Psycho: Setting the Tone for the Modern Horror Film

The year was 1960 and the film was Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, the event was something that would forever change the horror film genre. Setting out with a goal of creating a low budget horror/thriller film, Alfred Hitchcock was able to successfully set the industry standard for the modern horror film.

The actual story for the movie Psycho came about by pure chance. After deciding he wanted to create a major horror film as his next project, Hitchcock came across a novel called Psycho in an airport terminal. The book caught his interest and he read the story cover to cover on his flight from New York to London. Immediately upon arrival in London, Hitchcock called his assistant and said he had found his next movie.

In a rather serendipitous series of events, Alfred Hitchcock came up with the idea for what would turn out to be the biggest and most influential movie of his directing career. This film was revolutionary for a number of reasons, the biggest being that Hitchcock was able to make an full length feature film for less than a million dollars. Another major distinction between Psycho and the other horror films of its time was that Hitchcock chose to shoot the entire movie in black and white. Finally, what set Psycho apart from many films of the same genre was the fact that Hitchcock used his expertise in film making to create horror film that effectively introduced the modern monster of horror. The film Psycho was such a huge success that for the remainder of his career Hitchcock's films were always compared to Psycho. Did they scare us as much as Psycho? Did they infect our subconscious as much as Psycho did? Were they better films than the blockbuster Psycho?

As I said earlier, Psycho was a ground breaking film because it defined the modern horror monster that would be used in films for the next 50 years. Norman Bates embodied the characteristics that would be seen in horror monsters for years to come. The character of Bates represented a pollutant to commonly accepted behavior and thought. He embodied a crossing of many of the borders established by popular belief and a crossover of categories like living and dead, man and woman, normal and paranormal. Bates was a threat to the public's way of thinking during the time the film was released, making him an utterly terrifying character. He is essentially two people within the body of a single person violating what is considered the scheme of culture. One mind is supposed to be housed within one body, and Norman does not follow this rule. Also he poses a cognitive threat because he can function as two different people at the same time. Norman has the ability to be a somewhat functional member of society, while hiding his spilt personality from those who know him. He is able to use some charisma to lure victims to his hotel and from there do with them as he pleases. Bates really was a character that was ahead of his time in the genre of horror.

Another unique aspect of the film is the repetition of several themes that are fundamental to the meaning behind the movie. The themes of lies, reflections, mirrors, and spilt personalities are sprinkled throughout the film helping to drive the story. These themes helped to prove the point that every human has some type of duality, and this includes the viewer. Even if you aren't a serial killer, Hitchcock demonstrated that everybody has a split personality. It is apparent that Marion has a spilt personality tendency, as demonstrated by the inner turmoil she seems to be going through as she stares at herself in a mirror while making the decision to steal the money or not. These themes may not seem overly apparent upon first viewing of Psycho, but when taking a deeper look into the film it will become obvious just how brilliant the work of Hitchcock truly is.

What sets the movie Psycho apart from all the previous movies in the horror genre is what has become one of the most well known scenes in the history of horror films, the famous shower scene. This scene broke the boundaries when it came to film making as Hitchcock took the bathroom, a previously untouched and sacred space, and turned it into the site of one of the most famous killings in modern horror film. By using a style of camera work that presented the audience with a voyeuristic point of view, Hitchcock was able to effectively raise the level of suspense to a point where it was nearly unbearable. This scene alone truly started what would become the modern genre of horror/thriller movies.

While I don't consider Hitchcock's Psycho to be one of the scariest movies ever, it absolutely set the standard for fear and suspense in the genre of horror. The combination of camera work, vivid imagery, and hidden messages and meanings make Psycho the birthplace of the modern horror film and cemented its spot among the classic films of all time.