psycho (finished)

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock:

Psycho was directed by Alfred Hitchcock in the 1960's and was written by both Joseph stefano and Robert Bloch, first things first the movie uses a classic thriller device known as the red herring, the way that this particular movie uses this device is that in the beginning of the film the audience initially believes that it is all about the $40,000 and the murder which then takes place becomes a massive shock and scare to the audience and puts them on edge for the rest of the movie setting them up for the fact that anything could happen at any time and anyone could be killed in any instance, however Hitchcock also followed a strict belief inn this movie that he stuck to, this was the idea that as the suspense and apprehension increased the violence and gore would decrease as so to keep the movie flowing nicely and the audience fixated to the screen.

this movie just like many other thriller movies are extremely fast paced especially during the scenes regarding the shower, car and staircase another instance that makes this movie fast paced and action packed is the fact that there is clearly something wrong with the character of Norman Bates who is introduced very early into the movie, this instantly puts us on edge from the get-go, we just sense that there is something wrong with the way which he acts and his personality and straight away makes us very uncomfortable, another commonly used thriller device is the hero having to overcome multiple obstacles and problems introduced to them by the villainm so the movie is very villain driven however this is not really the case with "psycho" sure the villain carries on murdering and putting the "heroes" on a wild goose chase but this is not villain driven as it is more the heroes trying to find a missing person on their own accord while the villain attempts to cover up his own tracks.

The true brilliance of this movie comes from its construction and the way in which Hitchcock throws unexpected instances and scenarios the audiences ways and during the whole movie there are two whole major unexpected moments which catch the audiences attention, these two moments are during the shower scene and at the end during the final revelation about the mother, although a major unexpected moment during the whole movie is at the beginning with the very early exit of Janet Leigh and the reason why this is considered to be so unexpected is that from the beginning of the movie we accept her as the main character and expect her to be the survivor which solves the problem however she dies and this leaves the audience in a sense of disbelief with no idea as to what happened and the audience is then further confused when the point of view switched to that of Norman Bates. 

This movie uses the device of the "mc-guffin" which is the thing that gives the movie its driving force and causes all of this action to happen however it is not really ever spoken about once the action has started and is quickly forgotten about, during this film the mc-guffin is very clearly the stolen money from the beginning and soon sets off all of the other events during the rest of the movie.

The shower scene is arguably the most important and breathtaking scene in the whole movie in the way that is is both conducted, unexpected and the first real instance of violence and gore within the cinema industry and it could also be said that this scene alone changed the face of cinema forever and introduced real horror to the thriller franchise, however no matter how much it is argued that this scene is grossly violent and gory you never actually see anything, the scene just switched between the close up face of the screaming woman and the slashing motions of the arm we never actually see the knife make contact at any point in time and never see it pierce her skin or cause any harm at any frame, it is all simply what we believe has happened and the power of our imagination which makes us believe that the murder has taken place, the murder itself is only hinted at on screen.