The best Alfred Hitchcock films
The top 3 according to 208 votes from people: Rear Window · Psycho · Vertigo. (Updated Sep 2, 2025.)
The Master of Suspense's best films according to critics' rankings (Gold Derby's 25 greatest) and the Sight and Sound polls, where Vertigo was number one in 2012 and number two in 2022.
Top 20
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1
Rear Window
1954. A photographer with a broken leg spies on his neighbours and suspects a murder.
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2
Psycho
1960. Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins and the shower scene; shot cheaply with his TV crew.
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3
Vertigo
1958. James Stewart's obsession with Kim Novak in San Francisco; number one in Sight and Sound's 2012 poll, second in 2022.
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4
The Birds
1963. Tippi Hedren and inexplicable bird attacks in Bodega Bay.
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5
North by Northwest
1959. Cary Grant mistaken for a spy, the crop-duster and Mount Rushmore.
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6
Rebecca
1940. Joan Fontaine and the shadow of the first Mrs de Winter; his only Best Picture Oscar.
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7
Dial M for Murder
1954. Ray Milland plans his wife Grace Kelly's murder; originally released in 3D.
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8
Shadow of a Doubt
1943. A teenage girl suspects her beloved Uncle Charlie is a murderer; Hitchcock's own favourite.
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9
Notorious
1946. Ingrid Bergman spies on Nazis in Rio for Cary Grant; famous for its long kiss.
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10
Strangers on a Train
1951. Two strangers 'swap' murders; climax on a runaway carousel.
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11
The 39 Steps
1935. Robert Donat on the run across Scotland; the template for the 'wrong man' thriller.
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12
Marnie
1964. Tippi Hedren as a compulsive thief and Sean Connery as the man who marries her.
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13
Rope
1948. Two students murder a classmate and throw a party; edited to look like one continuous take.
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14
To Catch a Thief
1955. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly on the French Riviera.
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15
The Wrong Man
1956. Henry Fonda as a musician falsely accused of robbery; based on a true story.
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16
Frenzy
1972. A strangler in London's Covent Garden; his late return to Britain.
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17
The Lady Vanishes
1938. An old lady disappears from a train crossing Europe.
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18
Lifeboat
1944. Survivors of a torpedoed ship, and a Nazi, adrift in a single boat.
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19
The Man Who Knew Too Much
1956. James Stewart and Doris Day, 'Que Sera, Sera' and the Royal Albert Hall.
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20
Spellbound
1945. Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck and a dream sequence designed by Salvador Dalí.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (6)
Rewatched Rear Window last weekend, still a perfect film.
Rope done to look like one single take in 1948, what a madman
Notorious is so underrated, that kiss scene got around the Hays Code 😏
Vertigo at #1, same as Sight and Sound in 2012. Hard to argue.
Rear Window is my favourite, perfect movie.
Psycho's shower scene still terrifies me