Violence In Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

“Psycho” (1960) is a horror suspense film that is known and remembered by many generations. Marion Crane, the protagonist, is a sectary that steals money from her employer’s client and takes that money and runs to California. While on her way to California she makes a stop at Bates Motel and gets a room. When she arrives she meets the owner Norman Bates. Norman in the beginning of the film starts out as friendly and welcoming, but later the audience sees his psychotic tendencies. These psychotic tendencies are shown through his fascination with his mother. Later, the viewers will see the killer is Norman. Norman lives close by to the motel with his overbearing mother. When you look up at the house there is usually an outline of a women’s body

An article from Stephen Robb, is an article containing the many different ways “Psycho” has changed/-influenced cinema over the past 50 years. In the first part of the article it talks about how the graphic violence of the shower scene from the movie has opened up the different levels of violence shown in cinema. This scene was interesting to analyze compared to past scenes analyzed because the film was shot in black in white. Watching a black and white scene can completely change the audience’s reactions. For example in the shower scene in “Psycho” the stabbing could have had a lot less emotions to the audience because the blood was not a vivid red showing, it was just in black in white. Hitchcock states “one reason he shot Psycho in black-and-white was because he thought the bloody murder might be too much for audiences” (Nixon). In contrast, Hitchcock’s black and white film adds suspense and mystery through the use of his camera angles and music. By Hitchcock using high-pitched alarming music, it makes the audience frightened, causing them to have a natural reaction. Also, by Hitchcock using short cuts for his camera angles and not by filming the actual murder it leaves the audience curious about what is happening. It leaves the audience with the thought of the murder happening rather than seeing it happen. Robb goes on the describe the use of music in the movie “Psycho” and how it was a huge eye opener to the audience and other movie producers in the making of films. After Hitchcock used frantic and high-pitched panic sounding music during the killing of Marion, this made the audience react in a frightened way. This is something movie producers started to use to attract their audience and draw them in so they would have a