Alfred is arguably one of the most influential filmmakers in history, having created several masterpieces of horror and suspense. His films had various psychological themes and complex characters that helped to drive the plot. Yet, his films highly contrast the horror films of today, with the major component missing being gore. Hitchcock felt that a true thriller could be made by delving into the depths of the viewers mind, rather than making blatant attempts at showing blood and mutilation, as we see today.

Born in the Leytonstone region of London, England in 1899, Alfred Hitchcock was brought up in a somewhat reserved and middle-class family. He was very visually stimulated from a young age, and began his career in film creating set designs on paper. A twist of fate led him on a path of directing films, and he developed his own themes and plots shortly after.

One of the major elements that Hitchcock brought to his films was to expose our voyeuristic tendencies as a society. In doing so, he showed how we like to be teased and titillated, and given just a glimpse of sexuality, without revealing everything as a whole. This deconstruction played heavily upon human desires, but also revealed a darker and more sadistic side. Many viewers found his films to be quite dark and have dismal content. He was even considered a misogynist because many of the victims in his films were portrayed as helpless females.

However, Alfred Hitchcock was a master of scene manipulation, and created startling images for the viewer, without using blunt or gruesome displays. Even when he shot a scene involving murder or accidental death, he did it in such a way that was creepy, and allowed the viewer to draw many of his or her own conclusions. A classic example of Hitchcock’s depth is his most popular film, Psycho. This was one of the first times an audience had seen such a depiction of a cold-blooded killer, as played masterfully by Anthony Perkins. He was a fresh-faced and gentle young man who harbored a dark secret, never able to fully express his grief or sexual impulses. Thus, he creates perversions in his own mind, and despite his sexual attraction for Marion Crane, he uses the alter-ego of his dead mother to react adversely to this repression.

Most horror films today do not tend to enter into this deep connection with the killers, usually depicting them as mindless barbarians who were tortured or caged in some way. While it may make sense in a way why they react and brutalize their victims, they do not display the inner struggles of the characters and how they feel about the victims. Furthermore, these films usually do not show a rhyme or reason for why the characters are killed; but in Psycho, we know that Norman Bates killed Marion Crane because he wanted her, yet felt it was wrong.

Unlike suspense films of today, Hitchcock’s Rear Window is another classic example of how the unknown can be much scarier than the obvious. What makes this film so unique and thrilling is that it is as if we are being let in on a little secret, of a world according to L.B. Jefferies, or ‘Jeff’ as he is mainly known. Using roaming and tight camera angles has always been Hitchcock’s trademark, but none are so powerful as the ones used in this film. Rather than immediately revealing the foe, Lars Thorwald, and having major encounters with Jeff, the viewer is built up with suspense of Jeff finally getting caught for all of his insatiable viewing habits.

Alfred Hitchcock does not need to use gore in his films, mainly because, above all else, his films often try to teach lessons. Using circumstance and consequence, he shows the nature of wrongdoing, and perceived evil to show the true horror of human nature. He does not need to create a great deal of bloodshed because a gruesome end for someone like Jeff or any of his other characters suggests that their fate is sealed without any kind of action being committed. There needs to be some kind of redemption, even in a horror or suspense film, because we are supposed to be able to in some perverse way relate to the characters. We may not freely admit to voyeurism or twisted attractions to the opposite sex, but all the same, we want to go with the feeling and be tricked into thinking that it is safe. This is a far better reward onscreen than seeing someone getting hacked to pieces. And fortunately for us, Hitchcock completely understood that.