Full Title: Rear Window
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Year: 1954
Comments This is arguably the greatest offering from the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Hitch’s 1954 classic more than holds up and is perhaps just as suspenseful now as fifty-six years ago. Briefly, the plot concerns the dull day to day life of Jeff (James Stewart) a wheel chair bound photographer as he has nothing left to do but satisfy his carnal base needs through spying (via binoculars) on his neighbours. As the movie progresses, we sympathize with Jeff because we have, ourselves, become voyeurs just like him as the film is through his point of view. The suspense kicks in further when Jeff stumbles upon a murder from one of his neighbours. The rest of the film is Jeff trying to convince everyone else that a murder took place and the killer should be brought to justice. Only Hitchcock can take this story and make it as thrilling as it is. Fuck Disturbia (2006)! In other words, if you haven’t already, watch this film, it’s amazing; not as good as Psycho (1960), but what is?
>Grade: A
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 
Master of Horror? Shouldn’t that be the Master of Suspense?
What do people think of the theory that Hitchcock’s work changed decisively in the early ’40s under the influence of Val Lewton’s series of psychological horror movies at RKO?
Yes, I believe you are correct and I will fix it immediately. And to be frank, I do not know who Val Lewton is, so I cannot answer your question. Hopefully someone will see this post and provide a follow up comment. Thanks for asking though as I encourage dialogue on this blog.
Val Lewton produced a series of horror movies for RKO in the 1940s that were low budget in order to help save the studio from financial ruin following the fiasco surrounding Citizen Kane including efforts by Hearst to destroy it. He was from Russia and he had some of the pictures directed by Jacques Tourneur. It started with Cat People, regarded by many as the best horror picture of the ’40s. Unlike most of the American horror made until then, these were mostly set in contemporary times and dwelt more on the psychological than on monsters and the like.
These movies were made just after Hitchcock moved to the United States from Britain. Most of his British pictures are in the public domain and can be found on the Internet Archive. Most famous is likely “The 39 Steps”. They seem very different from the kinds of movies he made later.