Psycho (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock

Figure 1. Film Poster

Cast
Anthony Perkins ... Norman Bates Vera Miles ... Lila Crane John Gavin ... Sam Loomis Janet Leigh ... Marion Crane Martin Balsam ... Det. Milton Arbogast John McIntire ... Sheriff Al Chambers Simon Oakland ... Dr. Fred Richman Frank Albertson ... Tom Cassidy Patricia Hitchcock ... Caroline (as Pat Hitchcock) Vaughn Taylor ... George Lowery Lurene Tuttle ... Mrs. Chambers John Anderson ... California Charlie Mort Mills ... Highway Patrol Officer

Hitchcocks Psycho is a suspense filled horror film, it leads the viewers through a story which is ultimately about a dysfunctional American family, it explores the dark side of the American dream, and makes good use of the uncanny to get the desired effect, The film introduces the main character very later on in the film, and in terms of story this made the film more interesting as the viewers expect the film to end at a certain point, but when it continues on, more questions are answers. Psycho has a final act where everything in it is film explained; this would be the biggest critique of the film, because for modern audiences, unlike Hitchcocks Birds, Psycho didnt need an expert spelling everything out to them.

Figure 2. Marion Carne leaving town

For a lengthy part of the film, the audience is committed to Janet Leighs character (Marion Crane), and theres vested interest in her, the audience begins to almost want her to get to where she wants to without being caught, this is mostly down to how long the viewer is exposed to her, the relationship between the viewer and Janet Leigh inevitably starts with her stealing money, everything at this point is very real, the viewers now gone through with her from her dilemma to the decision, when it came to leaving town with the money a moment which felt the most intimate and the most real was where she waits at a stop sign as her boss spots her in a car on her way out of town, Bradshaw from the guardian describes it as more psychologically convincing and real than anything else in this baroque, inspired shocker (Bradshaw, 2010), its real and very convincing because it isnt dark, everyone can relate to situation like this, not everyone steals, but its very normal to be caught out from a little white lie, and with that simple short part of the film Hitchcocks is able to spark the viewers interest with Leighs character. As Psycho continues viewers make assumptions and therefore have these expectations, the film breaks all expectations with two big surprises, the biggest being, the death of a character the viewers are forced to accept, and the second being the unveiling the serial killer, its true ingeniousness lies in its construction (Berardinelli, 1998) its act is cleverly structured to misdirect you, though if the films closely studied there little hint dropped by Hitchcock, its almost like hes playing with the viewer to see if anyones able to break its code. Psycho was released 1960 and for its time it was risky, here Hitchcock was ticking a checklist of things which were looked at as taboo to be on the big screen, he dared to break the rules but as its evident the little things he did made strengthened the story and the experience as a whole, a highly courageous and explicit film (Putman, 1998) as descried by Putman in 1998, right now Psycho wouldnt be as explicit and courageous, as many films follow this formula, most of them being inspired by Hitchcock.

Figure 3. Norman's childhood home

Norman Bates, a man wholl later become the centre focus of this film is portrayed perfectly, viewers really do believes theres an old woman in the House and though some viewer might expect Normans up to something, no one wouldve seen the transvestite twist at the end, though if watched back the Marion Cranes death does reveals a lot, the dialogue with his mother is very fake and very rushed and for someone sane and innocent, he acts quickly, and inevitably at the end Normans mother personality takes over and, this final scene of the film is very chilling, at this point the viewers see how deep hes gone because he refers to his mother and himself.

Illustrations Figure 1: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2490472448/tt0054215 Figure 2: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bAky8uh3UoQ/UHWKVH08NxI/AAAAAAAAFcA/_9TNizAuTTw/s1600/Psycho_021Pyxurz.jpg Figure 3: http://www.natui.es/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/psycho.jpeg Bibliography Bradshaw, P. (2010) more psychologically convincing and real than anything else in this baroque, inspired shocker. In: guardian [online] http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/apr/01/psycho-review (Accessed on 02/02/2013) Berardinelli, J. (1998) its true ingeniousness lies in its construction. In: reelviews [online] http://www.reelviews.net/movies/p/psycho.html (Accessed on 02/02/2013) Putman, D. (1998) a highly courageous and explicit film. In: themovieboy [online] http://www.themovieboy.com/reviews/p/60_psycho.htm (Accessed on (02/02/2013)