Psycho Film Analysis

In Raiders of The Lost Ark, the violence is abundant from beginning to end, - a death tally of 63 (allouttabubblegum) -- but we accept it because it is always the “bad guy” getting hurt -- a greedy guide is skewered by a bed of nails, a relentless thug is chopped by a plane propeller, and numerous Nazis meet their comeuppance by having their faces melt off (Raiders). The violence is often gory and realistic. According to the study,

The Magnificent Seven does its share to keep up that trend. Basically, the movie spends the whole time building up to the climatic and the epic fight between Chisolm, and Bogue. The fight does not disappoint in any way, shape or form either. It can feel a tad bit too violent, but it will keep you on the edge of your seat. Aside from the final fight scene, there are plenty of other action packed, and violent scenes to keep you interested like appetizers before the big feast. You could include the early scene where one of Rose Creek is brutally killed by one of Bogue’s henchmen with a tomahawk. It’s a scene that sets the tone for the violence that is to come. This movie isn’t as much about the depth of its story as it is about action and straddling the line of too much violence. It might be best described as one movie critic for Rolling Stone writes “It’s two hours of hardcore, shoot-em-up pow and it’s entertaining as hell.”

Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) is a horror movie. The plotline of the movie, Psycho, is that Marion Crane, a young employee, who ran away after stealing $40,000 from her office and got murdered in a motel where she was spending the night due to the strong storm. The setting of Psycho told us about its genre. For example, since the dominant setting of the movie was Norman Bates’ house and the motel, and it was in an isolated place with fewer people on space, which suggested that it was a horror movie. The fact that the setting was in an abandoned place, if the characters in the movie wanted to seek the help they would not find anybody around. This abandoned setting of Psycho played an important role to develop the base of horror that helped to create the helpless and fearful atmosphere which aroused fear in the audience. Apart from the setting, the editing of

Expressionism in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho Shower Scene Alfred Hitchcock uses expressionistic devices such as exploitation, stylized acting, symbolism, and plot distortion to provoke feelings in the audience to suggest the gruesome nature of the murder through the barrier of media censorship. The use of exploitation is addressed through an ensemble of effects brought to the audience at the same time to achieve its maximum emotional response. The use of lighting in the scene is displayed through the silhouette of the murderer.

Alfred Hitchcock was the first English filmmaker to have any real success in Hollywood, paving the way for incredible English filmmakers of today like Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours), Ridley Scott (Gladiator, The Martian, Alien), Christopher Nolan (Inception, Interstellar), Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Miserables, The Danish Girl), and Sam Mendes (American Beauty and the recent James Bond movies), just to name a few (McGilligan 233). Hitchcock’s films created the modern suspense, horror, and thriller genres in film and rallied behind stories involving murder, an idea that was considered unsophisticated in Hollywood (McGilligan 233). Through his path-treading genre, Hitchcock pioneered creative techniques that build suspense throughout his films, such as the roaming cam - a slow-moving shot that pans a scene of a film. This technique makes the audience “discover” a scene and scan for possible clues and significant objects. The reluctant pace is a slow burn within the audience as they wait to see what the shot will reveal (Renée). These Hitchcock-induced tremors inflicted on Hollywood fall just behind where on which he laid his greatest quake - censorship. The Motion Picture Production Code was simultaneously Hitchcock’s worst enemy and biggest inspiration. The Hollywood censorship rule-makers discouraged films involving murder and suicide, but these regulations only made Hitchcock want to incorporate those aspects even more. Shamelessly, Hitchcock portrayed murder, suicide, sex and lesbianism in his films, even throwing a few punches at the U.S. government itself in Foreign Correspondent with his criticism of the Neutrality Act (McGilligan 278-9). Psycho brought down censorship in one swipe with its violent portrayal of murder, but more groundbreaking, the first onscreen toilet. Hitchcock’s extirpated censorship and the Production Code and by

Most of us are looking elsewhere and hence is not able to see the peril immediately before us. This may make us easy prey (Lehman 9). David Thomson, a distinguished film critic and the author of “A biographical Dictionary of Film” has written the book The Moment of “Psycho”: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder for which Neil Genzlinger gave a brilliant review in New York Times. Thomson on the 50th Anniversary of the release of Psycho gave a display of his erudition in relation to Psycho by placing it in the Hitchcock’s oeuvre by liking its theme to the dangers of loneliness to Rear Window and The Birds and its voyeurism to Strangers on a Train and other movies. In a chapter titled “Other Bodies in the Swamp” he explored and gave an indication of

A kingly director sits on his throne-like director’s chair and orders the serial killer, Norman Bates, to slash a screaming girl in a shower with a knife. This king is the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. Even though Hitchcock is known as a timeless director, he had an understanding of philosophy that was beyond his time. He is known for his horror movies which spanned from the 1930s to the 1980s. Hitchcock produced a total number of 66 films in his lifetime. Some films include The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, Psycho, and The Birds, just to name a few (“Vertigo (1958)”). Hitchcock had a brilliant perception as to how the mind works and human reaction. This is evident in his films. He is also known for his intriguing and unique filmmaking techniques. Through his early work in silent films, Alfred Hitchcock learned visual subtlety, and through his later directing and writing, perfected all film techniques making the most influential director of all time.

Psycho is undeniably Hitchcock’s masterpiece. It is definitely one of the most exceptional and suspense filled thrillers in the history of cinema. Back in 1960 when this movie was released it set a new level of acceptability for brutality, sexuality

Just because a good psychological thriller does not necessarily require violence to be intense and suspenseful does not mean that violence is always an indication of trashy cinema. What discriminates between the instances where film violence is powerful and where it is just so much bloody fluff is the accompanying moral and emotional context. A journalist quotes author and film critic Stephen Prince as saying, “nearly all filmmakers are concentrating on the visual, physical aspects of violence and not on the emotional or spiritual dimensions of it” (Harris 2). A good question to determine the value of a particular instance of violence might be, “Is the violence a part of the story, or does the story exist merely for the purpose of exhibiting violence?” Most often, if the content is critically integrated into the story, the “emotional or spiritual dimensions” are being addressed to a far greater extent than if the story is simply a backdrop for cheap eye-candy.

Psycho is a 1960’s film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the novel by Robert Bloch. The film is about beautiful blonde secretary, Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, who ends up at an isolated motel after stealing money from her employer that comes into contact with the motel’s disturbed owner, Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins. In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock was already famously known as being “The Master of Suspense”, but the film Psycho forever changed the scope of the silver screen. With its shocking bursts of violence and unreserved sexual undertones, the film tested the strict censorship boundaries of the day, and introduced a new wave of screen violence. The film announced that it was taking the audience to places

Violence is a theme seen throughout the world in all forms of media and literature. As a society we are exposed to violence so much that people’s biggest fears are that they will become fully desensitized to the violence. Many are at this point where violence is as emotional , but some forms of violence are still so disturbing they transcend all levels of desensitization. Some examples are exhibited in Anil’s Ghost. By Michael Ondaatje. All forms of violence are disturbing, but some, even if they seem pretty tame when explained are increasingly disturbing when put into context of the novel. Though, many see violence against a character who a reader is emotionally invested in is very disturbing. The most disturbing

Make sure your nerves are not too sensitive before watching the melodramatic thriller "Sleeping with the enemy." Not many movies make me feel so frightened. I truly feel for the female main character and it is clear how psychological disorder of her loved one literally destroyed her life. Laura and Martin seem a very four-year-ago happy married couple. They live in the beautiful house next to the ocean. What can you make more happy? But the nightmare has not started yet.

Norman perfectly describes this film in a whole. While this film being overly graphic, its story and actions within the film keep the audience wanting to see more, regardless of how shocking it is. As the film progresses, it seems to just continue with its graphic depictions. For example, they trick a woman and her husband into letting them into their home. Once inside, they tie a ball over mouths to prevent screaming. Right after, Alex and his gang rip her clothes off, in which her husband naturally reacts to try and prevent it. Alex acknowledges him and essentially humiliates the man and the gang proceeds to rape her to death. This scene is graphically depicted to the core. It is easy to see why Time Magazine ranked it in its, “Top 10 Ridiculously Violent Movies.” Time Magazine described the movies as, “the primal brutishness of man (Time Magazine). With its effective portrayal of this scenes, we see the film become critically acclaimed as one of the best. Not only does this follow the book almost identically, but it creates a vivid image of each graphic scene for the audience. Its interpretation of the graphic scenes from the book to film has made it a great film, which many film adaptations fail to do.

When looking at the first film chosen Psycho (1960) Hitchcock used detailed visual and aural compositions to express his characters feelings of paranoia and claustrophobia, along with his experienced editing skills to create suspense. With a fine-tuned sense of irony, Hitchcock examined the abnormal perversions and obsessive desires lurking beneath the surface of ordinary lives and societies, enabling him to become a smart observer of America in the 1950s, the decade during which he directed his greatest films. Psycho being shoot in black and white is very different from Hitchcock’s lush colour films of the 1950s. Psycho has been compared with European art cinema, the cinema des auteurs.

It was a movie that shocked millions and proved to be the defining moment in Alfred Hitchcock’s illustrious directing