Psycho, The Movie Essay -- essays research papers

Psycho (1960) Perhaps no other charge changed so drastically Hollywoods perception of the horror film as did psychotic person. More surprising is the fact that this still unnerving horror classic was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a filmmaker who never relied upon shock values until this film. present Hitchcock indulged in nudity, bloodbaths, necrophilia, transvestism, schizophrenia, and a host of other taboos and got away with it, simply because he was Hitchcock. The great director clouded his intent and motives by reportedly stating that the entire film was nothing more than hotshot huge joke. No one laughed. Instead they cringed in their seats, waiting for the next assault on their senses. The violence and bloodletting of PSYCHO may look tame to those who have grown up on Jason and Freddy Krueger, but no one had ever seen anything like it in 1960. Inspired by the life of the demented, cannibalistic Wisconsin killer Ed Gein (whose heinous acts would also inspire THE TEXAS CHAINSA W MASSACRE, 1974 and DERANGED, 1974), PSYCHO is probably Hitchcocks most gruesome and dark film. Its importance to its musical style cannot be overestimated. PSYCHOs 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. Enhancing the carry on fright of this film are an excellent cast, from which the director coaxes extraordinary performances, and Bernard Herrmanns chilling score. Especially effective is the composers so-called "murder music," high-pitched screeching sounds that flash crossways the viewers consciousness as quickly as the killers deadly knife. Bernard Herrmann achieved this effect by having a group of violinists frantically saw the same notes over and over again. Hitchcock truly shocked Paramount when he demanded that he be allowed to film the sleazy, sensational novel that Robert Bloch based on the Gein killings. Bloch s subject matter and characters were a great pass from the sophisticated homicide and refined characters usually found in Hitchcocks films, but the filmmaker kept after the studios front office until the executives relented. He was told, however, that he would have to take in the film on an extremely limited budgetno more than $800,000. Surprisingly, Hitchcock accepted the budget restrictions and went a... ...ces, nor was it a great performance or their enjoyment of the novel. They were stimulated by pure film. Thats why I take pride in the fact that PSYCHO, more than any of my other pictures, is a film that belongs to filmmakers." This was no intelligence operation to Hitchcocks fans. In a 1947 press conference the great director laid out his philosophy of the mystery-horror genre "I am to provide the public with effective shocks. Civilization has become so protective that were no longer able to get our goose bumps instinctively. The only way to remove the numbness an d revive our moral equilibrium is to use artificial means to bring about the shock. The best way to achieve that, it seems to me, is through a movie." PSYCHO provided shocks heard around the introduction and became an instant smash, breaking all box-office records in its initial release. Hitchcock had a horselaugh on the Paramount executives who wanted no part of PSYCHO from the beginning. The film became one of Paramounts largest grossing pictures and it made Hitchcock not only a master of the modern horror film but also fabulously wealthy. He had outwitted everyonethe industry, the audience, and the critics.