A thriller Top 10: Check out K Narayanan’s essential Hitchcock watchlist

Psycho, of course. But also The Lady Vanishes, and The 39 Steps. A century since his first film, Narayanan puts together a list of fan and critic favourites.

* Psycho (1960)

Enormously influential, this film is credited with inventing the slasher-horror genre. It remains Alfred Hitchcock’s best-known film. It is also his only movie to have sparked a franchise.

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* Vertigo (1958)

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Considered one of the greatest films ever made, by directors and critics alike, this is a compelling tale of obsession. It is also Hitchcock’s most personal film, drawing on his own manipulation of his lead actresses, and his desire to mould them to his will.

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The cinephile’s choice, Hitchcock’s bleakest film is almost a documentary, based on the true story of a man wrongly accused. It was the subject of one of the most famous reviews by then film critic Jean-Luc Godard.

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* Rear Window (1954)

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Thrills, witty dialogue, pathos, suspense, a superb Grace Kelly, and a wry commentary on voyeurism, Rear Window has earned its reputation as a classic.

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* Strangers on a Train (1951)

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Hitchcock disliked Raymond Chandler, who had been commissioned to write the script. Chandler’s script was never used, but Strangers on a Train is a tense, suspenseful thriller, with a great performance by Robert Walker as the villainous Bruno.

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* Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

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One of Hitchcock’s favourites, it has a simple theme: evil comes to a small town. Watch it for the chilling performance by Joseph Cotten, who had traditionally played good guys.

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* Foreign Correspondent (1940)

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Eerie windmills whose blades turn against the wind, an assassination in the rain, and a plane crash at sea. Hitchcock’s second Hollywood film (the first was Rebecca) was his call to the US to join World War 2. (The US joined the war in December 1941.)

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* Rebecca (1940)

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Three high-profile remakes later, his 1940 adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s bestseller remains the best one.

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* The Lady Vanishes (1938)

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One of Hitchcock’s best films, this one is as marvellous a comedy as it is a suspense thriller. Margaret Lockwood stars as a woman whose train companion suddenly vanishes. She then finds no one else can recall ever seeing her.

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* The 39 Steps (1935)

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Considered Hitchcock’s first masterpiece, this film’s theme – of a man wrongly accused – would recur over and over, in different ways, through his filmography. The influence of this film can also be seen in movies ranging from Carol Reed’s Night Train to Munich (1940) to Andrew Davis’s The Fugitive (1993).