The way Hitchcock uses that sudden loud music makes you jump from your seats even though you knew it was coming.
The other murder scene with Arbogast was suspenseful because you didn't know what was going to happen. You knew as he was creeping around the house and the sudden switch to seeing a door start to creep open and the music slightly playing until the part where Norman walks out and the music gets sharp again like the first murder scene. This adds to the suspense because you start to expect something bad to happen but don't know when or what it is so you're left at the edge of your seat with your hands slightly covering your eyes just enough so you can see the screen but you can quickly cover up.
Do you think his use of loud music right when the killer attacks is effective enough? Or do you prefer the way horror movies have music going before going on when nothing bad has happened yet?
I think Hitchcock's use of music during the attacks were incredibly effective. Music can always make a scene more dramatic or suspenseful, and that's exactly what was accomplished. The type of music is also a large factor into this: Hitchcock used sharp, piercing violin notes during the actual murder to increase the fear factor, and it paid off.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, I think music was actually perhaps the most useful tool in this film. Without the music, there wouldn't have been as much suspense. Personally, I was mostly scared because of the music and the highly pitched violins that would play when Norman/Mother would commit a murder. The scene where Arbogast is killed is really cheesy without the music - you could totally see that the "blood" was actually chocolate sauce and his falling back was way too dramatized to be taken seriously. However, the combination of the bird's eye view and the really horrifying music made me jump out of my seat, and by association every time I heard similar music I would become scared.
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