Alfred Hitchcock's Film Psycho

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“We all go a little mad sometimes” according to Norman Bates from one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most accredited films Psycho. The 1960 movie changed the game for Alfred Hitchcock because he had never done a movie so dark. The horror film is in black and white, and was created on a fairly low budget. Although it is filmed with little money, instead of expensive props and equipment Hitchcock plays with unique camera angles to engage his audience. Peter Wilshire and Ernest Callenbach both share their own unique thoughts on this iconic film in their scholarly journals.

Beginning with an ominous setting, and spooky music, the film immediately sets the stage, or so one might think. The first scene shows a woman named Marion played by Janet Leigh and …show more content…
They want to get married, but have some financial issues involving Sam’s ex-wife in the way. Later when Marion returns to work, she is given $40,000 and asked by her boss to put it in a safety deposit box at the bank. She hastily decides to steal the money, run away with her lover, and get married. After driving through the day, Marion goes to stay at a place on the outskirts of town called the Bates Motel. Here she meets the owner of Bates Motel: Norman Bates. Norman tells Marion, over sandwiches he made for them, that his mother lives in the house up the hill and is mentally ill. In a shocking turn of events Marion is brutally murdered in the shower by what looks like an elderly woman. Back in Phoenix, Marion’s sister becomes increasingly concerned about her sister’s whereabouts, and she and Sam hire a private investigator named Milton Arbogast. He heads to Bates Motel to see if Marion was there. …show more content…
Willshire notes that Hitchcock was mostly know for “glossy Hollywood productions that contained all-star casts.” (131) Psycho being his forty-seventh feature film he directed many things before such as Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo. Going from one hand to another Hitchcock turns to an “out-and-out horror and psychopathology.” (Callenbach, 47) Hitchcock was “very pleased with the film” according to the Callenbach and felt it was his best demonstration of “the art of pure cinema.” (47) (Willshire, 131) As noted by Willshire Hitchcock defines ‘pure cinema’ as “creat[ing] a dramatic mood without the need for dialogue purely through the arrangement of the situation.” (132) He became incredibly skilled at this type of work, and his risk absolutely paid off, as he continued to thrive in the film
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