Step into the enigmatic world of Alfred Hitchcock, the unparalleled master of suspense, where every scene drips with tension, and every line leaves you on the edge of your seat! From the spine-chilling shower scene in “Psycho” to the heart-pounding chase in “North by Northwest,” Hitchcock's cinematic genius continues to captivate audiences worldwide. But did you know that beyond his remarkable filmmaking prowess, Hitchcock was also a master of words? In this blog post, we dive into the captivating realm of “Suspenseful Alfred Hitchcock Quotes,” unearthing some of his most intriguing, chilling, and thought-provoking lines that showcase his profound understanding of human nature and the art of suspense.
Intrigued by the idea of creating a thrilling story even in the simplest phrases, Hitchcock's quotes are a treasure trove of wisdom for aspiring filmmakers, writers, and anyone fascinated by the mystery of human psychology. As we embark on this journey through 50 suspenseful quotes, you'll discover how Hitchcock's exceptional ability to manipulate emotions, his dark humor, and his keen insight into the human mind converge to create a cinematic legacy that continues to influence the world of filmmaking to this day. So, fasten your seatbelts, hold your breath, and get ready to unlock the mind of the “Master of Suspense” as we bring you the most gripping Alfred Hitchcock quotes that will send shivers down your spine!
Unraveling the Suspense
1. “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”
2. “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”
3. “Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.”
4. “I'm not against the police; I'm just afraid of them.”
5. “Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.”
6. “There's no terror in the unknown, only in what we know.”
7. “In films, murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is and what a messy thing it is to kill a man.”
8. “The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.”
9. “The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them.”
10. “I enjoy playing the audience like a piano.”
Related Article: 50 Artistic Vincent van Gogh Quotes
Masterful Manipulations
- “I'm a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.”
- “A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission, and the babysitter were worth it.”
- “There is nothing to winning, really. That is, if you happen to be blessed with a keen eye, an agile mind, and no scruples whatsoever.”
- “I'm full of fears and I do my best to avoid difficulties and any kind of complications. I like everything around me to be clear as crystal and completely calm.”
- “Ingrid Bergman speaks five languages, and she never said ‘I love you' in any of them.”
- “Give them pleasure – the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.”
- “The more ordinary, the more horrifying.”
- “Fear isn't so difficult to understand. After all, weren't we all frightened as children?”
- “We seem to have a compulsion these days to bury time capsules in order to give those people living in the next century or so some idea of what we are like.”
- “The terror isn't in the bang, but in the anticipation of it.”
Emotions in the Shadows
- “There is a distinct difference between ‘suspense' and ‘surprise,' and yet many pictures continually confuse the two.”
- “I'm frightened of eggs, worse than frightened, they revolt me. That white round thing without any holes, and when you break it, inside, there's that yellow thing, round, without any holes… Brrr! Have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid? Blood is jolly, red. But egg yolk is yellow, revolting!”
- “Some films are slices of life; mine are slices of cake.”
- “The silence is the most important thing in suspense.”
- “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?”
- “The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.”
- “I am to provide the public with beneficial shocks.”
- “Give them pleasure – the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.”
- “Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms.”
- “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”
Related Article: 50 Quantum Richard Feynman Quotes
Dark Humor and Wit
- “The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them.”
- “In films, murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is and what a messy thing it is to kill a man.”
- “Television is like the American toaster, you push the button and the same thing pops up everytime.”
- “If it's a good movie, the sound could go off, and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.”
- “The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.”
- “A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake.”
- “For me, suspense doesn't have any value if it's not balanced by humor.”
- “The paperback is very interesting, but I find it will never replace the hardcover book — it makes a very poor doorstop.”
- “There is nothing quite so good as burial at sea. It is simple, tidy, and not very incriminating.”
- “Luck is everything… My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film.”
Wisdom of the Master
- “We're not making a slice of life, but a slice of cake.”
- “In feature films, the director is God; in documentary films, God is the director.”
- “A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission, and the babysitter were worth it.”
- “I never said actors are cattle; what I said was that actors should be treated like cattle.”
- “A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake.”
- “I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.”
- “The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.”
- “There is nothing quite so good as burial at sea. It is simple, tidy, and not very incriminating.”
- “Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms.”
- “In films, murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is and what a messy thing it is to kill a man.”
Related Article: 50 Code-breaking Margaret Hamilton Quotes
