Psycho And Psycho

Perhaps no other film changed so drastically Hollywood's perception of the horror film as did PSYCHO. More surprising is the fact that this still unnerving horror classic was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a filmmaker who never relied upon shock values until this film. Here Hitchcock indulged in nudity, bloodbaths, necrophilia, transvestism, schizophrenia, and a host of other taboos and got away with it, simply because he was Hitchcock.

The movie Psycho was filmed in 1960 by Alfred Hitchcock. The movie focuses on a woman named Marion Crane. It starts when she steal 40,000 dollars from her boss to run away with her boyfriend. It’s late and she decides to check into a motel, the Bates Motel. At the motel, she encounters a middle-aged man named Norman Bates. He becomes morbidly obsessed with her. But he then kills her…dressed as his dead mom. There is a show that acts as a prequel to Hitchcock’s masterpiece; Bates Motel. It is focused on Norman Bates and his mother, Norma Bates whereas the movie is focused on Marion Craine.

By using a variety of camera angles, Hitchcock is able to amplify the “horror” aspect in his film, generally within the “horror” film genre, the use of close ups is very popular in order to catch the emotion of the victim and even sometimes of the aggressor in order to startle the audiences at the blood-lust of it “monster”, this particularly allows the audience to focus on that character at that point in time, for example in the shower scene in Psycho we can see a close up after the initial revealing of the killer as they raise the knife towards the victim. The camera gets closer and closer to her until, repeatedly cutting until finally there is a close up of her mouth screaming, this is particularly typical of the “horror” genre while the

Music has proven to be one of the most effective tools to aid films by helping the story flow and create emotional impacts within an audience. Hitchcock’s unorthodox and unique use of music is what creates the uneasy atmosphere of the film at the very beginning and it cues the audience to prepare for the upcoming scary scenes. The music is what arguably what holds the film together, without it the film would not hold up and there would not be as much suspense in this dramatic and psychological thriller. It’s the creepy music that makes Psycho such a memorable

encroaches on Marian as it is very close to her all of the time. It is

In this case, music has a vital role of helping the film promote tension throughout. Usually, isolated instruments are used to build up to a key event to increase tension and subconsciously link the idea of vulnerability to the viewers. However in Psycho, composer Bernard Herrmann uses just the sound of the shower leading up to the key moment and then the isolated instruments (violins and cellos)

When the silhouette appeared behind the shower curtains during the shower scene, there was no music only the sound effects of the shower, and as a result, the audience was positioned to empower Marion, knowing a crucial piece of information that she didn't. Similarly in The Birds, when Melanie was in front of school there is a conspicuous increase in bird count and as they more birds appeared the chirping also increased as if they are slowly empowering the children singing. Hitchcock used sound effects similarly in both films to increase tension and suspense. Comparing both movies there are many similarities, as he showed little details in the background to give hints of what the audience should feel in the particular scene, he cleverly used the mode of mise-en-scène to achieve this. (MediaStudiesCollection, 2012) In the scene after the Brenner's family were just been attacked by small brown birds, Melanie heard noise coming from the upstairs bedroom. As she opened the door to the room, she was surrounded and attacked by many crows. The setting of the scene show her being pushed back on the brown door creates the sense of being trapped and now where to go as well in Psycho when Marion was also pushed back to the wall of the shower, it gives a sense struggle on the audience. By using sound effects and mise-en-scène, Hitchcock successfully creates tension in both

Hitchcock’s manic antagonist Norman Bates’ disturbing behaviour can be scrutinised using Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical perspective; thus perusing the motives behind his horrifying matricide and subsequential murders. Bates’ childlike disposition throughout the film, seen through his poor social skills, stutter and obsessive candy chewing could be

As a society, there is a lot of excitement placed upon horror and horror films; ask anybody and they could recall what the first horror movie they saw was and when they saw it. In fact, there were 322 horror films release in 2015 alone. However, during the 1950s there were only approximately 117 or so horror films released throughout the whole decade. During the 1960s, that number double from 117 to 273 (IMDB). This sharp incline could be attributed to many different things, but it would ridiculous to deny that the works of Shirley Jackson didn’t have an affect on the popularity of horror, and the increase in demand for horror to be put on screen.

In the 1960’s, movies were not filmed in black and white. Most people were excited by the movies made in color, but it changed when Psycho came out. In Psycho they showed the toilet, which was not common in the 60’s. Hitchcock was the first to do that as part of his scenes. Also, the bathroom scene was a shocking, unusual scene in the movie. By making a scene like this one, Hitchcock prepared other directors for similar scenes that affected future movies. For example, the movie “The Texas Chainsaw,” is one of many movies that has countless violent chunks. If no other movie influenced the movie industry I know Psycho influenced a great deal of newer movie makers to include violence and/or sex in their movies.

Alfred Hitchcock is fairly referred to as the pioneer of the psychological thrillers. Though such genre did not exist in the 50’s, it would soon be transformed from the so-called “suspense films” (Thompson 41). The director was obviously a true master of making his audience feel afraid and anxious – all his innovative techniques and auteur approach were directed to create a genuine feeling of suspense. The genre always implied psychoanalytical elements as well as those of violence and murders.

Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock is considered one of the greatest films ever made. This 1960s Slasher/Thriller is a cultural mild post and has had a huge influence on filmmakers for decades. This movie stars a woman by the name of Marion Crane who steals $40,000 from her employer's client and goes on the run. She checks into a remote motel and was killed by an unknown shadowy figure, which is later reviled as the disturbed serial killer, Norman Bates. Depicting her stabbing death the shower scene is one the most recognizable scenes in film history. With its many cuts, angles sudden hits of violence and nudity Hitchcock change the norms for what was accepted in mainstream cinema.

It introduces us to these new victims all while having us think the true murderer and "Psycho" is Norman Bates' widowed mother, to our surprise was murdered years ago with her lover by her very son Norman. Who was the old woman we hear address Norman as her son? Is it really his dead mother? An impostor? This leaves us pondering who or what is behind these murders with

Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of Psycho is the score to the Shower Scene. The composer accountable for it is Bernard Herrmann. The Action of the scene is very fast-paced and the Music present in the scene is a direct

As a person who dislikes horror, I don’t typically watch horror films, especially modern horror films. However, after watching the small clip of Psycho in class, it peaked my interest to further understand the characters, in particular, Norman Bates character. In the film Psycho, the recurring theme is a more psychological and can be demonstrated throughout the film but in particular, the parlor scene and the end scene at the jail.