Psycho: Genre and Audience

Psycho, by Alfred Hitchcock, was released in 1960 and is famous for being one of the best slasher horror films to ever be made.This film created the slasher genre that include movies such as Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween. Hitchcock was a very creative director and was known for the use of cameos in his films (he was wearing a cowboy hat in this film). Psycho is categorized under the thriller/horror category because of it's cinematography and sound design. The cinematography really utilized quick cutting and blocking to give the audience suspense and manipulate their emotions. The sound design contributed largely to Hitchcock’s manipulations of the audience’s emotions due to his choice of music in scenes such as the shower scene, chase scenes, and any scene with high intensity action. Hitchcock was known to incorporate many suspenseful techniques in his films. He was always wanting to show the audience what he wanted to show in his thrillers and really bring them into the story to captivate them. But to fully appreciate all of his tricks and clues and hints in the story the viewer must see the movie more than just one viewing but many so they can notice all it has to bring in terms of foreshadowing and hinting and what may come in the future. Three of the many themes discussed in Psycho are corruptibility, human vulnerabilities and the deadly effects of money. In the film, the shower scene was brilliantly edited and had been copied many times by films after. Psycho created a genre for an audience that enjoys horror, murder, and gruesome scenes.