Hi Poppagator - I was aware of Alfred's English roots - he was born not too far away from where I live in east London, in Leytonstone, and there is still a funeral directors nearby called Hitchcocks, who are related (but I'm not sure how... might be interesting for a BBC film crew to investigate one day).

I've been a fan of his films for many years, but never had the money or space to make a complete video collection. With the issue of his works on DVD, I can at least start with the well known ones.

I also think you're right in that he did mature and improve on his previous works. But I don't think anyone could improve on his 'Psycho'.... the colour remake and the subsequent movies just didn't have that nervy edge that the original has. Somehow stage blood just never gets that same depth or frisson of horror as that shot of the chocolate sauce going down the plughole...

LTS