4. Vertigo
Alfred Hitchcock's tale of deception ,lust, and obsession would be many people's choice for the greatest psychological thriller of all time, and justly so. Widely perceived to be the old master's finest work, Vertigo sees James Stewart's acrophobic, retired detective, John 'Scottie' Ferguson, investigate the strange activities of an old friend's wife. After becoming deeply obsessed with her, he falls in love, but the woman (Kim Novak) is not what she seems, or who she claims. A deftly manipulative film, Vertigo marks the spot where Hitchcock's remarkable visual style, and his stories of men and women and fakers and impostors, converge to best effect. There is a Greatest Shot of All Time contender in Vertigo - look for it in the motel room scene - as well as Jimmy Stewart's best work for the director as the emotionally battered Scottie. Novak too is a quintessential Hitchcock blonde, criticised at the time for being too wooden but now rightly reevaluated as anything but. As the film's revealing ending plays out, you'll end up feeling for them both.