Hitchcockian
Masterfully building dread
Hitchcockian describes something reminiscent of filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock's distinctive style—suspenseful, psychologically tense, and often featuring ordinary people caught in sinister circumstances.
The term suggests visual elegance paired with mounting dread: a Hitchcockian twist, The film had a Hitchcockian quality, all blonde heroines and lurking menace.
It implies masterful manipulation of audience anxiety.
Director with total control
- cameoBrief guest appearance
- MacGuffinMotivator irrelevant in itself
- blondeFair-haired person
- storyboardPlanned visual sequence drawings
montage · mise-en-scène · cross-cutting · point-of-view · Technicolor · cinematography
Persistent, intrusive preoccupation
- voyeurismErotic observation without consent
- guiltMoral self-reproach
- paranoiaIrrational persecution fears
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
madness · identity · doppelganger · psychoanalysis · trauma · fear · anxiety · neurosis
Stretched or strained state
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- anticipationState of awaiting something
- uneaseMild persistent worry
anxiety · menace · apprehension · cliffhanger · uncertainty · ominous · disquiet · edginess
auteur
Director with total control
storyboard · montage · mise-en-scène · cross-cutting · point-of-view · Technicolor · cinematography
obsession
Persistent, intrusive preoccupation
- voyeurismErotic observation without consent
- guiltMoral self-reproach
- paranoiaIrrational persecution fears
repression · madness · identity · doppelganger · psychoanalysis · trauma · fear · anxiety · neurosis · subconscious
tension
Stretched or strained state
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- anticipationState of awaiting something
unease · anxiety · menace · apprehension · cliffhanger · uncertainty · ominous · disquiet · edginess · claustrophobia
staircase
Indoor flight of steps
handcuffs · silhouette · spiral · glasses · keys · train · shadows · window · mirror · portrait
Vertigo
Psychological thriller about acrophobia
Hitchcockiansplatter
Scatter in drops
slasher · gross-out · in-your-face · gory · exploitative
Hitchcockianhyperkinetic
Abnormally excessive movement
fast-paced · frenetic · breakneck · rapid-fire · action-packed
HitchcockianTarantinoesque
Hyper-stylized crime aesthetic
grindhouse · cinema verité · documentary-style · improvisational · handheld