Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Psycho
When it was first released in 1960, Psycho was considered one of the scariest movies of all time, and it certainly was one of the scariest for it's time, being one of the first movies that exposed such a dark view of humanity. Before Psycho, most horror movies told stories of the supernatural and of monsters that couldn't ever happen, but Hitchcock brought a new story to the table by taking the monster that someone would usually have to physically fight and placed it inside of Norman Bates's head. Norman himself then became the illusion of a monster, which was scarier than a real monster to most people because when we first met Norman he seemed like a totally normal guy, maybe a little jittery and jumpy, but normal nonetheless. This would make the movie scarier because of the fact that Norman has two personalities living inside him, and you never know which one is going to come out and attack, but besides that, he appears as a normal man running a motel.
Psycho was certainly very scary for it's time, but do you think it still has the qualities that would scare most moviegoers today?
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I really liked the comparison you made to previous horror movies, being about things that could never happen, such as a monster. I think what made Psycho so scary for it's time was that the monster was a human, and this could be anyone. I also think that because he appeared to be a normal every day person on the outside, and he ran a motel, a normal job, made it so terrifying. It was so normal that it became scary. But overall, it was more relatable for its viewers than anything.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, I think it has certain elements that make it scary for today's audiences and ones that aren't as scary anymore. I think the two murder scenes aren't as scary because in today's horror movies, they're much more terrifying and gruesome. But I think the part of the film that was scary for me, how and why Norman does the things that he does, can still be considered scary by modern audiences. I think people today still feel the same way about Norman as people from the 1960's, when the film was first released.
I think that Psycho is still a very scary film and others would agree that it still holds qualities of what others would consider a modern thriller. I think that the film holds many of the same qualities that modern thrillers contain, in fact even more. Modern thrillers are so expected, and too much of the film is usually given away in either the trailer or first few minutes of the film. However, in Psycho, I was so stunned by the ending and the way things actually turned out. I liked that Psycho had a really different and unpredictable ending rather than other thrillers I have seen recently.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that Psycho incorporates murder and paranoia is what makes it stand out from other films. I am an avid watcher of horror films and I still was scared watching this one-to me, I think that the fact that it has such a dramatic plot twist with the death of Marion out of the blue is what keeps audience members intrigued as to what happens in the end, not to mention the unusual character of Norman Bates. While watching, I knew that Norman would play a significant role in the film early on and because he was very friendly yet suspicious with Marion is what hooked me.
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