Hitchcock uses the unknown and suspense to create the scariest parts of the movie. When the viewers first meet Norman you don't think that he could be a serial killer who has two personalities. Hitchcock waits until the very end to reveal that Norman isn't just one person. The use of this psychological disorder is what scares the viewers the most because it's abnormal and very unusual.
Compared to other horror movies such as Paranormal Activity, Jeepers Creepers, and Friday the 13th it's much less scary, but in a sense that it's not graphic with blood and craziness every second of the film. Norman Bates is a character that gets inside of the viewers heads and creates the fear that we would normally feel in other horror movies.
Do you think that Norman Bates would be more terrifying having two personalities or just one?
I agree that Hitchcock created fear by using the unknown, towards the end it even seems like a mystery film because there are so many missing pieces. I haven't seen any of the films that you mentioned but I agree that Psycho was not that scary. I think this was because there was less violence. For example, when Marion and Arbogast were killed, the camera didn't show them getting stabbed, we only heard the noises and saw the blood.
ReplyDeleteI think that Norman was much scarier with two personalities because it is a concept that is difficult for the viewers to understand. While most people can't identify with the basic murderer, Norman's illness is something that could potentially affect anyone. He was just a normal man until his mental illness (dissociative personality disorder) took over.
I agree with you about him creating fear around a real life circumstances but something that really stood out to me for creating fear was how he wouldn't actually show the murder. Even though Hitchcock did this probably because they didn't have the props to show the murder it still made audience feel like they didn't know exactly what was happening.
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