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10 Hitchcock Movies Everyone Should Watch

James Stewart looking through a lens in Rear Window

By Ben Sherlock Published Feb 7, 2026, 9:30 PM EST Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Add Us On follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most renowned filmmakers of all time, but he directed so many movies throughout his career that it’s tough to know where to start. Hitchcock laid the groundwork for the slasher, the spy film, and the psychological thriller, and he’s been aptly named the Master of Suspense.

From Psycho to Vertigo to Rear Window, there are a ton of iconic movies to Hitchcock’s name. Everyone has heard of these movies, but not everyone has seen them — and, when it comes to the crème de la crème de Hitchcock, everyone should.

The Lady Vanishes

Margaret Lockwood in bed in The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes created an entire thriller subgenre of its own. It follows a tourist traveling through Europe by train. When she notices that her fellow passenger has disappeared, she’s shocked to find that everyone else on the train denies having seen her in the first place.

This same formula can be seen, with varying degrees of success, in recent films like Blink Twice and The Woman in Cabin 10. The concept of a person going missing and everyone denying that they ever even existed is a juicy setup for a thriller — it basically gaslights the audience.

Strangers On A Train

Farley Granger and Guy Haines on a train in Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train kicks off with a classic Hitchcockian high-concept premise. Two men meet on a train and find that they both want someone killed. The more unhinged one suggests that they carry out each other’s murders, so the motives won’t be traced back to them, but the more sensible one brushes it off as a bad idea. However, the unhinged one still goes through with it.

It’s a brilliant hook. Even people who have never seen the movie are familiar with that curious what-if scenario. But the movie itself is one of Hitchcock’s most iconic thrillers.

The 39 Steps

Madeleine Carroll and Robert Donat in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps

One of Hitchcock’s earliest classics, The 39 Steps is a ripping-yarn thriller about a Canadian in London who gets swept up in a conspiracy involving the titular spy ring. He has to go on the run to clear his name when he’s accused of murdering a counterintelligence agent.

The 39 Steps was essentially the original spy movie. All the escapist entertainment of the past 90 years (including the James Bond franchise) can be traced back to the tropes and techniques established in The 39 Steps.

The Birds

Tippi Hedren in The Birds

A small town is beset by an inexplicable attack from above in The Birds. Hitchcock takes something innocuous from the real world — the harmless birds that fill the sky — and makes them terrifying. One day, the birds swoop down and start attacking people, and the survivors have to ride out the onslaught.

The Birds laid the groundwork for every horror movie where nature fights back, from Jaws to Grizzly to Anaconda. From the terror of the initial attack to the chillingly disquieting ending, The Birds is just as scary today.

Rebecca

Maxim and his second wife in Rebecca

A tonal departure from Hitchcock’s usual style, Rebecca is less of a crime thriller and more of a gothic romance. It stars Laurence Olivier as brooding widower Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as his young second wife, who is never named.

Rebecca is the name of Maxim’s first wife, who died before the events of the film, and although she never appears on-screen, her memory looms over the entire story. Rebecca has a haunting atmosphere that still enraptures audiences to this day.

North By Northwest

Cary Grant running from a plane in North by Northwest

This is the closest that Hitchcock ever came to making a Bond movie. Cary Grant’s protagonist, Roger Thornhill, is a classic everyman action hero. After a case of mistaken identity, Thornhill has to go on the run from the cops and a foreign spy, and gets swept up in a larger conspiracy.

North by Northwest is the ultimate Hitchcock picture: an escapist thrill-ride, a fizzling romance, and a complicated espionage plot rolled into one. There are two set-pieces in particular that make this movie a must-see on their own: the iconic plane sequence and the climactic Mount Rushmore sequence.

Shadow Of A Doubt

Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten in Shadow of a Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt is a tense, terrifying two-hander. Teresa Wright stars as a young woman who’s excited to have her sweet Uncle Charlie, played by Joseph Cotten, over for a visit. But she’s shocked to learn that Uncle Charlie is a notorious serial killer, and she has to stop him before he kills more people.

Uncle Charlie is one of Hitchcock’s greatest villains. The rug-pull that this kind, fatherly figure is actually a sadistic murderer is a hair-raising twist, and it only gets more exhilarating from there.

Rear Window

Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in Rear Window

James Stewart stars in Rear Window as a photographer who’s confined to his apartment with a broken leg. To pass the time, he starts using one of his long lenses to spy on his neighbors, and begins to suspect that a man across the street is a murderer.

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Rear Window is a masterpiece of visual storytelling. The entire plot is conveyed to us through what Stewart can see out of his window. It plants us directly in his perspective as he tries to prove his neighbor’s guilt before it’s too late.

Psycho

Janet Leigh screaming in Psycho in the infamous shower scene

Easily the most iconic film of Hitchcock’s career (and that’s saying a lot), Psycho laid the foundations for the slasher genre. Right up to its midpoint, it’s a pretty typical film noir about a woman embezzling money and trying to get away with it. But when she steps into the shower, it becomes a different movie entirely.

From the shower murder to the final reveal in the basement, Psycho is full of moments that’ll send a tingle down your spine. A lot of horror films from its era, like Peeping Tom and Village of the Damned, aren’t that scary by today’s standards. But Psycho is still just as terrifying as ever.

Vertigo

James Stewart as John Scottie Ferguson dangling from a building in Vertigo

Anyone who’s ever taken a film studies course is sick of this movie, but there’s a reason that film students are bombarded with it: it’s a perfect film. Vertigo tells an airtight story about rich, complex characters, and it’s dripping with poignant themes and visual symbolism.

Vertigo is Alfred Hitchcock’s magnum opus. Its tale of an acrophobic retired detective investigating his friend’s wife morphs from a typical romantic noir into a quintessential psychological thriller.