10 Films Clearly Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Directing Style

Alfred Hitchcock developed his own unique style, and many other filmmakers have been inspired by his crime thrillers over the years. The term “Hitchcockian” describes any film that bears the hallmarks of Hitchcock’s work. That term doesn’t exist for most other directors, which just goes to show how original and immediately identifiable Hitchcock’s classics are. The Master of Suspense still inspires filmmakers long after his death.

Hitchcock’s greatest hits share certain visual motifs, including blonde women, famous landmarks, and the use of staircases as visual metaphors. Their stories also often shared a few key ideas, like wrongly accused men, voyeurism, and twisted family dynamics. These common themes helped Hitchcock’s films stand out, and in some ways, they became their own subgenre. Other directors pay homage to Hitchcock by using his visual quirks to delve deeper into his favorite subjects.

10

Gone Girl (2014)

David Fincher and Alfred Hitchcock are both masters of the detective genre

Many of David Fincher’s best films show him to be an enthusiastic disciple of Alfred Hitchcock. Both directors have done some of their best work in the crime genres and often focus on the psychology of evil and criminality. Se7en, Zodiac and Fight Club all have elements of Hitchcock’s stylewith great plot twists, charismatic protagonists and cold-blooded villains.

missing girl stars Rosamund Pike as a woman who suddenly disappears, leaving her husband as the prime suspect in her disappearance. She’s the kind of sophisticated platinum blonde that Hitchcock would have put in one of his films, but her actions make her seem more like his more famous villains. There are several allusions to Norman Bates in missing girlfrom the injection of blood running down the drain to Amy’s indifferent response to questioning.

9

Body Double (1984)

Brian De Palma doesn’t hide his admiration for Hitchcock

Like David Fincher, Brain De Palma is another director who seems to have been particularly inspired by Alfred Hitchcock. While Hitchcock’s influence on the crime genre is impossible to ignore, few directors have followed in his footsteps like De Palma. Sisters has a lot in common with Vertigo, not least, the score by frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Hermann. Explode is another clear product of Hitchcockian influences, as it presents an ordinary man involved in a dangerous criminal conspiracy.

Double body refers to many Hitchcock classics. De Palma is not shy about his admiration for films like Rear window and Vertigo, and Double body it has the same themes of voyeurism and obsession as those two classics. Like these older films, Double body digs deep enough to reflect the audience’s same impulses and uses a flawed character as a stand-in for crime movie fans who fixate on moments of violence. The other allusions to Hitchcock serve this central point.

8

The Diabolical (1955)

Alfred Hitchcock almost directed Clouzot’s thriller

Alfred Hitchcock was originally interested in directing The Diabolicals, but Henri-Georges Clouzot was the one who opted for the rights to the novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. It’s easy to see why Hitchcock felt the story suited his style. It follows a woman who conspires with her husband’s mistress to murder her husband. Elements of the film would later influence Psychopathreleased five years later.

At the moment The Diabolicals came out, it was much darker than anything Hitchcock had directed. Despite this difference, it still contains many of the classic features of Hitchcock’s style, with two characters being psychologically tormented, a striking musical accompaniment, and the use of long shadows to create an ominous sense of danger. It also has a different ending that rivals the best Hithcock has to offer.

7

Witness for the prosecution (1958)

Hitchcock never adapted an Agatha Christie story

Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock were luminaries of detective fiction in the 20th century, but they often approached their stories from different angles. Christie’s most popular stories were detective mysteries, usually featuring a large cast of potential suspects and a cunning detective to separate the facts from the fraud. Hitchcock, on the other hand, liked to give the audience more information, creating a sense of dramatic irony that increased tension.

Witness for the prosecution is a Christie story that seems to have appealed to Hitchcock’s taste. Different And then there were none or Murder on the Orient Expressfor example, the mystery has only one potential suspect and revolves around the tension of the characters trying to ascertain each other’s motives in an intense scenario. Billy Wilder’s adaptation shows what a Hitchcock version of a Christie story would be likecomplete with a brilliantly executed plot twist.

6

From Russia with Love (1963)

The James Bond series is based on some of Hitchcock’s spy classics

A common rumor suggests that Alfred Hitchcock was asked to direct From Russia with love, along with several other James Connection films. Although Terence Young eventually took over directing duties for the second Connection film, it still bears many of the characteristics of Hitchcock’s style. Hitchcock made a great spy film years before Bond, with North by Northwestand From Russia with love appears to be influenced by the Cary Grant-led thriller.

From Russia with love remains one of the best James Bond films, thanks in part to the Hitchcock elements that make their way into the story. There are some superficial Hitchcockian motifs, like Daniela Bianchi’s blonde bombshell and the use of an iconic landmark in the Hagia Sophia, but there are also deeper themes that Hitchcock could have developed. As soon as the action moves to the train, From Russia with love it becomes a Hitchcockian murder mystery. The most obvious reference to North by Northwest is the helicopter chase, which mimics the iconic crop duster scene.

5

Parasite (2019)

Bong Joon-Ho’s Oscar Winner Goes to Some Dark Places

Parasite is a tongue-in-cheek social satire, but it gets darker and darker as it goes on. The Oscar winner follows a working-class family as they slowly integrate into the lives of their wealthier neighbors. It’s kind of a subverted Hitchcock tale. Whereas one of your films might focus on an unsuspecting family being torn apart by outsiders like Shadow of a doubt, Parasite sees things from an outsider’s perspective.

ParasiteBong’s brilliant script has many similarities to Hitchcock’s work, but Bong’s directing style also borrows some techniques. From the beautiful design of the house to the close-ups of the protagonists, Parasite reminiscent of some of Hitchcock’s best films. The third act gets increasingly dark and dangerous, just like many Hitchcock thrillersas the Kim family uncovers the disturbing secrets that sustain the Park family’s life of luxury.

4

Inside (2023)

Inside is a single-location drama in the Hitchcock tradition

Alfred Hitchcock mastered the single-location film with Rope, lifeboat and Rear window. While there are many other films that don’t necessarily copy Hitchcock’s playbook, such as 12 angry men and The Breakfast Club, others certainly have a distinct Hitchcock flavor. Although Hitchcock’s one-room dramas used the limited setting to increase the pressure on the characters, Within uses the same technique to torture just one character.

Willem Dafoe gives a captivating performance in Within. He plays a thief who is abandoned by the rest of his team and left to die inside an expensive penthouse apartment. His performance is part of what keeps the action moving despite the location never changing, but director Vasilis Katsoupis’ framing choices are also important. Like Hitchcock, he constantly finds new ways to shoot the same man in the same room.and the composition of the scene often reflects the thief’s state of mind.

3

Shutter Island (2010)

Martin Scorsese has always been influenced by the best

Shutter Island is not the only Martin Scorsese film that appears to be inspired by the work of Alfred Hitchcock. Scorsese is a true student of film history, and his best films also pay homage to Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman and other innovative directors. Cape Fear has the same sense of psychological horror invading a happy home as seen in some Hitchcock films, and Taxi driver is a classic tale of crime and obsession.

Shutter Island may be Scorsese’s most Hitchcockian film of all, and the period setting helps sell that illusion. The story uses the subjective camera, and this extends to the script. It’s all a matter of what is shown and what is not shown to the audience, so that they are left in the same state of perplexity as Leonardo DiCaprio’s character. Shutter IslandThe shocking ending also offers a twist that Hitchcock would be proud of, and the style is comparable to Psychopath and Vertigo in particular.

2

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

The mystery of Justine Triet is as detailed as a Hitchcock thriller

Oscar nominated Anatomy of a Fall is a courtroom drama, but it also delves into the investigation of a man’s death. Sandra Hüller plays a woman accused of killing her husband and gives an excellent performance. Anatomy of a Fall has a simplistic setup, just like Alfred Hitchcock’s best murder mysteries, including String and Shadow of a doubt. Its closest equal is probably Dial M for murder, however.

As in Dial M for murder, research into Anatomy of a Fall It depends on the smallest details. In Dial M for murder, is the whereabouts of a key, and in Anatomy of a Fall there are things like different textures of pieces of tape. Both films make these details feel alive and fascinating, when lesser directors could easily make them too mundane. The ambiguous ending of Anatomy of a Fall allows the audience to decide for themselves whether Sandra is guilty or innocent.

1

Decision to leave (2022)

Park Chan-Wook adds a Hitchcockian touch to his style

Park Chan Wook Decision to leave It’s a modern Hitchcockian thrillertaking many of the director’s most common motifs and reimagining them for the 21st century. Tang Wei’s femme fatale is more dangerous than Eve in North by Northwest and Judy in Vertigo, as she becomes both a love interest and a villain. Park Hae-il’s troubled detective can also be seen as an evolution of John in Fascinated or Jeff at Rear window.

Decision to leave is a story of obsession and deceit, with two characters with their own secrets. Park draws the audience in for a closer look, but many of the key details are left frustratingly out of reach until the right moment. Many of the framing choices seem to be inspired by Hitchcock’s book, contrasting moments of serenity with moments of conflict. Above all, Decision to leave proves that Hitchcock’s films continue to inspire filmmakers decades laterand they are still being interpreted in new and interesting ways.