Psychological Themes In Alfred Hitchcock's Horror Film Psycho

‘How does Hitchcock use techniques to reinforce the idea of duality in Psycho?’ Duality within a person is the ideology that there is both a negative and positive contrast residing within everyone, which is usually referred to as the dark and light side of a person. The idea of duality is reinforced throughout Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 American horror thriller film, Psycho. Hitchcock portrays this idea of duality by utilizing the film techniques irony, recurring symbols and mise en scene. The film was produced in black in white to accentuate the concept of duality throughout the film.

Frightening motion pictures help the audience live different lives in the comfort of their own homes. In the story, Why We Crave Horror Movies, by Stephen King, the issue involves how thriller films appeases oneself. Whereas, the article, Horror Movies Take Escapism to the Next Level Meditation to Destress Allows the Mind a Break, by Amber Appleby, relates to why humans relish suspenseful movies. Thus, both the story and the article indicate similar yet different ideas regarding how horror movies affect us.

For instance, the very first sentence of Hollinger’s essay starts off with this quote, “As Stephen Neale suggests, an intimate relationship seems to exist among the filmic presentation of the horror monster, the castration anxiety it evokes, and the cinematic representation of the female form.” (Hollinger pg. 243 of the Monsters book), in which she uses to intrigue the reader and to give the reader an idea about the work. Hollinger tells the reader that Neale thinks that the usual origin of a monster in a film is due to a relationship that went wrong and also claims that men are more vulnerable to certain anxieties. The placement of her reference to Neale’s essay allows the reader to conduct an idea of what the essay is going to be about and makes the reader think about what is more threatening between feminine monsters or masculine monsters.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley contains thematic parallels with, an acclaimed film by Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs. Frankenstein's creature is psychologically affected by the putrid ambience he was exposed to by humanity. Contrastingly, it is not certain how the professional criminals developed antisocial personalities. The team of professional criminals seem friendly towards each other during the beginning of the film, yet they only know each other by designated aliases. Themes of madness, as well as, lies and deceit are present in Reservoir Dogs and Frankenstein.

Over the course of the film, clips of many western movies play which show parts of Native Americans shown as the enemies of the Americans. The biggest perpetrator of the image upon Natives is Hollywood, which sought out to develop a characteristic on Native Americans. It obviously worked because all of America believes the films show the true character of the Natives. Hollywood’s job was to entertain so they created films that showed the braveness of these savage Natives and eventually moved onto silent films and caricatures to add more entertainment to the industry. They depict the Natives as

Vertigo is a thriller film produced by Alfred Hitchcock in 1958... Define spectacle, who coined it? The film’s main protagonist, John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson, is a detective impaired with a severe acrophobia that the entire plot revolves around. This paper argues that Madeleine and Judy function more than just simple female characters placed in the film to drive the plot. Rather, they are objects of desire for the male gaze of both Scottie and the Spectator, to serve and to be punished to feed the male ego.

The blood also symbolize revenge. It symbolize revenge because Hamlet ghost showed up and he want Hamlet to kill Claudius he

M (1931) by Fritz Lang is one of the most significant films of the Weimar Republic that had influenced on aesthetic of film noir and an establishment of a genre of a psychological and urban thriller concentrating on a history of one murder who terrorizes a city. It was the first sound film by the director and, nowadays, recognized as one of the most interesting examples in experimentation with sounds and their connection with displaying images. A plot based on a real history of a serial killer from Dusseldorf is a peculiar interpretation of a reality, reflecting an atmosphere in the society because a paranoia described in the film was an illustrative explanation of a condition of people mind. Siegfried Kracauer, a German film theorist, written

In both Batman and the Dunkirk trailer Nolan forces us to think about who is the hero of the film and if they may also be the anti-hero. By having the British and French seemed trapped in every way it immediately makes them seem innocent. The trailer shows the enemy picking them off slowly but surely making the opposing side, Germans (the anti-heroes).However, saying that there is still no definite hero for Dunkirk. It is no longer possible, in the world created by Nolan, to have traditional heroes or villains. In many of Nolan’s films, a main character starts off with redeeming qualities only to be shown later as having evil qualities.

Yes those tribes. Green Inferno is a horror movie unlike most these days, the story itself is phenomenal, daring, scary, including the real terror these actors have presented in this film which personally

Have you ever seen horror movies that introduce scary, and crazy serial Killers? When you think about it, murderers don’t just kill to kill, there is a reason to their acts. Most have a traumatic backstory that changed their life. The content the authors decided to use for the theme of the stories are how isolation affect people, the society against mental illnesses, and the mistreatment of women. Authors Charlotte Perkins and William Faulkner both adopt this macabre style to portray how insanity affects people with “The Yellow Wallpaper” & “A Rose For Emily”.

“If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.(Hitchcock).” An Auteur has full control over the movie and puts some of themselves into each movie they make. Francois Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock were masters of this. Truffaut with his 400 Blows and Hitchcock with his Psycho. There is one very famous scene in 400 Blows that Truffaut made that was very different for his time.

In Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock masterfully uses the characters he has created and weaves an intricate storyline by using their relationships with one another. Although each of the characters is, at first, presented as a cliché, their development is an extraordinary, fast-paced journey to behold. In a very short time, each of the characters undergoes massive changes to their personalities, making for a captivating movie. It is the relationships between the main characters that enthrall the viewer and make Rear Window such a compelling film. James Stewart’s portrayal of L.B. Jefferies creates an intriguing and multifaceted character.

Alfred Hitchcock was born on the 13th of August 1899 in London England. From a young age Hitchcock had an interest in photography and this led him into the art of directing (2016). His directing debut was seen in Blackmail in 1929. In his 51 years of making films he directed over 50, some of which were nominated for various awards. Over the years Hitchcock’s directors style was observed by many and is how he is remembered and how audiences can recognise a Hitchcock film.

In 1954, Alfred Hitchcock released a psychological thriller titled Rear Window. The film focuses on L.B. 'Jeff' Jefferies (James Stewart) who is a broken leg, wheelchair bound photographer. And out of boredom he looks out his rear window into the rear windows of his neighbors’ apartments. Hitchcock’s use props and camera angles, in the opening scene of Rear Window, gives reason and empathy to L.B. Jefferies’s actions. The opening shot begins with a clarinet and other instruments join to play jazzy, happy music, which may lead the audience to believe that they are about to see a romantic comedy instead of a psychological thriller.