Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and the American Horror Film - Movie Review Example

Psycho An analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and its contribution to the American horror film In 1960, as Marion Crane, untied her bath wear and stepped into the shower, viewers were yet to realize that they were in for a never before experienced roller coaster ride. When an image in 'dark shadow' appears behind her, a sense of thrill runs through the spine of the viewers. This scene from the movie "Psycho" embellished the presence of new sub genre of horror in Hollywood. It marked the birth of new type of horror films, unknown, unexplored and uncharacteristically entertaining that made people mad about it. Called as "Slashers" genre, it brought into the filmdom a series of movies that followed the footpath laid by this remarkable film. The following paragraphs try to analyze the reasons behind the movie "Psycho" turning out to be a benchmark film, not only for its introduction of new genre, but for the presentation of art in such a unique and unconventional manner. (Schaffer 2000) Techniques used in Psycho The man behind the movie is the person to be 'blamed' responsible for the introduction of this genre. Alfred Hitchcock, one of the greatest directors of all time is claimed to be one of the very few who could understand the pulse of the audience and play with that. His principle technique in presenting such kinds of Slashers films, especially Psycho was that he always scripts the movie with the audience in mind and how do they respond for each scene. His theory behind people coming to movie halls to watch it in dark is to enjoy their fear without having to worry about any danger. Falling from cliffs, fighting a tiger etc., all are things highly improbable in reality. (Bays 2004) But, people like to realize them and when such events are shown in film medium, they enjoy the fun and they become eager for more. Such is the power of cinema and none other than Hitchcock could have exploited it like the way he did. (Schaffer 2000) Secondly, Hitchcock captured the emotion of the audience in each and every scene. In any frame of a movie, the position of the camera defines the emotion of the audience. A close up shot brings out the emotions of the audience in relation with the movie whereas a long shot dilutes the emotions and brings them to a normal state. (Bays 2004) Hitchcock was able to handle the audience has his puppets making them to react according to his will. He holds the position of being first to introduce unconventional angles, such as close up shots of people screaming and top angle views. But, what made all these shots such a phenomenon and a juicy piece of information for the critics to rave about was the way each shot panned from one to other. A top shot swiftly changing to a close up and a wide to close up change became the hall marks of Hitchcock's Psycho. It thrilled the audience with full of surprises, instances which could have been told very simple. Each frame of the movie was subtle with emotions yet eccentric to watch. (Alan 2010) The final method involved in creating this genre is the use of sound and dialogues. Alfred was very confident in describing a character in the plot through his course of actions rather than through the delivery of dialogues. This was his main weaponry and his forte, yet to be matched by his compatriots as well as successors. He always believed many a times that a human can say a lot through his eyes that a 10 page dialogue. (Bays 2004) He indeed believed in it and this movie is a perfect example to describe the character of the psyche. Also, Hitchcock was skeptical in the usage of background music. A continuous flow of music followed by a sense of silence always puts the viewers to the edge of their seat and Alfred was a master of that in this movie. The continuous violin background used in major portions of the movie still lingers as fresh piece of music in everyone's years. Alfred proved that music could bring a lot of thrill into the viewers as much as the on screen actors could do and he proved it in this film. (Alan 2010) Firsts in the movie Apart from the techniques used, Hitchcock was more advanced and way ahead of his other counterparts in displaying the darker side of human being. A human's homogeneous liaisons, love for something turning into cruelty etc., all were displayed in mainstream cinema for the first time through this movie. Though this created a lot of speculations among the public fraternity, it opened a flood of thoughts revealing under the ideas propped up through this film. Hitchcock showed through this film that there is a darker side, a monster present under every human skin, roaming happily around the world just like every other human being. He showed to the world that horror can exist in human form, a notion failed to be captured by his predecessors. (Berg 2007) One of the best With all the evidences supporting the greatness of this film being explained, there are also several movies that have followed its footsteps. These include the Halloween, Friday the 13th, Dressed to Kill etc. These were hugely popular and extremely successful, thanks to the Hitchcock way of styling a movie. In adding to this proof, Psycho also has so many firsts, killing the main protagonist even before one third of the movie gets over, opening a scene with a girl in her undergarments, toilet flush etc. (Robb 2010) All these make the movie as one of the greatest of all time; still viable to modern day audience has an evergreen Slashers flick. The underlining fact about its impact in the film industry is that irrespective of so many films are made following Psycho; the movie still retains its flavor and panache which is incredible. Alfred Hitchcock's true potential is unrevealed through this film and it certainly makes him and this film to be one of the greatest and unmatchable supremacies in the Slashers/Horror genre. (Berg 2007) Reference Schaffer, B. (2000) Cutting the flow: Thinking Psycho. Senses of Cinema. Retrieved from http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/00/6/psycho.html [accessed 23 May 2010] Alan J. (2010) Cinematic Autopsy: The Dissection of the Slasher Genre. Horror News. Retrieved from http://www.horrornews.net/exclusives/html/The_Dissection_of_the_Slasher_Genre.html [accessed 23 May 2010] Berg J(2007). Alfred Hitchcock: Revolutionary of Modern Day Film. Associated Content. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/302427/alfred_hitchcock_revolutionary_of_modern_pg3.htmlcat=49 [accessed 23 May 2010] Bays, J (2004). Film Techniques of Alfred Hitchcock. Borgus. Retrieved from http://www.borgus.com/think/hitch.htm [accessed 23rd May 2010] Robb, S (2010). How Psycho changed cinema. Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8593508.stm [accessed 23rd May 2010] Read More