The Man Who Made the Shower Curtain Terrifying

Today is Alfred Hitchcock's birthday. I was never a big  fan growing up, and to this day, I still have never seen Psycho. It wasn't that I didn't like Hitchcock films. I just never gave them a chance because I was a big chicken. Then, in my late 20's, I was working for Time-Life. They had just broken into selling video and music series in addition to book series. Every year they held a big sale of all the current offerings at low, low prices for their employees. Books for $1. Videos for $5 and CD's for $3. I purchased a copy of a film called Notorious. It starred Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, two of my favorite stars from that era. I didn't really pay attention to the fact that it was a Hitchcock film. I popped it into the VCR and watched it for the first time. It was released in 1946 and centers around the espionage and intrigue of World War II and the Nazis. It's really a mystery and suspense movie, not a scary movie, which is why I liked it so much. I had always thought all of Hitchcock's films were like Psycho and The Birds. Those genres were not to my liking, but with this new discovery of Hitchcock's mystery genre, I went in search of other titles. Thus began my pilgrimage to the master of suspense. In those days you could not get your movies streaming on your laptop, in fact there were no laptops. You had to go to the Blockbuster Video, yes video; not DVD, store and rent them. I started with  Rope, then Spellbound,  Strangers on a Train, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rebecca, Dial M for Murder and my all time favorite, Rear Window. 

A few years back Hollywood tried to recreate this movie magic with a film called Disturbia. They failed. Hitchcock has a definite style. It's very slow and methodical. Nothing big and flashy. The best turn in this clip is the slow take that Raymond Burr takes directly into the camera, and you know. That was Hitchcock, drawing you in with every take. The top grosser of all time is of course, Psycho. As I said, I've never seen it, and I doubt I ever will. Of course, I'm sure it doesn't touch some of the things that I've seen on Criminal Minds or Supernatural, but I still don't want to see it. Without it, I still look behind the shower curtain every time I go in a bathroom where it is drawn. I don't need anything else to fuel my fire of fear and paranoia. The fact that I am not alone in that fear , I'm sure, is pleasing to Mr. Hitchcock, wherever he is. He made us look at every flock of birds in a different way. He made us wonder about the stranger next to us, and he made us hold our breath hoping someone would arrive to save our hero or heroine. Thank you for making our hearts beat a little faster in the dark!