Psycho 1960 Film Analysis Essay

Introduction

Despite being made and released in 1960, 'Psycho' remains one of the most iconic films to have ever graced the film screens under the thriller or horror category. Part of the mystery around this movie, and which eventually made it a timeless classic, was the fact that its release and earlier screenings were was done in utter secrecy even that generated suspense and interest from film enthusiasts in equal measure. At the opening of the film screening for this movie, its subject matter was shocking going by the contemporary content of other films from this era. Its distribution was slow and the director, Alfred Hitchcock, leveraged on the secrecy of the slow distribution channels to hide the details of the movie from the studio executives (Gray). This is one of the reasons the movie has remained a classic because the level of secrecy attached to it would be unthinkable in the modern world where the social media reigns supreme. The director insisted that movie goers not to be allowed into theaters once the film had started to help maintain the element of suspense. In what Hitchcock described as a daring presentation policy, he insisted that everyone in the audience had to attend the movie screenings from the beginning with no one allowed in theaters in the middle of the viewing. The movie depicting the life of a Wisconsin murder was too graphic for screenplay and the master of suspense, as Hitchcock was commonly referred, did not disappoint in ensuring the gory killings were portrayed in a classic manner. Hitchcock employed unusual filming methods in the movie where he forfeited his usual salary, with this gamble paying off in the back-end deal that earned him over $6 million that was a showbiz record at the time.

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The plot of the film surrounds a lady who steals from her employer and runs away only to seek refuge at the Bates Motel that is run by the bizarre Norman Bates supported by his mother who is never seen. The lady, Marion, disappears thus triggering her sister Lila and her boyfriend Sam to try and establish what happened to Marion. There are numerous twists and turns that take place in the movie, especially a turn of events that revolve around Norman Bates and his mother. This is partly the reason that the movie has retained its timelessness as a classic. The most intriguing part of the film is the role of Norman Bates that portrays a good boy full of innocence which only serves to conceal his murderous intentions. He links up with Marion in what could be a brewing romance as they talk about his hobbies in life and his beloved mother. The character of Bates even goes ahead to claim that 'a boy's best friend is his mother.' Hitchcock must be commended for hiding the psychopath killer within the sweet boy-next-door personality of Norman Bates. The audience simply falls in love with his sweetness only to later realize at the very end of the movie that he is the one responsible for all the killings taking place. The director also excels in fusing the scary scenes in this horror film in some of the most unexpected scenes. There is death in a shower that rattles the audience not to want to take a bath, not to mention the scene that follows Norman's killing of Marion. He clears the evidence in a methodical approach that makes him come out as calculating such that the audience is convinced that this is not the first murder that he has committed (Thomson).

However, we must admit that this film's categorization as a classic is blotted for going against the grain of the social expectations of the movie at the time of its release. The director applied a controversial subject in the film to capture the attention of the American entertainment scene at the time. It was the first time that the film audience was being exposed to jaw-dropping horror. This thrilling experience was escalated by the fact that the plot of the film was peaceful until in the middle and latter stages of the film where the director added the horrific killings of some of the characters. The film applies savagery that comes out of nowhere and that none of the audience could have imagined in the 1960s era. The director adapted the screenplay of the movie from a novel that told the story of one of the most notorious American serial killers, Ed Gein from Wisconsin. The shower scene was one of the most awkward for the audience since none of them had experienced a lead actress getting murdered viciously midway through the film because conventional movies had the lead actress as the heroine who would be protected at all costs and if they were to be killed, it would be done at the end of the film where it made morally dramatic sense (Gray).

There is no denying that 'Psycho' is a timeless classic film because the director applied dramatic elements in making this movie that brought out the key theme of horror at a time when the subject was a taboo in the Hollywood scene. It can easily be argued that this movie was a game changer in the world of films because it transformed the popular line storytelling that was orderly. Through the movie, the director introduced a new aspect of storytelling where the lives of the leading characters were deemed random, violent, unpredictable, and loose. The evidence that this movie will forever remain a timeless classic can be found in the fact that it not only changed the film industry in general but also the horror genre in particular. There was a clear seismic shift in the way Hollywood depicted horror movies because before this film, horror movies comprised of people fighting supernatural monsters or they simply turned into monsters themselves. This is true considering movies like 'Godzilla', 'Frankenstein,' or even 'Dracula'. 'Psycho' changed all that by showing a movie in which the monster resided within the headed of a sweet mummy's boy in the character of Norman Bates. In stark contrast to the perspective of the audience, Norman and his rage were all the monster that Hitchcock gave to the audience (Thomson). He carefully used the Bates House as a prop to depict this horror. The biggest monster driving on the rage of Norman Bates was his mother who he always carried around, an indication of Norman becoming a slave to the evil monster. The film will always remain a timeless classic due to Hitchcock's portrayal of the fact that the most evil monsters live right within us feeding off our fears, insanity, or rage.

Works Cited

Gray, Tim. "Secrecy Surrounding 1960's 'Psycho' Went Off Without a Hitch." 9 June 2017. Variety. https://variety.com/2017/film/news/alfred-hitchcock-psycho-secret-1202457671/. 21 September 2018.

Thomson, David. The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder. ReadHowYouWant Limited, 21 May 2010.