The film Psycho has played an important role in the history of horror development. It has been responsible for the development of many horror films that came after it. The film is referred to as the greatest ever due to a number of reasons such as its narrative value, innovation, characterization, graphics and the use of sound. Due to these, Psycho has greatly impacted the field of film making in a number of ways. Also, being in the slasher sub genre, it has helped in influencing films that have decided to follow the same path. The paper will analyze how the Psycho narrative has been impactful towards film making also focusing on how it influenced the slasher sub-genre.
Psycho was impactful towards film making due to its ability to reconfigure popular story telling techniques. It was able to change the conventional organization of themes where lives were orderly and cohesive characterized by different types of conflicts to one in which lives were violent, unpredictable, and random with a sense of disunity. Psycho also capitalized on the horror genre to a great extent. Prior to Psycho horror movies were mainly based on the idea of monsters. It was based on fantasies where men would engage in battles with supernatural creatures or in other cases; the men were turned into supernatural beings. Such monsters came in varied forms as some were large, small, sexy, ugly, spectral and profound or in some other cases literal and rubbery. The origin of such monsters could either be from within or the outer space. The hallmark of the monsters was the undisputed fact that they were not earthly. Psycho revolutionized the perception of monsters in the movies. He created an illusion out of a monster in within people that were depicted through characters such as brutality, murder among others. He created monsters out of normal human beings, and therefore all the modern horror movies have since applied that technique to depict real horror.
Psycho employed great innovations that formed the basis of filmmaking in the subsequent movie productions. The innovations employed in the movie changed the way in which movies were experienced. In terms of innovation, it was the first movie to define the contemporary horror film era. Its innovativeness comes about due to its ability to understand the horror genre. Therefore, Psycho can be regarded as innovative considering its incorporation of a female victim or the ominous present of the uncanny woman. The film was also innovative in the sense that it was able to exhibit things that have never been shown before. In a scene in the movie, a character is seen flushing the toilet. This was forbidden by the Production Code, but still Psycho went ahead to show it.
Psycho’s narrative defied the conventional themes of prior horror movies on the restoration of the order of the world. Most movies before were based on the restoration of the social order of the world that was destructed to a greater effect on the course of the movie. The death of the monster was the beginning of the social order. Psycho defied the order by employing a problematic ending. In some scenes in the movie, attempts are made to restore the social order but with little success but in other instances, the process of restoring order is jeopardized or interrupted. From that style, many films such as The Night of the Living Dead were created. Destruction of the social order may either involve the killing of the protagonist and survival of the antagonist or in other cases the interruption of an activity that would have otherwise saved lives.
Psycho’s use of characters was a show of great creativity in filmmaking. The film is widely known for the use of an ominous mother as a character. The use of uncanny characters such as the ominous mother began with Psycho. Such characters are used to threaten stability in the movie and are vital in differentiating what is good from what is evil, what is human from what is inhuman, what is normal from what is abnormal or also to differentiate gender roles. Several movies that followed such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have featured the use of ominous characters especially mothers.
The soundtrack used in Psycho played a huge role in towards revolutionizing the art of filmmaking. The shower scene can particularly be singled out as an instance in which the music track played a significant role. The music played in the movie was essential in revolutionizing the filmmaking industry to depict different scenes. The use of violin is very important because it is used as percussion to suggest knife strokes. Intense volume of the violin can hint to the viewer of violence as they could be used to represent the sound of knife strokes penetrating the body. Since then, the movie industry began paying much attention to the use of sound effects.
Graphical violence is another aspect that originated with the film and henceforth influenced other movies of the next generation. The movie Psychos was the pioneer of the most famous and scary murder scene that totally revolutionized the genre of terror and suspense. The graphical violence was emphasized by the shower scene which was very scary thanks to the unforgettable music that was played. This is what is known as the slasher film. Other movies such as the Halloween and Scream have employed the use of graphic violence to enhance the theme of terror making the movie more interesting and memorable to the viewers.
Another important way in which the film revolutionized modern filmmaking is the utilization of the setting under which events occurred. The film was able to alternate the setting between the city and the country side. The events of the film revolved around the city, the urban landscape and the bare land in the countryside. The Bates Motel is a good example of a modern setting that has been provided by the film. The idea of incorporating a wide variety of settings was however emphasized by the films that followed such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. The use of a wider scope of the setting is a technique that was welcomed because it was important in creating different atmosphere depending on the type of setting an event occurs.
Also, the film Psycho other than playing a big role in the revolution of modern filmmaking has been instrumental in influencing the slasher sub genre of film. According to Petridis, the slasher is a subgenre of horror film that involves a psychopathic killer who stalks and murders victims in a random and unprovoked way using weapons such as blades, cleavers, chainsaws, and machetes among others. The victims are mainly adolescent children or women. Psycho is among the first films to revolutionize the art of slasher killer movies, and it has acted as a benchmark for the modern slasher movies (76-84). The film incorporates Norman Bates as the serial killer who is a psychotic product of a family that is struggling with sickness. However, he is still recognizable as human. Bates uses the knife as his weapon of choice. Bates assumed an archetype, disguised and mentally unstable killer whose target was innocent young women. As a pioneer in this discipline, psychos helped other films effectively use the subgenre of slasher films such as Twitch of the Death Nerve and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The use of the knife as a tool of violence in slasher films such as Psycho is important for social and cultural reasons as it reminds people in the when certain essential tools fall into the wrong hands; they can be used as tools for life destruction. It also cautions the viewers that people might be good, but when exposed to certain conditions, they can be evil. Therefore, one aspect that Psycho succeeded in was to use its slasher theme to remind the viewers of the existence of monsters inside people and the extent of damage they can cause when given the opportunity.
In conclusion, the film Psycho due to its pervasiveness has been instrumental influencing film making over the years. All the horror, thriller and suspense movies that were created after Psycho owe their existence to the film. Over the years, it has played a crucial role in the development of the American popular films. Other than influencing the film making abilities of movies, it has also been important in emphasizing the slasher subculture genre which has over the past years gained massive interest from the people. The film has some sense of socio cultural values as it tries to caution people on the potential dangers human beings can turn into. Psycho still continues to be a brainchild of many horror films that are being produced even today and its legacy will stay for a very long time.