What is a better way to enjoy the Halloween season than to enjoy the cinema of “The Master of Suspense”? Alfred Hitchcock is one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema and his impressive filmmaking helped him transcend his position as a genre filmmaker. He made a career of taking scenarios and ideas and finding the elements that will build tension and suspense for the audience. Hitchcock knew the difference between shock and suspense. It is easy to scare an audience with quick audio and visual jump (horror films do it ALL the time). But Hitchcock could tease the audience…we see the ticking bomb. When will it blow up? Will the characters get away? Who will save the day? When a director can toy with the audience and have them concerned and questioning consistently and sitting on the edge of their seat, they have truly created that suspense. There are not many directors who do it quite like Hitchcock.
When did my journey into the works of this legendary filmmaker first begin?
I took a cinema class in high school and distinctly recall plenty of the great films that I watched for the first time. The Fisher King has become a personal favorite and Terry Gilliam is one of my favorite directors. Raging Bull was not the kind of film that 16-year-old Shane could really process or appreciate (and now as I journey through Scorsese’s filmography, I see the power of it). But there was a whole month dedicated specifically to Hitchcock. We watched a few of these films in class but I had to do a paper outside of class based on one of his other countless films (Hitchcock has a robust and healthy filmography). I went to my local library and borrowed North by Northwest. I remember watching that film being inspired by the incredibly crafted tension and suspense. It was a thriller that felt like an action movie and Cary Grant was a perfect star. But the films we watched in class? Very different experiences. One such film was Psycho.
What is the legacy of Hitchcock’s seminal classic, Psycho?
Was this the dawn of the slasher film? Long before Michael Myers, Freddie Kruger, and Jason Voorhees, there was Norman Bates. Serial killers have become a giant fixture in the world of horror films but this presentation of Bates was not really experienced before. These types of films are hit in such a specific way today because so many people are obsessed with true crime. You can spend 10 seconds on Netflix and find at least 10 different docuseries and documentary films…probably just on Ted Bundy. Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, and so many other killers have become immortalized in the collective consciousness of our society. There seems to be such intrigue in how cruel and disturbing those human beings can be. Psycho gives audiences a front-row seat to the disturbing actions of a serial killer.
Besides the true-crime culture of society, what other aspects about this film still resonate and influence today?
The craftsmanship that Hitchcock brings to this film is something to behold. We all know the scene, right? That shower scene. There are some small things like that first ever toilet flush on screen and seeing a woman in a shower that were not common at this point in our society. But then the editing and music…perfection. As our protagonist, Marion stands below the showerhead and a shadow creeps up to the curtain. The camera slowly zooms in…the curtain rips! The strings shriek! There stands a figure, knife in hand, towering over Marion. Cut! Scream! Then an unrelenting string of knife shots, bloody wounds, struggles, and screams. The editing is ferocious, and the music is unrelentingly frightening. Bernard Herrmann’s score is one of the most iconic pieces of music in history where people that do not watch a lot of film can still identify it as the score from Psycho. There are some other killer sequences in the film like including an overhead shot of a stairwell that delivers a great scare that is honestly overshadowed by the iconic shower scene. Then you have the climactic fruit cellar that uses lighting and close-ups to excellent effect.
There is plenty to gush over from a technical perspective in Psycho but what about the narrative?
Before we jump into that…let’s talk about the trailer. When people sit to watch a trailer for a film, they expect to get an idea of what this film is going to be. They expect to see actual footage to show what the film looks like. Not Psycho. In one of the boldest and interesting advertising campaigns that have ever been seen for a film. Hitchcock took the audience on an elongated tour of the set. The Bates Motel…as presented by Alfred Hitchcock. He teases the audience. He gets us imagining what terrible things will happen in Room 1. What will happen in the Bates home at the top of the hill? This trailer truly sets a unique feel and expectation for the film. Then there were the comments made by Hitchcock about the film. No one would be allowed in late. The secrets needed to be kept…the experience needed to be kept intact. The mystique around this film was off the charts which led to this becoming an event that needed to be experienced.
But let’s get back to the story, shall we? What is this film about?
From the first act of the film…you might be wondering why this is called Psycho? Nothing seems psychotic about a woman who decides to steal money from her firm and run away with her married partner. Marion is a woman who is desperate to have the life she truly wants, and she will go as far as stealing money to have it. Hitchcock still delivers great tension as Marion avoids inquisitive cops and car dealers. Honestly, that story probably would have been a strong thriller by itself. On top of that, Janet Leigh was a great movie star and would have been an easy sell in that film. But what is most shocking is that Leigh is killed off…within the first half of the film! What about the film’s star? But when it comes down to it, Psycho is not about Marion…it is about Norman Bates. Once the iconic murder happens, the film shifts to Marion’s lover, sister, and a private investigator trying to find her. Norman struggles with an uncomfortable relationship with his mother while trying to cover up what happened to Marion.
A classic horror flick must have a memorable finale, right?
The ending of Psycho might be a tad of a mixed bag. We have the great reveal of the true nature of Norman Bates and his “mother’s” relationship. We have a psychiatrist give a lovely little exposition dump…speaking right to the audience. The part of the film feels clunky and awkward to a modern audience but where this revelation leads is something special. The haunting zooms in on Anthony Perkins (Bates) as he gazes deeply into the camera. We hear “mother” and her twisted perspective on the violent acts that have transpired. Now we all know that “mother” could not hurt a fly. Then the iconic fade into a shot of a skull then into Marion’s car being dredged from the swamp. So many iconic moments leading all the way up to one of the best final frames in film history. So much to love about this classic Hitchcock film.
One of the greatest examples of filmmaking subverting his audience’s expectations, Psycho will forever capture the fear of viewers and stick in their minds for so many reasons.
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