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Alfred Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, and in honor of the famed auteur’s 116th birthday, we’re celebrating our second annual Hitchcock Week on Decider. Click here to follow our coverage.

In addition to inspiring contemporary filmmakers to make cameo appearances in their films, Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock influenced many of the most acclaimed horror flicks, mysteries, and thrillers of our time. Through both direct homage and subtle nods, directors from David Lynch and Steven Spielberg to M. Night Shyamalan and Martin Scorsese have all taken a page from Hitchcock’s foolproof formula for creating visually captivating, edge-of-your-seat suspense. The auteur’s influence goes far beyond the frame, however, permeating the fields of sound design and composition to advancing how sexuality was depicted onscreen. Without further ado, below are works inspired by the man himself, whose legend has left an undeniable, timeless mark on cinematic art as we know it.

**INFLUENCED:** How romance and intimacy was depicted onscreen.
**HOW?:** By having lovers Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and Sam Loomis (John Gavin) share the same bed in *Psycho.*
[Where to stream *Psycho* and *The Graduate* ]Photo: Everett Collection

**INFLUENCED:** The antagonist's point of view.
**HOW?:** Hitchcock famously featured a slow, tense, zooming POV, which inspired horror films like *Jaws*.
[Where to stream *Jaws*]Image: Zanuck/Brown Productions, Universal

**INFLUENCED:** Nearly every David Lynch film.
**HOW?:** Though the surrealist filmmaker credits Stanley Kubrick and Federico Fellini for his inspiration, Lynch channels Hitchcock when it comes to casting (almost always a blonde femme fatale) and scoring a film.
[Where to stream *Eraserhead*]Photo: Everett Collection

**INFLUENCED:** The contemporary scream queen.
**HOW?:** Janet Leigh (mother of scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis) gave us the original bombshell damsel in distress.
[Where to stream *Halloween*]Photo: Everett Collection

**INFLUENCED:** How horror films' soundtracks were scored.
**HOW?:** In addition to *Psycho*'s famous shrieking strings, Hitchcock knew the key to a successful suspense thriller was employing an expert composer in Bernard Herrmann, which influenced masterminds like Stanley Kubrick to hire music editors like Gordan Stainforth to mix *The Shining*
[Where to stream *The Shining*]Image: Warner Bros.

**INFLUENCED:** Just about every Brian de Palma film.
**HOW?:** De Palma, a revolutionary of the Film School Generation, studied Hitchcock meticulously and paid homage to the auteur with direct references to films like *Rear Window*, as you see above with *Body Double*
[Where to stream *Rear Window* and *Body Double*]Photo: Everett Collection

**INFLUENCED:** All of David Fincher's mystery thrillers.
**HOW?:** In addition to *Rear Window* being one of his all-time faves, Fincher works best with a taught, suspenseful script like those of *Seven*, *Zodiac*, and even *Gone Girl*
[Where to stream *Seven*, *Zodiac*, and *Gone Girl*]Photo: Everett Collection

**INFLUENCED:** The surprising death of the (usually top-billing) protagonist.
**HOW?:** From John Travolta in *Pulp Fiction* and Kevin Spacey in *L.A. Confidential* to Drew Barrymore in *Scream*, killing off the token movie star early on left audiences baffled as to what will happen next.
[Where to stream *Pulp Fiction*, *L.A. Confidential*, and *Scream* ]Photo: Everett Collection

**INFLUENCED:** The modern twist.
**HOW?:** M. Night Shyamalan famously took a few notes from Hitchcock's suspense formula and made a name for himself as "The Modern Day Hitchcock" thanks to his gimmicky twists.
[Where to stream *The Sixth Sense*]Photo: Everett Collection

**INFLUENCED:** Martin Scorsese's female leads.
**HOW?:** At the start of his films, Scorsese likes to feature his blonde protagonists (like Margot Robbie in *The Wolf of Wall Street* dressed in white and in a fantasy-like state. This is a direct homage to Hitchcock and his many blondes.
[Where to stream *The Wolf of Wall Street*]Image: Paramount Pictures

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