The 10 best Alfred Hitchcock movies, ranked

History's most esteemed director has too many hits!

By Shawn Laib October 27, 2023

Psycho — Paramount Pictures

Sometimes a director’s style and substance become so pervasive in Hollywood that they overshadow the actors. Alfred Hitchcock was one such director. The pioneer of modern horror and suspense films, Hitchcock conveyed emotional and frightening experiences in a variety of genres throughout his many decades of making films. Performers such as Jimmy Stewart and Ingrid Bergman frequently collaborated with Hitchcock, forming dynamic actor/director pairings that went on to change movies forever. With dozens of classics to choose from, it feels nearly impossible to choose which Alfred Hitchcock movies to watch during spooky season. This article is here to help. These are the 10 best Alfred Hitchcock movies of all time, ranked.

10. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

10. Shadow of a Doubt

Genre Thriller, Crime

Stars Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Peacock

watch on Peacock

Shadow of a Doubt excels in creating one of Hitchcock’s eeriest atmospheres and tones. This film is set in a dinky California town, where Charlotte Newton (Charlie) yearns for more excitement in her life. What Charlie doesn’t expect is that wish would manifest in a murderous way when her psychotic uncle comes to live with her family. The thrill and sense of dread created by Hitchcock is pitch perfect. Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotton turn in awesome performances.

Rebecca (1940)

Rebecca

Genre Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Drama

Stars Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Youtube

watch on Youtube

Alfred Hitchcock loved using domestic situations and romance as a basis for many of his best movies. Rebecca is perhaps the pinnacle of his romantic horror films, telling the story of a woman who thinks her marriage to Laurence Olivier’s character, Maxim de Winter, is going swimmingly. She soon learns the creepy and unexpected circumstances that come with marrying a widower like de Winter. This is the only movie Hitchcock directed that won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, although Hitchcock didn’t win Best Director for the film.

8. Rope (1948)

8. Rope

Genre Thriller, Crime, Drama

Stars James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Amazon

watch on Amazon

Rope possesses a unique plot that plays out like a board game or a murder mystery party. Two men create a thought experiment murder in which they kill a former classmate in the “perfect” manner. The film famously uses a limited number of shots and was the first of Hitchcock’s movies to use Technicolor. Rope often is cited as one of film critics’ favorite horror movies even if Hitchcock fans prefer other classics on the list more.

7. Strangers on a Train (1951)

7. Strangers on a Train

Genre Crime, Thriller

Stars Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Amazon

watch on Amazon

One of Hitchcock’s best book adaptations, Strangers on a Train gives off Murder on the Orient Express vibes. Set on a train ride through the countryside, a tennis star is the victim of his wife getting murdered by someone he meets on the vehicle. He becomes the prime suspect in the crime, and he’s also asked to perform a murder himself by the psychopath. Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker are a wonderful trio of performers who bring the movie to life.

6. The Birds (1963)

6. The Birds

Genre Horror

Stars Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Amazon

watch on Amazon

Why are birds so creepy to people. Is it because they can fly? Or maybe they seem to serve no purpose other than as human thought fodder. Either way you cut it, Alfred Hitchcock captures the dilemma in The Birds. Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor star as the couple at the center of the drama, one of the best natural disaster films of the 20th century. The ideas presented in The Birds captivate audiences decades later because the movie never outgrows its ambition.

5. North by Northwest (1959)

5. North by Northwest

Genre Mystery, Thriller

Stars Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Amazon

watch on Amazon

Cary Grant stars as an ad executive on the run from the bad guys in one of the movies that paved the way for some of the world’s most famous spy and secret agent movies. Unlike many of Hitchcock’s other movies, North by Northwest doesn’t rely on horror elements, instead shifting the genre to action and adventure. Hitchcock’s success with this movie demonstrated his versatility and willingness to step outside of his typical movies while still maintaining thriller tones.

4. Dial M for Murder (1954)

4. Dial M for Murder

Genre Thriller, Crime

Stars Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Amazon

watch on Amazon

Dial M for Murder examines what happens when a killer doesn’t successfully execute his plot to take out his wife. While many of Hitchcock’s movie plots revolve around the person escaping a psycho, this one flips the script and puts the screen time on the bad person. Grace Kelly became yet another one of Hitchcock’s famous female muses with films like this one during a time period when men were still the stars of most big movies.

3. Vertigo (1958)

3. Vertigo

Genre Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Stars James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Amazon

watch on Amazon

Vertigo combines fan and critic adulation unlike almost any other Hitchcock work. Special effects that had never been seen before help tell the story of a man suffering from the titular disease that disorients and disturbs the main character played by Jimmy Stewert. The film’s brilliance lies in the way it can be complex and simple at the same time.

2. Rear Window (1954)

2. Rear Window

Genre Thriller, Mystery

Stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Amazon

watch on Amazon

Rear Window takes Hitchcock’s two most famous actors and combines their talents for a blood-rushing experience. James Stewert plays a paranoid man who thinks he can see a murder taking place in the apartment across the street from him. His obsession becomes a little too real, culminating in one of the best climactic scenes in movie history!

1. Psycho (1960)

1. Psycho

Genre Horror, Drama, Thriller

Stars Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

watch on Amazon

watch on Amazon

Psycho remains the preeminent Hitchcock movie ever since its release in 1960. Jamie Lee Curtis’s mother, Janet Leigh, stars as one of horror cinema’s most iconic protagonists as she’s haunted by the danger at a remote hotel. Everything comes together in Psycho to make it the scariest Alfred Hitchcock movie, along with the most immersive one. Modern horror directors almost always take something from this film when making their own pictures.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Streaming

Movie images and data from:

Contributor

Shawn Laib is a freelance writer with publications such as Den of Geek, Quote.com, Edge Media Network, diaTribe, SUPERJUMP…

Culture

These are the best shows and movies to watch on Apple TV Plus in December

Apple TV+ has an impressive library that includes great movies and shows

Enrique Arrizon as Máximo Gallardo in 'Acapulco' from Apple TV+.

When computer company Apple announced that it was getting into the streaming TV game, there were plenty of people who were skeptical about the company's ability to pull it off. Why would the tech giant, which is most known for the Macintosh and the iPhone, have any credibility in making television shows? It doesn't seem the two ideas would mesh in any meaningful way, but in the years since Apple TV Plus launched, the company has come up with some pretty impressive original shows, and it picked up a Best Picture Oscar on top of that.
What's even more impressive is that these Apple TV shows and movies run the gamut from comedy to drama, and are all set in wildly different and imaginative places. Apple may be best known for making great phones, but it turns out it knows how to tell pretty interesting stories, too. These Apple TV movies and shows are the cream of the crop and the best on this streaming service.
If you're looking for more great stuff to stream, you should also check out our lists of the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, and the best shows on Disney Plus.

The Morning Show (2019)

Culture

The best Netflix movies to stream in December

From Power of the Dog to All Quiet on the Western Front, these are the best movies to stream on Netflix

Although it's now only one big player in an even bigger streaming market, Netflix still manages to crank out plenty of stuff to keep its users subscribing. That glut of good movies on Netflix is great if all you want is to never get bored, but it can make it difficult to figure out which things are actually worth your time, and which aren't. If that's your goal, we've got you covered. This list is a combination of great Netflix original movies, and good movies to watch that Netflix is currently housing on its service, and it even includes a few great Netflix action movies. What unites these movies, though, is that they are the very best Netflix movies currently available.
If you're looking for films to watch on some of Netflix's competitors, we've also found the best Amazon Prime movies, the best Hulu movies, and the best Disney Plus movies. You can also check out some new Netflix movies at the bottom of this post.

Dune (2021)

Culture

The 14 best Christmas movies to watch this year

These stellar Christmas movies will put you in the holiday spirit

DVD box art of Christmas movies

Nothing will get you in the Christmas spirit faster than watching a great holiday movie. Almost everyone had a holiday movie they loved growing up. Sometimes, you discover that those movies remain as great as you always thought they were. Other times, though, you discover that the best Christmas movies are not the same as the ones you might have grown up on.
Christmas movies can sometimes be kind of cheesy, but fear not, we've compiled a list of funny, occasionally dark, totally classic Christmas movies that, yes, sometimes also offer the occasional bit of sweetness. Don't worry, though, none of them get too saccharine.
From sipping on candy-themed cocktails to carving a delicious honey-baked ham, every family has its own holiday traditions they never skip. For many, that involves putting on a Christmas classic after the dishes are washed and the leftovers are put away. Here are the best Christmas movies to put on your radar, when the time comes:

A Christmas Story (1983)