Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

Psycho is a horror movie directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock.

The movie was filmed in the late fifties and released in 1960. There

were very few horror films in the sixties and this was considered a

groundbreaking movie.

As the film is in black and white it is very dark and gloomy, just

perfect for a horror movie. There are other points that tell us early

on that this is a horror movie and that we will be scared, like the

hard rain against the car window when Marian is driving away and the

worried look on Marians face as she drives. Even before the film

begins the theme music is very horrific.

The basic story line is that Marian has isolated here self from

friends, family and all who know her after stealing $40,000 by driving

far away, buying a new car and not telling anyone.

She is very tired and has been driving all night. Marian decides to

stop at a motel off the highway again very isolated. The Motel is

empty it's dark, quiet and raining heavily. She has no chocie, but to

stay the night and get some sleep.

Norman Bates (the owner) likes Marian, but is clearly very

uncomfortable and nervous around women. Norman thinks very carefully

and decides to give Marian the room one key. When showing Marian the

room he is again uncomfortable and will not enter the bathroom. He

invites her to tea in his office and Marian, being very hungry

accepts. In the office there are stuffed birds everywhere, this is

important, it shows that he is always around death!

The scene I will be focusing on is the shower scene. In the scene

before this Norman was watching Marian through a hole in the thin wall

between the office and room one.

The shower scene was a masterpiece and took seven days to film. This

shows that Alfred Hitchcock took great time, care, effort and detail

in this scene.

It opens with Marian ripping up her plan to do with the money.