By Raquel Stecher
Psycho, North By Northwest, Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, Vertigo. When we think of classic suspense films, one name comes to mind: Alfred Hitchcock. But film history is rich with other thrillers that kept audiences both then and now at the edge of their seats. Filmmakers knew how to titillate and how to raise the hair on the back of our necks. Of course, the shock factor is the easiest element to point to for what makes a film suspenseful, yet many classic films were much more subtle. They manipulate our emotions in such a way that we find ourselves in a state of awe before we even fully comprehend what we got ourselves into.
If you’re ready to graduate from Hitchcock and want to delve deeper into the canon of classic suspense films, here are some I personally recommend. These are all available to rent on DVD Netflix:
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
It’s truly a shame that actor-turned-director Charles Laughton only ever directed one film because he clearly was a genius. The Night of the Hunter is an absolute classic. If you’ve never seen the film before you may still be familiar with the iconic image of Robert Mitchum sporting the words LOVE and HATE “tattooed” on his fists. Mitchum plays Harry Powers, a psychopath posing as a preacher. He’s determined to find the hidden loot that his cellmate in prison, Ben Harper (Peter Graves), told him about and will stop at nothing to get his hands on the money. The film also stars Shelley Winters as Harper’s widow and Powers’ first target and Lillian Gish in what I consider to be one of her best performances. The showdown between Mitchum and Gish is absolutely epic! The cinematography, use of lighting and the creepy soundtrack add to the film’s creepy vibe. But at the heart of the film is Mitchum's chilling performance that will leave you unsettled long after the film is over.
Cape Fear (1962)
Now if Robert Mitchum terrified you in The Night of the Hunter, he’ll scare your pants off with Cape Fear. Mitchum is one of my all-time favorite actors and it took me years to emotionally prepare myself for this film! Directed by J. Lee Thompson, Cape Fear stars Gregory Peck as Sam Bowden, the lawyer who put rapist Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) in jail. Now, Cady is out of jail and wants revenge. He will do everything possible to make his nemesis’ life a living hell. The fight scene between Peck and Mitchum is one you’ll not soon forget. The film was remade by director Martin Scorsese in 1991 with Robert DeNiro and Nick Nolte in the lead roles and with Peck and Mitchum in supporting roles.
Fail-Safe (1964)
Fail-Safe and Dr. Strangelove share several things in common: they came out the same year, they were released by the same studio and they both tapped into the fear of nuclear war. While Dr. Strangelove is the better known and more celebrated of the two, Fail-Safe is far more frightening. Where Dr. Strangelove uses farce, Fail-Safe uses dialogue driven tension that builds and builds to a shocking finale. Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film stars Henry Fonda, who plays the president of the United States and includes performances by Walter Matthau and Larry Hagman.
The story follows the president who must deal with the fallout of a grave error: a bomber pilot is given a false signal and drops two nuclear missiles on Russia. He has an impossible decision to make and the results are terrifying. Don’t read any spoilers on this film! I went into the film knowing very little and was in a total state of shock and awe when I got to the ending!
Seconds (1966)
What if you could start over? What if you could shed your old identity and be completely transformed for a second chance at life? Director John Frankenheimer’s sci-fi thriller Seconds explores that concept in a way that will leave you unsettled. Middle-aged Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) makes an agreement with a secretive organization to shed his old self and have plastic surgery to change his appearance from head to toe. He soon reemerges as Tony Wilson (Rock Hudson). Tony is now one of the seconds, a community of other people who have gone through a similar transformation. But Tony doesn’t adjust well and as the cracks appear in the facade he starts to realize what he actually sacrificed for this new life. The film is shot by legendary cinematographer James Wong Howe who used extreme angles, fish-eye lenses, and depth perception to illustrate Tony/Arthur’s distorted world.
And if you’re still in the mood for some good ol’ Hitchcock, here are some of his best available to rent:
Raquel Stecher has been writing about classic films for the past decade on her blog Out of the Past. She attends the TCM Classic Film Festival as well as other events where old movie fanatics get together to geek out. Raquel has been a devoted DVD Netflix member since 2002! Follow her on her blog Out of the Past or find her on Twitter @RaquelStecher and @ClassicFilmRead, Facebook, and Instagram.