1. Psycho
One of the most famous thrillers ever to be made, Psycho was directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960. It was very controversial
at the time, with Disney refusing to let Hitchcock film at the studios for making ‘that disgusting movie Psycho’. It really stood
out as it was so graphic and violent compared to other thrillers- the shower scene in particular making it so shocking.
Marion Crane and her boyfriend decide to get married, but they do not have enough money to do so. A client then comes
into Marion's work with $40,000- a perfect opportunity for her to get her dream wedding. So she steals the money and skips
town. Whilst driving late at night she becomes tired so decides to take shelter in Bates Motel- a secluded, eerie, quiet place
off of the main highway. With no other people staying there, Marion talks to Norman Bates- the shy, nervous proprietor,
who tells Marion of how his mother is mentally ill and is still living at home just next to the motel. But when Marion suggests
she be institutionalized he loses his temper. We then see Marion returning to her room, when she takes a shower. A
silhouette then appears and stabs her to death. Norman discovers the body, wraps it up in the shower curtain, removes all
evidence of her being there, and dumps the body in a swamp. Back home, Marion's sister Lila and boyfriend Sam Loomis are
worried as to where Marion has got to. A detective named Arbogast confirms Marion is suspected of having stolen $40,000
from her employer. Arbogast tries to find Marion when he comes across the Bates Motel. Norman’s nervous nature makes
Arbogast suspicious, so he sneaks into their house later on at night. A figure emerges from her room and murders Arbogast.
Lila and Sam get then fear that something has happened to Arbogast, so they go to the town of Fairvale and talk with the
local sheriff. He is puzzled by the detective's claim that he was going to talk to Norman's mother and tells them that that Mrs
Bates died years ago, along with her lover, in a murder-suicide. It then flashes to Norman carrying his mother down to the
cellar despite her protests. Sam and Lila decide to take matters into their own hands and rent a room at the Bates Motel,
where they find a note with ‘’$40,000’’ written upon it- confirming that Marion had stayed there. Lila then decides to
inspect the house to find Mrs Bates whilst Norman gets distracted by Sam. Realizing what’s going on, Norman knocks Sam
out and chases after Lila. She then takes cover in the cellar to hide from him when she see’s Mrs Bates sitting in a rocking
chair with her back turned to her. The chair turns around and it is in fact a desiccated corpse, the preserved body of Mrs
Bates. Norman then charges into the cellar dressed as a woman holding a hug knife- he had been the murderer all along.
Sam comes in and saves Lila. We are then at the of the police station where we find out that Norman has a split personality
as he murdered his mother and her lover. At times he is himself, but at others he is his mother. Norman is now locked in his
mothers personality forever now. To end the film ,Mrs Bates, is talking in a voice-over, about how harmless she is and how it
was really Norman, not she, who committed the murders. The final scene shows Marion's car being recovered from the
swamp.

3. The shower scene
• The shower scene is an iconic movie moment. Even people who have never seen the film are
familiar with the scene that shocked audiences. Nothing like it had ever been done before. It took 7
days to film (December 17 to December 23 1959), and is made up of 77 different camera angles
and 50 cuts in 3 minutes. We see an extreme close up of her eye, and then it slowly zooms out. This
emphasises her death and it shocks the audience even further as you can see the life leave her
eyes. There are many other extreme close ups of the drain and her hand. Medium shots are also
used to show her before and straight after the murder. As there is so many shots we see how much
there is going on- much more effective than if it was filmed from one wide shot. We see Marion
grabbing onto the curtain, clearly desperate for help, the blood flowing down the drain, showing
how violent and graphic it is, and her slumped on the floor, emphasizing her murder. It also gives
the audience time to focus on each individual element, shocking them further still.
• The music also plays a huge part in creating tension and suspense. As soon as the shower curtain is
drawn back we hear screeching violins- definitely grabbing the audiences attention. The screeching
violin continues whilst she is getting stabbed, occasionally changing pitch. This will create even
more fear as the music is so piercing. Screams of Marion and the knife entering her body are also
heard- highlighting her fear and pain. As the murderer leaves, the music slows down- a reflection of
her slow death- and also becomes deeper. The music then stops, creating an eerie atmosphere as
there was previously a lot going on. All you can hear is natural sounds such as the water from the
shower.
• Psycho is a black and white film, but this also creates tension due to the fierce contrasting. The dark
silhouette against the white shower curtain is particularly scary as the audience can see what’s
about to happen.

4. Controversy
• There were other ways that Psycho was seen as
controversial and shocked viewers. However,
Alfred Hitchcock ignored a majority of these
protests, mostly from the board. They did not
approve of the ‘racy’ opening or that Marion was
shown flushing the $40,000 scrap piece of paper
down the toilet- no flushing had ever been shown
on mainstream American television or film
before. Hitchcock agreed to reshoot the
beginning of the film if he was allowed to keep
the shower scene, yet he never showed up so
both scenes were kept.