since I was a little girl, I loved being scared to death. Nothing could come close to the images the master story teller conjured in my head. Just the sound of those words in barely more than a whisper made my skin crawl. The anticipation of the story he was about to show had my heart racing. I remember glancing around the room to make sure all the curtains were drawn, all the doors locked. My family and I would gather around the television on a Friday evening, lights out with a big bowl of buttered popcorn. And the second the master of suspense’s face would appear on screen, my brother, sister and I would scream loud enough to wake the dead.
Alfred Hitchcock packed it all in his books and movies””chance meetings on a train, murder and mayhem, voyeurism, ice-blondes, debonair actors with a touch of quirky humor and rakish charm, espionage, romance and lost love. And who better befitting to portray the femme fatale of that era than Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Kim Novak and Janet Leigh? They were a perfect fit with Hollywood legends as Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, two of Hitchcock’s favorites.
Few books or movies since the Master’s time have stayed with me or left such jarring images. Although not his best film, I think we all agree that Psycho is his most chilling. The Bates Hotel is such a simple name, who would suspect that such a twisted psychopath lived inside. With a fetish for peeking on guests as they shower, Janet Leigh is about to find out just how twisted Norman Bates is. (Voyeurism at its peak) Just the sound of that screeching violin gets my blood pumping!
The Birds is the movie that truly frightened me. To this day, I have a bird phobia. The image of those eerie birds gathering in the playground still make me shudder. When I hear the flapping of wings overhead, I hitch in my breath, petrified for a fleeting second that I will be the victim of a ghoulish attack.
Vertigo is another favorite of many Hitchcock fans. Set in the almost dream-like haze of the empty San Francisco streets, Vertigo portrays obsession and lost romance in a surreal manner, a true hallmark of his movies. In this story, Jimmy Steward pursues Kim Novak as she slips in and out of her dead great grandmother’s persona. So even back then, there was a touch of paranormal in the books Alfred Hitchcock wrote
Thinking of some of these old plots that linger in my mind, I write stories of romance and suspense to hopefully give readers just a hint of that old Hitchcock magic. What’s your favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie of all times? Which actress in today’s Hollywood do you picture playing the role of the ice blonde? The perfect femme fatale?
Hi Sharon,
What a fascinating post, I remember the old black and white Alfred Hitchock series on TV, and he certainly had a knack of sending shivers up and down ones spine.
Like the old saying goes – they just don’t make’em like that anymore!
Alfred Hitchcock movies, along with the old black and white Twilight Zone episodes, continue to creep me out to this day. I’d have to say THE BIRDS is my fav Hitchcock movie. I haven’t looked at those black grackle/crow-like birds the same since.
How wonderful to find another Hitchcock enthusiast!
My favorite Hitchcock movie is without a doubt Rear Window–not the most frightening movie, but it is psycologically thrilling and superbly acted.
I am a huge fan of the film noir genre and Hitchcock was the master! No one has even come close since.
Hi Lyn, I agree. The black and white added the theatrical suspense designed for spine pricklers. No kidding, they don’t have the old Hollywood actors or producers!
Hi Liz, oh The Twilight Zone was another favorite! Not to forget Night Gallery and do you remember The Hitchhiker on HBO! I have to agree with you about The Birds, just a flap of wings still gets my heart racing. The Master of Suspense had a way of painting willowy images in the mind that lingered on and on…
Hi Susan, I sure am a Hitchcock lover since way back when. And Rear Window was so good, and had a role in the psychological thriller I wrote Mask of the Betrayer. Getting into the mind and trying to understand what makes it tick is such a tricky faux!
The Master of Suspense will always reign supreme in my book. Here here! Just the thought of his chilling words, “Good Evening….” sends shivers dancing down my spine.
Oh, gosh, the chills, thrills and watching with one eye or peeking between the fingers. He did it all and did it well. I love Alfred Hitchcock.
Rear Window with Jimmy Stewart and Raymond Burr, two of my favorite people, is one of many I don’t mind seeing over and over. I also enjoyed the secondary characters.
The Birds, both 1 & 2 I enjoy watching with the same breath hitching, one eye covered fear I did as a child. It never made me fearful of birds, maybe more fascinated. Sometimes I notice many birds gathered and I’ll point and yell, “The Birds”. People look at me like I’m crazy, a few get it and laugh.
Vertigo always intrigued me – I still see things I missed. I the love mystic haze and the romance. I felt so sorry for Jimmy in the end.
Terrific post!
Hi Bekki! The Birds…and the way they clustered in droves was downright chilling. Makes me shudder to this day. Vertigo is a timeless romance, I think. And the eerie emptiness and the dream-like haze filtering through added to the surrealism. Loved it. Alfred really knew how to pluck the strings of suspense