ALL - Psycho- research of the slasher genre

Psycho is and always will be one of the most influential horror films in history. 

http://www.houseofhorrors.com/psycho.htm 

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Budget: $806,947 (estimated)

Box Office Takings: 

US –$32,000,000

Deconstruction:

The credits themselves last 1.52 seconds. So that would be are hole entire coursework if we did the same idea. The credits are shown on a black background with use of grey lines. And white sans serif font. Non diegetic dramatic music is played.

 'Suprisingly Hitchcock originally intended it to play without music but the film would have lost much of it power to frighten without it. The strings stab like the frenetic movement of the knife on screen. The discordant high-pitched repetition of one note is quick succession jars the audience and makes it immediately aware that something horrible is about to happen. It is probablly one of the most influential pieces of music in horror movie history' J.A. Kerswell - Teenage Wasteland The Slasher Movie Uncut.

The first shot is an establishing shot of a city, it continues to pan the city and the following appear on screen

'PHOENIX, ARIZONA'

'FRIDAY, DECEMEBER THE ELEVENTH'

'TWO FORTY, THREE P.M.' 

This exposition sets the time and place of the film and gives the audience expectations for what the rest of the film might entail.

The panning of the city progresses to a zoom in on a specific window. Inside we see a woman lying on a bed looking up a t man, dressing, this can denote about men's heirhachy in society to women. The woman is wearing her undergarments and the man dressing signifies sexually activity has just occured. The shot chosen gives an angle so that the man's head is not included in the shot but we see the woman at the level of the bed height.

We watch the couple talk and kiss, and there is reference to their relationship being a 'secret', as the conversation continues they continue to talk of marriage. The music now heard is romantic slow music, which adds to the atmosphere of the couple.

Very basic shots are used in the 2 minute opening. And the opening scene ends with little action having occurred other than the couple discussing their future and the woman leaving to return to work.

The film has a rather slow start compared to many horror films, its not till around 40 minutes into the film is their any gore and violence. 

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/

Story Line:  A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother. 

Ending: Norman's mother had been long dead, her corpse was found sitting in a rocking chair. Norman (the motel proprietor) had dressed up as his mother and commit the murders.

Trailer:

Psycho has been described as  the mother of all modern horror suspense films. It pioneered the 'wet-death' which is showing a murder graphically by including blood etc. Psycho broke film conventions by showing the leading lady having an affair in her white underwear in the first scene. Another first for an American film of that time was photographing a toilet and the flush. It was also unusual for the leading lady to be killed off halfway through.