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horrific genius: how alfred hitchcock impacted the horror genre, on the 125th anniversary of his birth
hitchcock was born 125 years ago today, on aug. 13. and...
aug 13 2024
2 minute read
an alfred hitchcock film? "you were scared by it, but pleasantly."
this file picture taken in 1963 shows british film director hitchcock (1899-1980) during the shooting of his movie the birds. afp photo files/postmedia archive.
before ghostface, leatherface, michael myers, pennywise or chucky took knife in hand, we had norman bates. he was the original slasher — the deadly inspiration for a slate of horror films in decades since — and a character brought to life on the big screen by director alfred hitchcock .
hitchcock was born 125 years ago today, on aug. 13. and even though the master of the macabre has been dead for 44 years, his impact on the horror genre is still felt by generations who love to scream themselves silly at scary movies.
just ask john carpenter, who directed the first halloween movie way back in 1978. “the father of that genre is alfred hitchcock,” carpenter told postmedia news in an interview a decade or so ago. “i studied the great hollywood directors; that’s where i got my influences.”
how big was hitchcock’s influence? start with psycho. almost everyone alive has seen the infamous image from the movie of janet leigh, screaming in the shower before being stabbed. it’s a scene that still inspires memes and mimickers more than a half century later. as the following 2010 review notes, “psycho has aged wonderfully, and remains a touchstone to the horror genre.”
calgary herald; oct. 30, 2010.
hitchcock himself was man of few fears and possessed an unwavering belief in making films the way he wanted to shoot them, as this 2016 herald story noted.
calgary herald; oct. 28, 2016.
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hitchcock was born in london in 1899 and directed a number of british films before creating hollywood productions, starting in 1940 with the psychological thriller called rebecca, which garnered him his first oscar nomination for best director and captured the academy award for best picture that year. many hits followed, including dial m for murder, rear window, vertigo, the aforementioned psycho (his most commercially successful movie) and the birds. hitchcock hosted his own anthology tv series, too, also becoming known for cameo appearances in several of his films.
tippi hedren in another of hitchcock’s memorable scenes, this one from the birds. file photo.
‘you were scared by it, but pleasantly’
hitchcock was able to execute suspense, but with taste, this story in the herald said on the occasion of hitchcock’s passing in 1980.
calgary herald; april 30, 1980.
movie fans across several generations had memories of unforgettable scenes from hitchcock films, as this 1980 story noted.
calgary herald; may 1, 1980.
while some film critics doubted hitchcock’s genius, others praised it, as this 1990 story points out. (amusing side notes about this page? the filmography notes which movies are available on “videocassette” and the tv listings also published on this page show the much-more-modest channel offering we had in calgary back 30 or so years ago.)
calgary herald; april 29, 1990.
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hitchcock’s influence also extended into the world of art, as explored in this 2000 story in the herald.
calgary herald; april 29, 2000.
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