How did Alfred Hitchcock change the Horror genre?

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How did Alfred Hitchcock change the Horror genre?

Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (released in the mid-1960) altered the way in which people view Horror films – ‘expecting the unexpected’. As it is now possible to distinguish the difference between the present and the past of the Horror genre, it has without a doubt gradually evolved into something gorier, disturbing, and less conventional as the audiences fear levels have decreased overtime. Hitchcock started this evolution by redefining the Horror genre; giving birth to the psychological Horror sub-genre from the idea of a monster coming from within the human. A modern audience would not have the same reaction as a 1960’s audience would towards Psycho as the Horror genre had evolved, changing the way we think, act, and feel towards a Horror film.

In the inception of Psycho, we peak into the life of the protagonist - Marion Crane. The opening reveals Marion and her partner Sam, with only finance standing in the way of their relationship. Later, Marion runs away after stealing $40,000 (£25,603.93) hoping it would enable her to marry Sam. After a dramatic escape in her vehicle, she stops at a remote motel for the night were surprisingly all the rooms are vacant... Marion is violently murdered as she is stabbed repeatedly in various parts of her body in the famous ‘shower scene’. The protagonist of Psycho switches and we now follow Norman Bates; the owner of the motel who lives with his abnormal mother. Anthony Perkin’s suspicious portrayal of Mr Bates makes the audience think deeply, and question “is he is the murderer or could it be her mother?”…

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Hitchcock’s lack of convention struck fear into his audience by not being particularly gruesome or gory, unlike many slasher Horrors which were to follow. Hitchcock did this through advice and the help of his music composer Bernard Hermann. The tragic murder we witness in the famous shower scene is not as graphic as the audience first thinks! The non-diegetic sound created by Hermann’s variety of strings makes us feel just as terrified and uncomfortable as watching a graphic scene. Hitchcock has managed to achieve this by replacing graphic content with quick close ups of Marion’s limbs and a large imposing ...

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