What are the best classic Alfred Hitchcock movies on Netflix right now, and which one should you start with?

It’s no surprise that even Netflix, not known for its extensive classic film library, consistently features this timeless masterpiece on their platform. With its significant contribution to the suspense genre, “Psycho” remains a must-watch for cinema enthusiasts. The film’s brilliance is evident, with only a minor flaw in the final scenes that can be overlooked considering the overall excellence of the narrative. A revisit to this black-and-white gem in comparison to Hitchcock’s other works sheds light on its groundbreaking approach, especially following the vibrant and adventurous style of “North by Northwest” released the year prior. “Psycho” initially appears as a gripping crime thriller, tracing the escapades of Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) after she commits theft and goes into hiding. However, the storyline takes a thrilling turn with the iconic shower scene, marking a pivotal moment in cinematic history by introducing one of the first slashers on screen. In addition to its chilling suspense, “Psycho” offers profound character exploration, aided by Anthony Perkins’ stellar performance. It showcases Hitchcock’s exceptional filmmaking skills while venturing into uncharted territory.

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Regarded as one of Hitchcock’s finest works, this enduring classic set within a confined space has left a lasting impact on audiences. The premise of a man, played by James Stewart, confined to his home and observing his neighbors, eventually getting entangled in a potential crime, has become a recurrent theme in popular culture, even inspiring sitcom storylines. Stewart delivers a powerhouse performance as J.B. Jeffries, a photographer restricted to a wheelchair who swaps his camera for binoculars, blurring the lines between observation and participation. The film’s exploration of voyeurism serves as a metaphor for the filmmaker’s irresistible urge to scrutinize and dissect human behavior, portraying Jeffries’ neighbors as a mosaic of emotions and desires. Technically, this movie stands out as one of Hitchcock’s most skillful depictions of suspense within limited settings, comparable to the real-time intensity of “Rope” and the confined dynamics of “Lifeboat,” utilizing point-of-view shots and staging techniques to heighten tension and intrigue.

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Repeatedly voted among the best movies of all time by the venerable Sight & Sound poll (it placed first in the 2012 edition, and second in both 2002 and 2022), Vertigo is a knottier and more languid affair than many of Hitchcock’s trademark crackerjack thrillers. In his final film with Hitchcock, James Stewart plays Scottie, an injured cop who becomes obsessed with Madeleine (Kim Novak), a woman he’s asked to tail and whose suicide he seems to witness, affecting his later relationship with another woman who bears a striking resemblance to Madeleine. Again, Hitchcock uses Stewart to address the subtextual desires of the filmmaker: obsession, desire, and control, none of which apparently appealed to audiences at the time. (The film was a commercial and, more surprisingly, critical flop in its day.) Its reputation has grown, obviously, and if it’s not the prototypical Hitchcock picture, it’s a dazzling demonstration of how far he could push what might look like genre exercises to provocative (and dizzying) heights.

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Hitch returned to Stewart to remake his own 1934 film, and wind up with probably the better-regarded of the two. (Certainly by Hitchcock; in interview, he said: “Let’s say the first version is the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional.”) Stewart plays a man vacationing with his wife Jo (Doris Day) and their son, who is fed information about an assassination plot by chance, and then ensnared in the plot as the bad guys hope to keep him quiet. This version of the story focuses more on the marriage at its center, with strong dramatic work from both Stewart and the usually-sunny Day. In doing so, it also complicates the Stewart persona and his on-screen aging, as Hitchcock consistently did across their three films together, all of which are on the platform.

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One of Hitchcock’s stranger films but also one of its most famous for its unnerving take on the creature feature: Without warning or understandable reason, birds begin to attack people in a small California town. The movie is a slow burn at first, but when the birds descend, it becomes more visceral and immediate. Though there are some neat special effects (which also sometimes chafe at technological limits of the time), the movie is scarier for its much-spoofed, much-referred-to imagery, where gathering birds watch and wait for their human prey.

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Even for those familiar with Hitchcock’s career might find it a little odd to realize he was still making movies in the 1970s; that, in other words, there was a Hitchcock movie out the same year as The Godfather or, as in the next entry, Rocky and All the President’s Men. Hitchcock’s two 1970s films are not among his most-admired. But Frenzy offers the bizarre novelty of Hitchcock working entirely free of the production standards that dominated most of his career; in the United States, at least, it was now the era of the MPAA, which duly rated this British film an R for its more explicit violence, sex, and nudity than ever before (or since) seen in a Hitchcock movie. (No great feat on “since,” as this was his penultimate feature.) This blackly funny serial-killer movie isn’t top-tier among the films of 1972, nor among the Hitchcock greats; there about a dozen others you should probably watch before this one. But it’s still neat to see the great filmmakers having fun with relaxed standards, and making a movie in the same era as his acolyte Brian De Palma.

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As Decider’s Hitchcock Week from 2015 notes, Family Plot doesn’t send the filmmaker off with a bang. Unlike Frenzy, it’s not particularly made to take advantage of newfound cinematic freedoms, and in fact functions as much as a genteel caper comedy, involving two different scheming couples brought together by a fateful job, as it does any kind of thriller. It’s inessential by any measure. And yet! There is something charming about Hitchcock working in that mode, and so far out of his peak period. (At this point, Psycho was 16 years past, or the same age as Lifeboat was when Psycho came out.) If you’ve made your way through the first six movies on this list, you might as well give his final movie a whirl.

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Of course, there are far more Hitchcock movies than these seven, the earliest of which arrived 30 years into his career (and 20 years into his run of best-known films). Netflix has been screening far more of them in an expansive retrospective in New York City’s Paris Theater, and it’s too bad more of them haven’t been added to this streaming collection. If you want more of Hitchcock’s best (better, all told, than numbers four through seven on this list), you can also seek out Shadow of a Doubt (1943), which is currently streaming on a free service known as Darkroom, and is arguably his best film of the 1940s (and many fans’ all-time favorite, full stop); Rebecca (1940), Hitchcock’s only Best Picture Oscar winner, which has a flimsy remake on Netflix that’s not nearly as good as the original that streams on Filmzie; North by Northwest (1959), more of a man-on-the-run thriller than a macabre murder plot; and the real-time experiment Rope (1948), his first film with Stewart. There are more still, but add these to the Netflix group and you’ll really be shaping up.