. PSYCHO (1960)

Background of Alfred Hitchcock:

• Iconic and highly influential film-maker. One of the most highly respected film makers of all time.
• Director and producer
• Perfectionist - aspect of the film was planned meticulously with complete storyboards done prior to shooting
• Pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres
• Directed more than 50 films
• Career spanned 6 decades
• His films draw heavily on fear and also contain black or droll humour
• Many of his films contain cameo 

The shower scene in PSYCHO, is one of the most well known horror scenes of all time.The murder of Janet Leigh's character in the shower is the film's pivotal scene, the use of what's now known as 'Hitchhock's Psycho strings' at the moment of the murder are what makes this film so well known, they have also been used in other films such as Carrie (1976) and even Busta Rhymes - 'Gimmie some more' (1998). It was shot from December 17 to December 23, 1959, and features 77 different camera angles. The scene "runs 3 minutes and includes 50 cuts." Most of the shots are extreme close-ups, except for medium shots in the shower directly before and directly after the murder. This scene was extremely interesting, the murder of Marion was extremely unexpected. Norman Bates' character comes across as a very convincing victim of an abusive other in the beginning of the film, however we later realise he is the killer and which is an amazing twist to the storyline.I almost hoped as Marion did, that she would go back to her previous life and make amends with both her boss and the man she stole from.

The shower scene is extremely significant because she, appears so optimistic that she then aims to wash away her sins (stealing the money) however this is not in fact the case and she is instead murdered by a mystery character who appears to be a female (Bates). The murder of Marion, then leaves us the audience with the knowledge that we can not simply get away with 'murder' - if you pardon the pun - we have to pay for our mistakes, and also NEVER stay in a hotel with no other guests.

Psycho is based on Robert Bloch's 1959 novel of the same name, loosely based on the case of convicted Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein an infamous criminal known for hurrendous murders and later his obsession with females (specifically his mother) something he had in common with the character Norman Bates and also Hitchcock.

Alfred Hitchcock was on the of the most iconic and highly influential film makers of and this very film, has in fact a revolutionized the horror/thriller genre. Psycho is widely credited with spawning the horror genre of today known as 'slasher' sub-genre, those that also come under this genre are - Halloween (1978), Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), I know what you did last summer (1997) etc.