Terror in the Aisles (1984)

Alfred Hitchcock: Self

Quotes 

• Self - Host : Of course, you can always close your eyes, but you can't close your ears.

  Self - Host : And yet, keeping your eyes open is a good thing, especially if you're out on a night with a full moon, because you never know what's in store for you. Years ago, when filmmakers wanted to transform someone into a werewolf, the actor just sat still and trick photography did all the work. Today, people are more sophisticated. And becoming a werewolf can take a great deal out of you. Combining skill, ingenuity, and a strong stomach. Artists and technicians continue to defy logic, stagger the imagination, and astound our senses. All the time raising the stakes.

  Self - Host : But special effects are not essential to a good movie. It's the filmmaker's technique that matters most. And the unquestioned master was Alfred Hitchcock.

  Alfred Hitchcock : When I say that I'm not interested in content, it would be the same as a painter worrying about whether the apple that he's painting, whether they're sweet or sour. Who cares? It's his style, his manner of painting them. That's where the emotion comes from.

  [on the infamous shower scene from "Psycho"] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : This scene is 45 seconds long, but was made up out of 78 pieces of film coming onto the screen in great rapidity. But the overall impression given the audience, is one of an alarming, devastating murder scene.

• Self - Host : The fact is, from the moment you buy that ticket, you know you're gonna get it. It's just a question of how, where, and when. The name of the game is suspense.

  Self - Host : [speaking to the audience]  In effect, the filmmaker says to the audience, "Now get ready. You're going to see something that's going to scare you. But I'm not going to tell you when." You're being programmed to go nuts.

  Alfred Hitchcock : [speaking to the audience]  The essential fact is to get real suspense, you must let the audience have information. Now let's take the old-fashioned "bomb theory". You and I sitting, talking, we'll say about baseball. We're talking for five minutes. Suddenly, a bomb goes off, and the audience have a 10 second terrible shock. Now, let's take the same situation, tell the audience at the beginning that under the table, and show it to them, there's a bomb, and it's gonna go off in five minutes. And we talk baseball. What are the audience doing? They're saying, "Don't talk about baseball, there's a bomb under there. Get rid of it." But they're helpless. They can't jump out of their seats up onto the screen and grab hold of the bomb and throw it out.

  Self - Host : Shock and surprise are very different from suspense. If you want to shock people, you just have to catch them off guard, and then clobber them. That was shocking, wasn't it? But suspense can be equally brutal.