Psycho -1950

 

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is one of the most famous black and white horrors directors. After a women steals money from her job she goes on the run finding the Bates Motel to spend the night. After a welcome arrival from Norman, Mother kills her why she is the shower Marion’s friends and family investigate to fine her murder. The film doesn’t have a single protagonist that helps progress the film. Marion starts off the plot but is then horrifically murdered in the shower

by what we believe to be Mother, the plot then shifting from her theft to her murder. Marion falls victim to many to traditional Horror tropes. Psycho is commonly thought of as a ground breaking horror film and known as one of the greatest films of all time, setting completely new standards for portrayals of violence and sexuality in cinema and essentially inspiring the slasher film genre.  Marion’s infamous murder scene completely blurs the lines between male pleasure and female pain, comprised of close-up shots of her naked body in the shower. An amazing scene for its time with many cuts and intense music. Each cut only seconds switching between her body and the act of violence. This being filmed on film to edit this would mean cutting each scene and piecing each roll of film back together for one seamless death scene. Up until her death, Marion is the constant object of the camera’s gaze, in positions of vulnerability brought on by the male characters. This film perfectly encapsulates the tradition of the active male and the passive female, showing the consequences of these strict gender roles in classic cinema and the ways in which they reinforce cultural violence toward women.