8. Alfred Hitchcock
The master of suspense. The genius. Hitchcock made a career out of keeping audiences constantly off balance. We never knew what to expect. Every character in his films found themselves in constant peril and we felt it right alongside them. We feared for them, we WERE them. Most of Hitchcock's films dealt with murder in some regard but usually his main characters would somehow make it out alive. This was the case in Strangers On A Train or Dial M For Murder but most notably this occurred in Psycho. Most who went into theaters to see Psycho when it premiered had not read the book and were very surprised when the heroine was killed off so quickly. Hitchcock made things even more shocking for audiences by casting Janet Leigh in the role. She was the star, the heroine and she was murdered during the first act of the film. This was something that audiences had never experienced before and is one reason why the film and director himself have endured through the decades. Hitchcock was a master of mounting tension but should best be remembered for reminding us that death is always lurking just around the corner.