10/27/18 Psycho

Post date: Oct 14, 2018 6:23:52 PM

I find that type of horror the most creepy. The Canadian film director, David Croneberg is a master of this. In his movie, "The Fly", the main character's body starts to decay. While he is biting his nails, the whole nail comes off! He casually looks at it and places it in a place he calls his museum with other part of his body that have fallen off. Very creepy.

"Psycho" was shot differently than Hitchcock's recent movies. "Psycho" starts with a vista of a city and declares it is Phoenix. As the camera pulls in, the month and day is declared. The camera settles on a window and goes into it. This documentary style gives the movie a more realistic feel than "Vertigo", "North By Northwest", or "To Catch a Thief" which have feeling of fantasy about them. The viewer then finds the ordinary troubles the characters have.

It is important to know that Psycho does not use any graphically violent shots and no prosthetic body parts. Hitchcock even shot the movie in black and white to tone down the blood. Interesting fact is he found the ideal substance for blood was chocolate sauce.

The famous attack scene does not show any piercing but it is shot in such a way that the audience thinks it does. In addition, "Psycho" shows less explicit attacks after the first one because Hitchcock know he does not have to.

When discussing horror, it is also important to remember that Hitchcock is the Master of Suspense. He tries to avoid surprise when he can. In the famous attack, you can see the killer coming but the victim does not. This is classic Hitchcock. Compare this to a horror movie staple. The Jump Scare is usually a quick cut accompanying a loud noise. It is employed by lazy film makers, since this technique will always work against any audience. The really bad film makers will also use a bright flash of light on top of that. You can find them used a lot in many horror movies including some very highly rated horrors like "Alien" and its sequels. The annoying thing is that it was a false jump scare since it was just the cat. After the second time, I would have shot that cat myself! One of the video essayist I follow did a good video on jump scares:Jump scares suck.

"Psycho" does use music

"Psycho" influenced every horror movie to come after. It is interesting to compare two more recent highly rated movies.

The "Exorcist" is a movie about a young girl possessed by the devil. It had the reputation of the scariest movie ever. When it came out in 1973, it was an immediate hit. I saw this movie on video when I was in my twenties and was not impressed. It seemed to go back to the early days of horror. Maybe the American religious fundamentalists think demon possession happens all the time but I do not.It was shot in a very conventional way. master, reverse, closeup. The framing was sloppy, the dialog was cliche, and a lot of jump scares. I believe the popularity came from the disbelief of what a young girl would do. Popular scenes in the movie are where the girls head spins around and when she vomits pea soup in the face of a priest. Not very classy.

Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" was also a game changer. It was an massive hit and it started the Summer Blockbuster staple. It created fear of the ordinary situation of going to the beach. A lot of fear of going to the beach can be traced back to this movie. It was so effective that even today, people have to be reminded of the low probability of shark attack.

It is interesting to note that it is one of the earliest movie I have seen that started the ubiquitous and puritan theme of sexually active teenagers getting killed first.

During production, Spielberg had many issues with the mechanical shark. His solution was the use the same technique as the 1942 "Cat People". Do not show the monster. The audience will form a scarier image in their own heads. Unfortunately this resulting in some jump scares where they were trying to hid the badly made shark. In the end, "Jaws" turns out to be a well made convention horror movie.

Spoilers Ahead.

In discussion further discussion of "Psycho", I will assume you have seen the movie.

The effectiveness of Psycho comes from how Hitchcock shot the film. The setup is the theft of the $40,000. The first discussion talk about the need of money to get married. The money is featured when Cassidy flaunts it in the office. The envelop is prominent on the bed. Marion hides it from the highway patrolman when she is in the car and hides it when she is in the hotel room.

In the opening scene, she is dressed in a white bra and slip. After she steals the money, she is dressed in a black bra and slip. This indicates an external manifestation of sin. When she decides to return the money, she cleanses away the sin the shower.

At this point, the story changes. The random murder makes the audience choose to follow Norman who is dutifully cleaning up after his mother. Hitchcock taunts us a final time with the envelop that Norman almost leaves in the hotel room.

Hitchcock forces the point when Norman is at the swamp and the car does not sink into the swamp. The viewer is with Norman in hoping it will descend even though it is covering up the murder of character they have been following for a third of the movie.

The film changes again with the murder of the detective. The detective character is very sympathetic. $40,000 was stolen and the detective decides to believe Sam and Lila. He can see the concern for the missing Marion. He says he is going back to the hotel to talk to Mrs Bates.

When Norman is at the swamp again, he looks directly into the camera indicating that he got away with murder again. The viewer starts to changes sides to Sam and Lila. When Lila is searching the house, the viewer is fully on her side.

When Norman shows up with a knife, we want him disarmed.

In the police station, the psychiatrist gives an explanation that blames everything on his mother. The inner monolog of Norman's mother was very chilling. The viewer feels that mother will fool an authority at some point and get out. Not concluding a story at the end of a movie was effective in 1960. This was way before the uncreative Hollywood's obsession with sequels and franchises. The viewer was left to wonder about the next part of the story. Nowadays, any open ended movie is deservedly met with a groan.

Psycho examines several themes familiar in the Hitchcock universe.

Mariage.

The film starts with the scene of Marion and Sam in a hotel room after sex. Marion does not seem interested. She has no appetite just like she had no appetite for the uneaten sandwich. She gives Sam a ultimatum that they need to get respectable. In other words, she wants the convention marriage with some guy even if there is no passion.

Back at the office, her coworker Caroline talks about her marriage. She took tranquilizers on her wedding night and she has her mother and husband constantly check on her.

Marion's theft of the $40,000 is her answer to a successful marriage. This is not the glamorous catch that Francie makes of John Robie in "To Catch a Thief".

I wonder about the phonetic similarity between Marion and Marrying.

Marion's cold dispassionate demeanor keeps us a little at arms length. Very similar to Melanie Daniels in "The Birds"

Mothers

Norman is obviously influenced by his mother but so is Marion. The first conversation where she want to be respectable. She says she wants the relationship in full view of mother's picture. When Sam suggests that afterwards they turn mother's picture to the wall, Marion gets upset.

The viewer feels that Marion might be thinking about her schedule to be a mother.

Birds

The movie opens in Phoenix which is the mythical bird of the Dead. The main character's name is Marion Crane. The hotel has quite a few props of birds. When they are having dinner in the parlor, Norman is framed with the birds of prey like the owl. He days she eats like a bird when she still does not have any appetite. She is framed with non birds of prey. When Norman discovers the dead body in the bathroom, he is framed with the non birds of prey. Just like he is innocent.

Influence of the dead

The leading example of this theme in Hitchcock movies is Rebecca.

Norman influenced by his dead mother but other characters have their issues. Marion is concerned with a picture of her mother who the user presumes is dead. Sam is still paying off debts from his dead father.

Doubles

The whole movie is full of mirrors and double images. Norman is a double for his mother but he is also a double for Marion. The conversation in the parlor shows the similarity of both characters being in their own private traps. It has been noted that Norman and Marion has similar characters.

Voyeurism.

The male gaze in "Psycho" is not as direct as "Rear Window" but still as condemning. Cassidy wants to impress the pretty Marion by flaunting the money he has. Norman is watching Marion after he removes the "Rape of Lucretia" painting from the wall. The shower scene is shot like some is watching Marion. At this point in the story, the viewer knows the dispassionate nature of Marion so it is not sexual for us. One gets a sense that someone is watching the detective when he is in the house. The search of the house by Lila is very voyeuristic.

And in the end, Norman invites everyone to watch him and his behavior.