Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock is a horror film that debuted in 1960, starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. (IMDb) This horror film changed the horror movie genre, helping to develop it into what it is today. This film tells the story of a woman who runs off with $40,000 stolen from her boss. On the run, she checks into an abandoned motel for the night where she dines with the owner, a young man with an overbearing and controlling mother. She never checks out. Her family and friends embark on searches for her, and come across the abandoned hotel where she checked in, under a false name. The movie ends with the revelation that the hotel owner’s mother died, and he suffers from multiple personality disorder. Both he and his mother share his body, with the mother personality becoming more dominant. When he dined with the lady who checked in, the mother became jealous and kill her, leaving the son to clean up the mess left behind. Psycho was a film unique to its era and had a lasting impression on cinematography. Psycho is considered the first “slasher” film and inspired the entire sub genre of horror. This film portrayed a level violence that Psycho showed us that the monster of a film does not have to be creature or some sort of humanoid in order to strike fear into an audience. Psycho used the darkness that resides within both man and woman in order to drive his plot line. A seemingly innocent woman can be a thief, conning thousands of dollars from her very own job. Norman, while quirky, lacks immediate intimidation and does not invoke fear on first sight. He seems to be a lonely man who never found a wife and life who is ruled by his “mother.” While appearing harmless, mental instability ruled his life, rendering him capable of cold blooded murder. This movie showed us the horror and the painful lifestyle that the mentally unstable endure, a topic not often
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho"-the movie the world recognised-was first premiered in the home town of New York on the 16th June 1960.The film follows the life and strife of a young beautiful woman Marion Crane, played by the Janet Leigh, who is on the run from the police after stealing $40.000, she manages to find refuge at the Bates motel where she makes her worst mistake possible. During and after the film production of "Psycho" Alfred Hitchcock had his aids buy as many copies as possible of the novel "Psycho"-written by Robert Bloch. Why? To conceal the ending form the public's eye so when the film was shown in cinemas the audience would'nt know the ending. When people found out the title of the movie Hitchcock said it was based on a greek love story "Psyche".
‘Psycho’ is a 1960’s thriller that has been voted as one of the top 15
Suspense is only one of Hitchcock’s many techniques and themes. His themes range from the obvious violence, to the depths of human interaction and sex. From Rear Window to Psycho, Hitchcock’s unique themes are present and evident. Rear Window starts with something we all do at times, which is nosing in and stalking on others business, and turns it into a mysterious investigation leaving the viewer second guessing their neighbors at home. Psycho on the other hand, drags
When you think of horror movies, what do you think of; blood, spooky faces, or spiders? Well the fact is that horror has really been developed and molded by two major “blockbuster” movies. Those being Psycho and Jaws. The two of movies are both classics and help push the horror genre by being similar in the score and soundtrack, the use of violence, the use of cameras, and the water as a symbol.
Inspired by the life of the demented, cannibalistic Wisconsin killer Ed Gein (whose heinous acts would also inspire THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, 1974 and DERANGED, 1974), PSYCHO is probably Hitchcock's most gruesome and dark film. Its importance to its genre cannot be overestimated. PSYCHO's enduring influence comes not only from the Norman Bates character (who has since been reincarnated in a staggering variety of forms), but also from the psychological themes Hitchcock develops.
PSYCHO is a unique film because it is a black and white film in the
Cinematography of Hitchcocks Psycho Alfred Hitchcock is renown as a master cinematographer (and editor), notwithstanding his overall brilliance in the craft of film. His choice of black and white film for 1960 was regarded within the film industry as unconventional since color was perhaps at least five years the new standard. But this worked tremendously well. After all, despite the typical filmgoer’s dislike for black and white film, Psycho is popularly heralded among film buffs as his finest cinematic achievement; so much so, that the man, a big
Given that Norman Bates takes on the identity of his mother in response to a strange attachment that he has to her, as Norman himself says, “a boy’s best friend is his mother,” and that his mother is his “trap” that he “was born into,” it appears that Hitchcock’s lifelong interest in Freudian psychology is very intense in that Norman Bates had an Oedipus complex. If this is true, Psycho contains the emasculation of Norman at the hands of a woman, who happens to be his mother. The idea that Norman Bates remained in love with his mother and that Marion has the power to provoke this pathology, Psycho is another example of a female having power over a man, or a “boy”—in the case of Norman Bates.
Norman Bates is arguably the most unforgettable character in the horror genre. His movements, voice and aura at first radiate a shy young man but transform into something more sinister as the movie Psycho (Hitchcock, USA, 1960) progresses. How has the director, Alfred Hitchcock, achieved this? Norman Bates was a careful construct: the casting, body language, lighting and even the subtle use of sound and mise-en-scène created the character.
In Hitchcock’s film Psycho (1960) the entry of the plumb businessman Cassidy (Frank Albertson) can be compared to Hitchcock the businessman and this can be taken as a joke on the culture ie the consumer culture which Hitchcock lets the viewers to enjoy at his expense (Erb 59). Cassidy has purchased the Harris Street property as a wedding gift for his daughter and he paid $40,000 to the realtor Mr. George Lowery (Vaughn Taylor). He flirted with Marion (Janet Leigh) in at the real estate office and later executes a private investigator Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam) to trace her when she steals the money. First part of Psycho revolves around terms of production and reproduction: Sex on lunch hour; office labour; a house as a wedding gift; a fast-talking car salesman
Psycho is a suspense-horror film written by Joseph Stefano and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film was loosely adapted from Robert Bloch’s 1959 suspense novel, Psycho. A majority of the movie was filmed in 1960 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Psycho is about Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a secretary from Arizona who steals $40,000 from her employer’s client. She takes that money and drives off to California to meet her lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) in order to start a new life. After a long drive, she pulls off the main highway and ends up taking refuge at an isolated motel owned and managed by a deranged Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). In Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Psycho, symbols, character and point of view are three literary aspects used in the film to manipulate the audience’s emotions and to build suspense in the film.
The two films Psycho and The Birds, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, share similar themes and elements. These recurring themes and elements are often prevalent in many of Hitchcock’s works. In Psycho and The Birds, Hitchcock uses thematic elements like the ideal blonde woman, “the motherly figure”, birds, and unusual factors that often leave the viewer thinking. Hitchcock’s works consist of melodramatic films, while also using pure cinema to help convey messages throughout the film.
Stephen King, a very well-known writer and director, has a passionate voice when it comes to anything dealing with horror. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” King calls us out for knowing that we love the adrenaline rush and how we are so captivated by horror movies. He explains how we watch horror movies for the level of fun. King proposes that we go to defy ourselves; to see how far it can push us and that is what makes the experience so interesting. We lock our inner psycho from reality and feed it with the demonic, bloody violence found in horror movies. Doing this suggests that horror movies are our fix for our psychotic thoughts. Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror Movies” portrays that we are all insane in some weird way through
no signs and had no reason to harm her, but as we find out, it is the
The famous Hitchcock film Psycho depicts an encounter between a travelling secretary, Marion Crane, and troubled motel owner Norman Bates. Crane, frustrated with her life and prevented from marrying her lover due to financial issues, seeks refuge at the isolated motel after embezzling money from her employer. Tired after a long night’s drive, she pulls off the main highway and into the Bates Motel. Bates, a shy, reserved young man whose life is dominated by his worthless mother, welcomes Crane to the hotel.