What Techniques does Hitchcock use to make 'Psycho' an effective Horror Film?

relationship with his mother, who lives in the old house near the motel. Later that night, when she is having a shower, she is stabbed to death by a figure that looks like Norman’s mother. This would have been a great shock to the audience at the time, because of the main character being killed off so early in the film. As well as this, (later on in the film) the fact that the killer could be such a normal person as Norman would be surprising. Before only monsters had been seen in horror movies. Also the murder scene was very violent by the standards of the day and would have shocked viewers who thought that the film would develop into a love story.In ‘Psycho’ Hitchcock used a variety of techniques to build up fear and suspense. For example in the famous shower scene the music builds up very slowly to a crescendo when the killer begins to strike, and each time the dagger descends there is a quick sharp sound of stringed instruments. This adds to the atmosphere and seems to add momentum to each strike. The fast cuts as the knife strikes builds up a sense of the knife stabbing. The camera angles are slightly skewed and they do not show all the action, giving an uncomfortable feeling. The lighting is from behind the killer, making them totally dark and much more foreboding. In Norman’s room in the hotel there are several stuffed birds. These sinister creatures add a strange atmosphere to the room, as does Norman’s statement ‘its more than a hobby’. Also, towards the end of the film, when the body of Norman’s grandmother is found in the basement of the old house effective methods are used. The camera shows the back of the body, and when she is turned around it zooms in on the skull, emphasising the fright and surprise of seeing the dead body. The same technique is used with the sound as in the shower scene. When the body falls to the floor, the light is knocked and sways back and forth. The camera shows the pits of the skulls eyes, and as the light sways back and forth the shadow moves back and forth across the eye sockets. Viewing ‘Psycho’ now is a very different experience from watching it on first release in 1960. Many parts of ‘Psycho’ have become very well over the years, e.g. the shower scene is know part of modern culture. This means that most people know what will happen even though they have never seen the film. This lessens the impact of the film. Also, audiences have changed a lot over the last 40 years. The audience has become a lot more desensitised to violence. Also people may drift in and out of watching a movie on TV or video but Hitchcock insisted that if anyone missed the start of the film they were not to be allowed into the cinema, as he felt that his film was not complete without the beginning. So ‘Psycho’ has lost a large amount of its effect over the years. My personal view of ‘Psycho’ is that it is an excellent film, especially for the time when it was made. Hitchcock is obviously an exceptional and special director, and he was doing things in film which had never been done before, and crossing lines in what was acceptable in society. Even today ‘Psycho’ is a superb and stirring film, action packed and surprising, so in its time it must have been an amazing and stunning experience, which would have made a lot of people think. For example it was the first film that showed that the guy next door could be a killer.