Although I probably don't quite share your enthusiasm for DePalma (who I don't like at all) or Argento (who I blow hot and cold over) I do see what you mean about Hitch's influence in some ways surpassing his actual movies.
He's clearly brilliant, but i think that's the problem. His films tend to make me think of intricate, perfectly tuned machines, where the components works in complete synchronicity with one another. As such, I can admire his movies, but tend to find them all a bit lifeless. The only one I really like is The Birds, simply because it seems to be his 'loosest'. For that reason I love what, for example, The Coen Brothers did with the film Blood Simple, or David Lynch with Blue Velvet, both of which seemed to take the skeleton of Hitch and then completely open it up and fuck with it, Shaolin necro-style.
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