Psycho

Psycho (1960)

'Psycho' was filmed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock; it is often ranked as one of the greatest films of all time as well as being considered as the earliest example of the 'Slasher' genre.

'Psycho' is one of the most classic horror films ever created, and what makes it so scary is the psychopathic killer character or Norman Bates; the idea of an ordinary individual, of whom from the outside looks or appears no different from the rest of society, is actually a killer frightened audiences. The inclusion of ordinary concepts of everyday life in America, such as the motel, state troopers and the open road, made this film feel very familiar to a large audience; therefore, the introduction of the more grotesque horror in the film would have been very unexpected and furthermore terrifying for the audience. As Mark Kermode said in is article for the guardian, 'Psycho: the best horror film of all time', "Hitchcock's Psycho embodied the fear of the boy next door", which accurately, it did. The film was very effective through its simplicity and its realism, as in what could happen to anyone at anytime; there was no absurd supernatural elements that made the story-line unbelievable. The film, as mentioned by Kermode, was made during the time Ed Gein was arrested; Gein was a killer of whom used the skin of his victims to make ornaments and clothing, which later inspired 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'The Silence of The Lambs'; therefore, during a time where gruesome killings were filling American households through the media, the use of this theme within 'Psycho' evoked further fear into the audiences. Kermode refers to the shower murder scene as the 'most iconic murder scene in the history of cinema'; the rapid cuts, non-diegetic music and sound effects were very effective in evoking the horror. The increase of speed in the scene through the cuts and sound evoked the feeling of the unexpected and shocked the audiences. Overall, 'Psycho' is a classic horror and the origin of the 'Slasher' genre; it evoked fear into its audiences then and even now, as well as inspiring other film makers such Carpenter's 'Halloween' and Cunningham's 'Friday the 13th'.