Alfred Hitchcock’s Film Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock’s Film Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho was released in 1960. The film starred

two main characters – Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates and Janet Leigh

as Marion Crane. The film Psycho is a thriller, and has been a great

success as it had won many awards. Psycho was set in Arizona, mainly

in the Bates Motel. The film proved to be a great success, as sequels

were made. However, they were not as big a hit as the original Psycho.

The film starts off with Marion Crane in a hotel room, and she is

having an affair with a man named Sam. Sam appears to be having money

problems and they are thinking of leaving together. Marion is supposed

to bank forty thousand dollars in cash for her boss, but she decides

on stealing it and running away. She is then driving for a long time,

and finds herself at the Bates Motel, due to the bad weather. Here she

meets the creepy and nervous owner Norman Bates who appears to live

with his invalid mother. Marion is then horrifically murdered in the

shower, and her body dumped. A week later, a Private Investigator goes

up to the Bates Motel in search of Marion. He then is also murdered

while he is there. Marion’s sister Lana Crane also goes to the Bates

Motel as she wants to find out just what has happened to her sister.

There she discovers just who the murderer is as the film reaches its

terrifying climax.

Hitchcock uses black and white film throughout. The music in Psycho

features a range of different shrill string instruments. The music

sets the scene for the horror and suspense which dominates the film.

The music also helps to sustain the mysteriousness of the film and the

plot. The sense of tension which is created by the music portrays the

tension on screen experienced by the characters. An example of when

this music is used would be when Marion is driving along the highway

at night, just before she finds herself at the Bates Motel.