The Shower Scene Analysis
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Psycho (1960), Alfred Hitchcock
The Shower Scene Analysis
The horror movie Psycho from 1960 is directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is based on the book of Robert Block. The movie tells the story of Marion Crane who steals $40.000 and decides to start a new life in California. After a long drive, she pulls into The Bates Motel. The manager of the hotel Norman is a quiet young man, who seems to be dominated by his mother. Psycho is considered to be the most successful movie of Hitchcock. To the movie belongs one of the most horrifying scenes of that time- The Shower Scene.
The scene starts with a slow pace. There is a quite long introduction of Marion, getting into the shower. Before having the shower, she flushed some piece of paper away down the toilet. This is the first movie in which we can actually see flushing a toilet. According to Hitchcock, this was a key point of the movie and he insisted on showing that.
Many close-up shots are used to create the illusion of us being there with the woman. The introduction is longer, so it could bring the tension to the viewer, leaving him wondering when something actually is going to happen. The camera barely moves and no tracking could be seen. The lighting is extremely bright. The bathroom is lit from all the sides without any shadows, which is rather unusual for a murdering scene.
As the tension is growing with the absence of any music except the diagetic sound of the shower, we can see Marion and the transparent shower curtain, which clearly points that this is where the killer will come from. The camera pans and zooms to the left to highlight the killer silhouette along with the reducing showers volume. Suddenly, the lighting after the killers appearance changes completely. His face is covered by unexplained shadows, in contrast with the entirely lit bathroom.
The stabbing with the knife is accompanied by a violin screeches, a horror movie stereotype. During the murder are used close and extreme close up shots to hide the actual knife penetration. We are left to imagine the details by hearing the sound of knife stabbing the victim. There is also a dramatic switch of the pace from the slow entrance of the dark figure, to quick cuts of the murder.
The use of series of shots enhances the moment. The excellent editing of the murder creates suspense and inevitability. The blood in the bath