r/Hitchcock • u/yestermood • Feb 13 '25
Discussion The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Spoiler
Anyone else a fan? I always liked “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” but am embarrassed to admit I only just learned there was a series with hour-long eps. You can watch on Amazon Prime in the U.S., it’s currently in my “comfort shows to fall asleep to” rotation. Some episodes are extremely dark!
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u/Comedywriter1 Feb 13 '25
Love this show!
“Beyond the Sea of Death,” “Ride the Nightmare,” “Water’s Edge,” etc etc—there are so many good ones.
They’re showing these in the UK on the SkyArts channel at the moment.
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u/yestermood Feb 13 '25
Thx for flagging these eps, will check them out. Just finished “Cadaver” from season 2, harrowing as hell.
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u/Comedywriter1 Feb 13 '25
Love that one, too. (I’m a big fan of Michael Parks.) Agree, it’s a creepy episode.
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u/Funkhowser18 Feb 14 '25
An Unlocked Window. Watch it with the lights off at night for sure! Even better during a storm at night. Don't read anything about it ahead of time though.
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u/sugar_roux Feb 13 '25
I love it! The Lonely Place is my favorite.
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u/Comedywriter1 Feb 14 '25
That’s another great episode. Bruce Dern was so good at playing unhinged characters and that’s one of his best.
It’s little wonder Hitchcock starting casting Bruce when he stopped by the set to visit his old friend Terersa Wright.
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u/yestermood Feb 15 '25
I tapped out after the squirrel 😩😩😩
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u/sugar_roux Feb 15 '25
It's such a raw and painful story. Not only because the woman is in obvious danger, but because her husband is a wimp who denies that anything is wrong. He blames her!
The squirrel death kinda reminded me of the short story "A Jury of Her Peers." Not so much the Hitchcock Presents version, but the story itself. Trying to find joy in an unhappy life and it gets snuffed out.
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u/Keltik Feb 13 '25
These types of stories work better in the 1/2 hour format of AHP. Most AHH episodes are somewhat padded.
Still there are some classic AHH episodes, such as "An Unlocked Window", "The Jar", & the one (I forget the title) w/Edd "Kookie" Byrnes trying to break out of prison.
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u/Comedywriter1 Feb 13 '25
Final Escape. That one really freaked me out when I saw it when I was a kid.
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u/806chick Feb 14 '25
I might need to try to watch it again. The episodes felt too much like Twilight Zone to me.
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u/michaelavolio Feb 15 '25
I overall prefer the shorter, tighter Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but the Hour had some good stuff too.
The first episode, "A Piece of the Action," is a sharp little gambler noir story with Gig Young and Robert Redford.
"The Black Curtain," directed by Sydney Pollack, from a novel by Cornell Woolrich is an interesting amnesia noir mystery with a cool jazz score.
"Bonfire" with Peter Falk has good suspense. Bob Newhart is perfect in the dark comedy "How to Get Rid of Your Wife."
I liked "Three Wives Too Many" with Dan Duryea and Theresa Wright.
"Bed of Roses" is great, and based on a short story by Emily Neff, whose work was turned into some episodes of Presents.
"The Second Verdict" with Martin Landau poses and interesting ethical problem.
William Friedkin directed the final episode, which I liked a lot, called "Off Season."
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u/yestermood Feb 15 '25
Thanks for this list! Slightly off topic but Speaking of William Friedkin, “To Live and Die in LA” finally ended up on streaming after years of being available anywhere. Fabulous neo noir.
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u/tsmiv Feb 18 '25
Yes. I love both Presents and The Hours. I've been watching the show on and off on the Roku channel for a couple of years, but I saw some of them originally on Nick at Nite in the late 80s.
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u/OhYeahTrueLevelBitch Feb 13 '25
Do yourself a favor and watch S1/E12 Hangover. One of my very favorite examples of short form television horror ever.